There was another Top 25 upset last night, but the big story of the night was a 28th consecutive win by the Kentucky Wildcats to open the season. The Wildcats are cruising through SEC play and into the top seed of the NCAA tournament. Kentucky has been challenged at times this season but has extended the school record for consecutive wins to start a season.
Let’s get to the games:
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(2) Virginia Cavaliers | 70 | (26-1) |
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Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 34 | (12-16) |
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Virginia is looking to solidify their place as a number one seed and a second consecutive ACC regular season title and helped that cause in beating Wake Forest. Seven players had more than seven points for the Cavaliers, led by Anthony Gill with 11 points, and the Cavaliers held Wake Forest to 21.8% shooting. Wake Forest got 10 points from Konstantinos Mitoglou and were losing by 21 at halftime. Wake Forest will turn their focus to Pittsburgh while Virginia plays in-state rival Virginia Tech.
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(1) Kentucky Wildcats | 74 | (28-0) |
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Mississippi State Bulldogs | 56 | (12-16) |
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Mississippi State was the next team in the path of Kentucky, losing at home to the Wildcats on Wednesday night. The top ranked Wildcats had four players with double figure points, led by Trey Lyles with 18 points, shot 49.1% from the field, and made 12 of 13 free throws. Mississippi State had only two players with double figure points, led by Fred Thomas with 14 points, and only shot two of 11 from three point range. Mississippi State will turn their focus to South Carolina and Kentucky will face Arkansas in a game that could basically clinch the SEC regular season title for the Wildcats.
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(22) VCU Rams | 63 | (21-7) |
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Richmond Spiders | 67 | (16-12) |
| Final – 2OT | |||
In-state rivalries are tough; in-city rivalries are even tougher, as VCU learned in losing the game, and lead in the A-10, against Richmond. Richmond had four players with double figure points, led by ShawDre’ Jones with 22 points, and made nine three pointers. Trevon Graham had a huge game for VCU, posting 25 points and 10 rebounds, but the Rams only shot 32.8% from the field and only had one other scorer in double figures. VCU has a huge matchup against co-A10 leader Dayton while Richmond will face Saint Joseph’s.
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(11) Wichita State Shockers | 63 | (26-3) |
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Indiana State Sycamores | 53 | (14-15) |
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Wichita State has had little resistance in the Missouri Valley Conference, beating Indiana State last night. Wichita State was fueled by a double-double from Darius Carter with 20 points and 11 rebounds and won in spite of two of 17 three point shooting. Indiana State only had two players in double figure points, but was led by Khristian Smith’s 20 points. Indiana State has a matchup with Bradley to look forward to while Wichita State prepares for Northern Iowa in a game that will decide the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title.
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Marquette Golden Eagles | 52 | (11-16) |
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(23) Butler Bulldogs | 73 | (20-8) |
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Butler is working very hard to maintain a top five seed in the NCAA tournament and their case was strengthened in a victory over Marquette. Butler’s offensive attack was led by Kellen Dunham’s 22 points and 50.9% shooting. Marquette got 17 points from Luke Fischer, but only shot three of 11 from three point range. Marquette has to turn their focus another Top 25 opponent, Providence, and Butler will face DePaul.
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(19) Baylor Bears | 79 | (21-7) |
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(12) Iowa State Cyclones | 70 | (20-7) |
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In the only ranked matchup of the evening, Baylor pulled a moderate upset in beating Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Baylor had five players in double figure points, led by Taurean Prince with 20 points, and the Bears made 14 three point field goals. Iowa State had a game high 21 points from Jameel McKay, but only shot six of 24 on three point shots. Iowa State looks to rebound against Kansas State and Baylor looks towards another ranked matchup against West Virginia.
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(4) Duke Blue Devils | 91 | (25-3) |
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Virginia Tech Hokies | 86 | (10-18) |
| final/OT | |||
Duke kept pace with Virginia in the ACC race, and survived a scare, beating Virginia Tech in overtime last night. Much of Duke’s success came from the inside and outside tandem of Jahlil Okafor and Quinn Cook; Okafor had 30 points and nine rebounds while the senior leader Cook had 26 points and six three point field goals made. Virginia Tech’s offense was more balanced, with four players in double figure scoring, with Jalen Hudson scoring 23 points in a losing effort. Virginia Tech will try to beat another Top 5 team in their matchup with Virginia and Duke will focus on Syracuse.
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Evansville Aces | 57 | (19-10) |
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(10) UNI Panthers | 68 | (27-2) |
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Northern Iowa needed to win over Evansville to keep pace with Wichita State and avenged their only loss last night. The Panthers had 17 points from Deon Mitchell, on five of five shooting, and the Panthers shot 52.3% from the field. D.J Balentine had 16 points for Evansville and Egidijus Mockevicious had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Evansville looks to rebound in their season finale against Illinois State while Northern Iowa finishes their Missouri Valley Conference schedule with a de facto champioship game against Wichita State.