Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Longhorns take Cowboys to the Limit; Air Force Grounded

It took three overtimes, but Oklahoma State held court at home and finally beat Texas, 105-103. Mario Boggan, who set career marks with 37 points and 20 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, lifting the Cowboys to their 16th win against just 2 losses.

The win was big for Oklahoma State, as their last game was a monstrosity of a loss at Kansas, 87-57, in which Boggan and his wingman, JamesOn Curry, were largely held in check. Texas fell to 13-4 and suffered their first loss in the Big 12. Freshman Kevin Durant matched Boggan's 37 points, hauled down 12 rebounds and blocked 4 shots in the losing effort.

Both teams appear ready for a significant run in the post-season, though they still have to catch 5th-ranked Kansas (16-2, 3-0).

Pittsburgh 63 Connecticut 54 - The Panthers continued to roll through the Big East, taking down UConn last night in Pittsburgh. Aaron Gray had 22 points and 19 rebounds over the Huskies' underclassmen. UConn fell to 2-3 against Big East opponents. Pitt leads the conference at 5-0 and 17-2 overall.

Utah 85 Air Force 79 - As I ruminated yesterday, Air Force probably doesn't belong in the Top 25 and it didn't take long for the Utes to prove me right. Maybe there's unbelievable parity in the Mountain West, or maybe the conference as a whole is weak, but Utah entered the game in last place with an 0-4 record and 5-12 mark overall.

Air Force's previous other loss was at Duke, 71-56, and they ran off 13 straight after that, beating Texas Tech and Wake Forest along the way. A couple more losses to teams under .500, though, might just convince poll voters that they don't belong.

Among Top 25 games tonight, #20 Notre Dame visits Villanova, #18 Butler hosts Youngstown St., #2 Wisconsin hosts Purdue while #7 Ohio State continues to chase the Badger with a home game against Northwestern.

In the SEC, #22 Tennessee is at Auburn, #16 LSU hosts Mississippi and #10 Alabama is at Vanderbilt. LSU and 'Bama will both be tested. The Vols should roll over the 11-7 Tigers.

ACC games feature #23 Virginia Tech at Florida State and the big game of the night has #4 North Carolina as #19 Clemson.

Recaps and more tomorrow.

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