The early games left a lot to be desired on Tuesday, but the nightcaps provided a handful of contests that went down to the wire, including a potential top-ten upset.

#3 Kansas 90, Loyola (MD) 60 – The Jayhawks were without Mario Chalmers, but against the over-matched Greyhounds it didn’t make a difference. Sherron Collins led the way with 18 points, while Brandon Rush took only seven shots on the night. KU opens up their Big 12 slate on Saturday on the road against Nebraska.

#6 Michigan State 78, Purdue 75 – Purdue’s Keaton Grant missed a three-pointer to tie the game with six seconds left and Sparty hung on for a conference victory at home. MSU had a comfortable nine point lead at half, but the Boilermakers clawed back and found themselves down only one point with 29 seconds left. But then, Spartan point guard Travis Walton improbably hit the clutch shot to give Coach Tom Izzo all the lead he would need. State travels to Iowa on Saturday night, looking to move to 3-0 in the Big Televen.

#8 Georgetown 76, DePaul 60 – I mentioned in yesterday’s TV listings that DePaul could possibly hang with the highly-efficient Hoyas at home, but Georgetown was having none of it. They absolutely burst out of the gates, shooting a scorching 66.7% from the field while holding the Blue Demons to a paltry 21.2% as they built a 21-point halftime lead. We’ve often seen Georgetown’s nouveau-Princeton offense methodically destroy their opponents, but the defensive performance in this one was excellent.

#11 Indiana 78, Michigan 64 – D.J. White had the first 20/20 game for an IU player since 1995 and the Hoosiers controlled this one the whole way. Usually I’d continue to talk about the game here, but I’d rather take the opportunity to point out how good the November 24th win over the Hoosiers is looking for Xavier. It is the only blemish on IU’s resumé, and the Hoosiers will soon be a top ten team with their next three games coming against the Fighting Illini, Golden Golphers, and Nittany Lions.

#16 Marquette 61, Seton Hall 56 – Marquette looked awfully flat in the first half and seemed to be in danger of dropping two straight games in Big East play. But they played incredibly well in the second half, figuring out the Seton Hall zone and fouling out some of the Pirates’ key players down the stretch. The biggest bucket of the night came from Dan Fitzgerald, who buried a three with 11 seconds left to clinch the win. With only five seconds between the shot clock and game clock, Seton Hall Coach Bobby Gonzalez had elected to play straight-up defense despite the two-point deficit. It was a confusing decision, but Fitzgerald made it completely irrelevant with his clutch shot.

Missouri 96, UMKC 76 – Mizzou struggled for much of the game, actually heading to the locker room in a 35-35 tie with the abysmal Kangaroos. But the Tigers’ pressure defense turned up in the second half, and with it came the scoring. In the end, five Mizzou players finished with double-digit scoring, led by Leo Lyons’ 22 points — 19 of which came in the second frame.

Baylor 72, Brown 62 – In the battle of the Bears, Baylor came out on top, led by LaceDarius Dunn’s 27 points. The sensational freshman hit 7-of-8 from behind the arc, including one to quash a last-gasp Brown comeback bid with 1:35 to play. Now it’s time for Baylor to prove that their impressive non-conference performance was no fluke, as they open Big 12 play with two very winnable home games against Iowa State (Saturday) and Oklahoma State (Tuesday).