Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

— Gonzaga 89, Kentucky 85
Kentucky has lost 3 in row at home, for first time since 1966.
Wildcats led by 6, with 12:30 left in game.
Zags shot 56% inside arc; this is a huge win for their NCAA resume.

SEC
Alabama 109, LSU 92
Bama starts four seniors; they were 18-44 on the arc.
Crimson Tide has won 11 of its last 13 games.
This was a 78-possession game, NBA-level tempo. 

Florida 81, Auburn 65
Riley Kugel scored 22 points in 29:00; he didn’t start.
Gators have won five of their last six games.
Auburn never led; they were only 14-26 on foul line.

Texas A&M 85, Tennessee 69
Aggies were 11-28 on arc; for year, they’re shooting 27.2% on arc (#357)
A&M had 14 offensive rebounds; they’re #1 in country on offensive boards.

Big East
Marquette 86, St John’s 75
There were 59 3-pointers taken in this game, only 15 foul shots
Tyler Kolek scored 27 points, dished out 13 assists.
St John’s led by 15 late in first half.
Marquette shot 59.4% inside arc, made 14-27 on the arc.

Big X
Kansas 64, Baylor 61
Jayhawks star McCullar didn’t play.
Kansas was +13 (21-8) in turnovers, only won by 3.
Baylor was 8-26 on the arc, 11-20 inside the arc.

Houston 67, Cincinnati 62
Cincinnati led this game 32-29 at halftime.
J’Wan Roberts was 10-15 from floor; rest of Cougars were 17-54 (31.5%)
Houston has the best eFG% defense in the country.

Pac-12
UCLA 61, California 60
UCLA won, despite shooting 36.2% from the floor.
Bruins won 7 of their last 8 games, after a 6-10 start.

AAC
South Florida 69, Rice 65
Bulls made 12-27 shots on the arc.
USF has won nine in row, 15 of last 16 games.
Last 3 years, Bulls were 21-47 in AAC play; they’re 10-1 this year.

Horizon League
Green Bay (+11.5) 84, Youngstown State 83
Green Bay made 14-29 on arc; they were down 8 early in 2nd half.
Green Bay is 12-2 in its last 14 games; last 3 years, they were 16-71.

Upsets of the Day:
UNLV (+12.5) 80, New Mexico 77
Green Bay (+11.5) 84, Youngstown State 83
Arizona State (+11.5) 85, Utah 77
Cal-Riverside (+8.5) 88, Cal-Irvine 78
Buffalo (+8.5) 82, Georgia Southern 81 OT
Pepperdine (+7.5) 72, LMU 63
Tarleton State (+7.5) 82, Seattle 77
Kansas City (+6.5) 65, North Dakota 47
Canisius (+6.5) 73, Iona 69

Baseball Note of the Day: Last year, Blake Snell was the first Cy Young Award winner in 64 years to lead the major leagues in walks allowed.

Movie of the Day: The Big Short (2015)- In 2006-07, a group of investors bet against the United States mortgage market, because they discovered how flawed and corrupt the market is. They wound up making a lot of $$$.

Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Marisa Tomei, Christian Bale lead a stellar cast; the guy who wrote the book, Michael Lewis, is same guy who wrote Moneyball.

— Appalachian State 109, Toledo 104, 2OT
App State was down 9 with 2:19 left in regulation.
Four Toledo starters played 41:00+.
Sun Belt went 9-2 against the MAC in their inter-league challenge Saturday

— Yale 80, Cornell 78
Cornell led by 15 with 4:53 left in first half.
Yale was 21-27 on foul line, Cornell 8-11.
Both teams entered the day 6-0 in Ivy League games.

— UNLV 80, New Mexico 77
Rebels swept New Mexico this year, 83-73/80-77
UNLV won its last four games, after a 9-9 start.

— Cal-Riverside 88, Cal-Irvine 78
Ben Griscti, a 6-11 Australian, hit 6-10 on arc, scored 26 off bench.
Cal-Davis also lost, so Anteaters still lead Big West by a game.

— Vermont 72, UMBC 70
UMBC led this game 25-5 with 9:40 left in first half.
Vermont started week 8-0 in league, lost by hoop Thursday.
Catamounts’ win keeps them a game ahead of Bryant in America East.

— Lehigh 94, Lafayette 90, 2OT’s
Lafayette led 33-12 midway thru first half.
Lehigh was 28-33 on foul line, Lafayette 10-14
Lafayette is 9-3 in Patriot League, 1-12 in non-conference games. 

— Rutgers 78, Wisconsin 56
Scarlet Knights made 10-17 on the arc.
Wisconsin has lost four in a row, after a 16-4 start.
Badgers are 4-8 when they allow 72+ points, 12-0 when they allow less than 72. 

Author: Armadillo Sports

I've been involved in sports my whole life, now just write about them. I like to travel, mostly to Las Vegas- they have gambling there.