Scores
Purdue 73 - Tennessee 72
Bear with me, here. This is an encouraging result for Bruce Pearl's Vols. Last year, this game probably would have been out of hand by halftime. In our Tennessee preview, we pointed to perimeter defense as a crucial part of this team's resurgence. Purdue hit only 25% from behind the arc, including a surprising 1/7 night from normally dead-eye Robbie Hummel. The good news for Purdue is that their defense is everything it was supposed to be. What a great early-season matchup.
Cincinnati 67 - Vanderbilt 58
The shooting in this game was atrocious, so it came down to gutbucket inside play. Yancey Gates led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Dion Dixon also grabbed X boards to go with XII points. The Bearcats outrebounded the Commodores 45-27 in the final accounting, with most of the margin coming at the expense of Vandy's missed shots.
Gonzaga 76 - Colorado 72
Colorado showed some serious gumption in this one, taking a completely unexpected 11-point lead into the locker room at halftime. They promptly lost it in the second, but didn't lose heart, keeping it close until the final buzzer. Both teams are now 3-1.
North Carolina 93 - Gardner Webb 72
Louisville 80 - Appalachian State 53
Texas 85 - Iowa 60
Northern Iowa 81 - Boston College 69
Clemson 102 - Winthrop 66
Pittsburgh 68 - Wichita State 55
Montana 68 - Oregon 55
Maryland 79 - Chaminade 51
Stat Hounds
Grayson Flittner (Gardner-Webb): 32 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 56% 3P @ UNC
James "Big Lumber" Eayrs (Milwaukee): 28 points, 5 rebounds, 6/7 3P vs. Texas State
Deon Thompson (UNC): 22 points, 10 rebounds vs. Gardner-Webb
Categorical Undeniability
Points: 32 - Grayson Flittner (Gardner-Webb) @ UNC
Rebounds: 13 - Zonko Buljan (TCU) vs. Colgate; Ed Davis (UNC) vs. Gardner-Webb; Damion James (Texas) vs. Iowa; Papa Dia (SMU) vs. Non-DI
Assists: 5 - Nate Tomlinson (Colorado) vs. Gonzaga
Blocks: 4 - Ben Averkamp (Loyola, IL) vs. Western Michigan; Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt) vs. Cincinnati
Steals: 4 - A whole shit-ton of people. OK, it was ten guys, but I'm just not willing to do that much typing right now. I mean, seriously two guys from Army did it in one game.