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Saturday’s Things To Know: R.J. Barrett’s big day, LSU’s win, Texas Tech stays hot

Duke v Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 23: RJ Barrett #5 of the Duke Blue Devils looks to pass the ball around Marek Dolezaj #21 of the Syracuse Orange during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 23, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

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PLAYER OF THE DAY: R.J. Barrett, Duke

Barrett, on Saturday, reminded everyone on the planet that Duke is the No. 1 team in the country because they have more than just Zion Williamson on the roster.

The 6-foot-6 freshman returned to his native Canada* to put up 30 points and seven assists on 14-for-20 shooting while hitting 2-of-5 threes in a 75-65 win at Syracuse. He opened up the game by carrying Duke by running the high-post in their zone offense and closed the game as the guy creating looks for his teammates as the Dukies put up 48 second half points against one of the nation’s better defensive teams.

With the win, Duke keeps pace with No. 3 Virginia and No. 8 North Carolina in the ACC regular season title race.

This win mattered for the Blue Devils for more reasons that just the simple fact that Barrett went nuts. For starters, the Blue Devils may have found the guy that is going to be their floor-spacer moving forward. With Jack White officially benched now that he has gone a full six weeks without making a three, Alex O’Connell stepped into the starting lineup on Saturday and performed. He scored 17 of his career-high 20 points and hit four of his five threes during that second half run. He was the zone-buster that helped the Blue Devils break down Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3.

But he also wouldn’t have mattered is Barrett hadn’t dragged Duke through the first half.

This was Barrett’s time to shine, and he sure did that.

*(ZINGGGG!!!)

TEAM OF THE DAY: LSU Tigers

It is hard to overstate just how impressive it is that No. 13 LSU was able to find a way to beat No. 5 Tennessee in overtime on Saturday, 82-80.

Let’s start with this: The Tigers were playing without Tremont Waters, their star point guard, who was sick. Then there’s this: Naz Reid, the second-most talented player on this roster, finished with just one point on 0-for-9 shooting from the floor. They trailed by nine points with six minutes left in the game. Tennessee had the ball with a chance to win at the end of regulation and the end of overtime.

But LSU got it in behind 29 points, five boards and five assists from Javonte Smart and 23 points from Skylar Mays.

And with that win and Kentucky turning Auburn into that piece of chicken you put on the grill on forgot about, the Tigers are now sitting tied for first in the SEC title race.

Not a bad day down in Baton Rouge.

ONIONS OF THE DAY: Bryce Aiken, Harvard

Bryce Aiken scored 28 points, including a three at the buzzer, as Harvard went into New Haven and knocked off first place year, 88-86, in a clash of Ivy League heavyweights. Yale now holds just a one-game led on Harvard and Princeton in league standings.

SATURDAY’S WINNERS

NASSIR LITTLE: No. 8 North Carolina landed a massive win on Saturday, avoiding an obvious letdown spot after knocking off Duke on Wednesday and smacking around No. 16 Florida State, 77-59. After playing just 24 minutes in the last three games combined, Little went for 18 points and eight boards in the win over the Seminoles. He also did this:

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats put together arguably their most impressive performance of the season, as they absolutely obliterated Auburn, winning 80-53 in a game where the Wildcats never looked like they were in danger of getting upset. P.J. Washington was once again the star for Kentucky, and now the question needs to be asked: Is this team better without Reid Travis on the floor?

PURDUE: The Boilermakers managed to hold off Nebraska on Saturday afternoon, and what that means is that Purdue will end up in a tie for first place in the Big Ten with just one other team come Monday morning. As it stands, there are three teams tied for first place in the Big Ten standings: Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State. Michigan and Michigan State play twice before the season comes to an end -- including on Sunday -- and that puts the Boilermakers in a great spot to win the outright regular season Big Ten title if they can find a way to win out this season.

KANSAS STATE: Not only did Kansas State put up 85 points in a blowout win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, they did so while Kansas went into Lubbock and got absolutely drubbed by Texas Tech and Iowa State found a way to lose at TCU. Do the math, and the Wildcats will head into Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night in sole possession of first place in the league with a two game lead on the Jayhawks. That will be a massive, massive game.

WOFFORD: The Terriers have just about sewn up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament thanks to a conference that has provided them with three Q1 road wins. Saturday was the latest example, as Wofford went into Furman and beat the Palladins. They’ve run roughshod over a conference that, according to the NET, is better at the top than the Pac-12. That’s impressive.

ROSS BJORK AND KERMIT DAVIS: The players on the Ole Miss basketball team that took a knee during the anthem as a form of counter-protesting the confederacy rally that was happening in Oxford on Saturday were the brave ones. But credit also has to be given to Bjork, the Old Miss athletic director, and Davis, the head coach, for unequivocally backing the players. It’s not going to be easy for those players to deal with what’s coming at a school whose nickname is the Rebels, but knowing their coach and their coach’s boss have their back will certainly help mitigate that.

MIKE DAUM: South Dakota State’s Daum became the tenth player in college basketball history -- and the second player this season -- to score his 3,000th career point. Daum scored 25 points in a win over South Dakota, and is now just 68 points behind Chris Clemons on the career scoring list. Clemons scored 41 on Saturday and is now sixth on the career scoring list, just 76 points behind Doug McDermott.

SATURDAY’S LOSERS

SECOND HALF LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals just cannot hold onto a lead. They blew a 10 point second half lead in an overtime loss at Florida State two weeks ago. Last Tuesday, they blew a 23 point second half lead at home against Duke. Last Saturday, they blew an eight point lead against Clemson and needed a miracle block from Jordan Nwora at the end of the game to save them. And today, the Cardinals hit 10 first half threes and led No. 3 Virginia 37-27 going into the break before scoring just 15 second half points in a 64-52 loss.

PEOPLE PLAYING TEXAS TECH: I’m not sure there is a hotter team in the country right now than Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are already the best defensive team in college basketball, and on Saturday, in a 91-62 win over Kansas, they shot 16-for-26 from three. This came on the heels of back-to-back games where they hit 12 three-pointers. They’ve reached double-figures for threes in each of the last four games, and during that stretch, they are shooting 50-for-102 from three. In their recent five-game winning streak, they’re shooting 46 percent from three.

Look out.