With so much Canadian selection in the NCAA (if you haven’t heard there are 104 Canadians in the NCAA this year!!) I find it especially great when you get connections. What really opened my eyes on Wednesday night was the number of guys from the same province (Quebec AKA The French Connection), or even the region (Mississauga Connection) that suit up daily in the NCAA. So without further a due here are the best performances from last night …

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan (Gatineau, QB) scored 25 points (10-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 4-7 FT) with 1 rebound, 3 assists, 3 steals in a 66-59 loss to Pittsburg, while Baylor’s Kenny Cherry (Montreal, QB) scored 27 points (7-18 FG, 5-7 3PT, 6-6 FT) along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals in a 74-69 loss to Texas. Both had big nights but couldn’t get the win.

THE MISSISSAUGA CONNECTION

Although Melvin Ejim (Toronto, ON) did not have his best game but fellow Canadian Naz Long (Mississauga, ON) picked up the slack as Iowa State cruised passed West Virginia 83-66. Ejim scored 7 points (3-7 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-1 FT), 7 rebounds 1 assist 1 steal 1 block while Long came off the bench scoring 15 points (5-9 FG, 5-7 3PT) with 2 rebounds 1 assist 1 block.

Michigan’s Nik Stauskas (Mississauga, ON) scored 15 points (5-18 FG 0-4 3PT 5-7 FT) grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 3 assists as Michigan won on a Glenn Roninson III  buzzer beating lay-up beating Purdue 77-76 in overtime. The Wolverines battled hard all night long as they overcame a 13-point deficit at halftime. Stauskas did not shoot the ball that well, but he did make 2 free throws with 53 seconds left tying the game up. And although he did miss a chance for the game winner, he made one of Michigan 4 field goals in overtime. Michigan sits atop of the Big Ten conference with a 12-3 record.

ON A SIDE NOTE

In a match up of two premier Canadian, bigs Jordan Bachynski’s (Calgary, ON) Arizona Sun Devils defeated Dwight Powell’s (Toronto, ON) Stanford Cardinals 76-64. Bachynski scored 2 points (1-6 FG) and added 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 15 minutes of play. Bachynski battled foul trouble all night long and has had a rough time throughout his passed 3 games staying out of foul trouble, a stretch that has seen Arizona State has only won one of its last three.  Powell had more success despite the loss scoring 11 points (2-9 FG, 7-11 FT) to go along with 6 rebounds 1 assist, 2 blocks.