This Saturday wasn’t quite the same as some recent ones in that there weren’t many upsets or other surprising results. They weren’t lacking, to be sure, but this time around we saw more of teams staying on a roll or perhaps stopping the bleeding by winning games they should.
There were some big or otherwise important results on the day, though, so without further ado, here are some comments on some of the day’s games.
Villanova 81, UConn 61: Just 18 points in the first half for the Huskies, and in Hartford to boot. They were overmatched.
Oklahoma State 83, Oklahoma 81 (OT): A big win for the Cowboys to get to 3-4 in the Big 12, and it’s a reminder that every team in the Big 12 has a legitimate path to the NCAA Tournament – a tribute to how deep the conference is this year.
Iowa State 70, Texas Tech 52: Speaking of having a legitimate path to the NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones are 2-5 in the Big 12 but have good wins already, opportunities for more just like this, and basically no chance for a bad loss because of the conference’s depth.
Kansas 70, Baylor 67: Kansas just finds a way to win once more, and remain on top at 6-1.
West Virginia 86, Texas 51: Not a good one for the Longhorns, who have been consistently inconsistent.
Kansas State 73, TCU 68: The Horned Frogs continue to have a tough go of it in conference play, with this being the first loss to a team you feel like they should beat save for it being in Manhattan.
Florida 66, Kentucky 64: A big road win for Florida, looking more like they did early in the season. Chris Chiozza continues to be the picture of toughness, and he had a nice stat line as well with 13 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Auburn 79, Georgia 65: Talk about a tale of two halves – Georgia was up by 14 at the half, then it was all Auburn in the second half.
Tennessee 73, South Carolina 65: An impressive road win for the Volunteers as they hold off the Gamecocks, who tried to build off momentum from beating Kentucky a few days earlier.
Alabama 68, Mississippi State 62: Alabama caps off a good week to quietly reach 5-2 in SEC play.
Arkansas 97, Ole Miss 93: The Razorbacks needed to stop the bleeding, and this win does just that.
Texas A&M 60, Missouri 49: The Aggies have now won two in a row. The question is if they’re now establishing some momentum after a rough start to SEC play.
Purdue 87, Iowa 64: While the Hawkeyes have had better teams, they are still tough at Carver Hawkeye Arena. This is an impressive win for a Purdue team that is playing as well as anyone in the country, and along the way they went 20-33 from long range.
Ohio State 67, Minnesota 49: This was played at Madison Square Garden as part of a basketball-hockey doubleheader. The main idea is to increase the conference’s presence in the east, especially ahead of the conference tournament being at MSG as well. The basketball game was, unfortunately, a bit of a dud, as the Buckeyes allow just 18 second-half points to keep pace with Purdue.
Clemson 67, Notre Dame 58: The Fighting Irish are gamely battling, and were right there with the Tigers in a tough place to win even when Clemson is down. But they just didn’t have enough in this one.
Florida State 91, Virginia Tech 82: While the Hokies are a good team, you have to start wondering about them at 2-4 in the ACC, with this loss coming in Blacksburg to a Seminole team that has scuffled of late.
Arizona 73, Stanford 71: Sean Miller still has yet to lose to Stanford, but this surprising showdown was a close one. In the final seconds you had to wonder if the Cardinal would get more late heroics.
USC 74, Oregon State 67: A big road sweep for the Trojans to go to 6-2 in Pac-12 play, and it was a far different result from their cross-town rivals.
Oregon 94, UCLA 91: It’s actually remarkable that the Bruins even had a chance at the buzzer considering they trailed by double digits for a lot of the game. The Bruins were swept out of Oregon.
Washington 72, Colorado 62: It’s been tough for teams to win on the road in the Pac-12, but the Huskies took this one to go to 4-3.
Saint Mary’s 72, Pacific 69: No letdown for the Gaels following their big win at Gonzaga a couple of nights earlier.
Xavier 73, Seton Hall 64: Not a good week for Seton Hall, but chalk it up to a tough schedule as they went on the road against one good team and then had to host a top challenger to Villanova.
Providence 85, Creighton 71: The Friars appear to be back on track as they go to 5-2 in the Big East. This is a team that had the talent and experience to give Villanova a good push.
Georgetown 93, St. John’s 89 (2 OT): The Red Storm remain winless in Big East play at 0-8.
Houston 73, Wichita State 59: In the span of a few days, the Shockers went from leading the American Athletic Conference to losing two straight games, something that hasn’t happened often of late.
Nevada 74, Boise State 68: Round one to the home team in this showdown. Boise State had their chances late, but the Wolfpack made the big plays with the game on the line to pull this one out.
Fresno State at Air Force, ppd.: Here’s one unheralded result of the federal government shutdown, as Air Force canceled athletic events because of it.
Rhode Island 88, Dayton 74: This trip had been a house of horrors lately for the Rams, but they won this convincingly to remain undefeated in Atlantic 10 play.
Middle Tennessee 66, Western Kentucky 62: This evens up Conference USA as both are 6-1, but it’s a little bigger as the Blue Raiders did it on the road.
Belmont 83, Austin Peay 59: This was supposed to be an OVC showdown, but after halftime it was anything but as Belmont outscored Austin Peay 53-31 in the latter frame and got 31 points from Dylan Windler.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 72, Prairie View A&M 66: Is a new team emerging this year in the SWAC? The Golden Lions are hardly a traditional power, but they’re 6-0 after winning on the road.
Grambling State 72, Jackson State 45: Speaking of which, this was quite a way for Jackson State to suffer their first loss – a home blowout.
