FanHouse CourtneyPigram

New Jersey bragging rights were on the line in Piscataway last night when the Rider Broncs came a-calling on Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights had the Big East imprimatur but the Broncs had the best player in the state in Jason Thompson. It turned out that neither one mattered as Rider took the win 61-57 and did it without a strong night from their leading scorer. But not without their leading scorer's family.
Ryan Thompson, younger brother of Jason, had 19 points and nine rebounds while big bro struggled to a 6-of-16 night from the floor. His 12 points and seven boards well off his 20 and 11 averages but Harris Mansell pitched in with 15 points and a smart defensive game plan did the rest. Rider played a sagging zone on J.R. Inman, Rutgers' leading scorer. He finished with 15 points but it wasn't nearly enough to forestall the upset.

The Scarlet Knights couldn't make any shots from the perimeter and finished at 36% for the night. They missed the injured freshman guard Corey Chandler quite a bit. Three replacement guards combined to go 0-for-14 from the floor while Jaron Griffin missed all eight of his three-point tries.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

Christmas is a time for families to come together. So what better time for Scott Sutton to bring his Oral Roberts Golden Eagles to Stillwater Oklahoma City for a date with Oklahoma State. His father Eddie coached OSU forever and sat courtside while Scott matched wits with brother Sean, their father's successor. The brothers didn't relish playing against each other but Sean scheduled ORU so that they could grab a little TV time. Next time I think he'll let someone else do the good deeds around the holidays.

The Golden Eagles pasted the Cowboys 74-59, taking the lead five minutes into play and never relinquishing it as the night moved on. Robert Jarvis led the winners with 21 points in their second Big 12 upset in as many years. It was Kansas in 2006, a bigger fish on paper, but some part of Scott had to take special satisfaction in knocking off his big brother. Their quest for a third straight NCAA bid looks good after they dominated the Cowboys. They took 32 free throws, forced 18 turnovers and were the better team in every phase of the game.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts:

Every year Cinderella captures our hearts in the NCAA Tournament. They begin fittings for their glass slippers in November (and December), though. They Do Not Come From Nowhere introduces you to the teams that will be busting brackets nationwide come March.

East Tennessee State has become the overlooked member of the Atlantic Sun. After winning 24 games and dominating the conference last season, they lost in the tournament final to Belmont and had to settle for a NIT bid. They lost to Clemson in the first round there, though, and as this season opened they've had to watch as Belmont, Gardner-Webb and Mercer gained national notice for upsets while the Buccaneers while they tried to find a way to replace two departed big men.

Brad Nuckles and Erik Thomas gave the Bucs a strong interior presence to balance A-Sun player of the year Courtney Pigram in the backcourt. Pigram has been joined by Kevin Tiggs to create a devastating scoring duo. Tiggs, the JUCO player of the year in 06-07, is leading the team with 17 points a game while Pigram adds 15 and 4.7 assists. Andrew Reed has shown some signs of being an inside stopper and with eight guys playing 15 minutes or more, ETSU is well prepared for conference play.