Daily College Hoops Superlatives: Classic McGruder

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:23:09 -0000

GAME OF THE NIGHT: Cincinnati 70, Connecticut 67

In what basically amounted to a showdown for the perpetually mysterious title of "Big East's second-best team," the Bearcats got a cold-blooded game-winner from Sean Kilpatrick with less than three seconds to play to pull the road upset.

Cashmere Wright and Yancy Gates each had 13 points for Cincinnati, which sits at 5-1 and behind only Syracuse for the conference lead. The Bearcats' lone Big East defeat came at home and at the hands of lowly St. John's.

"We're to a point now mentally that our guys believe that if we play well, we can beat anybody," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "That's a big key for us."

Shabazz Napier had a career-high 27 points to lead Connecticut (14-4, 4-3), which lost for the first time at home this season.

UPSET OF THE NIGHT: Nebraska 70, Indiana 69

Jorge Brian Diaz (I call him JBD. He's good with it.) made two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Nebraska the lead for good as the struggling Cornhuskers upset No. 11 Indiana 70-69 on Wednesday night for the Hoosiers' third straight loss.

Indiana (15-3, 3-4) squandered a 13-point, second-half lead as Nebraska (10-8, 2-5) posted its second and biggest victory as a new member of the Big Ten.

On the game's final possession, IU guard Jordan Hulls missed a driving layup then recovered the loose ball and missed a desperation shot from in front of his bench as time ran out. The ball bounced back toward Hulls, and he kicked it in defeat as Nebraska's student section emptied and rushed the court.

Despite the loss, IU head coach Tom Crean was surprisingly upbeat after the game.

"I'd be in there throwing stuff around, angry, screaming if I felt like we didn't care or I felt we couldn't get better," Crean said. "That's not the case at all. They care and we can get better. That's exactly the attitude we're taking toward this."

PLAYER OF THE NIGHT: Rodney McGruder, Kansas State

If not for likely national POY front-runner Thomas Robinson, McGruder would be making one hell of a push for Big 12 Player of the Year. He scored a career-high 33 points - his second 30-point game in K-State's last three contests - and sealed the Wildcats' 84-80 win over Texas with a steal and a dunk in the game's closing seconds.

Classic McGruder.

Not gonna stop saying it anytime soon.

HONOR ROLL:

Anthony Marshall, UNLV - Marshall continues to be a second half superstar, setting a career-high with 27 points (he scored 26 in the Rebs' last game) in a 101-78 win over TCU.

Colt Ryan, Evansville - Hit a career-best eight 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 39 points as the Purple Aces throttled Bradley, 90-67. Also, Colt Ryan: sweet name. If he was born in the South he would have been a quarterback. Midwest = drop bombs on the diamond or 3-point assassin. These are simply proven facts.

Ryan Pearson, George Mason - Scored 24 points to go with 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots as Mason cruised past Delaware, 89-63.

Kevin Jones, West Virginia - Scored 18 of his game-high 25 points as West Virginia notched an impressive 78-62 win over intrastate rival Marshall.

Kwame Vaughn, Cal State Fullerton - Scored 28 points, 19 of which came in the second half, as Fullerton moved to 3-2 in the Big West with a 72-61 win over Riverside.

IMAGE(S) OF THE NIGHT:

Some really good stuff out there from Wednesday's action so we're going to have to go with more than one.

Nebraska celebrating its first big Big Ten victory.

Frank Martin being Frank Martin.

What conference do these guys play in?

Mike Moser's pretty reliable from this distance.

FIVE TO END:

1. No. 19 Creighton forced an opponent into just three turnovers for the second time in three games, and still managed to defeat Missouri State 66-65. The Bluejays pulled a similar victory over Illinois State last week.

2. A mideason shirt to commemorate being 20-0? C'mon, Syracuse.

3. Cal's Pac-12 championship hopes took a big of a hit on Wednesday when Richard Solomon, the team's second-leading rebounder, was ruled academically ineligible for the rest of the season. Solomon, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, had been averaging 6.0 points and 6.2 rebounds.

4. Michigan's Fab Five jerseys sit atop this list of college basketball's best throwback uniforms.

5. Things went from bad to worse for Utah on Wednesday, as the 4-13 Utes dismissed senior guard Josh "Jiggy" Watkins. Watkins has been leading the team in both points (15.6) and assists (4.8). He was fourth in the Pac-12 in each category.

SB Nation - Colt Ryan

Daily College Hoops Superlatives: Classic McGruder