As the calendar moves to March, teams are clinching regular season conference titles and four titles were clinched on Saturday. There were few upsets yesterday, but another top five team fell last night. Kentucky won their 29th straight game and Arizona won a pivotal matchup, headlining the slate from yesterday.
Let’s get to the games:
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(17) Louisville Cardinals | 81 | (23-6) |
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Florida State Seminoles | 59 | (15-15) |
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Louisville may be all but eliminated from the ACC title race, but they are still in contention for a top five NCAA tournament seed, rolling over Florida State. Five Cardinals were in double digit points, led by Wayne Blackshear’s 18 points, and Terry Rozier contributed six steals. Florida State had four player in double digit points, led by Montay Brandon’s 13 points, but Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who scored 35 points against Miami, only scored 12 points. Florida State prepares for Pittsburgh and Louisville moves their focus to a matchup with Notre Dame.
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Michigan Wolverines | 56 | (14-14) |
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(14) Maryland Terrapins | 66 | (24-5) |
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Maryland did not disappoint after their big win against Wisconsin, defeating Michigan on Saturday afternoon. Melo Trimble scored 19 points for Maryland, who could be moving into the Top 10 after a successful week. Michigan had 15 points from both Zak Irvin and Spike Albrecht, but only shot 36.5% from the field and five of 21 from three point range. Michigan turns their focus to Northwestern and Maryland looks to stay in the Big Ten race against Rutgers.
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(15) North Carolina Tar Heels | 73 | (20-9) |
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Miami (FL) Hurricanes | 64 | (18-11) |
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North Carolina has struggled lately, losing five of their past seven games, but finished strong on the road against Miami. Brice Johnson led the Tar Heels with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while JP Tokoto also finished with double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Hurricanes were led by four players in double figure scoring, keeping the game close throughout, but could not finish the Tar Heels off. Miami looks to build on their tournament resume against Pittsburgh while North Carolina looks to stay in the running for a double bye in the ACC tournament against Georgia Tech.
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TCU Horned Frogs | 60 | (17-12) |
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(16) Oklahoma Sooners | 67 | (20-8) |
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Oklahoma is fighting for a Big 12 title and TCU is fighting to get into the NCAA tournament; when they faced off on Saturday, TCU took an eight point first half lead, just to see Oklahoma pull out a seven point victory in the second half. Buddy Hield fueled the Sooners attack with 21 points and 13 rebounds and TaShawn Thomas had 15 points and eight rebounds. Both Kyan Anderson and Trey Zeigler scored 16 points for the Horned Frogs, but only one other player was in double digit points. TCU tries to build on their postseason resume against Oklahoma State while Oklahoma, still alive in the Big 12 conference championship race, has a pivotal matchup with Iowa St.
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(23) Butler Bulldogs | 67 | (21-8) |
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DePaul Blue Demons | 53 | (12-18) |
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Butler may have been eliminated from the Big East regular season championship race, but they strengthened their NCAA profile by holding off DePaul. Kellen Dunham led the Bulldogs with 24 points and the Bulldogs dominated the free throw battle, making 22 compared to DePaul’s six. Jamee Crockett had 20 points for the Blue Demons, but no other DePaul player was in double digit points. DePaul finishes their Big East schedule against Marquette while Butler looks onto a matchup with Georgetown.
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(6) Villanova Wildcats | 78 | (27-2) |
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Xavier Musketeers | 66 | (18-12) |
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Villanova finished off a Big East regular season title, fighting from a halftime deficit to beat Xavier. 13 made three point field goals and 16 points from Dylan Ennis keyed the Wildcats. Xavier, who had a seven point halftime lead in a game vital to their NCAA resume, had 15 points from Jalen Reynolds, but dynamic scorer Myles Davis was only two of 13 from the field. Xavier will wrap up their Big East schedule with Creighton while the Big East champion Villanova will also play Creighton earlier in the week.
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Dayton Flyers | 59 | (22-6) |
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(22) VCU Rams | 55 | (21-8) |
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One of the five ranked teams to lose on Saturday was VCU, a loss to Dayton that sets up a photo finish to the regular season A-10 championship race. Jordan Sibert had 19 points for the Flyers, who are now in a three-way tie for the A-10 lead, and Dayton finished off the game with 10 of 11 free throw shooting. VCU only shot 34% from the field, but did have a double-double from Mo Alie-Cox, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dayton has a matchup with co-leaders Rhode Island to prepare for, while VCU matches up with another team tied for the A-10 lead, Davidson.
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(10) UNI Panthers | 60 | (27-3) |
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(11) Wichita State Shockers | 74 | (27-3) |
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In one of the two showcase games of the day, Wichita State sprinted out to a lead against Northern Iowa and held on to win a Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. Ron Baker’s 17 points and seven assists fueled a starting lineup that was all in double digit points and made 10 three pointers. Northern Iowa was fueled by 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists from Seth Tuttle, but had 10 turnovers compared to Wichita State’s 3. Both the Panthers and Shockers have byes to begin the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, with Northern Iowa awaiting the winner of Drake-Bradley and the champion Wichita State waiting for the winner of Missouri State-Southern Illinois.
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(20) West Virginia Mountaineers | 66 | (22-7) |
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(19) Baylor Bears | 78 | (22-7) |
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In the crowded Big 12 conference there appears to be ranked matchups daily; Baylor pulled out a critical victory over West Virginia to keep themselves alive in the regular season championship race. Baylor had 20 points off of the bench from Taurean Prince and 17 points and 10 rebounds from Rico Gathers. Jevon Carter had a game high 25 points, and seven made three pointers, in a losing effort for the Mountaineers, but the team was one of 11 from three point range other than Carter’s seven for 13 performance. West Virginia cannot dwell on this loss, as they face Kansas next, while Baylor has an in-state battle with Texas.
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(12) Iowa State Cyclones | 69 | (20-8) |
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Kansas State Wildcats | 70 | (15-15) |
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In the biggest upset of the day, Kansas State knocked off their second straight Top 15 team at home, beating Iowa State on a late steal and dunk by Wesley Iwundu. Kansas State, who beat Kansas on Monday, used 37 bench points, 17 from Nigel Johnson and 16 points from Justin Edwards, to edge the Cyclones. Georges Niang had a game high 21 points in a losing effort, but the Cyclones only had three bench points. Iowa State has a massive matchup against Oklahoma and Kansas State looks to stay strong against Texas.
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Virginia Tech Hokies | 57 | (10-19) |
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(2) Virginia Cavaliers | 69 | (27-1) |
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In a matchup of the best and worst teams in the ACC, Virginia staggered early and pulled away from Virginia Tech in the second half for their 27th win. Malcolm Brogdon had 19 points for Virginia, who shot 51.1% from the field and had four starters with double digit points. Virginia Tech was fueled by 19 points from Adam Smith but Justin Bibbs was only one of 10 on field goals off of the bench. Virginia Tech looks to get out of the basement of the ACC against Boston College while Virginia prepares for Syracuse.
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(18) Arkansas Razorbacks | 67 | (23-6) |
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(1) Kentucky Wildcats | 84 | (29-0) |
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Although it would have taken a lot for Arkansas to overtake Kentucky for an SEC title, the Razorbacks officially ceded to Kentucky in a loss on Saturday afternoon. Aaron Harrison had five steals for the Wildcats, Willie Cauley-Stein had four blocks, and Andrew Harrison and Trey Lyles had 18 points each to lead the top-ranked team in the nation. Arkansas was fueled by 17 points from Michael Qualls, but only shot 37.5% from the field. Arkansas looks to maintain a solid NCAA tournament seed against South Carolina while the Wildcats look for their 30th straight win to start the season against Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns | 64 | (17-12) |
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(8) Kansas Jayhawks | 69 | (23-6) |
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Kansas fought back from a halftime deficit to keep a slim lead in the Big 12, pulling away in the second half to beat Texas. Perry Ellis exploded for 28 points and 13 rebounds for Kansas, rebounding from a loss to Kansas State and winning in spite of 36.2% shooting from the field. Texas had four players in double digit scoring, led by Isaiah Taylor with 17 points, and the Longhorns’ NCAA tournament chances may have disappeared with their foul trouble, as they allowed 32 free throws. Texas will face another ranked Big 12 opponent in Baylor and Kansas has an equally tough challenge against West Virginia.
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Syracuse Orange | 54 | (18-11) |
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(4) Duke Blue Devils | 73 | (26-3) |
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Duke kept pace with Virginia in the ACC title race, beating Syracuse on Saturday night. Jahlil Okafor had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds and Justice Winslow had a game high 23 points for the Blue Devils. Syracuse was paced by 16 points from Tyler Robinson, but only shot 30.6% from the field. Syracuse has another Top 5 team on the horizon in Virginia as Duke prepares for in-state rival Wake Forest.
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Boise State Broncos | 56 | (22-7) |
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(24) San Diego State Aztecs | 46 | (22-7) |
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The Mountain West Conference now has a tie at the top, as Boise State upended San Diego State to tie them for the lead in the conference. James Webb III had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to fuel the Broncos, who finished off the game with 16 of 20 free throw shooting. San Diego State struggled to 32.7% shooting from the field and only had one player with more than eight points, Winston Shepard with 16. San Diego State looks to rebound against UNLV and Boise State looks prey on winless conference foe San Jose State.
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(7) Arizona Wildcats | 63 | (26-3) |
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(13) Utah Runnin’ Utes | 57 | (22-6) |
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The Pac-12 race is offically over and the champions are Arizona, beating Utah on Saturday night on the road. Arizona won in spite of 33.3% shooting and 3-19 shooting from Stanley Johnson; Kaleb Tarczewski led the Wildcats with 13 points. Utah shot a woeful 30.9% from the fieldm but Delon Wright had a game-high 17 points in a losing effort for the Utes. Utah looks to rebound against Washington State and Arizona turns their focus to California.
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BYU Cougars | 73 | (23-8) |
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(3) Gonzaga Bulldogs | 70 | (29-2) |
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Gonzaga could not fight back from a halftime tie, failing to become the first NCAA team to 30 wins this season, losing their West Coast Conference finale to BYU. Kyle Collingworth scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in BYU’s first win over an RPI top-50 team this year. Gonzaga saw their 22 game winning streak end as Byron Wesley was the only starter with double digit points, as he had 17 points. Both BYU and Gonzaga turn their focus to the West Coast Conference tournament, where BYU will face the winner of Portland-Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga will play the winner of Pacific-Santa Clara.