#8 Marquette 71 -- #22 Notre Dame 64
Jerel McNeal put the Golden Eagles on his shoulders and willed them to this impressive road victory. He dropped 27 points whule fellow senior Dominic James chipped in with a juicy stat line of his own: 15 pts, 9 rebs, and 5 asts. Luke Harangody played his usual solid game for the Irish (29 pts and 17 rebs) and once again received an embarrassing lack of help from his teammates. Kyle McAlarney shot just 3-12 FGs (1-6 3pt FG) and basically embodied the lackluster performance of his team in a nutshell. In a broader perspective, this game showed 2 teams going in different directions. ND has lost 4 games in a row, including 2 in a row at home after having won their previous 45. They are 2-5 this year against ranked opponents. Marquette on the other hand has won 10 in a row, and is undefeated in Big East play. A lot of the naysayers claim that MU hasn't beaten any quality opponents yet, but all I have to say to that is you play the games on your schedule. They have a tough upcoming month against the likes of Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse, so to be peaking now is a good sign for this veteran-led team. Personally, I think this game exposed ND as the sham they really are. To be 12-6 (now 12-7) heading into this game and still ranked in the Top 25 is inexcusable. Once again the media's infatuation with all things ND has spilled over from football into the basketball polls. Their schedule doesn't get much easier either, so look for them to fall back into mediocrity where they belong. Which is really a shame only because Harangody is the real deal, and a very fun player to watch. He has a future for sure.
#5 Oklahoma 89 -- Oklahoma St. 81
Don't fuck with Blake Griffin. Seriously. After being held to only 6 first-half points on 4 shot attempts (thanks to some harrassing defense by the Cowboys), B Griff blew up in the 2nd half. He finished with 26 pts and 19 rebs (1 more reb than the entire OSU team!), but his presence goes beyond the stats. He is very demoralizing to play against because he is so dominating down low. Excellent footwork, quickness, great hands and soft touch -- aka impossible to guard. Not to mention that his impressive strength forces inferior big men to eat up fouls as they try to prevent him from scoring easy baskets. This game was great to watch because about 3 minutes into the 2nd half both teams made some mutual agreement to not play defense anymore. OSU reminded me alot of the Phoenix Suns of a few years ago. They literally like to run the "7 seconds or less" offense, and if they haven't launched a 3-pointer within that timeframe, their offense goes into shambles. That being said, I gotta give them credit because they were making some rediculous shots to keep this game close, twice bringing it to within 2 points. But OU showed the grit of a championship caliber team by never surrendering the lead they held all game. Every time OSU got it close, the Sooners would slow it down and dump it back into B Griff. Sure OU is ranked 5th in the nation, but I still feel as though they are being overlooked by the "experts," most likely because they don't play in the Gay-C-C. The Sooners are a team to keep your eye on come tournament time, as they have the best big man in college basketball surrounded by veteran guards. And just to add to Blake Griffin's badass-ness, his older brother Taylor is the other starting F on the team. So fucking cool.
Note: Keep an eye on OSU freshman guard Keiton Page. He averages 10 pts a game coming off the bench, and he had 15 tonight. He is minuscule 5'10'' white guy but he is quick as shit and plays pretty good perimeter defense despite his height. And he hit some ballsy 3-pt bombs to keep the game interesting. Plus, his name is Keiton...I don't know how to even pronounce it.
