Last night was an excellent night of hoops. There were two players who scored 40 and a big name team almost got beat on the road. We learned a lot about some teams as well. Let’s get started. Georgetown blew Creighton out in DC. The Hoyas did it without their point guard Malik Mack and look very good. They will be a factor in the Big East especially in DC.
UConn needed OT to beat Xavier in Storrs. The Huskies won, but they didn’t look as dominant. Wins are what is important. Marquette blew out Butler in Milwaukee. Memphis used a big second half to beat Virginia, and Houston blew out Toledo. In one of the night's biggest games, Oklahoma made a three and a free throw with 10 seconds left to beat Michigan. Oklahoma was down the whole game, and I still can’t figure out how Michigan let that happen. The Sooners remain undefeated.
Alabama got a huge scare against North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks tried to make the most of the opportunity to play a top 10 team in Grand Forks. The Tide escaped but it was a 40 minute battle. Gonzaga blew out Nicholls and Washington beat Washington State.
Let’s get to the elephant in the room. Just days after Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb got into it with Adam Schefter on social media, and after Gottlieb guaranteed a win, the Phoenix lost to Michigan Tech. Michigan Tech is not a division 1 team. Green Bay is a mess this year and Gottlieb really needs to focus on his team and not social media beefs. Just my two cents.
There was a huge Wednesday schedule, and the Thursday schedule lightened up, but there are some big events today. The HBCU Classic begins today. Ohio Valley Conference play begins, and the Horizon League resumes conference play. There are no ranked teams who play today but there are still some great games. Here are the games for day 45, December 19, 2024.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Norfolk State | Alabama State |
Georgia | Buffalo |
Cleveland State | Oakland |
Belmont | UC Irvine |
North Alabama | Charleston Southern |
Grambling | Delaware State |
Middle Tennessee | Lipscomb |
Morehead State | UT Martin |
Texas | New Orleans |
Little Rock | SIU Edwardsville |
Wyoming | Bellarmine |
Southern Indiana | Tennessee State |
Lindenwood | Tennessee Tech |
Southeast Missouri | Eastern Illinois |
South Dakota | Utah Tech |
Grand Canyon | Chicago State |
Pepperdine | Long Beach State |
Saint Mary's | Merrimack |
The 18 games on the schedule today have a lot of potential blowouts in there. The premier games are the games in the HBCU Classic. If you are unfamiliar with the event, it is sponsored by Chris Paul, and he showcases 4 HBCU teams every year in a mini-tournament. Each team is guaranteed two games in the event. This year the games are being played at Mohegan Sun Arena. Enjoy the hoops.