Let's call Thursday night a split decision for the Evergreen State.
Although Washington State was swept by Arizona to fall to a perfectly NIT-worthy 7-7, Gonzaga won its fifth straight conference game to keep alive its fledgling NCAA Tournament hopes by avenging a prior loss to Santa Clara, despite an encore scoring performance by WCC Player of the Year candidate Kevin Foster.
Also, UMKC logged a nice road win at Western Illinois to boost its league record to 9-6.
And in the WTF chronicles, Savannah State rose back to .333 and took out all of its frustrations on a horribly outmatched opponent named "Trinity Baptist College."
Despite a protracted Google search, I couldn't determine at which level TBC plays, so I just guessed NAIA — incorrectly, it seems. Thanks to loyal reader jonfmorse, we now know it to be the USCAA.
Regardless, the Eagles are nothing short of horrible. They were held to 11 points in the first half and 13 in the second frame of an 84-24 beat-down by a team that usually is the recipient of such whippings.
Overall Record = 17-9
Big 12 Record = 5-6
RPI = 31
SOS = 8
Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = Kansas
Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = James Madison, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, Washington State, Baylor, Nebraska
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none
- James Madison (19-9, 9-7 CAA) | RPI = 84
- Virginia Tech (17-7, 7-4 ACC) | RPI = 57
- Presbyterian (12-16, 6-10 Big South) | RPI = 188
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Gonzaga (18-9, 8-3 WCC) | RPI = 68: Win over Santa Clara (85-76)
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No. 5 Duke (24-2, 11-1 ACC) | RPI = 6
- Texas Southern (13-10, 11-1 SWAC) | RPI = 169
- Emporia State (12-13, 9-10 MIAA*)
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Washington State (17-9, 7-7 Pac-10) | RPI = 72: Loss at No. 12 Arizona (70-79)
- Alcorn State (3-21, 3-11 SWAC) | RPI = 336
- Loyola-Chicago (15-12, 6-10 Horizon League) | RPI = 206
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No. 14 Florida (20-5, 9-2 SEC) | RPI = 12
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UNLV (19-7, 7-5 Mountain West) | RPI = 28
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UMKC (16-10, 9-6 Summit League) | RPI = 197: Win at Western Illinois (66-61)
- North Florida (10-17, 7-9 Atlantic Sun) | RPI = 157
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Savannah State (9-18) | RPI = 268: Win over Trinity Baptist College** (84-24)
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Oklahoma State (16-9, 4-7 Big 12) | RPI = 52
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Colorado (16-10, 5-6 Big 12) | RPI = 90
- Texas Tech (11-15, 3-8 Big 12) | RPI = 152
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No. 20 Missouri (20-6, 6-5 Big 12) | RPI = 30
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No. 21 Texas A&M (20-5, 7-4 Big 12) | RPI = 29
- Baylor (17-8, 6-5 Big 12) | RPI = 64
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No. 1 Kansas (24-2, 9-2 Big 12) | RPI = 1
- Nebraska (17-8, 5-6 Big 12) | RPI = 74
- Iowa State (14-12, 1-10 Big 12) | RPI = 142
- Oklahoma (12-13, 4-7 Big 12) | RPI = 126
- No. 3 Texas (23-3, 11-0 Big 12) | RPI = 8
*Division II
**USCAA