[I know what you’re thinking – “Like there aren’t enough daily recap columns, Ken?” Yes, it’s another daily recap column. But this will cover some different ground from the other fine efforts out there, as it will be a bit more science-y I guess you could say. Trust me, it’ll grow on you. Just give it some time.]
Most appealing games (according to FanMatchTM):
1. Ohio State vs. Marquette: Canceled!
2. Georgetown vs. Florida: Canceled!
3. Michigan State vs. UConn: This was actually played. Camouflage uniforms on basketball players are not easy on the eye. Nor was this game, but the Huskies don’t care as they came away with a 66-62 victory behind a strong performance from Shabazz Napier. He’s the frontrunner for “Shabazz of the Year” at this point, and the Huskies clinched the best record among games played in Europe. Take that APR Police!
4. South Dakota State at Alabama: If we had PBP, the win probability for this one would have some serious peaks and valleys. Nate Wolters had 30, but it wasn’t enough because Trevor Lacey connected on a three as time expired to give ‘Bama a 70-67 win.
5. Bucknell at Purdue: Hey, the Bison are not going to give Lehigh the Patriot League title. (My pre-season ratings actually had Lehigh ranked slightly lower.) Bucknell went into Mackey Arena and pulled off the mild upset of Purdue, 70-65. They elected not to foul the Boilermakers on their final possession, instead allowing D.J. Byrd to miss a potential game-tying three.
Major upsets (<15% win probability):
1. The biggest shocker of the night was pulled off by the Peacocks of St. Peter’s who went into the RAC and knocked off Rutgers, 56-53, with the aid of just three offensive rebounds.
2. South Alabama won at Florida State 76-71, which represented a 46-point turnaround from last season’s 80-39 debacle between these two.
Crazy comebacks (<3% win probability):
[The NCAA is not posting PBP data, yet, and this category will not be available until they do. Trust me, this will be awesome eventually.]
Most exciting game(s):
[Ditto above. I actually have a scientific way to determine this from the win probability graph. More awesomeness coming soon!]
Unbeatens remaining: 255 (92 fewer than yesterday. One of the remaining teams includes New Orleans, who in their first game back to D-I defeated San Jose State, 72-68. Welcome back, Privateers.)
Winless teams remaining: 225 (122 fewer than yesterday. One of the remaining teams is Grambling, who lost to Cleveland State by 43, and is going to be here a while.)
Alan Williams Watch: [The hopes of America’s stats-based revolution rests entirely on UCSB’s Alan Williams. He put up absurd stats last season as a freshman in a sixth-man role for Santa Barbara, which included leading the nation in offensive rebounding precentage. But the eyes disrespect him. Laugh at him, you might say. I’ll be keeping tabs on him in this spot as I continue to document the eternal struggle of the stats, and their ongoing effort to rise up against their eyeball oppressors.] UCSB took on LSU last night, and Williams turned in an admirable performance against Johnny O’Bryant and Co. Foul trouble limited Williams to 21 minutes, but he went for 14 points, six boards (4 offensive), and two blocks as the Gauchos fell to the Tigers, 76-64.
Christian Standhardinger Watch: [In addition to being a more scientific recap, this space will, unlike my recapping brethren, not discriminate against late-night Hawaii games. To that end, I’ll be documenting the wacky basketball-related adventures of Hawaii’s Christian Standhardinger.] You may recall Standhardinger was rather active (both on and off the court) for Nebraska as a part-time player many years ago. Standhardinger is now playing for the Warriors, and in his long-awaited return to D-I action, he made up for his two year absence. In 29 minutes, he scored 27 points and registered a tally in every box score category except made three-pointers. Yeah, it was against UMES, but I have a feeling Standhardinger is going to be more entertaining than Craig Ferguson in this time slot. Stay tuned!
Other noteworthy events:
– Holy Cross made 8-of-30 2-point attempts but somehow still won at Old Dominion, 46-45. Where have you gone, Kent Bazemore?
– Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung (he’s 6-5, you know) had 16 boards (six offensive) in a 72-65 win over a Will Cherry-less Montana team. This was no fluke – he finished second to Williams in OR% last season.
Today’s top games: The slate isn’t nearly as compelling as Friday’s. FanMatch likes Princeton at Buffalo (noon ET) to start the day and Nevada at UC Irvine (10 PM ET) to finish it.