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No. 4 Missouri claimed first place in the Big 12 by holding off upset-minded Oklahoma 71-68 on Monday night.
Check out the rest of the scoreboard from Monday evening.
The No. 4 Missouri Tigers' run of tight games from which they have managed to emerge victorious continued Monday night in a tough road win over the Oklahoma Sooners, 71-68. Marcus Denmon, who would appear to be closing in on Thomas Robinson in Big 12 Player of the Year discussions, scored 25 to lead the Tigers in what looked like a classic trap game after their huge win over Kansas this weekend.
The Tigers (22-2, 9-2 Big 12) are now in first place in the Big 12, just a half-game ahead of No. 6 Baylor and No. 7 Kansas. In head coach Frank Haith's first year in Columbia, the Tigers have lost just two games all season, to Oklahoma State and Kansas State, going undefeated against the afore-metioned Bears and Jayhawks, the other elite in-conference teams. Ricardo Ratliffe was also huge, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
The Sooners gave it everything they had for a home crowd, but came up just a little short. They were led by Sam Grooms, who was the Sooners' floor leader, with 17 points and 10 assists, shooting 7-9 from the field with just two turnovers. His backcourt mate Steven Pledger chipped in 22 points and five rebounds.
For more on these two teams, visit Missouri blog Rock M Nation and Oklahoma blog Crimson And Cream Machine.
The Connecticut Huskies were ranked highly at the beginning of the season, but there have been times the now-unranked Huskies has not been at full strength this season that may have contributed to their disappointing start. Those excuses are no longer valid after an all-out dismantling at the hands of the No. 24 Louisville Cardinals, 80-59.
The Cardinals got a balanced scoring effort and terrific outside shooting in the win. Led by Chris Smith with 16 points and 4-6 three-point shooting, four different Cardinals scored at least nine points, and nine had at least four. Louisville shot 44.4 percent on deep balls in the game. They also held the HUskies to a terrible shooting night — UConn was 35.1 percent from the field and 3-14 on their threes.
Ryan Boatright, who's finally eligible after a messy situation with the NCAA, led the Huskies with 18 points, including a garbage-time four-point play. He was the only starter in double-figures, as stars such as Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond were stifled and ineffective. The game was very close for much of the first half, but after going down five just before halftime, they completely fell off in the second.
For more on these two teams, visit Louisville blog Card Chronicle and The UConn Blog.
No. 18 Marquette Vs. DePaul: Golden Eagles Rally In Second Half For 89-76 Win
No. 18 Marquette survived an early rain of threes from DePaul and cruised to an easy 89-76 victory on Monday night.
All five Golden Eagles starters finished in double figures, with Darius Johnson-Odom scoring 23 points to lead all scorers, as Marquette rebounded from a 43-40 halftime deficit to down the Blue Demons. Jae Crowder had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Marquette, and Jamil Wilson added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Golden Eagles made 22 of their 23 free throws.
DePaul led 17-8, 37-25, and 41-29 in the first half, buoyed by five threes and Cleveland Melvin's 17 points in the period. But the Blue Demons cooled in the second half, with Melvin getting just five more points to finish with 22 on the night and the team sinking only one more long-range shot, as the Golden Eagles opened with a 16-3 run to take the lead and held it with consistent offense and free throw shooting.
For more on the Golden Eagles, visit SB Nation's Marquette blog, Anonymous Eagle. For more on the Big East, visit Big East Coast Bias.
Feb 07 8:01a by Andy Hutchins - 0 comments