Daily Briefing — Dec. 4, 2021: South Carolina, DePaul play bully, Brockmeyer scores 34

(All times in Eastern)

Watch List, Saturday, Dec. 4

Must-watch

None

Good games

Mississippi State @ RV* Oklahoma, 3 p.m., Bally Sports Oklahoma (Big 12/SEC Challenge)

Also watchable

Troy @ Wake Forest, 3 p.m., ACC Network Extra

#18 Oregon @ Portland, 9 p.m., WCC Live Stream

Sickos games

None

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

RV Washington State @ UC Davis, 7 p.m., ESPN+

Friday, Dec. 3 recap: DePaul Destroys (or “DeStroys”?)

#1 South Carolina: 65-44 win over Kansas State. Held the Wildcats to five points in the second quarter. Center Aliyah Boston had a 21-point, season-high-17-rebound double-double on 9-for-11 shooting with three assists, four blocks and no turnovers in 25 minutes; big Laeticia Amihere notched 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field (1-1 3pt.), seven rebounds, a career-high seven assists and a season-high five blocks; backup center Kamilla Cardoso scored 11 points on 4-for-11 FG with 10 rebounds (season-high five offensive) for a double-double, plus two assists and a season-high four blocks. Kansas State center Ayoka Lee had a team-high 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting (4-6 FT), six rebounds (three offensive), three blocks and four fouls; the rest of the Wildcats’ starting lineup combined to shoot 6-for-30.

#2 UConn: 74-49 win over Seton Hall. Trailed the Pirates by one point after the first quarter and promptly outscored them 23-6 in the second. Four starters — all but center Olivia Nelson-Ododa — played at least 30 minutes, and three played at least 34, despite the Huskies entering the fourth quarter up by 17. Shot just 3-for-16 (18.8%) from three; held Seton Hall to 27.6% from the field and 16.1% from deep. Point guard Paige Bueckers had a game-high 23 points on 11-for-18 shooting (1-4 3pt.), nine rebounds, seven assists, a season-high five steals and no turnovers; combo guard Christyn Williams scored 17 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field (a season-high in attempts) and 1-for-3 from three; big Aaliyah Edwards notched 12 points on 6-for-11 FG (0-1 3pt.), seven rebounds (three offensive) and five turnovers.

#7 Arizona: Did not play its scheduled game against UC Riverside because the Highlanders canceled the game “due to COVID-19 protocols” — i.e. positive case(s) within their program — as announced last week.

RV Colorado: 78-53 win over Dixie State, a margin over the Trailblazers smaller than that of Portland State and missing-its-best-three-players Oregon. Make of that what you will. Center Quay Miller scored 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting (1-3 3pt.) with six rebounds and three assists off the bench — all are season highs except for rebounds.

RV Gonzaga: 54-47 win over Wyoming. Lost the rebounding battle and committed 16 turnovers against Wyoming. Also took only 50 shots against Wyoming — a team that lost by multiple possessions to Wichita State, Kansas City and Tulane — despite shooting a solid 42.0% from the field and 33.3% from three. Please do not make me write about Gonzaga next week.

RV DePaul: 101-64 win over Butler. Shot 54.8% from the field, 39.1% from three and 85.7% from the line; forced 31 turnovers. Off-ball guard Deja Church scored 19 points on 5-for-10 shooting (3-5 3pt., 6-6 FT) with three rebounds and two blocks and no turnovers; point guard Lexi Held had 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field (2-4 3pt.), three rebounds, four assists and three steals in 18 minutes; big Aneesah Morrow notched 13 points on 5-for-11 FG (0-1 3pt.), six rebounds, four steals and two blocks against three turnovers and three fouls in 18 minutes; off-ball guard Sonya Morris had 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting, three rebounds and five assists against three turnovers and three fouls in 15 minutes.

Southern Illinois: 74-66 win over Eastern Illinois in the Compass Challenge — or, more aptly, the Directional Illinois Bowl; if the Salukis beat Western Illinois today, transitive wins will afford them the Directional Illinois Championship. Southern Illinois big Abby Brockmeyer had 34 points and 16 rebounds with 10 offensive rebounds — all career-highs — on 12-for-18 shooting from the field and 10-for-14 from the line with three blocks.

Cleveland State: 63-52 win over Northern Kentucky. Point guard Destiny Leo scored a career-high 31 points on a career-high 11 makes in 15 attempts, including 4-for-7 from three, plus three steals and five turnovers without hitting the bench.

Wright State: Did not play its scheduled game against Purdue Fort Wayne “due to COVID-19 … positive cases within the program’s tier one individuals,” as announced Monday.

Blown Leads

Vermont: 52-51 win over Long Island. Peaked at over 97.6% win expectancy with a 16-point lead towards the early third quarter and ended up losing the period 19-5. Lost the second half overall by 15 points and still won!

*Receiving Votes