Daily Briefing — Nov. 27, 2021: Un-Bull-ievable upset

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Saturday, Nov. 27

Must-watch

#2 Maryland v. #7 Stanford, 3 p.m., FloHoops (Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Classic)

RV* Notre Dame v. #16 Oregon St., 6:45 p.m., FloHoops (Daytona Beach Invitational)

Good games

#12 Michigan v. Mississippi St., 4:30 p.m., FloHoops (Daytona Beach Invitational)

Also watchable

#5 N.C. State v. Washington State, 6 p.m., FloHoops (Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Classic)

Pitt v. South Dakota, 5:45 p.m., ESPN3 (Paradise Jam)

Northwestern v. Texas A&M, 8 p.m., ESPN3 (Paradise Jam)

Sickos games

None

Pac-12 or Big Ten on national television (or national streaming)

See Also Watchable

Friday, Nov. 26 recap: Bull Fighters

#1 South Carolina: 79-38 win over Elon. The Phoenix did not score for the last 6:18 of the game. Gamecocks center Aliyah Boston had 12 points on 5-8 shooting, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, three blocks and two turnovers; point guard Destanni Henderson was the only South Carolina player to be in for more than 22 minutes, finishing with 10 points on 4-7 FG (1-3 3pt.); big Sania Feagin notched nine bench points in eight minutes on perfect 4-4 shooting from the field with four rebounds and two assists.

#7 Stanford, #18 USF: The Bulls beat the Cardinal 57-54. The Bulls had 24 offensive rebounds, the most allowed by Stanford since 2017. The Cardinal assisted on 16 of its 21 baskets but missed eight free throws. After an early second-quarter run, USF led by around 10 through the late third, when an 11-2 Stanford run gave the Cardinal its first lead. A back-and-forth fourth quarter led to the Bulls holding a 91.3% win expectancy with 21 seconds left, after Stanford point wing Haley Jones and off-ball guard Brooke Demetre missed go-ahead jumpers and USF combo forward Bethy Mununga went 1-for-2 on a trip to the line. The Bulls doubled center Cameron Brink on the succeeding inbounds, leaving wing Lexie Hull open for a go-ahead three. Brink then blocked the next USF layup, but Demetre missed a free throw on the ensuing intentional foul shots. The Cardinal sat at over 95% win expectancy until Bull off-ball guard Sydni Harvey hit a desperation three to pull USF ahead for good with five seconds left.

Harvey led the Bulls with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three with two steals against three turnovers; combo guard Elena Tsineke notched 14 points on 7-20 FG (0-2 3pt.), five rebounds (three offensive); point guard Elisa Pinzan played all 40 minutes, finishing with 11 points on 3-11 shooting (3-7 3pt.), five rebounds, six assists, two steals, three turnovers and no fouls; Mununga had six points on 2-12 FG (0-3 3pt.) but grabbed a career-high 23 boards (eight offensive), four assists and two blocks without a turnover in 38 minutes; center Shae Leverett unintentionally fouled out in only 13 minutes. Stanford was led by Brink’s game-high 23 points — her second straight 20-point game; three of her four career 20-pieces have come in the past four games — on 10-17 shooting (0-1 3pt., 3-8 FT), 11 rebounds (five offensive), two assists, three blocks and three intentional fouls; off-ball guard Brooke Demetre had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from three, three rebounds, an assist, two steals, two turnovers and no fouls in 28 bench minutes — all career-highs for the consensus^{^} No. 8 freshman in the country; Jones came off the bench for the second straight game but played 31 minutes; she finished without scoring despite six attempts, with three assists, no turnovers and three fouls in possibly her second-worst performance since her freshman year; off-ball guard Hannah Jump scored nine bench points on 3-9 3pt.; off-ball guard Anna Wilson played the first four minutes of the game and was a healthy scratch for the other 36.

The Daily Briefing Cameron Brink Foul Watch: Three intentional fouls in 34 minutes today; 4.4 fouls per 40 minutes (27th percentile) and 5.4% foul percentage (25th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats) for the season.

#6 Baylor: 62-52 win over Arizona State. Held the Sun Devils to 20 points across the middle half of the game. Big NaLyssa Smith notched a double-double with a game-high 17 points (7-14 FG) and 12 rebounds, plus two blocks and four fouls; point guard Jordan Lewis had 15 points on 3-8 shooting (0-2 3pt., 9-12 FT), four rebounds and five assists against three turnovers; center Queen Egbo scored 11 points on 4-14 from the field, five rebounds and three blocks. Big Mael Giles had a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double for Arizona State on 5-13 FG with five offensive rebounds, two steals, three turnovers and four fouls.

The Daily Briefing Baylor 3-Point Shooting Watch: 2-for-9, 22.2% today; 33-for-121, 27.3% for the season (34th percentile, per Her Hoop Stats).

#9 Arizona, RV DePaul: The Wildcats beat the Blue Demons 75-68. Arizona took the lead for good with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and DePaul scored exactly 17 points in each quarter, which I think might be the mark of the devil or something. Demons are supposed to be doing the Devil’s bidding, after all. Moving on!

Both teams fouled a bunch — every Wildcats starter finished with at least three fouls, while two DePaul players fouled out and another came one shy. The teams also combined for 22 missed free throws, which — come on! Arizona had a combined 21 steals and blocks. Wildcat big wing Cate Reese had a team-high 19 points on 7-15 shooting (0-2 3pt., 5-8 FT), eight rebounds, three turnovers and three fouls; point guard Shaina Pellington scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting (1-5 FT) with three fouls; center Ariyah Copeland notched 10 points on perfect 5-5 shooting from the field, five rebounds and three turnovers off the bench. DePaul big wing Aneesah Morrow — the consensus No. 60 freshman — notched a double-double on a game-high 24 points on 7-16 FG (1-4 3pt., 9-14 FT) and 16 rebounds, plus five steals, three blocks and three turnovers; off-ball guard Deja Church scored 13 points on 5-10 FG (2-4 3pt.) against four turnovers.

#11 Tennessee: 68-58 win over Kansas. If USF isn’t ranked higher in tomorrow’s poll, you can thank its head-to-head loss to Tennessee, a team that has now beaten Southern Illinois, UCF and Kansas by a combined 28 points — very bad margins. After shooting 33.3/22.2/54.5 (FG%/3P%/FT%) today, the Vols are now shooting an abysmal 38.0/19.2/56.4 for the season, which rank in the 39th, fourth and sixth percentiles, respectively (per Her Hoop Stats). If they keep this up — or “down,” I guess — we might have to start a The Daily Briefing Tennessee Shooting Watch.

Big wing Jordan Horston led the Vols with a double-double of 14 points on 5-17 shooting (0-2 3pt., 4-6 FT) and 11 rebounds, plus four turnovers; off-ball guard Tess Darby notched a career-high 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from three, plus four rebounds; center Tamari Key had eight points on 3-5 FG, seven rebounds (three offensive), two assists and three blocks but played only 24 minutes because of foul trouble.

#12 Michigan, #16 Oregon State: The Wolverines beat the Beavers 61-52. Oregon State led for slightly over one total minute, with Michigan pulling away over the final seven minutes. The teams shot similarly, but the Beavers committed 23 turnovers and 24 fouls. Wolverine big Naz Hillmon had a double-double on a game-high 20 points (6-16 FG, 8-10 FT) and 13 rebounds (four offensive) with two assists and four steals against seven turnovers; wing Leigha Brown played for the first time since Nov. 13, scoring 14 points in 22 bench minutes on 4-11 FG (1-2 3pt.), plus three rebounds, two steals, three turnovers and three fouls; combo guard Danielle Rauch scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (3-5 3pt.) with two steals. Center Kennedy Brown led the Beavers with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double on 2-5 shooting (8-12 FT) with four blocks against two turnovers.

#13 Iowa State: 75-59 win over Charlotte, 56 fewer points than North Carolina beat the 49ers by. Just some food for thought. Big wing Ashley Joens had 27 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from three (6-8 FT) and 15 rebounds (five offensive) for a double-double; center Morgan Kane scored a career-high 13 points on 4-6 shooting with two assists against three turnovers; point guard Emily Ryan notched 12 points on 4-7 FG (0-3 3pt.), five assists and four turnovers.

#19 UCLA: 75-69 loss to Kent State. Please enjoy the following win expectancy chart from ESPN:

I told you to worry about the Bruins after their meager win over Virginia last Sunday, and I hope you heeded my advice. Point guard Charisma Osborne returned and played 38 minutes for UCLA, but even she couldn’t help the Bruins get out-shot by 13.3 percentage points from the field and 17.9 percentage points from three; UCLA took 20 (twenty!) more shots than the Golden Flashes, thanks to committing only five turnovers, but allowed Kent State to take 30 free throws. Flash big wing Lindsey Thall had a team-high 20 points on 7-9 shooting (5-7 3pt.), seven rebounds, two assists and three fouls; combo guard Katie Shumate scored 17 points on 6-12 shooting from the field (1-2 3pt., 4-8 FT), with seven rebounds. The Bruins were led by Osborne’s game-high 21 points on 8-20 FG (3-9 3pt.); wing Jaelynn Penn had 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the field and 2-for-5 from three and eight rebounds (three offensive).

#23 Texas A&M: 58-44 win over South Dakota. The teams combined for just 13 assists. The first half progressed back-and-forth, but the Coyotes staked out an 11-point lead after an off-ball guard Chloe Lamb bucket to start the second half. The Aggies held South Dakota to just that field goal through the entire quarter, winning the third quarter by 22 points en route to the win. Wing Kayla Wells led Texas A&M with 20 points on 8-11 shooting against four turnovers; point guard Jordan Nixon scored 13 points on 4-7 3pt. (0-3 on twos) with three assists against two turnovers and three fouls; point guard Destiny Pitts had six points on 1-8 FG (0-6 3pt.) and 10 rebounds.

The Daily Briefing Texas A&M Wells/Nixon/Pitts Watch: combined share of Aggies’ scoring — 56.5%; assists — 59.3%; turnovers — 45.2%; steals — 28.6%; combined 47.8% FG%, 45.1% 3P%, 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio.

#24 Virginia Tech: 76-68 loss to Missouri State. The Hokies won the last three quarters by a combined six points, but the Bears won the opening quarter 23-9, which is an awful lot. ESPN’s win expectancy model actually had Missouri State as an 11.7% favorite. Big Jasmine Franklin led the Bears with 21 points on 6-10 FG (9-10 FT) and 12 rebounds for a double-double, against four turnovers and four fouls; center Abi Jackson notched 18 points on 6-10 shooting from the field (6-8 FT), eight rebounds (four offensive), three blocks, three turnovers and four fouls; combo guard Brice Calip had 10 points on 3-9 shooting (2-5 3pt.), five rebounds, three assists, five steals and six turnovers before fouling out. Virginia Tech was led by center Elizabeth Kitley’s 21 points on 10-18 shooting from the field (1-6 FT), nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks and three turnovers; combo guard Georgia Amoore had nine points on 4-14 shooting (1-6 3pt.) with five assists against four turnovers and four fouls.

#25 FGCU: 81-69 win over Tennessee Tech. Big wing Kierstan Bell scored 39 points on 17-31 shooting (1-5 3pt., 4-11 FT) with six rebounds, six assists and two each of steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls; point guard Tishara Morehouse returned to the starting lineup, finishing with 14 points on 6-8 shooting from the field (2-6 FT), five assists, two steals and three turnovers.

The Daily Briefing Kierstan Bell Watch: 30.0 points per game — 100th percentile; 11.8 field goals — 100th; 21.2 attempts — 100th; 55.7% FG% — 95th; 68.8% 2P% — 97th; 3.0 threes — 99th; 8.4 3-point attempts — 99th; 35.7% 3P% — 68th; 5.6 free-throw attempts — 97th; 9.0 rebounds — 97th; 2.6 assists — 85th; 1.8 steals — 90th; 1.6 blocks — 97th; 38.5% usage — 100th

RV Georgia, RV Notre Dame: The Bulldogs beat the Irish 71-67 in overtime. Notre Dame had a 90.3% win expectancy with a four-point lead and less than two minutes left in overtime, then shot 0-for-4 (all from three) with a turnover, while Georgia went 3-for-3 and 2-for-3 from the line. The teams combined for 29 steals, leading to 48 total turnovers. Center Jenna Staiti led the Bulldogs with 16 points on 6-12 shooting (4-7 FT), nine rebounds, six blocks and three fouls; wing Sarah Ashlee Barker scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting from the field (2-4 3pt.) with four rebounds and two steals. Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles had a game-high 24 points on 9-20 FG (0-2 3pt, 6-8 FT) with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and nine turnovers; big wing Maddy Westbeld and center Maya Dodson combined for 26 points on 11-of-28 shooting (1-5 3pt. by Westbeld) and 11 rebounds, with Westbeld adding three steals and Dodson four blocks.

RV Michigan State: 84-71 win over Oakland. The Spartans assisted on 27 of their 33 baskets, with 10 of those assists coming from point guard DeeDee Hagemann, who played 25 minutes off the bench and shot 0-for-5 from the field; point guard Nia Clouden led the team with 23 points on 8-16 shooting (3-6 3pt.), four assists and four turnovers.

Delaware: 87-72 win over Eastern Michigan. This could alternatively be entitled “Good lord, Jasmine Dickey” — the Blue Hen wing dropped 30+ points for the fourth straight game, this time setting a career high with 48 points on 19-of-36 shooting from the field, 1-of-5 from three and 9-of-12 from the line, plus eight rebounds against three turnovers. Dickey is just the fourth player to score 48 points since Jan. 1, 2019. If she rains hellfire next game, I will start an official The Daily Briefing Jasmine Dickey Scoring Watch. For the Eagles, point guard Areanna Combs scored 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field (6-7 FT), with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals, four turnovers and three fouls.

Nebraska: 65-53 win over Drexel. Point guard Jaz Shelley — she of the fastest and most efficient triple-double since at least 2009 — scored 30 points on 8-9 shooting (6-7 3pt., 8-9 FT) with seven rebounds, becoming just the third player in the Her Hoop Stats era to score 30 points on nine or fewer attempts.

Denver: 87-65 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Off-ball guard Anna Jackson scored 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and 10-of-17 from three with six rebounds.

Central Michigan: 64-57 loss to Northeastern. Point guard Molly Davis had 32 points on 9-18 shooting (3-10 3pt., 11-13 FT) with five steals and five turnovers.

George Washington: 46-37 win over UT-Martin in the Sickos Game of the Day. The teams shot a combined 27.4% from the field and 28.9% from three, somehow finishing with a combined 83 points despite only 27 total turnovers. The Colonials had as many offensive rebounds as field goals — which, when you score 46 points, is not a good thing.

Blown Leads

Fresno State: 68-64 loss to San Diego. Had a 91.8% win expectancy with a 10-point lead to start the fourth quarter, then allowed 18 (eighteen!) unanswered points to the Toreros.

Gardner-Webb: 78-72 win over East Tennessee State. Had a win expectancy north of 90% in the early fourth quarter with an eight-point lead and needed a late surge to win. Combo guard Lauren Bevis scored 32 points on 9-of-15 shooting from three, 0-4 from two and 5-6 FT.

Memphis: 73-65 win over Loyola Marymount. Had a 93.1% win expectancy with a 12-point lead towards the end of the third quarter. Allowed 15 unanswered points before scoring 13 unanswered in the mid-fourth to regain the lead.

Boise State: 60-57 loss to Louisiana Tech. Had a four-point lead with 58 seconds to go, heading to the line. Missed both free throws, then committed a foul on the Techsters’ ensuing possession; LA Tech converted both free throws. The Broncos missed both of their free throws the next time down, and the Techsters hit a layup after to tie the game. Boise State missed a game-winner with two seconds left, then LA Tech called a timeout and hit a buzzer-beater three as time expired.

Army, Maine: The Black Knights beat the Black Bears in double overtime, 87-81. Let’s see if we can do this:

• Army had a 94.6% win expectancy (WE) with a 49-37 lead at 1:26 in the third quarter
• Maine went on a 16-3 run through 7:03 of the fourth quarter, 61.5% WE
• Army took a 65-61 lead with three minutes left, 84.5% WE
• Maine hit a three and two layups to make it 68-65 with 39 seconds left, 94.5% WE
• Army hit a three
• Maine got a layup with two seconds left to take a two-point lead, 97.9% WE
• Army missed a three but got the putback — overtime!
• Army scored the only point in the first 87 seconds of overtime, 63.5% WE
• Maine went on a 7-1 run to make it 77-72 with less than a minute left in the period, 97.7% WE
• Army made a layup, got a steal and got an and-one, forcing another overtime
• Maine started the second OT 4-2, 76.5% WE
• Army scored eight unanswered, game over.

*Receiving Votes

^Consensus rankings are an aggregation of ESPN, Blue Star, Prep Girls, ASGR and Prospects Nation