There were a few loses among the top 25 ranked teams but the highlight of the week was Tuesday night’s Champions Classic in Chi-Town. The first game pitted #1 Duke against #2 Michigan St with the Blue Devils coming away with a 88-81 victory. Duke’s senior guard Grayson Allen, a Wooden Award candidate, scored a career-high 37 points going 7-11 from behind the arch and perfect at the line (8-8). The second game of #4 Kansas vs #7 Kentucky had 12 lead changes and 5 ties in the 2nd half alone. The Jayhawks ended the game with an 8-2 run in the final minute and sent the Wildcats home with their first loss of the season 65-61. Both teams struggled from the outside going a combined 11-41(27%). #20 Northwestern looked to be a step behind Creighton from the start and was defeated 92-88. Both teams shot respectively from the field and 3-pt but the Bluejays went 14-16 (88%) from the line and the Wildcats 12-19 (63%). Northwestern would also be handed a crushing loss (85-49) from an impressive Texas Tech team on Sunday. In another late Sunday game, #10 USC needed OT before pulling away from Vanderbilt on the road and winning 93-89. This game was evenly played with efficient shooting by both teams. The Trojans’ senior guard Jordan McLaughlin, a Wooden Award candidate, scored a career-high 35 points making 5 three pointers and 6 out of 6 free throws.
Some notable upsets:
- Iowa St lost their home opener for the first time in 20 years to Milwaukee 74-56. The Cyclones had 18 turnovers and made only 3 of 15 shots from behind the arch. The tenacious Panthers had 11 steals and 15 team assists en route to victory.
- Stanford dropped their first game of the season losing at home to Eastern Washington 67-61. The Eagles were consistent from the outside hitting 11 3-pointers while the Cardinal made only 2. Eastern Washington’s solid performance win ended a 21 game losing streak to Pac-12 teams.
- Virginia Tech met up with St Louis at Madison Square Garden for the 2K Classic but came up short 71-77, never getting closer than 4 points in the second half. The Billikens made 19-25 (76%) free throws while the Hokies struggled at the line going only 23-36 (64%).
Games to watch this week:
-
#23 UCLA vs Creighton (11/20 @ 7:00 PM ET)
- FGCU @ Middle Tenn (11/21 @ 7:30 PM ET) *FB Live
- #18 Purdue vs Tennessee (11/22 @ 12:00 PM ET)
- #17 Gonzaga vs Ohio St (11/23 @ 9:30 PM PT)
- #1 Duke vs Texas *if both win (11/24 @ 2:30 PM ET)
- #25 Alabama vs #14 Minnesota (11/25 @ 5:00 PM ET) *FB Live
-
#16 Texas A&M @ #10 USC (11/26 @ 10:00 PM ET)
Bracket Bingo 