Tyler Thornton (Yes, Tyler Thornton) Shoots Duke To A Maui Title Over Kansas

#6 Duke 68, #14 Kansas 61
This game got real good down the stretch, and with both fan bases showing up really well it truly had a March feel. Sometimes the great coaches just have a feel for the game, and Coach K had Tyler Thornton in the game down the stretch instead of Austin Rivers. Thornton was out there to help the team get defensive stops, but after nailing a three to put Duke up with about 1:10 to go, he hit a miracle three at the end of the shot clock to put the game away with 21 seconds left. Of all the great outside shooters Duke has, it somehow felt fitting that it was Tyler Thornton of all people to hit that shot.

For Kansas, a big piece of this loss has to fall on Tyshawn Taylor, who has been so inconsistent this season and who struggled with 11 turnovers, including a poorly-timed one in between Tyler Thornton's two end-of-game threes. But despite the loss, this has to be seen as a moral victory for Kansas. There were a lot of doubts about this team, but the fact is that they hung in tough against Duke and probably would have won if Duke hadn't gotten hot on jumpers down the stretch. It was also noteworthy that the thin Kansas bench didn't wear out down the stretch of this game, despite it being their third game in as many days. So far this season, Kansas has played better than any other Big 12 team.

The tough Jayhawks schedule doesn't ease up too much anytime soon. They will come home to play Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, and have a game against Ohio State looming. Duke, having won yet another Maui Invitational, continues on with their own brutal opponent. Their next game is on Tuesday night at Ohio State. They also have games against Washington and Temple before beginning ACC play.

#5 Syracuse 69, Virginia Tech 58
Virginia Tech actually had control throughout the first half of this game. Syracuse didn't have their first lead of the game until there were 12 minutes left, but it came as part of a 17-3 run that totally blew this game open. Virginia Tech just started to struggle offensively and couldn't recover. In their defense, that often happens to teams going against the Syracuse zone. The Orange also got a pair of nice performances off the bench from Dion Waiters (11 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) and CJ Fair (12 points on 5-for-8 shooting and 10 rebounds).

Syracuse had only played cupcakes prior to this game, and had blown all of them out (which is always a good sign), but it was nice to see them finally playing an opponent in their own weight class. They struggled early, but established their play in the second half and escaped with a quality win. They will play for the NIT title on Friday against Stanford. They also have a December 2nd game against Florida looming.

With a missed opportunity behind them, you can already feel the nervous Virginia Tech fans wondering if they're going to spend the night of Selection Sunday blaming this loss for their being left narrowly out of the Tournament field... again. Of course, it's still way too early for talk like that. They have a good opportunity on Friday against Oklahoma State. They'll then play St. Bonaventure on Sunday, and then have a road game at Minnesota.

Oregon 83, Nebraska 76
Oregon opened up a 15 point lead midway through the second half that was wiped out by a furious 22-7 run from Nebraska that tied the game up with two minutes to go. But EJ Singler came down with a huge offensive rebound off a missed three with under a minute to go, and then went 4-for-4 down the stretch from the line to help salt this game away. Having opened the season with a loss to Vanderbilt, I was really curious to see what they'd do in their next game against a quality opponent. After a couple of cupcake wins we have our answer.

At the very least, Oregon clearly looks like a Bubble team this season. And a win over another potential Bubble team is always a good thing to have on your resume. This is a brutal loss for Nebraska for the same reason, That said, Nebraska will have plenty of chances to earn an at-large bid in conference play. It's going to be a lot harder for Oregon to earn an at-large bid when you consider how weak the Pac-12 is.

Oregon heads home to play UTEP on Tuesday, and then they play at BYU. Nebraska's schedule is a little lighter. They will play South Dakota State on Saturday and then Wake Forest on Wednesday.