Most of what I wrote earlier regarding Greg Oden you can repeat for Texas’ Kevin Durant (above, right). Though I’ve seen few big men of any age who look as smooth putting the ball on the floor as Durant, nor many who’ve learned how to adjust to double teams as quickly. Durant scored 28 points and collected 13 rebounds in a Longhorns rout that would’ve been far uglier had Rick Barnes not cleared his bench pretty early in the 2nd half.
Earlier in the day, Iowa State gave Kansas a scare before succumbing in OT, Brandon Rush’s steal and subsequent jam in the extra session breaking a 63-63 deadlock. The day’s genuine upsets (the first bigger than the second) included no. 1 North Carolina being knocked off by Virgina Tech (days after the Hoakies put a beating on Duke) and previously unbeaten Clemson losing 92-87 at Maryland. The Terrapins improved to 15-3 overall while shooting at 65% clip.