No offense, but....

If you like high-scoring games and red-hot shooting, well, you're probably going to find this a pretty tough read.

Thursday's recap

Virginia 56, Purdue 49: Credit the Cavaliers for prevailing on a night when all-everything Monica Wright (7 points, fouled out) didn't have it and for a first-half defensive performance that left the Boilermakers with as many turnovers (14) as points. But Virginia's offense wasn't a whole lot better as Purdue's defense seduced the Cavaliers into settling for long-range shots. Virginia made just 4 of a season high-tying 23 3-point attempts. Not surprisingly, the other time they attempted 23 3-pointers was in the 77-63 loss to Tennessee.

Richmond 60, William and Mary 47: Those must have been some second-half adjustments by the Spiders, who reacted to a 33-31 halftime deficit by scoring 27 of the first 32 points after the break. One of those adjustments was clearly to dump water on the previously-on-fire Taysha Pye. The Tribe sophomore hung 15 points on the Spiders in the first half but could manage on three more after intermission.

Michigan 71, Virginia Tech 51: We didn't see this coming, as the Hokies were rested, had been dominating at home and were very competitive in their two road losses to upper-tier foes. But they were never in this one, as they fell behind 24-6 and trailed by as many as 29 in the second half. An extremely disappointing effort, especially in their own gym.

Friday's action

Longwood (2-5) vs. New Orleans (4-2), Big Easy Classic, 6 p.m.
The jazz and gumbo are great in New Orleans and, as the Lancers will soon discover, the basketball teams are pretty good, too. Longwood doesn't figure to be totally outclassed, but given the Lancers' 0-3 road record, we'd consider it a significant upset if they can pull out a win tonight or in Saturday's Classic finale against Tulane. New Orleans 69, Longwood 58

High Point (2-3) vs. George Mason (4-2), 7 p.m.
One of the first signs of becoming a quality team is being able to take care of business at home, and the Patriots appear to have that down as they are 4-0 at the Patriot Center. And it's a good thing they're squirreling these games away because the schedule is about to get a lot tougher. George Mason 72, High Point 58