Wednesday College Hoops Superlatives: Memphis And Rice Throw Hands

I'd love to see an Owl beat up a Tiger.

Yes, that's exactly how I wanted to start this post. I want that image to stick while you go over everything that took place in college basketball Wednesday night. You're reading about Draymond Green's big night, but you're visualizing an owl pecking (or clawing...I don't really know how owls fight) the hell out of an enormous tiger.

That's what we're going for. Read on.

Mike Moser returned to his early season form by scoring 18 points and pulling down 21 rebounds as No. 12 UNLV escaped with a 77-72 overtime win over host Boise State. The Rebels scored the first eight points in the extra five minutes and were able to hold on for their third straight victory since a two point loss to San Diego State.

Boise State (10-9, 0-4) got 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals from Derrick Marks, but couldn't avoid dropping its fifth straight game. The Broncos actually had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Thomas Bropleh's potential game-winner at the buzzer was blocked by Moser.

UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Oklahoma State 79, Missouri 72

Freshman Le'Bryan Nash scored a career-high 27 points and Brian Williams added a career-best 22 as Oklahoma State stunned No. 2 Missouri 79-72 in Stillwater Wednesday night.

The Cowboys' Markel Brown provided arguably the highlight of the year with a one-handed alley-oop finish that ended with a technical foul for taunting. The T was his second of the game and Brown was ejected.

Missouri's Marcus Denmon made both technical free-throws, Ricardo Ratliffe added two more, and the Tigers had a 60-53 lead with 6 minutes, 31 seconds remaining. This was when the No. 2 team in the country was supposed to pull away, but instead an energized Okie State squad rallied to outscore Mizzou 26-12 the rest of the way.

Not an encouraging performance from a team whose status as a legitimate national title contender is still being questioned by many folks.

PLAYER OF THE NIGHT: Doug McDermott, Creighton

Just another night in the Valley for the likely All-American, who went for 30 and nine in a 77-69 win over Drake.

HONOR ROLL:

Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State - The underrated Bulldog star tied a career-high with 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as State held off a late LSU charge to win 76-71.

Julius Mays, Wright State - Scored 33 points, including a school-record 19 of 20 free throws, to lead Wright State to a 69-63 victory over Illinois-Chicago.

Draymond Green, Michigan State - Had 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to help the 10th-ranked Spartans beat Minnesota 68-52.

Jackie Carmichael, Illinois State - Had 26 points and 16 rebounds and Illinois State defeated Missouri State 76-69 in overtime.

Ricky Tarrant, Tulane - Set the Green Wave record for points by a freshman in a game with 33 as Tulane topped SMU, 80-74.

IMAGES OF THE NIGHT:

Lefty Driesell hates this picture.

Tom Izzo can't celebrate without eye gouging. Never has been able to.

I have no idea how this picture of the Memphis/Rice scuffle was captured, but it's pretty amazing.

TEN TO END:

1. As pictured above, a skirmish broke out in the second half of Memphis' 73-51 win over Rice on Wednesday. Will Barton and Tarik Black, arguably the Tigers' two best players, were both ejected.

Here's what went down:

Memphis guard Joe Jackson was on a breakaway after a turnover by Rice's Tamir Jackson, who then fouled Joe Jackson hard as he went up for the layup.

"It looked bad from my angle," Will Barton said. "I thought (Joe Jackson) was out. He was up pretty high and dude just came and got him out of nowhere. I was just concerned. I thought he had cracked his head. He went down pretty hard, so I just reacted."

Officials immediately called an intentional foul on Tamir Jackson, who was ejected, but the players then got into a tussle under the Tigers' basket that quickly escalated. That brought Memphis coach Josh Pastner running into the fray trying to separate and push players aside.

"Those two were okay," Rice coach Ben Braun said of Tamir Jackson and Joe Jackson. "But the other guys who came off the bench down there in front of their bench, including (Pastner), came out and ran the floor. I don't think that needed to happen."

Braun later added that Pastner was even pushing Rice players.

"I know Josh. I don't think that was his intention. I think he just reacted, but that never helps anything."

Barton, Black and teammate Trey Draper were all suspended for leaving the bench during the altercation.

2. Michigan State was able to get head coach Tom Izzo his 400th career win by knocking off Minnesota, 68-52.

3. Maryland played with fire early on after a pregame ceremony in which the floor at the Comcast Center was dedicated to former coach Gary Williams. The Terrapins eventually came back to life, however, and fell to No. 8 Duke 74-61.

4. In one of the most bizarre performances of the season, Tulane exploded for 63 points in the second half after heading into the break with just 17 on their way to an 80-74 win over SMU. The 63 points in the second half was more than the Green Wave's total in nine games this season.

5. St. John's went with an all-freshman starting lineup, and the youngsters responded with an incredibly impressive 78-62 win over West Virginia.

6. Pittsburgh is on the board after knocking off Providence 86-74 on Wednesday. The Panthers had started 0-7 in the Big East and were riding an eight-game losing streak overall.

7. Xavier fell to St. Louis 73-68 despite Mark Lyons' 27-point performance. The Musketeers had won 43-straight Atlantic-10 games at home, a streak that dated back to 2006.

8. The runner-up for upset of the night goes to South Carolina notching its first SEC win by beating Alabama 56-54. Bruce Ellington hit the game-winner for the Gamecocks with 1.4 seconds left. It was a crushing loss for 'Bama, which now appears destined to once again sit squarely on the bubble come Selection Sunday.

9. BYU went into Blacksburg and knocked off Virginia Tech by a bucket. I'm sure the Hokies will produce a couple of quality wins to make sure they're one of the last teams left out of the field of 68.

10. Marshall's 56-49 loss to UAB is a monster hit to their tournament resume. The Blazers entered Wednesday with a 1-4 conference record and were 6-12 overall.