Picking up the pieces: Everything that flew under the radar in college basketball’s opening night

Between 100-and-something games, the Champions Classic, and the Midterm Elections, way too much happened last night. In fact, no matter how invested you are in college basketball or how many games you tuned into, you probably missed something.

So on days like this throughout the season, I will do my best to fill you in on what may have flown under the radar.

First, the highlights. If you don’t know this stuff, go back and catch up, then come back:

• BYU gave Nevada a fight deep into the second half, but the Wolf Pack pulled away late, winning 86-70.
• North Carolina avenged last season’s home loss to Wofford with a 78-67 road win. Fletcher Magee scored 21 but shot 3-16 from three.
• Charles Bassey’s double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) wasn’t enough as Washington held off Western Kentucky, 73-55.
• Stony Brook came back from down 22-0 to beat George Washington in overtime.
• Penn knocked off George Mason on the road, handing the A-10 a rough first night.
• Illinois State started building its resume with a home win over Florida Gulf Coast.
• Wichita State, Wyoming, and Baylor were all victims of opening night brutality.

And now, what you may have missed:

There were some really good dunks

Quick note to anyone who runs a team account that might be reading this: Tag us in your amazing highlights because we want to see! We don’t have a billion eyes. Big thanks to a UNC Greensboro fan who alerted us to the wonder of Isaiah Miller:

And in photo form? Utterly fantastic.

Holy hell, Valpo

KJ Walton, what say you?

Let’s watch some more.

New Mexico flirted with disaster then won at the buzzer

We have high hopes for the Lobos this year, but Mark Gottfried’s club almost knocked them off last night. CS Northridge forced 20 New Mexico turnovers and tied the game on a Lamine Diane bucket with six seconds left. That left Anthony Mathis with a shot to win it at the buzzer:

Siena gave Providence a battle

Providence led Siena 50-34 at halftime, so no one would have blamed you if you ignored the rest of this one. But the Saints hit four threes in the opening 3:30 of the second half, then refused to go away even as Providence responded to go back up 18. In fact, a Kevin Degnan three with 3:25 to go brought Siena to within seven points. The Saints were picked to finish dead least in the MAAC, but perhaps this was an encouraging sign.

Central Connecticut pulled off an upset at Hartford

The Blue Devils are expected to be competitive this year. Not great, but capable of sneaking up on someone. Well, they did just that on Tuesday, beating Hartford — a team expected to challenge for an NCAA Tournament berth — 75-68 on the road. Tyler Kohl had 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in one of the better, more underrated individual performances of opening night. Donyell Marshall has something here.

Eastern Washington and Syracuse set basketball back a few decades

Let’s just throw some stats at you and see how long it takes for you to vomit:

• Syracuse beat Eastern Washington 66-34.
• Eastern Washington scored 10 points in the first half.
• The two teams went a combined 9-42 from three.
• Oshae Brissett was the only player on either team to score in double figures.
• The Eagles scored 0.50 points per possession.
• And shot 29 percent from two-point range
• The Virginia vs. Towson game totaled 56 possessions (this has nothing to do with Syracuse vs. EWU, but it’s also nauseating).

The CAA got a little weirder

Northeastern is still probably the best team in the conference, but the Huskies lost 77-74 to Boston University on Tuesday. Northeastern entered the game ranked No. 78 in KenPom, with the Terriers ranked No. 235. The game was on Northeastern’s home court. What the heck happened? CAA Player of the Year candidate Vasa Pusica did his part — he had 31 points — and Tomas Murphy had 21 off the bench. The Huskies even led by 12 with 12:43 to go. But then the Terriers unleashed 10 straight points and JaVante McCoy made a layup with 48 seconds to go to put BU ahead. The teams traded a couple more baskets and BU improbably held on.

What to watch tonight:

Bucknell at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Marshall at Eastern Kentucky, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+