Scores
Tennessee 76 - Kansas 68
There's nothing like a crisis to show a coach what he's got, and Bruce Pearl has something special in Knoxville. With no real lineup decisions to make, Pearl was able to focus on how to play instead of who to play, and his Vols came out with defensive intensity, quick hands, and a total team effort. Each major statistical category was led by a different player, but it was Skylar McBee who put himself on the AWJS map by draining a late dagger that put the game out of reach for the visiting Jayhawks. Arkansas may be the only team the Vols will play on an even footing all season, but that won't matter if the machine keeps clicking like it has been.
Maryland 77 - Florida State 68
In his postgame interview, Grievis Vasquez said "Firss of all, I'd like to thank Gah." Well, thank Gah indeed, the Terps still have the mojo to upset ranked teams while losing to unranked teams. It gets them in the tournament every year. Vasquez had the type of all-around game he specializes in, with 22 points, 5 assists, and 3 of 6 from deep.
Arizona 87 - Washington 70
And speaking of teams that seem to weather the storm every year, how about them Wildcats? On this particular night, Jemelle Horne handled scoring, with 22 points, freshman Derrick Williams grabbed 9 boards, and Nic Wise and Kyle Fogg each scored 14. Washington never led throughout the game, and now sits at the bottom of the Pac-10 with a 1-3 conference mark. That should do it for their status as the only ranked team in the conference.
Northwestern 68 - Michigan 62
Butler 64 - Detroit 62 (OT)
Temple 68 - Rhode Island 64
UNC 78 - Virginia Tech 64
Syracuse 82 - South Florida 65
Xavier 76 - George Washington 69
Arizona State 71 - Washington State 46
Denver 72 - Western Kentucky 67
Oregon State 64 - Oregon 57
Stat Hounds
Dominique Jones (South Florida): 30 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block @ Syracuse
A.J. Slaughter (Western Kentucky): 28 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks @ Denver
Omar Samhan (St. Mary's): 24 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 3 blocks @ Santa Clara
Categorical Undeniability
Points: 30 - Dominique Jones (South Florida) @ Syracuse
Rebounds: 18 - Cole Aldrich (Kansas) @ Tennessee
Assists: 12 - Rodney Green (La Salle) @ UMass
Blocks: 5 - Mitchell Young (St. Mary's) @ Santa Clara; Mahamoud Jabbi (Binghamton) vs. Maine
Steals: 4 - De'Jon Jackson (San Diego) @ San Francisco; Seth Tarver (Oregon State) @ Oregon; Woody Paine (Detroit) vs. Butler; Patrick Bouli (Manhattan) @ Fairfield; Ayron Hardy (Jacksonville) @ Florida Gulf Coast; Andrew Gabriel (Manhattan) @ Fairfield; J.P. Prince (Tennesssee) vs. Kansas; Germaine Sparkes (North Florida) @ Stetson; LeKendrick Longmire (Oregon) vs. Oregon State
Read It
Rocky Top Talk: Yes, I am a Kansas fan. Yes, I hated to watch my team lose in Knoxville. But I'm big enough to admit that BruceBall is a beautiful thing to watch when it's working, and man was it working last night. Like all the other UT blogs, this one is football-first (the top story on the page is about signing day, so scroll down), but even gridiron fans have to admit that Bruce Pearl's team handled thier version of the Knoxville sportscrime syndicate with aplomb, by coming out ready to play and hammering the top team in the country. As RTT's Will says in his coverage of the upset: Out Here, Hope Remains.