I still believe that the conference is #9 Wichita State’s to lose, but with recent vulnerability shown in their loss to Tulsa, it may be closer than many of us had thought before the season had began.
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When his Northwestern team takes on 3-1 North Carolina in Kansas City, Mo., Collins will try to put aside sentiments from the rivalry as a former Duke player and assistant coach. If you just react, that’s how mistakes are made.
Not only did a broken finger prevent Paige from playing, the Tar Heels also floundered down the stretch in the Iowa native’s absence. The Tar Heels could have used him, as Paige’s replacement, Joel Berry, had just five points on 2-of-7 shooting, and the Tar Heels committed 12 turnovers. The leading scorer for the Tar Heels was Forward Justin Jackson who scored 25 points with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Stephens scored 12 points for Purdue, and 7-2 sophomore center Isaac Haas added 10 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for us to go into a tournament atmosphere on a neutral floor to play the No. 1 team in the country”, Collins said before North Carolina was upset Saturday by Northern Iowa. Dani (Rice), the backline, the midfield, everybody from front to back did a good job of winning balls and making North Carolina fight for everything. If this were last year’s Northern Iowa team, then there would certainly be a lot of hype going into this game, but the Panthers had not started the season looking particularly strong.
The play that defined the final half, though, belonged to Morgan. Saturday’s decision over a legendary program and a legendary coach in Roy Williams is among the best on the list, according to head coach Ben Jacobson. Nate Britt, who totaled 39 points in those contests, was held to four. It was the first meeting between the schools and the first for North Carolina in Iowa since losing to the Hawkeyes in 1989.
Northern Iowa: The Panthers were hosting a top-10 opponent for just the third time.
The Panthers (2-1) had beaten a No. 1 team before.
“How about waiting just a second?”
Senior guard Wes Washpun connected on a three-quarter court heave for Northern Iowa right as the halftime buzzer sounded-giving a few slight foreshadowing on what was to come. He had only scored 20 points in three games before his outburst in Cedar Falls.
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(At) NC-Wilmington 80, Western MI 76: Chris Flemmings scored 19 points off the bench to help lift North Carolina-Wilmington.
