In ACC action, UNC had no trouble from Oakland, winning 84-61, BC fell to Providence in overtime, Cornell gave Syracuse a good fight before losing 82-60, Notre Dame took Miami (Ohio) 74-62, Virginia thumped James Madison 61-41, Clemson knocked off Stetson 71-51, Wake survived Colgate 89-78, the Pack got a game from Appalachian before winning 98-77, Pitt rolled over Savannah State by 33, 88-55, Presbyterian was wrecked by Tech 88-57 and Miami lost in OT to St. Francis, 66-62.
In Big Ten action, the Rent-a-Terps fell to UConn, 78-77.
Maryland was down 78-77 and lost despite having two chances to win late. Dez Wells missed two shots, either of which could have been game winners.
On the bright side, the temporary point guard got six assists - not bad.
Like Duke (covered here), UNC had little trouble with its opponent, crushing Oakland 84-61. It wasn't nearly that close.
Playing without P.J. Hairston and senior Leslie McDonald due to NCAA concerns, UNC had a 37 point lead in the first half.
In his first career start, J.P. Tokoto had 13 points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals which were negated by five turnovers, but big whoop. He played well.
UNC hit just five threes - on the radio Eric Montross urged better balance but he didn't get it.
Now that Syracuse is an ACC team, it's perhaps timely to remember that the Orange a) schedule tons of weak teams, and b) often perform down to the opponent's level.
So maybe that explains why Cornell kept up for so long. Or maybe it was Nolan Cressler getting hot as the 6-4 guard hit 20 points in the first half.
Syracuse shut him down in the second and outscored Cornell 50-22 after halftime.
Cat Barber took a hard foul in the State-Appalachian game but it sparked him and his team to rally and break a tight game open as the Pack won 98-77.
Barber finished with 13. T.J. Warren had 27, while Desmond Lee had 24 and Tyler Lewis 15.
Despite getting outrebounded, Notre Dame got 26 from Jerian Grant and the win over Miami.
UVa started slow but held JMU to 31.3% from the floor and ended up winning by 21.
South Carolina transfer Anthony Gill had 13 in his debut. When you stop and think about it, ACC fans, a starting lineup of Gill, Akil Mitchell, Malcolm Brodgon, Justin Anderson and Joe Harris has the potential to be exceptional.
Two overtime losses as BC fell to Providence despite very solid games from Ryan Anderson (21 points), Olivier Hanland (23) and Joe Rahon (13).
Former Wake center Carson Desrosiers came off the bench for Providence, scoring seven points and grabbing five boards.
Miami lost to St. Francis in overtime in a late game.
Clemson beat Stetson by 20 behind a big game from super bouncy K.J. McDaniels, who had 20.
Clemson had 10 guys with double digit minutes.
You know, when you stop to think about it, this isn't a bad lineup either: McDaniels, Jaron Blossomgame (who finally debuted for Clemson after redshirting last year), beefy Landry Nnoko, Rod Hall and Jordan Roper.
Not worldbeaters, but better than people might think.
Wake struggled with Colgate before putting the Raiders back in the tube. Codi Miller-McIntyre hit 14 straight in the second half. Devin Thomas scored 23 points and had six boards too.
Pitt beat Savannah State; does anyone care? There was almost zero chance of an upset here.
Georgia Tech hosed Presbyterian 88-57. Tech outrebounded Presbyterian 46-27 and held the Blue Hose to 33.9% shooting for the game.
Sounds like an Izzo sort of performance.
Tech starters: Marcus Goerges-Hunt, Robert Carter,Jr., Daniel Miller, Trae Golden and Solomon Poole.
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