Michigan State had been tempting fate for a couple games, clearly not playing to their full potential, and it finally came back to bite them in a 70-67 loss to Connecticut. For the second straight game, the Spartans lost the rebounding battle, allowing the Huskies to retrieve 41 percent of their misses, but Michigan State also cleaned their own offensive glass quite well. The real discrepancy in this game was an issue quite familiar to Tom Izzo--turnovers. Michigan State turned it over on 21 percent of their possessions, which in itself isn't completely awful, but Connecticut kept their turnover rate to a svelte 14 percent. In raw terms, this gave the Huskies five extra opportunities at the basket, in a game where non-turnover possessions often consisted of more than one shot. As a result, Connecticut scored 1.07 points per possession (despite a 45.2 eFG percentage) and came away with the win.

Here's the +/- data for the game:

The first thing that jumps out is that Michigan State was once again better offensively when Kalin Lucas was on the bench. Unlike the Chaminade game, the conventional boxscore could have told you this: Lucas had 10 points on 12 shots, 1 assist, and 5 turnovers. The offense also struggled mightily when Delvon Roe was in the game, though he did help on the defensive end. Draymond Green was a statstuffer with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, and 3 blocks, but the Spartans couldn't stop Connecticut when he was on the floor.

Things don't get any easier for Michigan State in the third place game as they'll take on a very good Washington team later today (4pm CT, ESPN2).

Purdue rode their best offensive efficiency of the season to an 87-65 win over Austin Peay. This makes two straight games where the Boilermakers were very good offensively but just ok on defense--the opposite of what many observers, including us, were expecting. Purdue hit 56 percent on twos, crashed the offensive glass, and kept turnovers to a minimum (13 percent). Their defense was actually mediocre, save for forcing the Governors to turn it over on a fourth of their possessions.

JaJuan Johnson put up a 21-11 double-double, while E'Twaun Moore posted 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Lewis Jackson displayed a singular focus on dropping dimes--he finished with 9 assists, 3 turnovers, and just one point (on zero field goal attempts!). John Hart and D.J. Byrd picked up the shot-taking slack for LewJack, as a each took a heavy shot diet around 29 percent. Neither shot very well (a combined 5 for 17), but Byrd chipped in 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and no turnovers. It's early, and the competition hasn't been great, but Byrd's stats look something like a poor man's Robbie Hummel. Needless to say, that type of continued play from Byrd would be a huge lift for the Boilers.

Indiana notched a 72-56 win over North Carolina Central, but it wasn't easy. The Hoosiers led by just three points with 15:30 remaining, but an immediate 11-0 run broke it open. Indiana was saved by NCCU's awful turnover rate (32 percent), offsetting the hot shooting allowed to the Eagles (52 percent eFG). The offensive end wasn't especially kind to the Hoosiers as they shot just 28 percent from three, but a 19 percent turnover rate--IU's best of the season--had to be encouraging for Tom Crean. Christian Watford had a nice game with 17 points (14 shots), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and just 1 turnover, while Derek Elston was all over the defensive glass (6 rebounds in 21 minutes). Jordan Hulls chipped in 15 points on just 6 shots.

Ohio State was able to pull away late from Morehead State for a 64-45 win, but the talents of Morehead's Kenneth Faried were on full display. Offensive rebounds were tough to come by in this game for both teams, but Faried was still able to grab five on his way to a 15-12 double-double. Faried also contributed defensively to the quietest game of Jared Sullinger's young career: 8 points on 8 shots, 8 rebounds, and 3 turnovers.

Faried's play aside, the real story here was Ohio State's defense. Morehead scored just 0.69 points per possession, their lowest output of the season, and they turned it over on 35 percent of their possessions. For good measure, the Buckeyes held the Eagles to 41 percent shooting on twos.

The Buckeyes had some turnover problems of their own, but they overcame it with their typically accurate shooting (63 percent on twos, 35 percent on threes). John Diebler scored 20 points on 10 shots, while freshman Deshaun Thomas posted 16 points and 7 rebounds. Notably, William Buford was held out of the game as a precautionary measure due to back spasms, but he is expected to play in Ohio State's next contest.

In the late game, Illinois put on a defensive clinic in a 73-47 win over the Yale Bulldogs. The future leaders of America were held to 0.64 points per possession, the second dominant defensive effort of the season for Bruce Weber's team. At the offensive end, the Illini were less impressive, just managing a point per possession with 52 percent shooting on twos. D.J. Richardson was excellent, scoring 16 points on 8 shots, and Mike Tisdale shook off some offensive woes to post a 10-13 double-double and 3 blocks.

Tonight, the slate is much lighter for Thanksgiving eve. As mentioned, Michigan State takes on Washington in Maui (4pm CT, ESPN2), while newly ranked Minnesota hosts North Dakota State (7pm CT, espn3.com). Wisconsin will be in action tomorrow against Manhattan if you'd like some hoops with your turkey (1pm CT, ESPN2).

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller