NCAA Basketball: Utah destroys USC in Salt Lake City
As the 25th ranked team in the country, USC went into Salt Lake City looking for a win, but came out on the wrong side of an NCAA basketball blowout.
In the Busting Brackets Daily Wrap-Up, we go through the major games of the day with a few short summaries and articles to keep you up to date on the recent news in the college basketball world. This covers the biggest games of yesterday and today, as well as looking at major news stories from across the nation.
We also go through each game of key importance in our “Games to Watch” section, which includes a Game of the Day and a Bubble Battle.
Here we go:
18 WisconsinBadgers89
Once again playing in the Kohl Center, the Wisconsin Badgers got back on track by running the Buckeyes out of the gym on Thursday night. Bronson Koenig was red hot for the Badgers, as he shot 5-of-7 from behind the arc en route to 21 points. On a poor shooting night for Ethan Happ (six points on 3-of-10), he was able to snag 11 rebounds. Four Buckeyes scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough.
20 Notre DameFighting Irish67
For a more in-depth look at this game, Carmine Carcieri has you covered here.
UtahUtes86
In what was a big home win for Utah, Devon Daniels had 17 points and Kyle Kuzma recorded a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was, however, the Utah defense that was the story. USC scored a respectable 64 points, albeit in a blowout, but shot at only 36.7 percent from the field. Chimezie Metu was the only Trojan to reach double figures, with 17.
22 CincinnatiBearcats66
In a battle of two top programs in the AAC, the 22nd ranked Cincinnati Bearcats got the win at home. Gary Clark (18 points) and Troy Caupain (16 points) were the high men for the Bearcats, while SMU was led by a 20-point outburst by Sterling Brown. Cincinnati continues to show why they’re the likely favorite to win the conference.
IowaHawkeyes83
In what was another upset, the Iowa Hawkeyes held onto their late lead in the win over Caleb Swanigan and the Purdue Boilermakers. Swanigan ended the game with 17 points and eight rebounds, even in the loss. Peter Jok, as was expected, was the leader for the Hawkeyes, contributing 29 huge points in their home victory.
4 UclaBruins104
UCLA drilled 19 threes (a program record) in their beatdown of the Colorado Buffaloes on the road. Bryce Alford paced the Bruins with 37 points (!), while Isaac Hamilton scored 20 and Lonzo Ball dished out eight assists.
Games to Watch on Friday, January 13th:
Toledo Rockets @ Central Michigan Chippewas, 7:00 p.m. ET: Even though teams like Akron and Ohio lead the Mid-American Conference, they both sit in the East division. Toledo and Central Michigan both have legitimate chances to win the West division, which might help them eventually make a run in the conference tournament for an automatic bid. Also, if you haven’t seen 5’9″ stud Marcus Keene (who leads the entire NCAA with 29.3 points per game), you should tune in.
Best of Yesterday from Busting Brackets:
NCAA Basketball: Player of the Year power rankings (Edition Seven): Back again with another look at the potential POY candidates, Carmine Carcieri gives his rankings.
North Carolina State Basketball: Why the Wolfpack haven’t lived up to expectations: After falling to Boston College the other night, Carmine Carcieri looks at how the NC State program has struggled to this point in the season.
Texas Basketball: Tevin Mack suspended indefinitely: The leading scorer for the Texas Longhorns, Tevin Mack, was suspended indefinitely on Thursday due to a violation of team rules. Doug Winkey has the details.
Big East Basketball: Three takeaways from Creighton’s win over Butler: Following the rout on Wednesday night, Lukas Harkins gives a recap of the Creighton-Butler game as well as the three things he took away from it.
ACC Basketball: Boston College improves to .500 in league play with win over NC State: Carmine Carcieri recaps the Eagles’ victory over the Wolfpack.
That ends today’s Daily Wrap-Up. Tune in tomorrow for another edition and have a great day!
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