An upset and a shootout make for wild night
Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:10 PM
Filed Under:
Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10
Michigan’s win against No. 4 UCLA shouldn’t be a huge shock. Expect nothing less from a John Beilein team.
Sure, the Wolverines (3-0) started off hot this season, mostly behind Manny Harris’ scoring touch. But it’s the third time a Beilein-coached team has beaten the Bruins. In 2007, Beilein’s West Virginia squad took advantage of a Darren Collison’s absence to snag a 70-65 win. In 2006, Kevin Pittsnogle & Co. pulled off a 60-56 win.
Whether it’s Beilein’s perplexing 1-3-1 zone or some timely 3s, his teams get it done vs. UCLA. ‘Nuff said. Especially since it wasn’t Thursday’s most remarkable game.
That would be Texas Tech’s 167-115 win against East Central (Okla.). Yes, you read the score correctly. 167-115.
The Red Raiders had 10 players reach double figures, including a game-high 20 from Trevor Cook. They took 113 shots, hit 67 of ‘em. They only made 13 3-pointers and 20 free throws.
So just how did Tech get to 167? (After all, VMI, college hoops’ resident run-n-gun team, made 19-of-40 three-point attempts in its 133-72 win on Thursday.)
The Raiders committed to the run like few D-I teams have since Loyola Marymount.
I wish I could’ve watched the game. According to the box score, the Red Raiders had 119 possessions. Did the ball ever touch the floor? Did they have someone cherry picking at the other end, just sitting under the basket? After all, you’d think they’d have gotten gassed flying up and down the floor like that, but they scored 1.406 PPP and had an eFG% of 65.0. (It's a monster box score. Someone check my math.)
Maybe Mike Leach installed a new offense for Pat Knight. Who knows?
All I do know is that I’m getting tired just sitting here thinking about it. East Central (A D-II school located in Ada, Okla.) wasn’t too shabby either. By my math, the Tigers had 90 possessions and notched 1.278 PPP.
That means the average possession during the game was just over 10 seconds. Somewhere, Paul Westhead is smiling.
