Richard Howell Leads #20 NC State over #1 Duke, 84-76

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, January 12, 2013

And Then there was one.

With Duke's loss to North Carolina State on Saturday, there remains only one team in the country without a loss, the 2nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines, but they must survive a trip to Columbus Ohio on Sunday, where they will play the #15 Ohio State Buckeyes - in order to last through the weekend and into Monday's poll as the presumptive #1 team in the country. Tip time for the Buckeyes and Wolverines is 1:30 pm ET.

Duke's demise came a short bus ride from their home court, at PNC Arena, home to the #20 Wolfpack, sure to rise in the rankings after their 84-76 victory over the previously-unbeaten Blue Devils.

Richard Howell, one of the nation's most accurate shooters, striking the iron at 62.3%, was a beast in the paint, scoring 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting, in addition to hauling down a game high 18 rebounds, six of them on the offensive end.

Besides denying the Blue Devils second opportunities with his board work, Howell also kept Wolfpack possessions alive by battling Mason Plumlee and other Duke rebounders.

Howell, who averages a double-double (12.4 points, 10.6 rebounds), turned in his ninth such performance of the season, helping NC State improve to 14-2, but, more importantly, push the Wolfpack to the top of the ACC standings, at 3-1.

Howell had plenty of help in upending Duke. The team's leading scorer, CJ Leslie, pumped in a game-high 25 points, and NC State's assist leader, Lorenzo Brown, dished 13 times and scored 12 points.

NOTABLE: 19 of the nation's top 25 teams were in action on Saturday, with all of them winning except for the Blue Devils, #8 Minnesota (dumped at #5 Indiana, 88-81), #17 Notre Dame, a 65-58 loser at home to unranked UConn, and 10th-ranked Missouri, finding early trouble in the SEC, falling at Mississippi, 64-49.

Richard Howell Saves Wolf Pack in 82-80 Win

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 24, 2012

Bucketfuls of Top 25 action adorned the holiday hoops weekend. For some, life was a breeze; for others, just hanging on to a ranking was enough.

Down on Tobacco Rosd, in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Wolf Pack had their hands full with unwelcome guests from NC-Asheville, as Jeremy Atkinson led all scorers with 28 points and the Bulldogs led most of the game, until Richard Howell bailed out the 16th-ranked Wolfpack, scoring the go-ahead bucket with 3:06 remaining in an 82-80 NC State victory.

Howell, a 6'8" senior forward, scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, registering his second double-double of the season. The Wolfpack improved to 4-1, bouncing back from a 76-56 drubbing by Oklahoma State on November 18.

Howell was 8-for-10 from the field and 7-for-11 from the foul line. Five of his 15 boards were offensive.

Elsewhere, in the "romp-over-cupcake" category, #3 Ohio State blasted Missouri-Kansas City, 91-45; #8 Kentucky bombed LIU Brooklyn, 104-75.

In the best holiday tournament action, the Battle for Atlantis got down to two teams for the finals, with #5 Duke topping a determined and sure to be heard from again VCU squad, 67-58.

On the other side of the draw, #2 Louisville erased Missouri, 84-61. Russ Smith popped in 18 points, but junior forward matched a career high with 19 points on six of nine shooting, making five of seven threes in just 21 minutes.

For the Memphis Tigers, the trip to the Bahamas was a veritable disaster. After losing to VCU in the opening round, 78-65, the Tigers were humbled in a consolation game by Minnesota, 84-75. The #19 Tigers went from 2-0 to 2-2 in the span of 24 hours and are unlikely to remained ranked when the new poll is released on Monday.

Also encountering early season issues was #18 UNLV, losing at home to Oregon, 83-79. The Runnin' Rebels are 2-1.