Fighting Irish Ride Bonzie Colson's 33 Points To 84-72 Win Over Florida State

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, February 11, 2017

Less than a month ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had won seven straight, their 16-2 record had them high in the national rankings and their 5-0 ACC record led the conference.

That was before a spate of five losses (and just two wins) dropped the Irish out of the Top 25 and down in the conference standings. The Irish lost to Florida State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Duke and North Carolina, while defeating just Syracuse and Wake Forest.

Saturday may have been the start of what could be called the Irish Revenge Tour as Notre Dame hosted #14 Florida State and handed them an 84-72 defeat at South Bend.

Leading the charge was junior forward Bonzie Colson, who hung a career-high 33 points on the Seminoles and improved his conference-best double-double tally to 16 with 13 rebounds.

The win moved Notre Dame to 8-5 in conference play, tied with Syracuse in fifth place, but only 1 1/2 games behind ACC leader, North Carolina.

Colson, a 6'5" match-up nightmare out of Detroit, made 12 of 18 shots from the field including a three-pointer and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

With the win, the Fighting Irish may have turned their season back into a sure invite to the NCAA tournament. At 19-7, the Irish have an excellent shot at being one of the six or seven teams out of the ACC to go to the big dance, They have games remaining against Louisville, Georgia Tech, Boston College (twice, home and away) and NC State prior to the ACC tournament.

Harvard Tops Brown 87-74 As Bryce Aiken Equals Career-High With 23

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, February 10, 2017

Limited action in college hoops on Friday, which means the Ivy League comes into focus.

Bryce Aiken scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half as Harvard pulled away for an 87-74 win over Brown Friday night.

Brown led at the half, 35-33, but the Crimson pulled away in the latter stages of the game, scoring 55 second half points, fueled by Aiken's outburst and contributions from Siyani Chambers and Seth Towns, who tallied 15 and 17, respectively.

Aiken, a six-foot freshman out of Randolph, New Jersey, came in off the bench as he normally does, but was on court for 32 minutes. He leads the Crimson in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game. His 23 points equaled his career best when he put up the same number in Harvard's win over Howard on December 30.

Harvard improved to 5-2 in conference play and is two games back of 7-0 Princeton in the Ivy. The Crimson fell to Princeton, 57-56, on February 4. The rematch, at Princeton, is set for Friday, March 3rd. In between the Tigers and the Crimson stands 6-1 Yale, who hosts Harvard on Saturday, making for a robust trio of teams vying for the Ivy League title.

There's no conference tournament in the Ivy, so every game is important.

A slew of key games are on tap for the weekend, including #1 Gonzaga at #20 St. Mary's, #2 Villanova at #24 Xavier, and #5 Oregon at USC on Saturday. Sunday's action heats up with Oregon State at #10 UCLA, #11 Cincinnati at #25 SMU, and #12 Virginia at Virginia Tech.

Grayson Allen Scores 25, Leading Blue Devils Past Tar Heels

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 9, 2017

The first meeting between the two powerhouses of the ACC lived up to its advance billing as Grayson Allen poured in 25 points to lead #18 Duke past #8 North Carolina, 86-78, Thursday night in Durham, North Carolina.

Allen, a junior guard from Jacksonville, Florida, splashed in seven of 12 from three-point range and was 9-for-14 overall, adding three rebounds and three assists.

Both teams were on the mark all night. The Tar Heels shot 52.5% from the floor; Duke, 52.6%. The scoreboard difference was fueled largely by Allen, as Duke made 13 of 27 from beyond the arc (48.1%), while the Tar Heels were cold, making just four threes in 12 attempts (33.3%).

The victory was the fourth straight for Duke, which had suffered through an uncharacteristically rough patch in which they dropped three of four, including losses to Louisville, Florida State and North Carolina State.

North Carolina's loss dropped them into a tie for first place in the ACC with Florida State at 9-3. Duke is still 1 1/2 games back at 7-4 and 19-5 overall. North Carolina is 21-5 on the season.

The Blue Devils face a quick turnaround, with Clemson (13-10, 3-8, conf.) coming to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.