Saturday was quite a day of college basketball. There’s no other way to put it. With three of the top four teams going down (and the only one of those four winning because it was in a matchup of two teams in the top four and someone had to win), the tone was set.
But that wasn’t all. We saw results that make a few more conference races interesting, plus a big road win out west along with a surprise team right on the tails of the surprise Pac-12 leader.
So let’s not waste any additional time and get to notes from many of the day’s key games.
Kansas 64, Baylor 61: The Bears’ winning streak was incredible in a season with so much even-ness in the sport. The Jayhawks coming into Waco and pulling this out was pretty incredible, too, not to mention the game – and season – Udoka Azubuike has had as he’s stayed healthy. He had the game of a lifetime in this one with 23 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots as a dominant presence.
BYU 91, Gonzaga 78: The Cougars have made a habit of knocking undefeated Bulldog teams down a peg, whether that was in conference or overall. Yoeli Childs (28 points on 12-19 shooting, 10 rebounds) had his best game of the season to lead the way.
UNLV 66, San Diego State 63: Well, it was good while it lasted. The Aztecs had a memorable run, but now it’s on to the business of getting better for the NCAA Tournament. And let’s give UNLV and head coach T.J. Otzelberger credit: in his first year at the helm, he has exceeded just about anyone’s expectations and now has them on the fast track to being relevant again.
TCU 67, West Virginia 60: The Mountaineers have lost five straight on the road, and this one was in Fort Worth. TCU is clinging to life at 6-8 in the Big 12, so they have a lot of work to do.
Oklahoma State 83, Oklahoma 66: The Cowboys still have some life left, but a lot of work to do to get back in the NCAA Tournament conversation. Turning around and beating Kansas on Monday night, while a very tall order (in Lawrence) would certainly go a long way towards that.
Texas 70, Kansas State 59: The Longhorns have won two in a row now, but against two of the bottom teams. They desperately need these wins to serve as momentum builders for Monday night against West Virginia and Saturday at Texas Tech.
Dayton 80, Duquesne 70: The Flyers take care of business and have four games left to go undefeated in the Atlantic 10.
Davidson 77, Rhode Island 75 (OT): A damaging loss for the Rams, albeit on the road, but they are hardly dead yet and especially since they still have visits from Saint Louis and Dayton ahead as quality win opportunities.
St. Bonaventure 75, Richmond 71: This one hurts for the Spiders, even though it was in Olean. They could have used it to tie Rhode Island for second in the Atlantic 10, but instead are tied for third.
Louisville 72, North Carolina 55: The short-handed Tar Heels’ tough season continues as they are, unimaginably, dead last in the ACC at 3-13. This one was never really a ballgame as they used their ninth different starting lineup with two players out of action.
Florida State 67, NC State 61: A missed opportunity for the Wolfpack, who took advantage of one the other night but couldn’t make it two in a row at home.
Virginia 59, Pittsburgh 56: The Cavaliers are quietly 11-5 in the ACC, which doesn’t represent what it has in other recent years but is still good enough for being clearly the best ACC team not named Louisville, Duke or Florida State. They have won four in a row and seven of eight now, so they appear to be hitting their stride at a good time.
Kentucky 65, Florida 59: Although the Gators have had an uneven season, they had won five of six before this one. And Immanuel Quickley is quietly building a case for SEC Player of the Year, coming up big in this one with 26 points, 22 in the second half.
Auburn 73, Tennessee 66: The Volunteers haven’t been able to win two in a row in a month, and that came after they opened SEC play winning four of five.
LSU 86, South Carolina 80: The Gamecocks had been on a roll before losing tough ones at Mississippi State and this one at home. Now they have a lot of work to do as far as any NCAA Tournament hopes are concerned, and the rest of the regular season doesn’t offer much in terms of quality win opportunities to boot.
Texas A&M 87, Mississippi State 75: Who would have thought these two teams would have the same record in SEC play this late in the season? Buzz Williams can coach. The Aggies shot nearly 60 percent from the field, including 9-17 from long range, to win their third straight and tie the Bulldogs and South Carolina for fifth in the SEC at 8-6.
Michigan 71, Purdue 63: This was a game between two teams going in opposite directions, and at a bad time for the Boilermakers. Michigan has now won five in a row and seven of eight, while Purdue falls to 7-10 in Big Ten play with their fourth straight loss
Villanova 64, Xavier 55: The Musketeers have put themselves in a position to need a hot finish to once again finish at least .500 in Big East play. They are 6-8, meaning they need to go 3-1 to record their 38th straight season with at least a .500 record in conference play. They finished 6-1 last year to barely do it; do they have another run in them?
Providence 84, Marquette 72: Markus Howard put 38 more points on the Friars, a team he’s had some very big games against, but the Friars had enough to stay on a roll and win their third straight.
Oregon 73, Arizona 72 (OT): It looked like Arizona was going to pull this out when they went up by two possessions in the final minutes and always seemed to have an answer, but Payton Pritchard had answers all night long (38 points) before Shakur Juiston had all the answers in overtime for a big road win. Here’s an even better note: it’s the first time Pritchard has scored 30 or more points in a game in his career, even as he approaches 2,000 for his career.
UCLA 70, Colorado 63: The Bruins rally for a big road win to join the Buffaloes and Oregon a half game back of Arizona State in the Pac-12.
Arizona State 74, Oregon State 73: The Sun Devils eke out their seventh straight win to take sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. Who would have imagined that, especially back in mid-January?
Washington 87, California 52: The Huskies snap a nightmarish nine-game losing streak.
Memphis 60, Houston 59: The Tigers have a lot of work to do to reach the NCAA Tournament without a conference tournament title, and pulling this one out is certainly a start to that end.
Tulsa 79, SMU 57: The Mustangs had quietly come within a game of Tulsa in the standings, but you wouldn’t have known it from this one.
Furman 67, Wofford 66: It took a big second half, but the Paladins keep pace with East Tennessee State at the top of the Southern Conference, and with a good win over a team that is a few games back of the top of the standings but capable of making noise in the conference tournament.
Missouri State 74, Loyola-Chicago 62: The Bears’ tough non-conference schedule may have taken a big toll on them, but they’re still a pretty good team and knocked the Ramblers out of a tie for first with this convincing win.
Hofstra 78, Delaware 62: The Pride clinch a tie for the regular season title in the CAA with two games to go, and this one comes on the road against a Blue Hen team that has been playing well since a slow start to CAA play.
William & Mary 78, James Madison 74: The Tribe keeps hope alive for the regular season top spot, though they don’t control their own destiny. Any way you slice it, it’s been a fine season for team from whom almost nothing was expected, and Dane Fischer should win CAA Coach of the Year in a walk.
Harvard 69, Penn 65: A big second half pushes the host Crimson past the Quakers, who lose both games on this trip and fall to 5-5 in Ivy League play, which would keep them out of the league tournament if it were held today.
Pacific 87, Santa Clara 74: Pacific has quietly had a nice season with 21 wins and a 9-5 WCC mark, while Santa Clara has gone downhill since conference play began and has now lost five straight.
Belmont 83, Eastern Kentucky 70: We now have a three-way tie atop the Ohio Valley Conference as the Bruins join Murray State and Austin Peay there, while knocking the Colonels two games back and all but locked into fourth place.
Eastern Illinois 83, Austin Peay 80 (OT): Your spoiler of the week goes to the Panthers, who had the miraculous comeback two nights earlier against Murray State and then knocked off the Governors in overtime to beat the two OVC leaders two days apart.
Florida A&M 66, Norfolk State 63: This makes the MEAC race a little more interesting, especially since the Rattlers have been surging with five wins in their last six games and seven in their last nine.
Army 86, Navy 75 (OT): This rivalry game is most notable because Tommy Funk had one of the best individual efforts of the day: 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Army.
