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Friday’s College Basketball Recap: North Carolina outlasts Duke, Ayton stars and the drama continues at Memphis

ACC Basketball Tournament - Semifinals

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Kenny Williams #24 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrates after defeating Duke Blue Devils 74-69 during the semifinals of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 9, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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PLAYER OF THE DAY

How good is Deandre Ayton?

The 7-foot-1 freshman put up 32 points and 14 rebounds as Arizona defeated UCLA, 78-67 in overtime. He made 13 of 16 shots and 5 of 6 from the line while also posting three assists and a pair of blocks and steals each.

Simply, he was dominant. And that’s something we need to talk more about.

There will be debates in draft rooms across the NBA about who to take No. 1, but Ayton continues to make his case that it should be a short conversation. Luka Doncic could very well be awesome, Marvin Bagley III is great and Michael Porter, Jr. is intriguing, but Ayton has put up huge numbers night in and night out for a team embroiled in chaos more often than not.

He was great again. And he’s the player of the day.

THE REST OF SATURDAY’S STARS


  • JORDAN DAVIS, Northern Colorado: Who cares what his numbers were. He did this. If you don’t click that link, you’re depriving yourself of one of life’s greatest gifts.
  • KYRON CARTWRIGHT, Providence: Had 15 points, six assists and drew a charge that might have cost Xavier its No. 1 seed.
  • LUKE MAYE, North Carolina: The senior had 17 points, 10 rebounds , four assists and three steals as the Tar Heels survived a late run by rival Duke to win a spot in the ACC title game.
  • MAKOL MAWIEN, Kansas State: The Wildcats lost to Kansas, but not because of Mawien, who had 29 points on 13 of 19 shooting.

BUBBLE BANTER: Everything that happened on the cut-line

TEAM OF THE DAY

Remember when Alabama lost five-straight to finish the year and entered the SEC tournament on the bubble? After Collin Sexton’s heroics Thursday and domination Friday, that seems like an awfully long time ago.

The Crimson Tide got 31 points and seven boards from Sexton and defeated rival Auburn, 81-63, to not only strengthen their NCAA tournament team, but to suddenly have a look of a team that should have top seeds running scared.

It’s amazing what a difference a couple of days in March can make.

GAME OF THE DAY

There are plenty of candidates for this one given what a wildly entertaining day Friday was, but let’s give it to a game that was decidedly uncompetitive.

San Diego State 90, No. 22 Nevada 73. Final.

The Aztecs led by as many as 30 and just ran roughshod over a really good Wolf Pack team. All five SDSU starters scored in double figures and they shot 51.9 percent as a team. Now they’ve got a shot to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015.

That’s good news for the Mountain West, which instantly just became a multi-bid league, but it’s really bad news for the teams hovering around the cut line.

WTF???? OF THE DAY

Tubby Smith’s lawyer accused Penny Hardaway of sabotage.

Yeah, you read that right. the Memphis coach’s long-time attorney threw a pretty big allegation in Hardaway’s direction, positing that the potential Smith replacement and the leader of grassroots powerhouse Team Penny has been steering high-level Memphis kids away from their hometown team.

It’s quite the accusation, but it’s also kind of a self-own. Smith’s lawyer is essentially admitting that Memphis would maybe, probably, potentially be getting Memphis kids - highly-ranked Memphis kids - if Hardaway took over the program. Even if there is something underhanded going on - and there doesn’t appear to be any evidence right now there is - telling the world your guy is essentially getting out-recruited by the favored replacement isn’t exactly a winning strategy. Especially on a day that Memphis was, ya know, actually winning.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Bruce Pearl got mad.

The federal investigation into college basketball has been awfully quiet - aside from leaks detailing ASM Sports’ business plan - but the feds apparently aren’t done digging. The Raleigh News & Observer reported Friday that NC State has been served with a subpoena seeking documents.

Virginia remains a total buzzsaw.

Mississippi State’s Nick Weatherspoon suffered what looked to be a very scary injury when a Tennessee player inadvertently stepped on his head. The school later announced that the freshman, whose brother is a junior on the team, was awake and had feeling throughout his body.