IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
No. 22 Utah 70, No. 9 Arizona 64: The Utes moved into second place in the PAC-12 with the huge home win over Arizona. CBT’s Rob Dauster has more on Utah’s strong stretch of play.
No. 25 Texas 76, No. 3 Oklahoma 63: Texas ran past Oklahoma when the Sooners couldn’t find offense in the final five minutes. Buddy Hield had 33 points, but the Longhorns had five in double-figures led by Isaiah Taylor’s 18 points. I have more on this one here.
No. 12 Miami 73, No. 11 Louisville 65: Miami’s defense came up big in the late stages of this one as they held the Louisville offense to only one field goal in the last five minutes. I have more on why this one’s important for Miami’s ACC regular season hopes while Louisville might be truly playing for nothing now.
No. 20 Purdue 83, No. 10 Maryland 79: The Boilermakers lent their in-state rival Indiana a helping hand in the Big Ten race, as they beat Maryland by four in West Lafayette. CBT’s Raphielle Johnson has more on the Boilermakers’ rebounding effort, which was the difference in the game.
Vanderbilt 74, No. 16 Kentucky 62: The Commodores added a much-needed quality victory to its résumé, possibly punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament according to CBT’s Rob Dauster. Jamal Murray led Kentucky with 33 points to go along with nine rebounds.
BUBBLE BANTER: See how Saturday’s results factored into the bubble
STARRED
Michael Gbinije, Syracuse: In a game that the Orange couldn’t afford to lose, the senior scored 34 points and went 11-for-18 from the field and 8-for-13 from 3-point range in a win over N.C. State. Gbinije also had six assists, four rebounds and three blocks for the game.
Eric Fanning, Boston University: Fanning accounted for 25 points, 16 rebounds and three assists in the Terriers’ 83-68 win over Holy Cross.
Tim Kempton, Lehigh: 23 points, 18 rebounds and four assists in the Mountain Hawks’ 82-72 win at Army.
Joseph Chartouny, Fordham: Chartouny’s been one of the best freshmen in the Atlantic 10 this season, and he produced his best outing of the season in the Rams’ 91-82 win over Davidson. 24 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists.
STRUGGLED
San Diego State at the foul line: Leading by nine with 1:04 remaining, the Aztecs went 0-for-7 from the foul line in a game they wound up losing 66-63 to Boise State.
Michael Carrera, South Carolina: Carrera finished with six points, shooting 1-for-8 from the field, and eight rebounds in the Gamecocks’ loss at Mississippi State.
Steven Spieth, Brown: Spieth missed all eight of his shot attempts in Brown’s 61-52 home loss to Harvard.
OTHER TOP 25 RESULTS
- No. 1 Villanova picked up a road win at Marquette in the Big East as Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart both had 19 points.
- No. 2 Kansas had little trouble taking down Texas Tech at home for a Big 12 win. The victory gives the Jayhawks a share of their 12th consecutive regular season title. Svi Mykhailiuk had 17 points off the bench in the win.
- No. 14 West Virginia took care of business on the road, beating Oklahoma State 70-56. Devin Williams finished the game with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
- Matt Thomas scored 20 points and Georges Niang added 17 as No. 17 Iowa State beat Kansas State 80-61 in Ames. The Cyclones were too much for the Wildcats offensively, as they averaged 1.27 points per possession.
- No. 19 Baylor controlled the action from start to finish as they won 86-71 at TCU. Johnathan Motley and Taurean Prince scored 22 points apiece in the win.
- No. 21 Texas A&M moved into a tie for first place in the SEC with an 84-69 win at Missouri. Jalen Jones led the way offensively with 20 points while also grabbing six rebounds.
- Florida State kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 77-56 beating of No. 23 Notre Dame. Dwayne Bacon scored 21 points and Jarquez Smith 14 for the Seminoles.
OTHER NOTABLE RESULTS
- Butler beat Georgetown in overtime as Kellen Dunham had 29 points. The win was necessary for the Bulldogs’ at-large hopes.
- Northwestern clobbered Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights remain winless in the Big Ten. Tre Demps had 24 points to pace the Wildcats.
- In a battle of bubble teams in the Atlantic 10, VCU took down George Washington as Jonathan Williams had 17 points.
- Rhode Island defeated Dayton on the road for an Atlantic 10 upset as Jared Terrell had 18 points and Four McGlynn ended up with 16 points.
- Wichita State was a winner over Illinois State as Fred VanVleet and Anton Grady both scored 16 points.
- Georgia earned a home SEC win over Ole Miss as J.J. Frazier had 26 points.
- Mississippi State continues to be a tough out in the SEC as they earned a win over South Carolina. Gavin Ware had 16 points to lead the Bulldogs.
- Cincinnati picked up a road win in the American over East Carolina as Troy Caupain had 27 points.
- Temple earned a close win over UCF at home as Obi Enechionyia had 18 points. The Owls move to 12-4 in the American.
- Georgia Tech defeated Boston College in the ACC as Marcus Georges-Hunt had 23 points, five rebounds and three assists.
- UAB is the outright Conference USA regular season champion, thanks to the combination of their 71-67 win over Western Kentucky and Marshall’s 83-74 loss at Middle Tennessee.
- Northern Iowa picked up a road win at Evansville as Wes Washpun had 14 points. The Panthers will be a dangerous team in Arch Madness.
- Tim Kempton went for 23 points and 18 rebounds as Lehigh locked up the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League tournament with a win over Army.
- Jimmy Gavin had 31 points as Winthrop beat Campbell to finish tied atop the Big South with High Point. High Point, which beat Winthrop by two Thursday night, will be the top seed in next week’s conference tournament.
- Hofstra wrapped up the top seed in the CAA tournament with a 72-63 win over Charleston. Joe Mihalich’s Pride closed the regular season with six straight wins.
- Boise State went on a game-ending 12-0 run to beat San Diego State, 66-63. The loss ends SDSU’s streak of 164 straight wins in game they led with five minutes remaining.
- Vermont won 76-62 at Stony Brook, sewing up the three seed in next week’s America East tournament. Stony Brook, as the top seed, will have home-court advantage for as long as they’re alive in the event.
- Stephen F. Austin moved to 15-0 in the Southland with an 82-54 win over Houston Baptist. In two-plus seasons under Brad Underwood, SFA is 54-1 against conference foes (regular season & tournament).
- Little Rock wrapped up the outright Sun Belt regular season title with a 73-68 win over Texas State. Chris Beard’s Trojans are 26-3, and they’ll be a dangerous team in the NCAA tournament if in the field.
- Gonzaga held off BYU 71-68 in Provo to claim a share of the WCC regular season title. The Bulldogs finish tied with Saint Mary’s, which will be the top seed as a result of their sweep of the season series with Gonzaga.
- Yale remained in first place in the Ivy League with a 76-71 overtime win over Dartmouth. The 11-1 Bulldogs are a half-game ahead of Princeton (10-1), with Columbia (9-3) now two games back.
- Once again playing without Joel Bolomboy, Weber State beat Montana 60-54 in a matchup of the two best teams in the Big Sky. Randy Rahe’s Wildcats now have the head-to-head tiebreaker in the race for the top seed in the conference tournament.
- Fresno State strengthened its grip on second place in the Mountain West with a 92-82 win at New Mexico. The win is the Bulldogs’ first over New Mexico at The Pit.
- CSU Bakersfield beat Grand Canyon 77-62, with the result meaning that New Mexico State wins the outright WAC regular season title for a second straight season.