As I was flying cross-country last night, a trip that included a San Francisco to Chicago flight that featured the two worst behaved children in the history of aviation, I missed all of last night's ACC/Big Ten Challenge tilts. The Big Ten entered Tuesday with a 1-0 series lead, thanks to Penn State's win over Virginia Monday night.
The ACC evened the score on Tuesday night by winning three of the five games.
- Northwestern used a hot first half and solid three point shooting to knock off NC State, 65-53.
- No. 4 Purdue was down at the half, but pulled away in the second to topple Wake Forest, 69-58. E'Twaun Moore scored 22 and JaJuan Johnson had 21 to pace the Boilermakers.
- Maryland got 23 from Greivis Vasquez and 19 from Landon Milbourne to roll past Indiana, 80-68. The Hoosiers didn't even shoot 33 percent from the floor for the game.
- In the game of the night, chalk yet another one up for No. 10 North Carolina, as they knocked off ninth-ranked Michigan State, 89-82. The Tar Heels once again lost the turnover battle (17 to 11), but made up for those errors by shooting almost 58 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
- Virginia Tech won the nightcap over Iowa, 70-64. Malcolm Delaney had 18 for the Hokies, who only committed five turnovers on the night.
Once again, that means the Big Ten's chances of breaking the ACC's stranglehold on the event comes down to the final night.
- Illinois, fresh off losses to Utah and Bradley in Las Vegas, must visit No. 18 Clemson, who won twice in Anaheim (ESPN, 7:15 p.m. ET). ADVANTAGE: ACC, as the Illini are reeling.
- Minnesota--who fell to Portland and No. 19 Texas A&M in Anaheim, and subsequently fell out of the rankings--travels cross-country to play a Miami team (ESPNU, 7:15 p.m. ET) who won the Charleston title pre-Thanksgiving, though that field wasn't as loaded as the one in Southern California. ADVANTAGE: Big Ten
- Michigan had a disappointing trip to Orlando, falling to Marquette in the semifinals before blowing big lead to Alabama in the third place game. They host a Boston College squad who also had a disappointing tournament trip. ADVANTAGE: Big Ten, as this one is in Ann Arbor.
- No. 6 Duke, fresh off their NIT Season Tip-Off crown, travels to Madison to play Wisconsin (ESPN, 9:15 p.m. ET). On paper, this should be a fairly easy win for the Blue Devils, but the Kohl Center is a tough place for any visitor. ADVANTAGE: ACC...just
- No. 21 Florida State looks for another big non-conference win as they visit No. 15 Ohio State (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.). ADVANTAGE: Big Ten, in an even matchup because of the Buckeyes' homecourt advantage.
As the ACC has one more team than their rival league, Georgia Tech is the team who takes the Challenge off this season. The Yellow Jackets face coach Paul Hewitt's former school, Siena, tonight (7 p.m. EST, no TV).
After the jump, I'll take a look at what happened outside of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night and rundown Wednesday's busy non-Challenge TV schedule.
In Tuesday's non-Challenge action
- No.13 Florida pulled away in the second half to beat Florida A&M, 80-59.
- No. 22 Cincinnati pounded Texas Southern, 94-57.
- LSU beat Louisiana-Lafayette, 66-58.
- Notre Dame only beat Idaho State by 10, 80-70, a game the Irish led by only three at the half.
- Kansas State also struggled, beating Division II Fort Hays State 83-76.
- Providence survived a trip to Northeastern, prevailing 76-72.
- Temple won at Western Michigan, 76-70.
- UTEP pounded New Mexico State, 79-58.
- Delaware State beat Delaware, 75-67, in Dover.
- Pacific got another decent non-league win for the Big West, winning at Fresno State 70-58.
- However, UC Santa Barbara, considered one of the league favorites, fell at home to Santa Clara, 79-68.
If you don't see your team's score, click on any of the score links above. On the right side of the page, you'll see a rundown of all of Tuesday's games. Be sure to visit Searching for Billy Edelin and the main SB Nation site for more on what went down yesterday.
As for Wednesday's televised non-challenge action (all times are p.m. ET unless noted)
- Pitt takes on Duquesne for the final time at Mellon Arena with the Dukes primed to pull an upset over a rebuilding Panther squad (CBS CS, 7).
- Stony Brook visits red hot St. John's (Big East/Full Court, 7).
- Boston University takes on No. 14 Connecticut (Big East/Full Court, 7).
- No. 20 Louisville hosts Stetson (Big East/Full Court, 7)
- Missouri Valley favorite Northern Iowa visits Craig Brackins and Iowa State (Full Court, 8).
- Two struggling teams meet in Norman, as Arkansas visits Oklahoma (Full Court, 8).
- Alcorn State visits No. 1 Kansas (Full Court, 8).
- California faces another stiff non-conference test, as they travel to The Pit to face New Mexico (CBS CS, 9).
- Great Alaska champ Washington State visits Maui winner Gonzaga (FSN Northwest, 9).
- UNLV looks for another resume boosting win, as they visit Arizona (FS Arizona/FCS Pacific, 9).
- Mountain West favorite BYU visits in-state rival and WAC favorite Utah State (Full Court, 9).
- Missouri looks to build on their South Padre championship as they visit Vanderbilt (ESPNU, 9:30).
For games that may only be televised locally, including what should be a fantastic tilt between San Diego State and San Diego at 10 p.m. ET, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.
Tomorrow's recap should post at a more reasonable East Coast morning hour.