What Thursday lacked in intrigue it made up for with a full-coverage RTC in College Park. Let’s examine in an #overnight5 (@matteise contributing)…
1. A 29-4 Maryland run had Xfinity Center rocking like old days on way to beating #3 Purdue, 68-54. Beyond Edey & BrSmith, rest of Boilers limited to 18 pts on 27% FG. After losing 3 of 4, will returning home get Purdue back on #1 seed track?
2. Arizona responded from Stanford L by blitzing Utah in Tucson, 88-62. While Utes made Tubelis work for his 11 pts (5-14 FG), Kerr Kriisa & Pelle Larsson combined for 28 pts – stark contrast from their 6 pt egg (1-14 FG) in SLC L. Cats still 2 games behind UCLA in Pac standings.
3. Florida Atlantic suffered 2nd C-USA Feb road L w/ 74-70 defeat @ MTSU. FAU nearly overcame 14-pt deficit in final 7 mins but were unable to get late stops. FAU began day w/ top 20 NET & SOR, but L shrinks their NCAA Tourney margin of error.
4. Despite 24 TOs & near 6-min scoring drought late in 2H, Memphis got past UCF, 64-63. With W, @Memphis_MBB has now won 8 of its last 9 as they cling to #11 seed @bracketproject. W/ 2 of final 5 games vs. Houston, Memphis cannot afford Ls elsewhere.
5. Picked 8th in A-Sun preseason, Kennesaw St moved into 1st following 88-81 W vs. Liberty. Trailing 70-59, @KSUOWLSMBB made 9 of final 11 shots to recover. From going 1-28 in 2020, Amir Abdur-Rahim now has Owls positioned for March run through Kennesaw.
EXTRA: Gonzaga avenged home L to LMU by dropping 68 1H on way to 43-pt win; UCLA traded runs back/forth w/ Stanford before finally pulling away late; Iowa avenged earlier 16-pt L at Ohio State with 17-pt W at home.