NCAA Basketball: D’Marcus Simonds, UTSA top mid-major performers
By Logan Butts
Best Mid-Major Matchup – All of Them
There were a lot of important conference battles this week, especially on Saturday. Let’s break them down.
Fresno State went into Utah State’s building and came out with a 78-77 win, only to fall 74-64 at home against Nevada three days later. The Wolf Pack took care of business on the road against arguably their toughest conference opponent. If only they hadn’t lost at New Mexico…
Similarly, Gonzaga played a great all-around game to come away with a 96-83 win on the road at San Francisco, which on paper was the biggest hurdle for the Zags in an undefeated conference record.
Saint Mary’s also earned a strong WCC win, 71-60 at Loyola Marymount. The WCC is deep this year. Will it finally lead to two NCAA bids?
In the WAC, New Mexico State made some noise this week. The Aggies won 73-62 vs CSU Bakersfield and Johnny McCants hit a buzzer beater from half court to give NMSU a 77-75 win vs Grand Canyon, defeating their top two WAC opponents in one swoop.
The SoCon continues to be a dog fight. This week, UNC-G beat formerly-ranked Furman 89-79. The Wofford, UNC-G, ETSU, Furman quadrant is insane for a conference of the SoCon’s level.
Davidson beat VCU 64-57 to vault to the top of the A10 standings. Montana blew out Northern Colorado 88-64 on the road to end the Bears’ undefeated start to Big Sky play.
Loyola-Chicago beat Illinois State 67-64 in a battle of Illinois-based MVC squads that had much higher preseason expectations.
Next. Overlooked storylines in 2018-19. dark
Charleston defeated Delaware 71-58 in a key CAA matchup. And finally, North Alabama earned their first-ever DI win over FGCU. What a downfall for Dunk City this season.