Another Saturday is in the books, and with it a number of big results in many conference races. There were a couple of attention-grabbing matchups, but in all the day was more about the impactful results as well as close calls – ones that might have made a bigger impact had they gone the other way. The bubble is very weak this year, so a lot of games every Saturday have implications one way or another.
In one conference, the top seed for the conference tournament was clinched on Saturday. That gives you an idea of just how close we are to Selection Sunday – exactly four weeks to the day this goes live.
With that, here are notes from a number of games on the day.
Kentucky 86, Tennessee 69: A great bounce-back by the Wildcats, and you had to think they weren’t going to lose two in a row at Rupp Arena.
LSU 83, Georgia 79: While the clash of the titans drew a lot of attention, LSU is now tied atop the conference with Tennessee, who they host next Saturday.
Auburn 64, Vanderbilt 53: The Tigers needed this one as a road game and to get to .500 in the conference. They avoid a bad loss as well.
Mississippi State 77, Arkansas 67: The Bulldogs took over the game in the second half after Arkansas couldn’t miss from long range early, though 10 first-half turnovers by the Razorbacks might have ultimately doomed them as well in a damaging home loss.
Florida 71, Alabama 53: A solid road win for the Gators, who have floundered around for much of the season as a tough team to figure out. Is Alabama any easier to figure out at this point?
Duke 94, NC State 78: The Wolfpack fall below .500 in ACC play again, which hurts given their very weak non-conference schedule. They actually shot 50 percent from the field, but allowed Duke to shoot 53 percent, and the Blue Devils had a big 44-26 rebounding edge.
North Carolina 95, Wake Forest 57: This was basically never a ballgame and gives you an idea of where these two teams are right now.
Florida State 69, Georgia Tech 47: The Seminoles have now won seven straight and look a lot more like the team they were in non-conference play.
Louisville 56, Clemson 55: The Tigers almost pulled off a big win for the second straight Saturday, but instead are now 5-7 in ACC play with Florida State coming to town next. Louisville, meanwhile, avoids a three-game losing streak.
Gonzaga 79, San Diego 67: With Tennessee going down, Gonzaga now has the nation’s longest winning streak at 16 straight, and it’s not likely to end anytime soon.
Michigan 65, Maryland 52: Maryland did well to stay within striking distance, but this can be described simply as the Wolverines taking care of business at home against a good team.
Purdue 76, Penn State 64: The Boilermakers gave the ball away 23 times, but when they didn’t, they scored often thanks to shooting over 52 percent including 9-16 from long range.
Minnesota 84, Indiana 63: The Golden Gophers keep their at-large hopes going, while we can stick a fork in Indiana and say that this team should only go dancing with a Big Ten Tournament title.
Kansas 78, West Virginia 53: This one was a far cry from other recent games between these two schools, illustrative of the down year West Virginia is having. There is still hope for the Jayhawks, especially given another result.
Iowa State 78, Kansas State 64: An impressive road win by the Cyclones ends the Wildcats’ nine-game Big 12 winning streak and makes things a little more interesting in the conference race. The bigger concern is the health of Dean Wade, who went down just over halfway through the second half in this one.
Texas Tech 86, Baylor 61: While Texas Tech is clearly back on track, Baylor is certainly not as they have lost three of four, though they have now been without Makai Mason and King McClure for three straight games.
Texas 69, Oklahoma State 57: The Longhorns couldn’t afford a home loss here, and they took care of business to win their third in four outings, which gives them a bit of momentum as they hit the road for three of the next four.
Oklahoma 71, TCU 62: Oklahoma was in a bad funk and needed a win like this in the worst way. Now the question is if it will just be an aberration, or if they will build on it. It’s a damaging loss for TCU, but the Horned Frogs don’t appear to have as much work to do.
Xavier 75, Providence 61: The second half was all Xavier as they won this going away in Providence, which puts the Friars all alone at the bottom of the Big East.
VCU 69, Dayton 68: A big win on the road for the Rams keeps them right there with Davidson at 10-2 in Atlantic 10 play, and Dayton now falls back to fourth.
Washington 72, Washington State 70: While this was in Pullman, it was a bit too close for comfort for the Huskies as they go to 11-1 in the Pac-12.
Stanford 104, UCLA 80: UCLA has fallen this far. Yes, it was on the road, but they have quite a bit more talent than Stanford.
Drake 84, Valparaiso 79: The Bulldogs are now right there in the race at 9-5 after their third straight win, a game back of Loyola-Chicago in the loss column.
Bradley 65, Illinois State 59: Illinois State has now lost four in a row to fall towards the middle of the pack.
Texas State 67, UALR 60: The Bobcats win their fourth straight and are all alone atop the Sun Belt at 10-3.
College of Charleston 88, Northeastern 79 (OT): Grant Riller took over in the extra session with 10 of his 33 points, and the Cougars now get within a game of the Huskies for second place in the CAA. It also helps Hofstra stay up two games as the Pride lost at UNCW.
South Dakota State 78, North Dakota State 77: The box score tells you that Mike Daum had 31 points and 12 rebounds – just another day at the office. But it was David Jenkins Jr., a solid player in his own right overshadowed by Daum, who hit a game-winning three-pointer as time expired to complete a rally from being down by 17 points and avoid falling out of first place in the Summit League.
Wofford 80, UNC Greensboro 50: So much for the Southern Conference showdown, especially in the second half as Wofford ran their winning streak to 14 games by running away from the Spartans. This also clinches the top seed in the Southern Conference Tournament as they swept the second-place Spartans.
Holy Cross 72, Bucknell 71: This along with Lehigh’s win trims Bucknell’s lead atop the Patriot League to a game.
Yale 98, Cornell 92: Matt Morgan had 35 points, but it wasn’t enough to knock Yale out of sole possession of the top spot in the Ivy League.
Harvard 75, Penn 68: Harvard stays right on Yale’s tail as they sweep the Penn and Princeton trip, which is never an easy task but especially in a year where both teams are good (though the Quakers have been disappointing in league play).
UC Irvine 83, UC Santa Barbara 70: The Anteaters were in control of this one right from the outset for their eighth straight win, and the Gauchos have now lost three in a row after they were stride for stride with the Anteaters in the Big West.
Saint Francis University 76, Robert Morris 72: Saint Francis goes two games up over five teams (including Robert Morris) in the Northeast Conference with their seventh straight win.
Montana 80, Idaho State 68: The Grizzlies are in the driver’s seat in the Big Sky, up two games in the loss column after their ninth straight win and getting help with Eastern Washington beating Northern Colorado.
Presbyterian 76, Campbell 71: Chris Clemons scored 28 more points to surpass 3,000, but it wasn’t enough as Presbyterian, a program that has struggled often since joining Division I, won their ninth straight game.
