Daily Briefing — Nov. 14, 2021

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Sunday, Nov. 14

Must-watch

Arkansas @ UConn, 1 p.m., SNY (New York’s regional NBC Sports network)

Texas @ Stanford, 3 p.m., ESPN

Kentucky @ Indiana, 5 p.m., ESPN

Good games

Belmont @ Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network

Also watchable

Notre Dame @ Syracuse, noon, ACC Network

FGCU @ LSU, 1:30 p.m., SEC Network Plus

North Texas @ Missouri State, 2 p.m., ESPN3

Florida @ N.C. State, 2 p.m., ACC Network

North Carolina @ Charlotte, 3:30 p.m., ESPN+

Sickos games (for the true basketball addict)

USC @ Virginia, 1 p.m., ACC Network Extra

Saturday, Nov. 13 recap

#11 Michigan: 82-46 win over St. Francis. Big Naz Hillmon had 19 points on 9-10 shooting, with five rebounds and three assists; wing Leigha Brown left in the second minute on a re-aggravated injury and did not return. 

Fordham: 82-63 win over Seton Hall. Point guard Kendell Heremaia tied a career-high with 29 points on 9-14 from the field and a career-best 8-11 from three, plus seven rebounds, three steals, and five turnovers. Mississippi State big Sidney Cooks made her Pirates debut, scoring a team-high 21 points on 10-15 from the field with nine rebounds and seven turnovers; wing Andra Espinoza-Hunter had 20 points on 5-10 FG (4-6 3pt.), plus seven rebounds and three turnovers.

California: 70-41 win over San Francisco. Off-ball guard Jayda Curry — the consensus No. 141 freshman in the country — scored 27 points on 7-12 shooting (2-3 3pt., 11-13 FT) with seven rebounds and three turnovers; point guard Leilani McIntosh added 10 points (3-6 FG, 2-4 3pt.), six rebounds, four assists, and three steals with no turnovers. The Dons started the game on a 9-2 run before getting outscored by 36 the rest of the way.

Fresno State: Lost 64-80 to BYU. Point guard Haley Cavinder nearly had a second-straight triple-double, finishing with nine points (2-6 FG), eight rebounds, and 10 assists against three turnovers. She is now averaging 17/10/10 through two games. The rest of the Bulldogs had three assists and 10 turnovers.

Utah: 106-71 win over Xavier. Wing Brynna Maxwell, off-ball guard Kennady McQueen, and big Jenna Johnson — the consensus No. 89 freshman in the country — combined for 62 points on 70.0% from the field and 60% from three, 15 rebounds, and six assists against a lone turnover, with McQueen chipping in four steals. Maxwell’s gotten off to a blazing start this year, averaging 22.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 60.9/55.6/100.0 shooting (FG%/3P%/FT%), and has yet to commit a turnover through two games.

Binghamton: 73-56 win over Canisius. Wing Denai Bowman became just the second player in the Her Hoops Stats era (since 2009) to have a five-stat slash-line (points/rebounds/assists/steals) of 12/7/6/4/2 on at least 50% shooting with no more than one turnover and two fouls. Is that incredibly specific? For sure — but it’s also a very rare, cool combination of being really good at everything for a night.

Quinnipiac: 79-50 win over Central Connecticut. Wing Mackenzie DeWees became just the third player in the Her Hoop Stats era to have 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and six steals on over 60% shooting and no more than one turnover and two fouls. See Binghamton for my feelings on overfitting.

North Florida: 126-31 win over DII Trinity Baptist. Wing Rhetta Moore scored a school-record 37 points in just 27 minutes, on 15-18 shooting (7-10 3pt.), with five assists, three steals, and no turnovers; point guard Ally Knights set a program record with 20 (twenty!) assists against just three turnovers, plus four steals; center Jazz Bond had a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double with five assists and three blocks; big Emma Broermann had an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Coastal Carolina: 81-57 win over South Carolina State. Big wing Aja Blount scored 39 points on 17-24 shooting (5-6 FT), plus 7 rebounds, three rebounds and three turnovers.

Mount St. Mary’s: 102-15 win over DIII Valley Forge. Yes, you read that correctly. The Patriots shot just 12.0% from the field and 1-14 from three, had one (1) assist with a combined 41 turnovers and fouls — and frankly, I expected that last one to be higher. Mountaineers wing Aryna Taylor had 25 points on a perfect shooting line — 9-9 FG, 5-5 3pt., 2-2 FT — and no turnovers or fouls.

Blown leads

Maine: 66-61 overtime loss to Providence. Had a 95.8% win expectancy with a 22-6 lead at 7:02 in the second quarter. The Friars led for just 2:39 in regulation, but never trailed in overtime. The Black Bears led by five with 1:40 to go in the fourth, but allowed a layup and an and-one for the tie. They still got three shots at a go-ahead bucket on their last possession, but missed thrice.

UC-Davis: 52-50 loss to Saint Mary’s. Had a 95.2% win expectancy with an 11-point lead at 1:22 in the third quarter. The Aggies hit a go-ahead three with three minutes to go, and the only subsequent basket was the Gaels’ game-winning three with 16 seconds left. UC-Davis committed three turnovers in the last 1:38.

Vermont: 68-61 loss to American. Had a 95.3% win expectancy with a 10-point lead and 6:48 to go, and got outscored by 17 through the final buzzer.

Rice: 73-69 loss to Louisiana. Had a 97.1% win expectancy with a nine-point lead midway through the fourth. Proceeded to get outscored 20-7 in less than five minutes. Yikes. The Owls Were tied as late as 0:51, before committing a turnover and allowing the go-ahead jumper on the ensuing Cajun possession.

Pacific: 75-67 loss to UC-Riverside. Had a 98.9% win expectancy with a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter.