Houston and Missouri Take Center Stage on a Quiet Wednesday Night in College Hoops

Tuesday was set up to be one of the best nights of the year, featuring three ranked vs. ranked games. The only hope was that the games would be competitive, and for the most part, they were.  The best game of the night was Illinois and Texas Tech.  Illinois won the game, but JT Toppin from Texas Tech had 35 points and 11 rebounds to continue his march towards the National Player of the Year.  

Then there was the rivalry game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.  The Cardinals won the game and showed that they can shoot the lights out of any building they play in.  Louisville has once again proven that it is highly underrated and looks every bit like a top 5 team in the country.  Kentucky is going to be one of the best teams in the SEC again and will secure its wins as the year rolls on.  Nothing that happened in that game led me to believe either team wasn’t going to be excellent.

Then there was the night game where Creighton traveled to Spokane to take on Gonzaga, and it was the one game of the night that was an absolute blowout.  Gonzaga ran Creighton out of the gym.  It was surprising to see Creighton get beaten that badly with how well they can shoot the ball.  This looks like a vintage Mark Few team; they can run, have a fantastic frontcourt, and skilled guards who can shoot and get to the rim.  Gonzaga is dangerous.

The Tuesday slate was excellent; the Wednesday slate is a schedule for college basketball junkies because there are many mid-major teams in action.  The best games of the day are below.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies at No. 1 Houston Cougars - Can Oakland scare the top team in the country again?

Will this game be close? Probably not, and it shouldn’t be, but the Golden Grizzlies did just play Purdue down to the wire and put a scare in the Boilermakers, which caused them to lose their number 1 ranking.  Oakland is going to be overmatched against the Cougars, but with the way they shoot threes, anything can happen.

Houston is a lot better defensively than Purdue, and they are not going to let the Golden Grizzlies just roam around the three-point line. If Houston doesn’t want you to score, you are not going to score.  This game is notable only because Oakland is clearly capable of keeping this close for a while.  Houston is too good to keep Oakland in the game.

Minnesota Golden Gophers at Missouri Tigers - First actual test for the Gophers and new coach Niko Medved

Minnesota hasn’t been tested yet, but that is about to change, and head coach Niko Medved is going to learn a lot about his team as they travel to Columbia to try and pick up an early quad one win.  The Gophers are led by North Carolina transfer Cade Tyson, who is currently averaging over 25 points per game.  Tyson is going to need to be that good and then some for Minnesota to pull off the upset.

Missouri is one of the more athletic teams in the country.  They defend, they shoot threes, and they have a ton of depth.  Missouri is one of the elite offenses in the country, but they have not been playing much defense this year.  They don’t usually have to, but just as much as Minnesota is going to learn a lot about themselves in this one, so will the Tigers.

The remaining winners are listed below.