By Sam Federman
The talk of the college basketball world right now is centered on a few things.
Dan Hurley's antics as UConn struggles in the Maui Invitational, looking mortal for the first time in a few years
Duke's late-game struggles flaring up once again in Vegas in a loss to Kansas
Whatever the hell Hunter Dickinson did to Maliq Brown
Two overtime thrillers in the Players Era between Alabama and Houston, and later Rutgers and Notre Dame
How Auburn may be the best team in the country right now after pounding North Carolina
But there's a lot more happening than what I just went over, and here's some of the stuff that you may have missed from college basketball since all of our attention flipped to Maui and Vegas.
About a four-hour drive from Vegas, in Palm Desert, California, SMU got absolutely everything that it could handle from the local-ish team, Cal Baptist. Kendal Coleman, who had sunk just one three-pointer in his college career entering the season, made six big ones to bring the Lancers back.
Tied at 77 with the clock running down, Boopie Miller played the hero for the Mustangs.
Cal Baptist came from 16 points down in the second half to make it a game, but just missed the upset bid.
Elsewhere in the ACC, Boston College picked up its most impressive win of the season. The Eagles won their third game in three days to take home the Cayman Islands Classic.
Josh Beadle's third three-pointer of the season put BC ahead of Boise State in the final seconds to improve to 6-1.
A day after needing overtime to defeat Missouri State, Boston College handed a big blow to the Mountain West, with what may sit as a quadrant three loss for the rest of the year for Boise State, unless the Eagles continue to win up-games.
RAPID FIRE
Cal Poly has matched its win total from last year, with 4. The Mustangs took down Grambling 82-79 at home on Tuesday thanks to 17 points each from Owen Koonce and Isaac Jessup. New head coach Mike DeGeorge has improved Poly's KenPom rank by nearly 100 spots already.
Saint Peter's won its third game in a row, using a 21-point effort featuring a buzzer beater from redshirt freshman Bryce Eaton at FDU.
Clemson handed Penn State its first loss of the season in Sunshine Slam. They held the Nittany Lions to just 22% from beyond the arc.
Most of the fans probably filed out of T-Mobile Arena right after the buzzer sounded for Duke/Kansas, but they all missed Furman improving to 7-0 with a 61-56 win over Seattle U. Paladins travel to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.
GAMES TO WATCH ON WEDNESDAY
Maui continues
2:30: Colorado vs Iowa State (5th place game)
5:00: Memphis vs Auburn (Championship)
9:30: Michigan State vs North Carolina (3rd place game)
Midnight: UConn vs Dayton (7th place game)
Atlantis starts
Noon: Louisville vs Indiana
2:30: West Virginia vs Gonzaga
5:00: Oklahoma vs Providence
7:30: Davidson vs Arizona
More Players Era
4:00: Oregon vs San Diego State
6:30: Texas A&M vs Creighton
10:00: Rutgers vs Alabama
12:30 am: Notre Dame vs Houston
Other fun games
UMass Lowell at Saint Louis, 8 p.m.
SMU vs Washington State (Palm Desert), 9:30 p.m.