Like I'm sure the rest of you were, I was engrossed by the Marquette-Duke clash last night. I was interested to see whether Duke was the real deal (they are, but they are not the powerhouse everyone makes them out to be) and to see how a middle-of-the-pack BIG EAST team fared against them (very well, Buzz Williams can coach).
Marquette couldn't quite get the memorable W, but there were some other memorable performances - particularly, Kemba Walker.
The junior from UConn torched Wichita State for 31 points (29 in the 2nd half!) as the Huskies came back to stun the Shockers in Maui. It was an electric performance that raised some eyebrows around the BIG EAST community on Twitter (I'm pretty sure The UConn Blog guys stopped just short of climaxing).
In all fairness, we knew he was good, but he looked best-player-in-the-conference good today. On to the recaps...
Duke Blue Devils 82, Marquette Golden Eagles 77
Mason Plumlee had a career-high 25 points and thoroughly dominated the game from the outset. Marquette made a great upset bid with a very good second half, but couldn't pull it out in the end.
Cincinnati Bearcats 76, Florida A&M Rattlers 51
Cashmere Wright scored 18 points and Yancy Gates tallied a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) as the Bearcats trounced Florida A&M.
Clemson Tigers 64, Seton Hall Pirates 58
Seton Hall had this one all wrapped up until Herb Pope committed a foul with 3.2 seconds left in regulation, allowing Devin Booker to hit 1 of 2 free throws and force overtime. From there, the Tigers hit 13-14 free throws to take home the win.
Louisville Cardinals 106, Chattanooga Mocs 65
Louisville led by just 12 at half but outscored the Mocs 55-28 in the 2nd half to put the game away. The Cardinals had 6 players score in double-digits with Preston Knowles leading everyone with 14 points.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 97, Maine Black Bears 72
The Irish were clicking on all cylinders as Tim Abromaitis was red-hot scoring 26 points. Tyrone Nash had a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds) and Ben Hasbrough has 11 points and 9 assists.
Walker's huge second half lifts Huskies in Hawaii
Kemba Walker had a HUGE 2nd half after sitting out most of the 1st in foul trouble. He scored 29 of his 31 points after the break to help the Connecticut Huskies take down the Wichita St. Shockers 83-79.