DATE: Tuesday, Jan. 6
A — Arkansas
If Monday's SEC opener at Georgia was a barometer for whether Arkansas is truly the league's second-best team, the Razorbacks took a step toward proving themselves. They rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to post a 79-75 road win behind 21 points from forward Bobby Portis and 17 from guard Michael Qualls.
The road win against a solid opponent was a promising sign for an Arkansas program that has struggled away from Bud Walton Arena in recent years. The Razorbacks entered Tuesday night with a 60-6 home mark in four seasons under Mike Anderson but a 10-35 road record.
Arkansas' victory capped a great day for Anderson, who also received a contract extension through 2019 hours earlier. The Razorbacks are now 12-2 so far this season with a quality win at SMU and a bad loss at mediocre Clemson.
B- — Iowa State
To avoid a second straight loss against an unranked opponent, Iowa State leaned on Dustin Hogue during crunch time. The senior forward came through in a big way, scoring all 17 of his points in the second half and producing the biggest defensive play of the game to help the Cyclones thwart Oklahoma State's upset bid and escape with a 63-61 win.
Oklahoma State had a rare chance to win at the buzzer in Ames after Georges Niang turned the ball over with 23 seconds to go and Iowa State leading by two. The Cowboys waited an eternity to begin running a play, which led to Tavarius Shine rushing a 3-pointer that Hogue volleyball spiked into the crowd with 0.9 seconds left. Niang swatted away Phil Forte's ensuing prayer at the buzzer to clinch the win for Iowa State.
Tuesday's victory will fall under the ugly win category for Iowa State, not that the Cyclones care. They needed to get back on track after a listless home loss to Iowa State in which they shot just 35.1 percent from the field.
D — Minnesota
Minnesota was lucky to get to overtime against visiting Ohio State on Tuesday night considering it trailed by as many as 12 at halftime and it surrendered a point-blank go-ahead layup to Amir Williams at the end of regulation. Given new life when Williams somehow missed that layup, however, the Gophers failed to take advantage.
Marc Loving hit a 14-foot jumper with 5.6 seconds left to propel Ohio State to a 74-72 road win. Minnesota had one last chance on its final possession, but Shannon Scott tipped away DeAndre Mathieu's pass to an open Joey King spotted up at the top of the key and time expired before the Gophers could recover the ball and get off a clean shot.
The momentum from Minnesota's 11-2 non-conference mark is long gone now as the Gophers are off to an 0-3 start to Big Ten play. Granted losses at Purdue and Maryland and at home against the Buckeyes aren't unforgivable, but they're a sign that perhaps Minnesota's non-league record was inflated by a largely soft schedule.
D- — St. John's
The return of Rysheed Jordan from his leave of absence had little impact for St. John's against Big East favorite Villanova. The Johnnies' second-leading scorer missed all six shots he took and finished with only two points as the Wildcats dropped St. John's to 0-3 in Big East play with a decisive 90-72 road victory.
The difference in the game was that St. John's could neither prevent Villanova from scoring nor keep the Wildcats off the offensive glass on the off chance they missed. Darrun Hilliard scored 21 points and Daniel Ochefu made six of seven shots as the Wildcats hit 55.8 percent from the field and grabbed the offensive rebound on more than half the shots they missed.
St. John's looked like a real threat to contend in the Big East when it concluded an 11-1 non-league slate that included wins over Syracuse, Minnesota and Saint Mary's, but the Johnnies have dug themselves a deep hole now. They have an eight-day layoff before their next chance to earn their first Big East win comes at Providence and then at DePaul.
NOTES:
• Kentucky survived an overtime thriller in its SEC opener against visiting Ole Miss to stay undefeated and keep hope alive for an unbeaten season. To sum up my thoughts, the Rebels provided hope for the rest of the SEC by pushing the Wildcats to the buzzer but the experience of a close game like this will ultimately benefit a Wildcats team that hadn't faced game pressure in the final minutes yet this season.
• UCF's Brandon Goodwin went for 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in an overtime road win at Houston, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of his impact. His 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation forced overtime and his 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime clinched a one-point victory.
• In a battle between two of the MAC's best teams this season, Central Michigan went to Toledo and won on the road 65-62 behind 30 combined points from guards Rayshawn Simmons and Chris Fowler. The Chippewas are now 11-1 this season, though none of the victories except for a road win at Northwestern is especially eye-opening.
• Penn State has come rocketing back to earth now that Big Ten play has begun. The Nittany Lions followed road losses at Wisconsin and Rutgers with a 73-64 home loss to Michigan, dropping their record to 12-4 overall this season.
• Pittsburgh won a game it never led until five seconds remained in overtime Tuesday night. Josh Newkirk scored 15 points off the bench including the game-winning layup as the Panthers edged host Boston College 61-60.
• A huge second half from Winston Shepard propelled San Diego State to a bounce-back 56-42 home win over New Mexico in a battle between the Mountain West's two dominant programs the last six years. Shepard scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds just four nights after playing poorly in a stunning road loss at Fresno State.
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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