What Happened Last Night

• Georgia 84, Temple 66: The Georgia Bulldogs racked up an 18-point victory to send the folks in Athens happy into the holiday season (although they probably are thanks to recruiting coups in both football AND basketball lately). Yante Maten put up 30 points in the win while Nicolas Claxton had 14 off the bench.
• Ole Miss 82, Bradley 59: The Ole Miss Rebels took care of a pretty good Bradley team in Oxford. The Rebels held them to under 60 points and won by over 20. Terence Davis scored 25 points off the bench in 26 minutes of action. Bruce Stevens added 11, while Markel Crawford had 16.
• Florida 75, Incarnate Word 60: The Florida Gators ended a rather tumultuous nonconference slate with a 15-point win over Incarnate Word. The Gators got double figures from three players, including Chris Chiozza, who led with 16. Egor Koulechov and Jalen Hudson had 12 and 13.
• Vanderbilt 92, Alcorn State 51: The Vanderbilt Commodores head into nonconference play happy after their 41-point victory over Alcorn State. Four players finished in double figures, with Jeff Roberson finishing with 21. Matthew Fisher-Davis had 15, while Riley LaChance had 16. Freshman guard Saben Lee had 10.
• LSU 104, North Florida 52: The young LSU Tigers had their most prolific performance of the year, winning by 52 points over visiting North Florida. Four players finished in double figures, as Tremont Waters and Duop Reath led with 15. Aaron Epps had 13 and Daryl Edwards, meanwhile posted 10. Five others off the bench scored at least seven points in a complete effort, to say the least.
• Texas 66, Alabama 50: The Alabama Crimson Tide missed out on a quality nonconference win, falling to the Texas Longhorns in Birmingham. Mohamed Bamba had 17 and 11 in the win, as he was virtually unstoppable. Collin Sexton finished with just eight points on 4-12 shooting, a night to forget for the upstart freshman. John Petty led the Tide with 14 points, while Daniel Giddens scored 10. It just was not enough against the Longhorns on Friday night.

Today’s Schedule

We’ve got hoops going on as we speak. There’s an ESPN2 doubleheader, as right now, the Tennessee Volunteers are going up against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Then, after that, the Auburn Tigers tackle the visiting UConn Huskies.

Of course, much of the attention today is down in New Orleans. The latest CBS Sports Classic goes down at the Smoothie King Center, as the Kentucky Wildcats will scrap with the UCLA Bruins. These two teams are no strangers to one another, obviously. They met in last year’s Sweet 16 and in Lexington, as well. The Wildcats went to Pauley two seasons ago, and faced them three years ago as well as part of the first CBS Sports Classic. So, this will be the fourth straight year that these blue bloods meet. It should be a pretty fun one in NOLA.

While Southern Miss vs. Mississippi State isn’t on TV, the 2017 Braggin’ Rights game is. Illinois and the Missouri Tigers renew their rivalry at Scottrade in St. Louis. Mizzou has been exceptional, despite the absence of Michael Porter Jr. There’s some animosity here, as always, and it proves to typically be a fun environment. Especially if the teams are good. The Illini are just okay this year, but this should still be a doozy.