#1 Purdue lost a hard fought battle with #21 Indiana, and the Hoosiers’ only two gym rats proves pivotal. Trey Galloway(11 points on 4-8 shooting) and Miller Kopp (6 points on 2-3 shooting) played mistake-free offensively and lockdown defensively (5 steals and only 1 turnover between them). neither are superstars, but both players are the kind of solid performers that help you win big games.
for Purdue, Edey was a monster: 33 points (on 15-19 shooting), 18 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 blocks in 32 minutes. he did have 5 turnovers. at this point, he has to be a lock for national PoY.
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Tubelis continues to dominate for Arizona, with game-highs of 18 points (6-10 shooting) and 8 rebounds. he’s so good, that it’s become routine for him to do stuff like this.
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Virginia Tech’s 3 White starters all played outstanding basketball in their upset win over #6 Virginia. Pedulla led the way with a game-high 22 (6-13 shooting), with Basile chipping in 14 (6-10 shooting) and Cattoor adding 10 (3-10). each had 4 or more rebounds, as well.
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Jaime Jaquez skinned the Cougars of Washington State, going for game-highs of 24 points (9-17 shooting) and 15 rebounds in a win.
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in an ugly, low scoring affair, Tyler Kolek led #13Marquette to a win. he finished with a team-high of 13 points (4-10 shooting) and a game-high 8 assists. he did have 3 turnovers, however.
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in his second-consecutive game without his front court mate playing alongside him, Jack Nunge carried #16 Xavier. the stretch four scored a game-high 21, including a game-high 4 (out of 5) three-pointers. he also chipped in a game-high 6 assists and 1 block with only 2 turnovers.
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#20 Clemson dropped a close one to #24 Miami, but it wasn’t because of the Tigers all-White frontline. the trio of Hall, Tyson, and Schieffelin went a combined 14-22 from the floor for 35 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks with only 4 combined turnovers in 82 minutes. unfortunately for their cause, their much-more-hyped blackcourt mates laid an egg.
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Erik Stevenson set a career-high in scoring last week then topped it last night. he scored 34 (13-23 shooting) but only played 10 minutes in the second half, as WVU routed Oklahoma.
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Ryan Kalkbrenner is back to himself. he was quietly efficient and dominating in Creighton’s win: 16 points (7-11 shooting), 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and only 1 turnover in 38 minutes.
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Grant Nelson put on quite a show, albeit in another NDSU loss. the 6-foot-11 point forward filled the stat sheet with 27 points (on a superbly efficient 10-13 shooting) and a whopping 15 rebounds!
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Matthew Mayer is a guy i’ve talked about quite a bit in the past, but the former Baylor super-sub has now transferred to Illinois where he is probably their mvp. he kept the Illini in it against Iowa in the first half yesterday, and his defense was on display the entire game despite the loss to the Hawkeyes. at 6-foot-9, he routinely runs the point for them and usually guards the other team’s best player. over his last 3 games, he’s gone for 26, 16, and 21 while playing lockdown defense and hauling in more than his share of rebounds. he could play on my team anytime.