Feb. 10 College Basketball Daily Feast: Duke, North Carolina and Jimmer Fredette

Welcome to the Daily Feast, where every weekday we stuff your head with the tastiest data-driven insights on college hoops.

Coffee & Cooler Talk (news and results from yesterday)

Nolan Smith scored a career-high 34 points as Duke overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to beat North Carolina 79-73. Duke has been a great second half team all year, as it is tops in the nation in second half scoring margin.

In an amazing finish, Jonathan Mitchell of Rutgers converted a four-point play with 0.8 seconds left to bring Rutgers from down three to up one, and they knocked off Villanova, 77-76. The Wildcats fall to 14th in our predictive power ratings.

Notre Dame topped Louisville in OT, 89-79, to maintain sole possession of second place in the Big East. Notre Dame is on a hot streak: It's 10th in our last 10 games power ratings.

Georgetown went to the Carrier Dome and pulled away late to beat Syracuse 64-56. The Hoyas have been one of the best road teams in the country, ranking ninth in our away power ratings.

Will Barton hit a three with 2.8 seconds left to lift Memphis to a 63-62 win at Central Florida. That helps Memphis stay in contention for a bye in the C-USA tournament, the benefit of which can be seen in our Conference USA tournament simulation.

Utah State's at-large chances took a huge hit, and its 17-game winning streak was snapped, as the Aggies lost 64-56 at Idaho. According to our polls comparison page, the voters have been rating them accurately, so they'll probably drop next Monday.

Texas A&M narrowly avoided a fourth straight loss, edging Colorado 73-70 in OT. It was a huge game in terms of the Big 12 conference standings, as the Aggies are now fourth, while Colorado sits at ninth. If the result had been reversed, Colorado would be in fourth, and Texas A&M would be in a five-way tie for fifth.

Wisconsin needed OT to scrape out a 62-59 win at Iowa and avoid falling victim in a classic trap game ahead of Saturday's game vs. Ohio State. It probably would have been a different story if the game were held in Wisconsin, as they rank third in our home power ratings.

Lunchtime Reading (interesting posts from around the blogosphere)

A classic debate: college basketball vs. the NBA. Lost Lettermen will take college basketball, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Roy Johnson of ESPN.com says, "Bah! Humbug!" to college basketball's regular season.

Jimmer Fredette took the lead in AnnArbor.com's Player of the Year straw poll.

This is an NBA-related site, but it's worth passing on for its brilliant (yet succinct) analysis: DidTheCavsWinLastNight.com.

Dinner & A Game (notes on tonight’s hottest games)

No. 17 Illinois at No. 31 Minnesota ... Two good teams going through bad stretches: Illinois has lost five of seven, while Minnesota has dropped three in a row. Somebody gets off the schneid tonight.

No. 12 Connecticut at No. 40 St. John's ... St. John's knocked off Duke at home, so it's hard to imagine they'd be afraid of Connecticut.

No. 53 Alabama at No. 26 Vanderbilt ... Alabama is first in the country in defensive efficiency. They'll need to lock Vandy down to hold on to first place in the SEC.

No. 69 California at No. 20 Washington ... Washington looks to stop its skid by taking care of business at home. They're heavy favorites, but they should be wary, as this is the most likely major upset on our upset predictions page.

No. 57 Penn State at No. 51 Michigan State ... The Spartans try to avenge their earlier loss at Penn State.