NCAA: Oklahoma State Shocks Jayhawks, Duke Loses Against Virginia Tech

Several interesting matches took place last night all over the NCAA, with three of them attracting attention. No.6 Kansas Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma State, suffering a big blow, No.7 Michigan Wolverines rolled over No.9 Wisconsin Badgers, while No.20 Virginia Tech inflicted another loss to No.19 Duke Blue Devils.

The unranked Cowboys made a big upset defeating the Jayhawks, 75-70, after a thrilling ending that saw them holding off the guests in the final few minutes. After a 16-point advantage in the first half, and the same distance with 9:18 left in the second, Kansas made a stunning 21-2 run to take the lead.

Guests were up 70-67 yet blacked out in the most important moments, allowing Oklahoma State to score eight straight points and make the biggest upset of the night.

In the final few seconds, Kansas had the ball, but after one inbound pass, Bryce Williams stole it to dunk on the other end and seal the win for his crew.

“We just kept saying we’ve been there before,” Williams, who ended the night with 17 points, said. “Give credit to Kansas. They’re one of the top teams in the country for a reason.”

Cade Cunningham led the hosts with18 buckets and seven rebounds, while Avery Anderson III scored 14.

Among the Jayhawks, David McCormack posted a double-double with 24 points and 12 boards, with three blocks, Ochai Agbaji scored 14, and Marcus Garrett 12 buckets.

Up north, in Michigan, the No.7 Wolverines were ruthless against the No.9 Badgers, beating the big rivals 77-54. Wisconsin shot only 30.8% from the floor, while on the other side, the hosts made 51.6% percent of their attempts.

Wisconsin was competitive until the middle of the first half, which was when Michigan began increasing the tempo. The Wolverines closed the first halftime with a 14-0 burst, leaving the guests in the dust, 40-23.

The start of the second 20 minutes saw the same situation, with the home players trashing the rivals all over the place. In eight minutes, they went on a 22-3 run, and shortly after reached a 40-point lead, 69-29. Fortunately for the Badgers, Michigan removed the foot of the gas in the final few minutes of the event.

It is not anything special to see the No.19 Duke Blue Devils losing this year, yet such news always ends up in the middle of attention. No.20 Virginia Tech Hokies inflicted Duke its third defeat since the start of the season, 74-69.

Virginia Tech was up 17 points with six minutes to go until the break, 38-21, and it seemed that a catastrophe was on the way for the Blue Devils. Yet, they regrouped at halftime and cut down the deficit to just one point, 56-55 after 6:37 inside the second, but didn’t have the energy to complete their comeback. The Hokies would again pull away to a safe distance and keep it like that until the end.

Virginia’s head coach, Mike Young, added a victory over Mike Krzyzewski to his CV. After 45 matches in charge, he already triumphed again Tom Izzo, Jay Wright, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim. Now that is impressive.

Tyrece Radford had a team-high among the Hokies, 18 points, but with 12 rebounds and five assists. Keve Aluma scored 17 grabbing seven rebounds, while Jalen Cone scored 14 off the bench.

With the guests from Durham, Matthew Hunt was once again the best with a double-double – 20 points and 11 rebounds, making four of his 8 long-distance shots. Jeremy Roach scored a game-high 22 points; DJ Steward added 14. The Blue Devils’ bench scored just 6 points.