1. After 14 assists and 13 turnovers in his past two games, Iona’s Scott Machado got back on track in a huge win over Richmond. Machado had 13 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds and just 2 turnovers in their road win. The Gaels won 88-79 in a 75 possession game. The 1.17 points per possession was the worst defensive game of the Spiders season.
2. And then there were six. Morgan State began their season with 7 consecutive losses, but won on Wednesday against Maryland Baltimore County. This leaves six teams which have yet to win a game. Even though Morgan State won handily, it was easy to see why they’ll struggle this year. They’re 223rd in defensive rebounding, and allowed the Retrievers to grab 38% of their own misses, and Morgan State only turned them over on 10.3% of their possessions.
3. After several games of not starting, UCLA’s Josh Smith got the start versus Eastern Washington. The Bruins won 60-47 in a 61 possession game. the overweight Smith played 19 minutes and never was in the game for more than 8 possessions. In his 9 stints on the floor, 7 of them were for 4 or fewer possessions.
4. Norfolk State’s Kyle O’Quinn had his eighth double-double of the season in the Spartans 73-62 over Long Island. O’Quinn led all scorers with 22, and all rebounders with 14. He has the 8th best rebounding rate in the nation, and is one of 24 players nationally averaging more than 10 rebounds a game.
5. Auburn and South Florida played a game that was hard to watch. The Tigers won 52-40 in a 58 possession game. Each team turned the ball over on 24% of their trips. Auburn shot 21% from beyond the arc, while the Bulls shot 22%. For USF, Ron Anderson Jr was 0-1 from the field and 0-5 from the line. Victor Rudd was 0-4 from the field. And Anthony Collins had 7 points and 5 turnovers. Aurburn’s Varez Ward shot 2-10, and center Rob Chubb committed 5 turnovers in 24 minutes. But Auburn is now 5-1. A year ago at this time they were 2-4 with one of their wins coming over an NAIA team.
