Tuesday was the second to last night with a full schedule before the Christmas holidays, so it was a pretty busy night. Some teams had issues with focus with a break looming.
- Maine gave No. 11 Connecticut a fight, leading early in the second half before falling, 71-54.
- South Alabama upset no. 18 Florida, 67-66, thanks to a DeAndre Hersey basket with 1.8 left on the clock. The loss was the Gators' third straight.
- Indiana fell way behind Loyola (MD), crawled back in it and took the lead, but Jeremiah Rivers missed four free throws in the final moments. The Greyhounds won in Assembly Hall, 72-67.
- No. 20 Butler let UAB open a 10-point halftime lead and never recovered. The Blazers prevailed 67-57.
- Missouri State fell to Arkansas in overtime, 66-62.
- Idaho got blasted by a Portland team they easily defeated back when the Pilots cracked the top 25, 82-52.
Four ranked Big 12 teams were in action Tuesday night, and three came out with wins.
- No. 2 Texas pulled away from ninth-ranked Michigan State late, 79-68.
- California got Theo Robertson back from a foot injury, but they were still no match for top-ranked Kansas. The Jayhawks prevailed 84-69.
- 19th-ranked Texas A&M wasn't so lucky, as they fell at 22nd-ranked Washington, 73-64, in the final game of the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series. The Aggies lost senior guard Derrick Roland to a severe leg injury --a compound fracture--early in the second half. His career is sadly probably over, and the injury devastated his teammates.
- No. 23 Texas Tech handled Stanford, 100-87.
In other games involving ranked teams Tuesday night
- No. 4 Purdue crushed SIU Edwardsville, 90-63.
- No. 5 Syracuse routed Oakland, 92-60.
- No. 10 North Carolina had little trouble with Marshall, picking up a 98-61 victory.
- No. 17 Ohio State had an easier time with Cleveland State than West Virginia did on Saturday, winning 72-59.
- Western Carolina couldn't pull another upset. The Catamounts fell at No. 24 Clemson, 79-57.
After the jump, I'll have more on Tuesday's action and a rundown of Wednesday's televised non-tournament action.
Two tournaments tipped off Tuesday afternoon, and both continue Wednesday.
The favorites all won at Diamond Head Classic, but a couple of them got more than they bargained for in the quarterfinal round.
- St. Mary's used the three-ball to sink Northeastern, 78-67, in an entertaining contest.
- The Gaels will face USC in the first semifinal this evening (ESPNU, 5:30 p.m. ET). The Trojans struggled past Western Michigan, 55-51. The Broncos face the Huskies in the consolation bracket (3 p.m. ET, ESPNU).
- UNLV had little trouble with SMU in the third quarterfinal, winning 67-53.
- The Rebels will face another conference mate, host Hawaii, in the second semifinal (ESPN2, 11:30 p.m. ET). The Warriors ran past College of Charleston, 84-71. The Cougars face the Mustangs in a consolation game (2 a.m. ET).
Fans at the Las Vegas Classic were treated to two exciting games Tuesday afternoon, in the rescheduled major bracket.
- BYU won a shootout against Nevada, 110-104.
- Nebraska stunned C-USA favorite Tulsa, 74-70, in the second semifinal. The Huskers will face the Cougars for the crown tonight (BYU TV, HoopTV, 10:30 p.m. ET), while the Wolf Pack meets the Golden Hurricane for third (8 p.m. ET, Full Court).
- In the low-major bracket, Wagner defeated Jackson State, 71-62, and Chicago State knocked off Eastern Washington, 62-53.
- The Seahawks will meet the Cougars for the low-major crown, while the Tigers will meet the Eagles for third.
In other Tuesday action
- Washington State defeated LSU in Seattle, 72-70.
- Colorado State fell at UCLA, 75-63.
- San Diego State won at Drake in the MVC/MWC Challenge, 76-73.
- Western Kentucky knocked off in-state rival Murray State, 83-72.
- Sam Houston State didn't suffer a letdown after beating Auburn Sunday. They pounded Isiah Thomas's FIU Panthers, 93-63.
- Niagara defeated Western New York Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure, 77-71.
- Weber State held off Morehead State in Utah State's tournament, 66-64.
- The hosts crushed Cal State Fullerton, 83-60, and will play their in-state rivals tonight with the title on the line.
If you don't see your team's score, click any of the score links. You'll find a full rundown on the right side of the page.
For more on Tuesday's action, visit Searching for Billy Edelin and SB Nation.
In other televised action Wednesday (all times are p.m. Eastern)
- Long Beach State visits No. 3 Kentucky, a team looking for win 2,001 (SEC on FSN/Full Court, 1).
- USC Upstate visits Arizona State (FS Arizona/FCS Pacific, 4).
- South Dakota State travels to Minnesota (Big Ten, 7).
- North Carolina A&T faces a 16th-ranked Tennessee squad that will be angry after losing to USC Saturday (SEC on CSS/Full Court, 7).
- Louisiana-Lafayette faces a Louisville that wants to avoid another bad December home loss (BIg East/Full Court, 7).
- No. 15 Ole Miss travels to No. 6 West Virginia (ESPN2, 7:30) in the night's only matchup between ranked opponents. This is the Mountaineers' last test before starting conference play on Saturday against Seton Hall.
- No. 13 New Mexico puts its undefeated record on the line at Oral Roberts (FCS Central/Full Court, 8).
- Fresno State visits a disappointing Oregon State outfit (FS Northwest/FCS Pacific, 8:30).
- Milwaukee looks to do what Green Bay did earlier this season, knock off Wisconsin (BIg Ten, 9).
- Illinois meets Missouri in St. Louis for the Braggin' Rights game (ESPN2, 9:30).
- NC State travels to Arizona for a game that looks better on a marquee than in reality this season (FSN, 10:30).
For games that will only be televised regionally, like Miami (OH) at Xavier, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.