December 4, 2021 

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

UConn exhausts its starters

Happy Saturday! Welcome to The Next’s Daily Briefing, featuring the daily Watch List and Yesterday’s Recap! Day 26 of college basketball is here, and given the schedule, it’s a great evening to spend extra time celebrating the sixth night of Hanukkah.

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(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

Written by Em Adler

Em Adler (she/they) covers the WNBA at large and college basketball for The Next, with a focus on player development and the game behind the game.

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