No. 1 Kentucky certainly looked like the best team in the country Tuesday night as they throttled seventh-ranked Florida. Meanwhile, No. 3 Ohio State was surprisingly taken to the wire by visiting Purdue.
Catch up on all Tuesday's acton by checking out the full college basketball scoreboard.
Perhaps the Creighton Bluejays aren't going to have things easily in the Valley. They lost their second straight conference game on Tuesday night, and neither of those losses came against fellow favorites Wichita State. This loss came to the Evansville Aces, who recorded a surprising 65-57 home win over the No. 17 team in the nation.
Bluejays' star forward Doug McDermott put in a decent performance with 21 points and eight rebounds, but his teammates didn't provide much help for him on the offensive end. The Jays shot just 40 percent from the field and turned the ball over 16 times to Evansville's nine.
Evansville had lost their previous six games against Creighton, and move to 7-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference with this win. Creighton are now 11-3 in conference play, a half game behind Wichita State. The Jays can re-claim the conference lead this weekend, when they play the Shockers at home.
The Florida Gators are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation, and for them to break the Kentucky Wildcats' home winning streak, everyone knew they were going to have to hit a high volume of three-pointers. They shot 25 percent from behind the arc on Tuesday, which wasn't nearly good enough to challenge an absolutely dominant Kentucky team. Terrence Jones scored just four points, but his team didn't even need him in a 78-58 victory.
Micheel Kidd-Gilchrist had a massive night with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Anthony Davis was dominant on both ends of the floor as well. Davis notched 16 points and was below has rebounding and blocked shots averages with six and four respectably, but those numbers don't tell the story of what he did. Davis was a dominant presence in the paint, constantly altering shots, and also had two steals. Kentucky's perimeter defense was also fantastic, contesting every Florida three-point shot.
Doron Lamb led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points, while Marquis Teague contributed 12 points and 10 assists. Kenny Boynton did well for the Gators with 18 points and 4-8 shooting behind the arc, but his teammates struggled on the offensive end.
For more on the Wildcats, visit Kentucky blog A Sea Of Blue. For more on the Gators, visit Florida blog Alligator Army.
No. 3 Ohio State Vs. Purdue: Buckeyes Hold On For 87-84 Win In Unexpected Battle
The Purdue Boilermakers visited the No. 3 Ohio St. Buckeyes on Tuesday night in Big Ten conference action. Ohio State had won five in a row heading into the game, including back-to-back wins over ranked teams in No. 22 Wisconsin and No. 20 Michigan. Purdue, by contrast, was coming off a 17-point loss to the ranked Indiana Hoosiers and was looking to get to over .500 in conference play.
The Buckeyes probably figured they were likely for an easy win over the Boilermakers, but they got much more than they expected in a hard-fought game that remained close right down to the wire. The Boilermakers played some inspired and aggressive ball, including a monster dunk in the first half by Purdue guard Kelsey Barlow. Purdue took it right to the Buckeyes and headed into halftime with the score knotted at 40-40. Ohio State finally opened up a decent lead toward the end of the second half, but Purdue kept on battling. The final minute of play could have told a different story, as the Boilermakers were down by seven points in the last 0:30 but scored eight. The difference ended up being fouls on Buckeyes Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas in the final 20 seconds, who nailed all four of their free throws.
D.J. Byrd led the way for Purdue, with 24 points and six rebounds. Buckeyes guard William Buford led all scorers with 29 points, also managing seven boards and two assists.
Ohio State will play their next game on Saturday, February 11, when they host the No. 12 Michigan St. Spartans. Purdue's next game will be on Sunday, February 12, as they return home to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.
For all news and information regarding the Purdue Boilermakers, please visit Hammer and Rails. For updates and perspective on the Ohio State Buckeyes, head on over to Along the Olentangy. For complete coverage of NCAA basketball, stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated college hoops hub.
Feb 08 8:01a by Bill Hanstock - 0 comments