And we're off on the road to Detroit. There were two mid-/low-major wins over power conferences last night. Kentucky's early season struggles under Billy Gillispie are now into their second year, as the Wildcats fell 111 to 103 to the shock and awe attack of the VMI Keydets. I witnessed the other, which was not anywhere near as high scoring. (And Gardner-Webb, conquerors of UK a year ago, almost picked off Va. Tech in Blacksburg.) When I mentioned I was at a game yesterday evening, a friend in the Cactus State remarked (completely jokingly), "It's college basketball season! When did that happen?" Well, it appears to have definitely snuck up on Howard and Oregon State, as the final scoreboard at Burr Gymnasium looked like this.
The Bison actually led for most of the game, with the Beavers surrendering the lead for good with 12:15 left in the first half after a Eugene Myatt 3-pointer. Howard almost gave it away at the end, with Chris McHenry and Curtis White missing the front ends of consecutive one-and-ones, and Eugene Myatt missing the back end of one with 8 seconds left. Despite having some chances to pull even or ahead, the Beavers couldn't capitalize. It looks like it's going to be another long season in Corvallis. The First Brother-in-Law-Elect, Craig Robinson has a long road ahead of him to make his team competitive.
Oregon State coach Craig Robinson with his team during introductions"]
here's a link to my full photo album from Friday night.