Saturday Notes – December 14, 2019

The first Saturday of the year that college basketball didn’t have to compete with college football was a really good one for the sport. It was full of good games, both in terms of matchups and how the games went, as talked about in the Morning Dish.

With that, let’s get right to notes on many of the day’s games.

Oregon 71, Michigan 70 (OT): A tremendous early game that was every bit as good as we could have expected, and a big game in particular for Payton Pritchard, who will get noticed for scoring 23 points but especially the big game-winner, and he did it against a very good defensive guard in Zavier Simpson. The Ducks almost won it in regulation, but the ball was still in Anthony Mathis’ hand as time expired.

Michigan State 72, Oakland 49: The Spartans have been a bit underwhelming to some, but this was a pretty solid win in terms of handling a team they should take care of.

Gonzaga 84, Arizona 80: It got a little too close for comfort late, especially on one possession where the Bulldogs put up an unnecessary shot on a drive, but they held on for their third straight win over the Wildcats.

Georgetown 89, Syracuse 79: Give the Hoyas credit for how they have bounced back from the recent adversity. They are 3-0 with wins at Oklahoma State and SMU (the Mustangs’ first loss of the season) and now over arch rival Syracuse.

Butler 66, Southern 41: The Bulldogs bounce back from their first loss of the season at Baylor in fine fashion.

Villanova 78, Delaware 70: Villanova jumped out early, but give Delaware credit for gamely fighting to get back in it behind a big game from Nate Darling (29 points, five assists). The Blue Hens look like they can contend in the CAA.

Memphis 51, Tennessee 47: A solid road win for Memphis, especially since it took a big defensive effort to get there. Getting wins like this without James Wiseman will only help later on.

Kentucky 67, Georgia Tech 53: The Yellow Jackets got off to a good start, but once Kentucky got the lead, you never sensed they would relinquish it in this one. It’s a good win, but hardly an NCAA Tournament resume builder, so at this point the Wildcats are still a hard team to really figure out.

Auburn 67, Saint Louis 61: At the Mike Slive Invitational in Birmingham, the Tigers remain undefeated in holding off the Billikens, who lose for just the second time on the season. VCU and Dayton might appear to be the Atlantic 10’s best, but Saint Louis is giving every indication that they’ll be in the mix as well.

Penn State 73, Alabama 71: The Nittany Lions look more and more like a team destined to finally get to the NCAA Tournament, as this was not a resume win but is a good one nonetheless behind 18 points and 11 rebounds from Lamar Stevens.

Mississippi State 67, Kansas State 61: The first game of the day and part of the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J. was a defensive struggle as neither team shot 40 percent. With non-conference play winding down, the Bulldogs have some good-not-great wins like New Orleans, Coastal Carolina and now this one, but could use a signature win. Their non-conference chance at that will be at Oklahoma next month in the SEC/Big 12 challenge.

Arizona State 79, Georgia 59: Save for committing 17 turnovers, this was a fine all-around effort by the Sun Devils, who are getting great play of late from Romello White (18 points, 17 rebounds) and then held Anthony Edwards to 13 points on 5-12 shooting.

BYU 68, Utah State 64: The Cougars get their biggest win thus far and start looking more like an interesting team as far as their NCAA at-large hopes go. They have a win at Houston in addition to this, and good-not-great wins over the likes of UCLA, Virginia Tech and Nevada. The concerning loss is at Boise State.

Liberty 61, Vanderbilt 56: The Flames remain undefeated by holding down the Commodores and out-rebounding them 39-28. If they can get past Towson and LSU, talk of them going undefeated will begin as they are even more prohibitive favorites in the Atlantic Sun than before the season.

Notre Dame 75, UCLA 61: The Bruins showed some early promise, but not surprisingly, they haven’t fared as well in their tougher games as Mick Cronin works on changing the culture and identity. With the Pac-12 looking a lot better this time around, conference play will be a little tougher.

Dayton 78, Drake 47: The Flyers steadily pulled away in the second half for a solid win, and it looks more and more like the Atlantic 10 will be one heck of a battle between them and VCU, with Saint Louis, George Mason and Richmond also in the mix.

Richmond 78, College of Charleston 71: Speaking of the Spiders, they are now 9-1 after taking care of a CAA contender.

Wichita State 80, Oklahoma 75: Not many are talking about the Shockers, but they just knocked off Oklahoma State in Stillwater less than a week ago before this one for two solid resume wins to go to 9-1.

Arkansas 98, Tulsa 79: Arkansas is quietly 9-1, with only two games played away from Fayetteville, and Mason Jones had a career game in this one with 41 points, six rebounds and four assists. The Razorbacks’ best win is probably either this one or Georgia Tech, and the only remaining chance for a non-conference quality win is at Indiana in two weeks, so they’ll have to make their mark in SEC play. Their record to this point indicates they’re probably building confidence that can help to that end.

Wake Forest 80, Xavier 78: The Demon Deacons get a statement win in the Skip Prosser Classic by holding off Paul Scruggs (30 points) and the Musketeers. They aren’t exactly on the fast track to an NCAA Tournament bid, but they have at times looked quite capable, having also knocked off Davidson and College of Charleston while also giving Arizona a good game.

Rutgers 68, Seton Hall 48: The Scarlet Knights build on their win over Wisconsin earlier in the week, and Seton Hall falls to 6-4, but the loss is not the biggest concern. Myles Powell suffered a concussion and sat out the second half, Maryland comes to town on Thursday in a game they for their NCAA Tournament resume. Their best wins right now are against Iowa State and Saint Louis – solid, but neither is a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Providence 82, Stony Brook 78: The Friars get above .500, but not without some difficulty as they had to hold off the Seawolves late.

Colgate 67, Cincinnati 66: This game had quite the ending, as the Raiders tied it, then Jarron Cumberland apparently thought there was less time remaining than there really was, so he put up a heave from behind midcourt that missed. A foul ensued on the rebound, and Colgate made one of two to steal one.

New Mexico 69, New Mexico State 62: The Lobos are quietly 10-2 and swept the season series against their arch rivals for the first time in four years behind 17 points and 17 rebounds from Carlton Bragg.

Princeton 80, Fairleigh Dickinson 65: The Tigers pick up just their second win of the season behind a double-double from Richmond Aririguzoh (18 points, 12 rebounds)