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The Report Card: Duke, Wyoming record impressive victories

Quinn Cook (USA TODAY Sports)
Quinn Cook (USA TODAY Sports)

DATE: Saturday, Nov. 22

A+ — Wyoming

Before his team's 59-33 loss at Wyoming on Saturday afternoon, Colorado coach Tad Boyle compared facing the Cowboys to going to a dentist appointment. In retrospect, that metaphor may have undersold the misery of Boyle's experience.

A Colorado team that lit up Auburn for 90 points earlier in the week somehow only managed to score nine in the second half against Wyoming. The slower-than-molasses Cowboys took away all transition opportunities, doubled Josh Scott in the post and forced the Buffaloes' guards to beat them from the perimeter. Didn't happen, as Askia Booker, Xavier Talton and Xavier Johnson shot a combined 5 of 23 from the field for just 17 points.

Wyoming was more efficient than its scoring total would suggest on offense, burying nine threes and notching assists on all 22 of its field goals. Thus the Cowboys got a critical win considering their other two most challenging non-conference games against SMU and Cal both will come on the road.

A- — Duke 

Even though Duke spent most of last season in the top 15 in the polls, there were signs as early as November that the 2013-14 Blue Devils weren't as formidable as some of their predecessors. Notoriously fast-starting Duke lost to Kansas and Arizona, surrendered 90 points at home against Vermont and even struggled to put away East Carolina until the closing minutes.

It remains to be seen whether this year's Blue Devils accomplish more than last year's team did, but it's inarguable that they're further along at this stage of the season. They held off Stanford 70-59 on Saturday night to capture the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament title and improve their record to a perfect 5-0.

Between its unselfish passing, domination of the offensive glass and ability to turn second-chance opportunities into threes, Duke survived Jahlil Okafor enduring a quiet night until the closing minutes. Quinn Cook had 18 points and Justise Winslow scored 14 as the Blue Devils never let the Cardinal closer than within eight points in the second half. Duke also did an excellent job running Stanford's shooters off the 3-point arc and forcing the Cardinal to find another way to score.

C- — Nebraska

One slight silver lining for Nebraska after falling 66-62 in overtime at Rhode Island: The Huskers are apparently a respected enough opponent to be worthy of a court storming from excited Rams fans.

That's about the only positive Nebraska coach Tim Miles could take from a game in which his team became the most high-profile team Rhode Island has defeated during Danny Hurley's three-year rebuilding process. The Huskers couldn't stop reigning A-10 freshman of the year E.J. Matthews, nor could they find anyone to step up in support of stars Shavon Shields and Terran Petteway. Shields had his usual strong night, but Petteway went only 5 of 18 from the field.

Nebraska still managed to force overtime on the road against a Rhode Island team that could contend in the Atlantic 10, but two huge overtime threes from Jared Terrell wrested control back for the Rams. The Huskers never got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead after that, relegating them to a disappointing road loss.

F — Marquette

Bad: Losing to Nebraska-Omaha. Worse: Losing to Nebraska-Omaha at home. Even worse: Surrendering 97 points in the process.

Marquette probably lacks the size or frontcourt talent to return to the NCAA tournament after a one-year absence last season, but there's no excuse for the Golden Eagles to be falling 97-89 to a Nebraska Omaha program that moved up from Division II only four years ago. After all, the Mavs went 5-9 in the Summit League last season and lost by 25 points at Seattle on Wednesday night.

Chief among Marquette's sins Saturday afternoon was a complete inability to stay in front of small, quick guards C.J. Carter and Devin Patterson. The duo combined for 51 points and 11 assists, a big reason Nebraska-Omaha shot 57.1 percent from the field, scored 1.28 points per possession and won with ease despite 19 turnovers. Marquette is now 1-2 in Steve Wojciechowski's debut season, having also lost to Ohio State earlier in the week.

NOTES:

• A matchup between Ball State and IUPUI produced maybe the season's best buzzer beater so far. P.J. Boutte nailed a buzzer-beating runner at the end of overtime to propel IUPUI to a 71-69 victory.

• Kris Dunn looks close to all the way back after injuries cost him most of his first two seasons at Providence. The former McDonald's All-American point guard had 15 points and nine assists in a 80-54 demolition of Florida State

• Beating Temple on Saturday won't impress  the NCAA tournament selection committee or anything, but this was still an impressive bounce-back win for a UNLV team that looked lost the night before against Stanford. The Rebels built a narrow second-half lead and held on when Patrick McKaw won the race for a key loose ball in the final minute and turned it into a layup that gave UNLV badly needed breathing room.

• If Marquette's loss to Nebraska-Omaha was the worst loss of the day, Virginia Tech falling to short-handed Appalachian State wasn't too far behind. The only difference is that the Hokies don't have much talent in Buzz Williams' first season, making upsets like this far less surprising.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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