Games I'd wish I'd seen on 21 December 2013

It's been a big weekend in the college basketball, with some previously undefeated teams gaining blemishes on their records.  Only eight teams remain undefated now:  Indiana, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, San Diego, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Iowa State.

The biggest team to fall from the ranks of the undefated yesterday was #3 Tennessee, which traveled to #6 Stanford only to fall 76-70.  Stanford senior Chiney Ogwumike scored 32 points and 20 points to step up at the big moment.  Rocky Top Talk has more to say about Tennessee's loss.

(Looking at my Elo rankings, I figured that the loss to Stanford would knock Tennessee out of the #2 spot.  No dice.  The Elo system doesn't think that a close loss on the road against a powerful opponent justfies dropping a spot, although they did lose some of their points.  Stanford, however, will move from #6 to #4 in the Elo rankings.  With both Tennessee and Duke losing, the AP Poll on Monday will be extremely interesting.)

The other loss was Colorado's 69-62 loss to Louisville.  The Buffs were undefeated this season and had won 33 straight non-conference games.  Louisville senior guard Shoni Schimmel scored 30 points with 21 points coming in the second half.  But I'm just hitting the high points of the Ralphie Report, and you'll want to read more at SB Nation's Colorado website.

But there were even more games that I'd wish I'd seen:

(9-2) Saint Joseph's 62
@ (11-1) #23 Syracuse 64

* Low shooting game - Orange only hit 31 percent of their shots, won anyway.
* Big rebounding margin by Syracuse - 21 offensive rebounds vs. 7 for St. Joseph's
* St. Joseph's: 10-for-23 from 3-point range
* Syracuse - 60th straight non-conference home victory
* Syracuse - only gained first lead of the second half with 3:30 left in the game
* on final time out with 10.7 seconds left, Syracuse sophomore guard Brittney Skyes (20 points, 9 rebounds) scored the buzzer-beating layup to win for Syracuse


(8-4) #20 Oklahoma 69
@ (7-4) Marist 76

* Marist upsets Oklahoma at home at the strength of 47 percent shooting
* Sooners win the rebounding battle 37-29
* First win by Marist in history over a ranked opponent at home
* Gamed tied at 66-66 with two and a half minutes left.
* Back to back layups by Red Foxes help seal the win
* Marist sophomore guard Syndey Coffey - 25 points (career high)


(11-1) #16 Georgia 58
@ (9-2) Rutgers 61

* Georgia leaves the ranks of the undefeateds
* Scarlet Knights:  13-for-18 free throw shooting
* Bulldogs:  22 turnovers; Scarlet Knights:  18 turnovers

* Down by 7, Georgia hits two 3-pointers to close up with just seven seconds left

* Rutgers:  fouled on the inbounds pass with 0:07 left, freshman guard Tyler Scaife hits both free throws - the only free throws she hit in the game

* Rutgers junior guard Betnijah Laney - 18 points, 10 rebounds

(6-4) Miami (FL) 73
@ (10-1) Arizona State 75

* Key - personal fouls.  Hurricanes commit 29 personal fouls, Sun Devils are 27-for-36 at free throw line
* 312th victory at Arizona State for Charli Turner-Thorne, moves to #2 all time wins as a Pac-12 coach (#1:  Tara VanDerveer with 751)
* 9th straight win for Sun Devils, most consecutive wins since 2008-09
* Sun Devils force turnover on final possession, freshman forward Sophie Brunner seals the game with a free throw

(5-4) Kansas State 75
@ (9-2) Hampton 86 (2 OT)

* Kansas State commits 33 personal fouls - three Wildcat players foul out.  For more, go to Bring on the Cats, the SB Nation Kansas State blog.

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Elo Rankings as of December 21, 2013:

1. Connecticut 11-0, 2. Tennessee 10-1, 3. Kentucky 11-0, 4. Stanford 10-1, 5. Notre Dame 9-0, 6. Duke 11-1, 7. Louisville 12-1, 8. Maryland 10-1, 9. Baylor 9-1, 10. North Carolina 11-2, 11. California 7-2, 12. Oklahoma State 10-0, 13. Nebraska 9-2, 14. Colorado 9-1, 15. Purdue 8-2, 16. Iowa State 9-0, 17. Oklahoma 8-4, 18. South Carolina 10-1, 19. Louisiana State 9-2, 20. Texas A&M 7-3, 21. Georgia 11-1, 22. Penn State 7-3, 23. Vanderbilt 10-2, 24. Gonzaga 10-2, 25. Dayton 4-4


So which games were your favorite games from yesterday - and did you have a chance to see those games?  Let us know in the comments below!