Items of note from the weekend…

Loyola of Maryland beat Niagara 97-89 on Sunday. It was kind of an ugly game. Loyola had more free throws (53) than field goal attempts (51), the first time that’s happened in any D1 game this year. Niagara had three players foul out and five more that finished with four fouls each. Larry Shyatt would be proud.

The Greyhounds don’t really care how they get their wins. Coming into the game they had won once in their last 46. Rookie head coach Jimmy Patsos gets a win over a team that went to last year’s NIT on the same day his former boss, Maryland coach Gary Williams, took a loss to an NIT team (George Washington).

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I love a good streak, and New Mexico had a doozy going until Saturday’s win at New Mexico State. The past two seasons, the Lobos had lost every time they played away from their home arena, The Pit, a total of 29 games. After a close call at the other Pit, Oregon’s MacArthur Court, earlier this season, the Lobos finally have shaken off the road demons, and are quietly establishing themselves as the favorites in the Mountain West.

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Dave pointed out the ACC’s dominance over the SEC on Saturday. If you count Friday and Sunday, the ACC went 6-0 against the SEC. But it can’t go without saying that in the less anticipated SEC/Southern Conference challenge on Sunday, the Southern Conference won 2-0, with Wofford taking down Auburn and Chattanooga upsetting Tennessee.

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Those who read my previous post regarding Connecticut’s inability – or more like ignorance – at forcing turnovers should not have been surprised to see Indiana turn it over a season-low six times against UConn on Saturday. That number matched the lowest single-game output for the Hoosiers all of last year. But the Huskies managed to play effective defense the way they always do, holding IU to 32% shooting and blocking eight shots.