Morning Coffee: North Carolina Central Pulls Big Upset, BYU Loses in Tough Battle

A big day in mid-major hoops. We shouldn't waste any time.

You may want to take a shot of espresso in that morning coffee this morning. Got to keep that energy up.

What everyone will be talking about over their morning coffee:

North Carolina Central Shocks North Carolina State

Let's be clear here: when Coppin State goes out and beats Oregon State, that is something to take note of. It led our Morning Coffee on the day after the rare MEAC upset. But when North Carolina Central goes into an ACC arena and wins. Well...

Yeah, that should be the reaction. This is not what you expect. This is not something you would ever even dream of.

As was pointed out before, the MEAC only had one road win over the big boys until this season. Now, they have two in less than two weeks of the season. So wow.

To catch up on the relevant details, here you go: North Carolina Central 82, North Carolina State 72. Jeremy Ingram led the way with 29 points, including 19-for-21 from the free throw line. Emanuel Chapman added 18 points and Karamo Jawara -- which sounds like an alien from Star Wars -- had 12 points and eight boards in the win.

This all came on a great night for the MEAC overall, despite taking quite a few losses. Hampton lost to Quinnipiac by just three. Morgan State also lost by three to a very good Ohio team. And Maryland-Eastern Shore dropped Mount St. Mary's.

But anytime there is an ACC team in the mix, that is the topper.

Side of bacon:

Iowa State holds off BYU

BYU has made quite the impression this season, and after Iowa State dropped Michigan over the weekend, this matchup was highly anticipated in the early part of this week. And the anticipation was paid off.

This was a hard, physical game, that saw Eric Mika go to the bench after being smashed in the face by DeAndre Kane (yes, that DeAndre Kane) as he went to the basket late in the game. And there were a number of fouls that didn't get called along the way.

Anyone not watching though missed an amazing game, all the way down to the Kyle Collinsworth desperation three at the end. Coach Dave Rose was trying to call a timeout and make things a little more interesting in the final ticks, but was not given the whistle.

Makes you wonder if losing Mika while he was being tended to made any difference in the game, especially with Kane ejected.

BYU fell 90-88, despite 19 points and seven assists from Matt Carlino, and 20 points from Tyler Haws. Nate Austin had 13 rebounds, and Mika ended with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Other bites:

• You know who is getting ready for the Mid-Major Game of the Week? New Mexico State. They warmed up with a very difficult game against Northern Colorado, prevailing 67-63 over their Big Sky opponent. Daniel Mullings used the opportunity to show what it was that got him picked as the WAC preseason player of the year, going for 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and adding seven rebounds. Tshilidzi Nephawe had three blocks, and Sim Bhullar (man, his size is just not fair) added 10 points, seven boards and two blocks in the win. The Bears' Derrick Barden had 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
• Can we talk Dylon Cormier for a second? I think there might have been some mistake as we were ranking fantasy players for this season. Mr. Cormier didn't get drafted by any of the four writers choosing teams. And we are all paying. Wednesday night, Cormier had 34 points in an 89-83 overtime win for Loyola over Maryland-Baltimore Co. It was the third time this season that he had topped 30 points, after going for 31 on opening night against Binghamton and 34 against Cornell two days later. This pace seems unbelievable, averaging almost 30 over the four games, but it will be fun to watch while it lasts.
• We got a clearer picture in the pecking order between North Dakota State and Western Michigan last night. The Bison barrelled ahead to an 83-74 win thanks to 23 points from Taylor Braun. Marshall Bjorklund had 18 points and TrayVonn Wright added 16 points and six boards. For Western Michigan, David Brown scored 27 and Connar Tava and Shayne Whittington each had 16 points. I for one feel like I dropped North Dakota State too harshly in my rankings last week, and now this win over the Broncos, whom I did rank, cements that.
• We talked on the podcast last night about how good Harvard and Bryant were. The Crimson definitely had the favor of us on the pod, and get the better of the Bulldogs on the court. Wesley Saunders had 25 points and five assists and Steve Moundou-Missi added 23 points and nine rebounds in the win. Siyani Chambers, who hasn't had the scoring effort of last season, did dish eight assists in the win. Alex Francis led Bryant with 17 points, but also had seven turnovers in the loss.
• North Carolina State wasn't the only ACC team to take a dive on Wednesday night. Dayton prevailed over Georgia Tech, 82-72. Dayton forced Tech into 19 turnovers and kept capitalizing on them. Devin Oliver and Jordan Sibert each had 20 points and Vee Sanford added 15 points off the bench in the win.
• Evansville scored 55 points in the first half and had to hold on for a 100-92 win over Valparaiso as the Crusaders went for 62 in the second half. D.J. Balentine scored 32 points and Duane Gibson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Purple Aces in the win. Ryan Sawvell scored 14 points and had six rebounds in 16 minutes of action off the bench. Alec Peters (Side note: hope everything was OK with Alec's family and friends in Washington, Ill.; The NWI Times has a nice story scored 30 points in the loss, and went 7-for-11 from 3-point range.