NCAA Basketball: Lipscomb and Grant Riller top mid-major performers of the week
By Logan Butts
Best Intra-State Upset – Georgia State 91 Georgia 67
What a beatdown by the Panthers.
Star guard D’Marcus Simonds was the best player on the floor with 17, 6, and 8, Malik Benlevi hit eight three-pointers for a game-high 24 points, and Georgia shot 5-18 from three-point range.
GSU took down the biggest athletic program in the state for third-place in the Cayman Islands Classic.
Shoutout to Wofford for similarly destroying South Carolina 81-61 thanks to 30 points from junior Nathan Hoover.
Best Upset, Non-Intra-State Division – Houston Baptist 93 Wake Forest 91
Houston Baptist rallied from 14 points down in the final nine minutes to send the game to overtime with 0.5 seconds remaining. After sophomore Ian DuBose, the team’s leading scorer, drained the three, the Huskies went on to outscore the Demon Deacons 10-8 in OT for the victory.
After losses to Arizona and Wisconsin in two of their first three games, Houston Baptist earned a much-deserved Power Five upset in their brutal non-conference schedule.
Most Surprising Undefeated Squad – North Texas
There are 26 unbeaten teams left as of late Monday night, and North Texas has more wins than any of them. The Mean Green are 8-0 heading into the fourth week of the season, although only five of the wins are against Division I opponents.
That streak will most likely end on Tuesday night, as North Texas takes on Oklahoma. So, let the Mean Green soak in their status the country’s leader in wins just a little bit longer.
Special shoutout to the West Coast Conference, where Loyola Marymount is 7-0 and San Francisco is 6-0. The WCC is gunning for a second bid behind Gonzaga this season.
Best Mid-Major Matchup – Illinois State 73 Boise State 70
This week’s slate was fairly week for mid-major on mid-major action, but the Redbirds continued their offseason tour of strong mid-major programs with a three-point win over the Broncos at the Cayman Islands Classic.
Senior Milik Yarbrough paced Illinois State with 28-8-6-1.
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Honorable mention goes to VCU’s 69-67 overtime win over Hofstra, Davidson’s 78-69 victory over Northeastern (thanks to 30 from Kellan Grady), and Harvard’s 74-68 won over Saint Mary’s.