Nearing the end of a long day of driving cross country Tuesday night I got stuck behind an accident in El Paso, Texas. I was tired, cranky and tailgating when I switched my satellite radio to Oklahoma State-Memphis. Then Marcus Smart made me smile.
Dave Hunziker’s voice kept reaching higher octaves as he described one driving layup and three-pointer after another. In the time it took me to go a half-mile, Smart had rolled up 24 points in 11 minutes. No really, he did. Smart finished with a career-high 39 points in No. 7 Oklahoma State’s 101-80 victory over No. 11 Memphis. It made for a much more enjoyable traffic delay, but I still wished I had watched it. Then I remembered everybody gets a chance to see Smart next week.
Smart and the Cowboys (4-0) are in the Old Spice Classic, which starts on Thanksgiving. In fact, Oklahoma State could face Memphis again on Dec. 1 in the final. Think the Tigers might try to come up with some defensive tricks in a rematch?
After finally getting past the wreck and long after my disdain at rubberneckers subsided, I settled into my hotel in Las Cruces, N.M., turned on the TV and stopped at Arizona State-UNLV. And I realized I was missing something big.
Jahii Carson couldn’t miss. And nobody could catch him. The speedy guard had been scoring every which way. You would have thought he was trying to one-up Smart. He did, in a way. Carson finished with a career-high 40 points to lead Arizona State (4-0) to an 86-80 win. I wished I had found the game sooner, but then realized ESPN Events will come to the rescue for me again.
See, Carson and the Sun Devils play in the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy next week, which also starts on Thanksgiving. That’s six opportunities in four days to watch two of the most electric guards in college basketball.
Count me in.