Following Saturday's big action, there weren't too many meaningful games on Sunday. Yes, a lot of bracket-bound and bubble teams were in play, but not many had difficult tests to face. We did see one bubble team suffer a devastating loss, and we lost another unbeaten team tonight in Hawaii, but for the most part, things went as scheduled. For example, Creighton took out Cal today, and while Cal is quite clearly on the bubble, losing on the road to a team squarely in the bracket doesn't hurt. Let's take a look at the two games that really did change the landscape.
Mercer 79, Ole Miss 76: It really cannot be overstated how bad this home loss was for Ole Miss. Then again, I'm beginning to wonder if we should really be surprised. Marshall Henderson shoots and shoots and shoots and doesn't care how many shots he misses. Henderson went 4/14 from three-point land and suffered 4 turnovers (against only 3 assists), and you wonder if 7 or 8 of those Henderson shots wouldn't have been better in someone else's hands. Jarvis Summers and Demarco Cox are not bad players, but everyone becomes invisible when Henderson decides the game is his to win or, as was the case today as other days, lose. Mercer is an OK team that I think will win the Atlantic Sun regular season and will most likely make the tournament, but you can't lose to Mercer at home and expect to get an at-large bid. Ole Miss is now easily on the wrong side of the bubble, and short multiple good conference wins, the Rebels may be headed for the NIT.
South Carolina 78, Saint Mary's 71: Saint Mary's was a team that seemed to have finally turned a corner and taken over the WCC from Gonzaga. SMC is a very good team, coached well, but as has often happened in past years, the Gaels lose teams that the Zags simply do not. Gonzaga does not lose to many 2-5, now 3-5, teams like the South Carolina Gamecocks, especially not on neutral courts. That champion's attitude is the one thing missing from SMC now, and SMC's rather pedestrian defense cannot make up for when the offense takes a night off, such as tonight, when USC shot 17% better from field goal and 18% better from three-point range. We can't expect that SMC will have repeated nights like this, but SMC should be worried about putting together multiple games in March against excellent competition.
Otherwise, for the most part, games went as expected on Sunday. Three teams already off the bubble, Richmond, West Virginia, and Dayton, are teams that can play themselves into at-large berths, but each of the three suffered terrible home losses today. Otherwise, the rest of these games played out just as they should have.
Indiana 90, Kennesaw State 66
Ohio 70, Richmond 69 (OT) - Richmond falls farther off bubble after bad home loss
Purdue 73, West Virginia 70 - And WVU falls further off bubble after bad home loss
Iowa 86, AR Pine Bluff 61
Penn State 92, Mount St. Mary's 82
Drexel 59, St. Francis (PA) 49
USC 79, Dayton 76 (OT) - once hot Flyers also fall further off bubble after bad home loss
UConn 82, Washington 70
Baylor 81, Southern 56
Iowa State 79, George Mason 67
Louisiana Tech 83, UL Monroe 61
UCLA 83, Weber State 60
Creighton 68, California 54
Wichita State 77, North Carolina Central 66
Mississippi State 71, South Florida 66
Boise State/Hawaii (late)
The Monday before Christmas does not include a lot of action, but the top-overall seed, Arizona, is in action, and there are interesting games in the tournaments in Las Vegas and Hawaii. Otherwise, however, we'll just be looking to see if there are any major upsets.
Iowa State vs. Akron in Hawaii
Chicago State at Cincinnati
Norfolk State at Virginia
Morehead State at Tennessee
Grand Canyon at New Mexico
North Dakota St. at Utah Valley
Northern Arizona at Arizona
Mississippi State vs. UNLV in Las Vegas
Saint Mary's vs. Boise State/Hawaii (late) in Hawaii
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