College basketball went insane on Saturday.
Well, it was insane all week.
But Saturday was really nuts.
Here’s everything you need to know.
1. NO. 3 DUKE LOST THEIR SECOND GAME THIS WEEK
David Johnson exploded on to the scene with 19 points, seven assists, four boards, three steals and two blocks.
Louisville exorcised some demons.
Duke looked like a team that is banged up, can’t guard the four and lacks a go-to scorer.
A full breakdown of this game can be found here.
2. NO. 4 AUBURN LOST THEIR SECOND GAME THIS WEEK, TOO
Auburn entered this seek as one of just two undefeated teams left in college basketball, but there were question marks.
The Tigers don’t have a single win over a team ranked in the top 40 on KenPom. They have only played three Quad 1 games this season. Their only Quad 1 win is barely a Quad 1 win: It came at Mississippi State, who currently ranks 70th in the NET; the cutoff for Quad 1 road wins is top 75.
The other two Quad 1 games that Auburn has played this season?
They were both this week.
And they were both ugly losses.
On Tuesday, it was Alabama that ran over Auburn in the basketball version of the Iron Bowl, 83-64. On Saturday, it was Florida doing the damage, as they held Auburn to 25.5 percent shooting from the field, 4-for-23 shooting from three (17.4%) and to just a single point during an eight-minute stretch late in the second half that saw the Gators push their lead from 47-43 to 69-44. They won 69-47.
Suddenly, those concerns look prescient.
The truth is this: Auburn is dangerous. They are a team that can make a lot of threes, that can force turnovers and play in transition and has the ability to play big (with Austin Wiley) or small (without Austin Wiley). They have a lottery pick in Isaac Okoro and they have a couple of guards on their roster capable of taking games over in J’Von McCormick and Samir Doughty.
But they haven’t consistently played up to the level of a top five team, and their 15-0 record was inflated by feasting on teams that are just good enough to make us believe.
Auburn is still good.
They’re just not a top five team.
3. OH, AND NO. 5 BUTLER LOST THEIR SECOND GAME THIS WEEK AS WELL!
But this game said a whole lot more about DePaul than it did about Butler.
I explained why right here.
4. PAYTON PRITCHARD REALLY WANTS TO BE NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The reason Payton Pritchard is one of the frontrunners for National Player of the Year is the fact that he is putting up terrific numbers this season for a top ten team and doing so while putting together some incredibly impressive performances in crunchtime.
Saturday might have been his statement game.
Oregon erased a 13-point second half deficit thanks in large part to Pritchard, who hit a huge three with a minute left to tie the game. In overtime, he hit a floater to give the Ducks the lead before burying this insane three to win the game with 3.2 seconds left:
No. 8 Oregon avoided going 0-2 on the Washington road trip with a 64-61 win. Pritchard finished with 22 points. The Ducks are now 3-0 in overtime games this season largely due to the fact that Pritchard is arguably the most clutch player in college basketball.
Is there anyone that you would want taking a big shot in a big game more than him?
5. BUT SO DOES MYLES POWELL
Seton Hall capped off an absolutely stellar week by going into Madison Square Garden and knocking off their biggest regional rival, St. John’s, on the road despite trailing by 13 points at the half.
That’s a big time win.
And Powell was, as you might expect, once again a big time player.
He scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half and made big shot after big shot down the stretch. This came just three days after he went for 29 points as Seton Hall erased a 10 point halftime deficit on the road against No. 5 Butler.
In fact, the Pirates are currently sitting at 6-0 in the Big East after a slow start to their season, and they already have won at DePaul, at Xavier, at Butler and at St. John’s.
And now they get three straight home games.
Kevin Willard’s club has put themselves in a great position to make a run at the 2020 Big East regular season title.
6. KENTUCKY RALLIES AFTER COACH CAL GETS TOSSED
This was awesome.
Coach Cal was ejected on Saturday in the most mild-mannered way I’ve ever seen.
He was arguing with the refs about the way they were implementing the flop rule against his team, and — I think — he was given two technicals for being out of the coach’s box and staying out of the coach’s box to curse at the refs. Look at this:
The best part?
Kentucky was up 11 early in the first half, but they blew that lead. After going 3-for-4 on technical free throws, Arkansas held a 47-44 lead on a coach-less Kentucky team.
And how did the Cats respond?
A cool 17-2 run to put the game to bed in a 73-66 win.
7. HOUSTON BLEW OUT WICHITA STATE TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE AMERICAN
The Houston we expected to see all season long showed up in Wichita on Saturday night.
The Cougars beat the No. 16 Shockers in their own building, 65-54, and it wasn’t really that close. Wichita State was down 49-27 at one point, allowing just one player to crack double-figures.
The Shockers lost two games this week and now sit a game off the pace in the American, behind Houston and Tulsa, who are tied for first.
8. WEST VIRGINIA SOMEHOW GAVE UP 84 POINTS TO KANSAS FREAKIN’ STATE
Kansas State entered Saturday ranked 198th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric. James Madison, the 275th-best team in college basketball, and VMI, the 291st-best team in college basketball, ranked directly behind them. The only “high-major” players worse than Kansas State offensively this season?
Temple, South Florida, Virginia, East Carolina and Boston College.
West Virginia, on the other hand, entered Saturday ranked as the single-best defensive team in the entire sport. They were playing defense at a level that would rank among the very-best defensive teams that we have ever seen. Their four Big 12 opponents were averaging 51 points against them.
Kansas State had 42 points at halftime. They scored 84 points on the night. They won 84-68 to drop the Mountaineers two games out of first place in the Big 12 title race, because …
9. … BAYLOR ERASED A 12 POINT DEFICIT ON THE ROAD
The Bears looked like they were going to be the top five team to blow a win they should not be blowing on Saturday.
Oklahoma State threw a 2-3 zone on the Bears, doing the exact same thing that Washington did to Baylor late in the only game that they lost thus far this season, and Baylor was lost for the first half. They trailed 36-24 at one point late in the half before slotting MAtthew Mayer at the high post and thwarting all of Oklahoma State’s plans.
In the end, however, the Cowboys still had a shot to win late, but that was until Devonte Bandoo banged home three threes in the final eight minutes, including two in a one minute span after the final TV timeout, to secure a 75-68 win.
Bandoo scored 14 points off the bench. He is the fourth-best guard on this Baylor roster.
Put another way, this team is deep, they are loaded, and the guys all the way down their bench can make the shots that beat you.
That’s scary.
10. SAN DIEGO STATE IS STILL UNDEFEATED
The Aztecs trailed at the half but ran Nevada off the court after halftime, taking home a 68-55 win.
