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Upset City: College Basketball's Weekend Surprises

By Andrew Kahn

Yesterday was Storm the Court Sunday in college basketball. Fans from Piscataway to Raleigh to Corvallis rushed the floor following upset wins over top programs. How did they happen? What do they mean going forward? Here’s a breakdown of the weekend’s biggest surprises.

Rutgers 67, Wisconsin 62

Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan opened his post-game press conference with a smile, saying, “We have to learn how to rush the court when we have a big win like that.” When the final buzzer sounded and his team had secured a victory over No. 4 Wisconsin, a squad that went to last year’s Final Four and is among the favorites to return, only a couple dozen fans came on to the court. Maybe the rest couldn’t believe what they’d witnessed. After all, Rutgers had lost home games to St. Peter’s and St. Francis earlier this season.

Wisconsin was without leading scorer Frank Kaminsky (concussion) and, for most of the second half, point guard Traevon Jackson, as the Badgers suffered their first Big Ten loss. They struggled to guard Myles Mack and Kadeem Jack all night. The Mack and Jack Attack combined for 41 points.

N.C. State 87, Duke 75

Coach K’s 1,000th win will not occur in an epic showdown with new ACC member Louisville on Saturday. That’s because he was denied win No. 998 yesterday in the same arena that Duke lost to Mercer in last year’s NCAA Tournament and to the Wolfpack two years ago while ranked No. 1. It was Duke’s first loss of the season.

N.C. State shot 55 percent to Duke’s 37 percent and hit 10 of 16 threes. Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner combined to go 9 for 14 from downtown, offsetting Jahlil Okafor’s strong game inside (23 points on 11 field goal attempts). The Wolfpack led by 19 with 5:30 left when Duke went on an 11-0 run. BeeJay Anya ended that spurt in emphatic fashion with a putback dunk off a missed three. It was the most efficient offensive performance against the Blue Devils this season, and a bit surprising since State had lost at home to Wofford and Cincinnati.

Oregon State 58, Arizona 56

Beaver fans ended a wild day in college hoops by rushing the court in Corvallis after Arizona became the weekend’s fifth top-10 team to lose. With 30 seconds left in a tie game, Oregon State’s Langston Morris-Walker took a pass on the right wing beyond the three-point line and used one power dribble and two long steps to get all the way to the rim for a lay-up. T.J. McConnell’s runner off the glass was no good as time expired.

Much like the other underdogs mentioned here, Oregon State was a surprise given some of its results this year: losses to Quinnipiac and, in an exhibition, Division II Western Oregon. This one was tight throughout—neither team ever led by more than four. The Beavers had more turnovers (10) than assists (8) but held Arizona to 4 of 17 from deep.

What does it all mean?

Wisconsin gets a pass due its injuries. The Badgers are still an elite team. While Duke has no excuse, their opponent hit some difficult outside shots. The Blue Devils fought to get back in the game and came up short. While there is talk about Kentucky going unbeaten in league play, that simply was not going to happen for Wisconsin or Duke, and it’s not a big deal. There should be some concerns for Arizona, however, which lost its second game of the season. The Wildcats struggle to score at times, and while they get to the line often (third-highest rate in the country), they don’t convert enough (66 percent). They were 18 of 27 last night and it hurt them.

Andrew Kahn is a regular contributor to CBS Local who also writes for Newsday and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

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