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SATURDAY’S SNACKS: North Carolina, Villanova get conference titles; Kentucky, Iowa State, Michigan, Miami win big ones

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of the Florida Gators during the game Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on February 25, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Andy Lyons

SATURDAY’S THINGS TO KNOW

The biggest game of the night: No. 5 UCLA landed their second elite road win of the season by going into the McKale Center and knocking off No. 4 Arizona, 77-72. UCLA’s comeback down the stretch was fueled by defense and rebounding ... wait, what? It sets up for a fascinating situation in the Pac-12 down the stretch.

The ACC saw No. 8 North Carolina win on the road as they handled Pitt to claim at least a share of the ACC regular season conference title. CBT’s Rob Dauster has more on why this season might be Roy Williams’ best coaching job yet.

Things became a little bit clearer in the SEC as No. 11 Kentucky rallied behind a monster second half from freshman Malik Monk (30 of 33 points in second half) to beat No. 13 Florida. On a day in which De’Aaron Fox was out with injury, Monk and freshman Bam Adebayo (18 points, 15 rebounds) combined to give the Wildcats the conference lead with a week left. Dauster has more on Monk and Kentucky’s prospects heading into March.

Defending national champion Villanova clinched at least a share of the Big East regular season title as the No. 4 Wildcats used a late push to run past No. 23 Creighton. A balanced effort helped the Wildcats bounce back from this week’s loss against Butler as Eric Paschall led with 19 points.

Then things got crazy for ranked teams on the road during a 30-minute stretch.

It started in the Big 12 as Iowa State earned its seventh consecutive win by beating No. 9 Baylor with a little Hilton Magic. I have more on how the Cyclones have looked different since making a tweak to their lineup.

Michigan also looks more-and-more like an NCAA tournament team with a good home win over No. 14 Purdue. Senior Derrick Walton continues to play really well lately as I have more on the Wolverines here.

No. 6 Oregon survived at Stanford, getting a wild tip-in from Jordan Bell with 14 seconds left to gift them another one-possession road win this week. The Ducks won on a buzzer-beating three from Dillon Brooks at Cal on Wednesday.

And finally, Miami took advantage of No. 10 Duke being without Grayson Allen as the Hurricanes outlasted the Blue Devils in the ACC.

STARRED

Virginia’s offense -- The Cavaliers were in a mighty slump during their four-game losing streak as the Cavaliers had failed to crack 55 points during the last three. That changed during a win Saturday on the road at N.C. State. Virginia shot 11-for-16 from three-point range (68.8 percent) and freshman Kyle Guy had more points in this one (19) than he did in his previous five games (17).

Malik Monk, Kentucky -- Erupting in the second half was the freshman guard as he totaled 33 points in the Wildcats’ important SEC home win over visiting Florida. Monk only had three points at halftime and showed why he’s the country’s most electric player with just a few strong minutes to help Kentucky rally. Monk was 5-for-7 from three-point range and also added five assists and four rebounds.

Bruce Brown, Miami -- Brown had 23 points to lead the Hurricanes to a win over the No. 10 Duke in Coral Gables. Brown has quietly been one of the ACC’s best freshmen all season long.
RELATED: Get caught up on all of today’s bubble action

REST OF THE TOP 25


  • No. 3 Kansas cruised past Texas in Austin without all that much trouble.
  • Surviving on the road was No. 12 West Virginia as they won by a point over TCU in Big 12 play. Jevon Carter paced the Mountaineers with 15 points.
  • Playing in front of former head coach Larry Brown, No. 17 SMU ran out to an early lead on UConn and never looked back. The Mustangs had 20 points from Shake Milton in the AAC road win as they’ve won 11 straight.
  • Looking more like the program we’ve seen the past few years, No. 18 Virginia played much better offensively in an ACC road win at N.C. State. Freshman Kyle Guy broke out with 19 points while Devon Hall (18 points) and London Perrantes (16 points) also played well.
  • Winning on the road hasn’t been easy for No. 19 Florida State this season but they held off Clemson to likely eliminate the Tigers from NCAA tournament contention. The Seminoles had 15 points from Xavier Rathan-Mayes in the win.
  • Iowa went into College Park and handed No. 24 Maryland by 14 points. The Terps, like Purdue, are now in a spot where they have really no chance to win the Big Ten regular season title. Might Wisconsin be the champions by default?
  • Continuing to pile up double-digit wins is No. 25 Wichita State as they ran past Missouri State for a Missouri Valley Conference road win. Landry Shamet had 23 points for the Shockers while Shaquille Morris had 20 points.

NOTABLE


  • The plunge continued for Georgetown as they fell to St. John’s after losing to DePaul earlier in the week. Freshman Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm with 24 points, becoming the third St. John’s freshmen to register 500 total points in a season.
  • In the Big Ten, Minnesota beat Penn State for a home win as Jordan Murphy and Nate Mason each had 16 points.
  • South Carolina snapped a three-game losing streak with a blowout home win over Tennessee. P.J. Dozier had 19 points to pace the Gamecocks.
  • Oklahoma State continued its recent surge with an easy home Big 12 win over Texas Tech. The Cowboys had 17 points from Jeffrey Carroll and 15 points each from Jawun Evans and Phil Forte.
  • Winning on the road in convincing fashion was Illinois State as the Redbirds ran past Northern Iowa. As a team right on the bubble, the Redbirds are now co-Missouri Valley Conference champs with Wichita State heading into Arch Madness.
  • Also hovering on the bubble is Seton Hall as they held off a late charge from DePaul for a Big East road win.