GAME OF THE DAY: No. 4 Kansas 90, No. 20 Kentucky 84 (OT)
The Wildcats held an eight-point lead just over six minutes into the second half, but Kansas mounted a rally sparked by Wayne Selden Jr. The junior finished with a career-high 33 points as the Jayhawks won their 35th consecutive home game in spite of some bad foul shooting. And in that comeback, we were reminded of the key to Kansas’ Big 12 and national title hopes.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
No. 1 Oklahoma 77, LSU 75: The Tigers missed out on a valuable opportunity for a major non-conference win, as Isaiah Cousins’ hit a 15-footer with 3.8 seconds remaining to give the Sooners the win. Buddy Hield scored 21 of his 32 in the second half for Oklahoma, strengthening his case for national Player of the Year honors. Tim Quarterman led LSU with 18 points and Ben Simmons added 14, nine and five assists, but their mistakes once up 14 opened the door for an Oklahoma comeback.
Florida 88, No. 9 West Virginia 71: The Gators picked up a quality non-conference win, as they jumped the Mountaineers from the start in Gainesville. Dorian Finney-Smith scored 24 points and KeVaughn Allen 19, and Florida finished the game with fewer turnovers (14) than the Mountaineers (17). West Virginia missed the suspended Jonathan Holton, but there’s no denying the fact that they were outplayed.
No. 11 Virginia 63, No. 16 Louisville 47: The Cavaliers picked up their second ACC road win of the season, limiting Louisville to a season-low 47 points. Anthony Gill and Malcolm Brogdon scored 13 points apiece to lead the way for the Cavaliers, who shot 57.8 percent from the field. And for a team that has struggled with slow starts this season, Saturday represents a step forward for Virginia.
No. 5 Texas A&M 72, No. 14 Iowa State 62: The Aggies outscored the Cyclones 16-4 over the final 4:03 to pick up the win in College Station, remaining undefeated at home as a result. Danuel House scored 20 points, Tyler Davis 15 and Jalen Jones 13 (and 14 rebounds) to lead the way for Texas A&M, which rebounded from a loss at Arkansas earlier in the week.
STARRED
Henry Ellenson, Marquette: The star freshman big man had his biggest game of the season, going for 32 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks in an important Big East win for Marquette over Butler. Ellenson was 14-for-16 from the free-throw line and 8-for-14 from the floor and had a key steal in the game’s final minutes.
A.J. Hammons, Purdue: Hammons scored a career-high 32 points, shooting 14-for-17 from the field, and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Boilermakers’ win over Nebraska.
Wayne Selden Jr., Kansas: A career-high 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting in the Jayhawks’ overtime win over No. 20 Kentucky.
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma: Hield scored 32 points, with 21 of them coming in the second half, as the Sooners erased a 14-point second half deficit to beat LSU 77-75.
STRUGGLED
Trey Lewis and Damion Lee, Louisville: Everyone struggled for the Cardinals to be fair. But the grad transfers combined for ten points on 3-for-13 shooting and six turnovers in their loss to Virginia.
Luke Kornet, Vanderbilt: Kornet shot 1-for-7 from the field, scoring five points, in the Commodores’ loss at Texas.
Cleon Roberts, La Salle: Roberts scored five points on 1-for-11 shooting from the field in a 59-44 loss at Dayton.
THE REST OF THE TOP 25
- No. 2 North Carolina remained undefeated in the ACC with an 89-62 win over Boston College. Brice Johnson (17 points, 11 rebounds) posted another double-double and Joel Berry II and Marcus Paige combined to score 25 points as the Tar Heels shot 53.8 percent from the field.
- Trevon Bluiett led five in double figures with 15 points as No. 7 Xavier beat DePaul, 86-65. The Musketeers received 42 points from their bench in the win.
- No. 10 Providence picked up a road win, holding off Georgetown 73-69. Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil combined to score 52 points, tallying 26 apiece, with Bentil also grabbing nine rebounds. This is a tough loss for the Hoyas, who have a lot of work to do if they’re to reach the NCAA tournament.
- No. 13 SMU took care of Memphis in Dallas, winning 80-68. Nic Moore led four Mustangs with 22 points while also dishing out three assists.
- Cat Barber scored 30 points as NC State beat No. 15 Miami, 85-69. However the problem for Miami wasn’t their guard play, but rather how ineffective their big men were.
- No. 17 Baylor scored 51 second-half points, erasing a three-point halftime deficit to beat Georgia 83-73. Rico Gathers Sr. led five Bears in double figures with 17 points while also grabbing nine rebounds.
- Gabe York scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds as No. 18 Arizona rebounded from its loss Thursday night with an 80-63 win over Oregon State.
- No. 19 Indiana made the plays it needed to make down the stretch as it survived a challenge from Minnesota, 74-68. Thomas Bryant shot 11-for-13 from the field, scoring 23 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds in the win.
- No. 21 Purdue took advantage of a significant edge in the post in their 89-74 win over Nebraska. A.J. Hammons went for 32 and 11, and Isaac Haas added 13 points for the Boilermakers.
OTHER NOTABLE RESULTS
- To kick off the Big 12/SEC Challenge, Texas knocked off Vanderbilt at home as Kerwin Roach had 15 points.
- Syracuse was able to hold off Georgia Tech for an ACC home win as Michael Gbinije had 16 points.
- Zak Irvin had 20 points and Derrick Walton Jr. added 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Michigan beat Penn State in the Big Ten.
- In the ACC, Florida State knocked off Clemson at home as freshman Dwayne Bacon had 21 points and six rebounds.
- UAB moved to 18-4 overall and 8-1 in Conference USA play with a controversial 81-78 win at Marshall. The Blazers received 43 points off the bench from William Lee, Nick Norton and Dirk Williams.
- Stony Brook moved to 8-0 in America East with a 72-61 win at Vermont. Jameel Warney went for 23 points and ten boards, and Ahmad Walker added 16, ten and five assists for the Seawolves.
- USC remained undefeated at home with a 98-88 win over Washington. The Huskies’ loss means that No. 23 Oregon can claim sole possession of first in the Pac-12 with a win at Arizona State Sunday.
- Stephen F. Austin, which had some struggles in non-conference play, is now 8-0 in the Southland after winning 66-61 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Thomas Walkup led the way with 17 points and six rebounds.
- Wagner jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead on its way to a 73-63 win at Mount St. Mary’s. This result combined with Fairleigh Dickinson’s 88-85 win at LIU Brooklyn means that there’s a three-way tie atop the NEC (Wagner, FDU and The Mount are all 7-3).
- North Florida moved to 7-0 in the Atlantic Sun with an 82-76 win over FGCU. Beau Beech went off for 27 points and eight rebounds for the Ospreys, who haven’t lost since December 30 at VCU.
- Utah completed a home sweep of the Bay Area schools with a 96-74 win over Stanford. Jakob Poeltl scored 23 and grabbed seven caroms, leading five Runnin’ Utes in double figures.
- New Mexico grabbed sole possession of second place in the Mountain West with an 88-83 win at Boise State. Elijah Brown scored 30 points and Tim Williams 21 for the Lobos, who are now 6-2 in the Mountain West.
- Rhode Island scored just 19 first half points, and that hole proved to be too deep for the Rams to climb out of in their 64-55 loss to Saint Joseph’s. DeAndre Bembry and Isaiah Miles combined to score 32 of the Hawks’ points.
- Monmouth remained in sole possession of first place in the MAAC with a 73-57 win over Saint Peter’s. Justin Robinson scored 18 points and Collin Stewart 17 for the 9-2 Hawks.
- Gonzaga rolled to an 86-48 win over San Francisco, as Kyle Wiltjer, Domantas Sabonis and Silas Melson scored 15 points apiece.
- Seton Hall went on the road and beat Creighton, 75-65. Isaiah Whitehead scored 22 points and dished out six assists for the Pirates, who like the Bluejays are in need of quality wins as they look to get to the NCAA tournament.
- San Diego State maintained its two-game lead atop the Mountain West with a 67-52 win at UNLV, their seventh straight over the Runnin’ Rebels. Trey Kell led a balanced attack with 14 points, and the Aztecs limited UNLV to 36.7 percent shooting.
- Grand Canyon’s 12-game win streak came to an end, as they lost 59-57 at home to Seattle. The Antelopes are now tied with New Mexico State atop the WAC, with the Aggies blowing out UT Rio Grande Valley Saturday night.
- UCSB handed UC Irvine its first loss in Big West play, beating the Anteaters 76-60. Michael Bryson scored 18 for the Gauchos, who avenged a home loss to UC Irvine two weeks ago.
- BYU avenged a loss at Pepperdine by beating the Waves 88-77 in Provo. In the win Kyle Collinsworth (24 points, ten rebounds) became the school’s all-time leading rebounder.
- Calvin Hermanson scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds as Saint Mary’s hung on to win 68-65 at Pacific. The Gaels, now 9-1 in the WCC, remain atop the conference with Gonzaga at 9-2.
- Even with UC Irvine’s loss they remain tied for first in the Big West in the loss column, as Long Beach State took care of Hawai’i 78-64 in Honolulu. Nick Faust went off for the 49ers, finishing with 28 points and 14 rebounds.