The SEC/Big 12 Challenge was the big story on Saturday, as was to be expected. It stood out since conference play is ongoing, but the matchups added to that. The Big 12 won 6-4 thanks to picking up the only road win in the ten games. And the most hyped game of them all certainly delivered on its promise as it was a good one.
There’s a lot of basketball left to be played, but a number of the conference races are taking shape. A couple of teams have big leads at the top, while some conferences have a number of teams bunched up at the top. Some conferences will surely continue this, while others will see some separation over time.
With that, here are notes from a number of the day’s games.
Tennessee 83, West Virginia 66: West Virginia started out well, but Tennessee took over later in the first half and pulled away to remain on a roll.
Kentucky 71, Kansas 63: This game was everything we could hope for from these two. Kansas was a little better in the first half, carried by Dedric Lawson, and Kentucky managed to slow him a bit in the second half along with the rest of the Jayhawks and pull this one out.
Iowa State 87, Ole Miss 73: This was probably not a game many had circled as one to watch when the matchups were first announced, but it will go down as a quality road win for the Cyclones, who appear to be very much back on track after they had lost a couple of games.
Texas Tech 67, Arkansas 64: The Red Raiders needed a win to get back on track, even if it wasn’t a Big 12 game, and in so doing they deny the Razorbacks a quality win that they could really use at this point.
TCU 55, Florida 50: At this point, it’s pretty safe to say that if the Gators get in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, they will either have a great run through the SEC in February and the SEC Tournament. This would have been a much-needed quality win, but fortunately, they will have plenty of opportunities for more.
Baylor 73, Alabama 68: The Bears continue to play better after the calendar turned over to 2019. This could go down as a key win if they play their way into the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma 86, Vanderbilt 55: Before the season, this might have been a pretty interesting matchup, but Vanderbilt looks like a rebuilding team now, much as they have battled valiantly and surely will continue to.
Georgia 98, Texas 88: This was not a good result for the Longhorns at all as they remain a tough team to figure out, not unlike Florida. They have lost five of six as Kansas comes to town on Tuesday night.
Texas A&M 65, Kansas State 53: This completes what was quite simply not a very good non-conference showing for Kansas State. If they keep up what they’ve done of late in Big 12 play, the only thing that will hurt is their seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma State 74, South Carolina 70: This one hurts the surging Gamecocks. It wasn’t a quality win opportunity, but it hurts the resume and means they will need an even stronger SEC showing if they are to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi State 92, Auburn 84: The Bulldogs get back to .500 in SEC play and push the Tigers below that mark. Auburn is starting to look like an underachiever; maybe they miss Mustapha Heron more than one might have expected, especially considering their guard play hasn’t exactly been bad.
LSU 86, Missouri 80 (OT): Missouri battled valiantly, but as has been the case often in SEC play, it wasn’t quite enough as they fall to 1-5. LSU is quietly 6-0.
Duke 66, Georgia Tech 53: Tre Jones didn’t post eye-popping numbers by a long shot, but the important thing is that he played 35 minutes. That means he’s healthy, which is important for this Blue Devil team.
Virginia 82, Notre Dame 55: The bottom line result isn’t a surprise, but what’s noteworthy is that the Cavaliers are becoming quite an offensive team. This is their third time topping 80 points in ACC play, and they’re averaging 74 per game on the season while shooting nearly 48 percent from the field.
NC State 69, Clemson 67: A loss at the buzzer in an opportunity for a quality win tells you what kind of year it’s been for Clemson.
Louisville 66, Pittsburgh 51: The Cardinals used a big second half to take this game over and avenge their loss in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago, a loss that doesn’t look so bad now.
Illinois 78, Maryland 67: This was a real surprise since it was in College Park, as the Illini took over the second half to take the lead and the game. The Terrapins should be fine long-term, but maybe this gives the Illini a little momentum in what’s been a challenging season.
Ohio State 70, Nebraska 60: The Buckeyes needed to get back on track, and doing so with a quality road win like this can help beyond the one game, although more challenges are not far away.
Marquette 87, Xavier 82: Marquette continues to win as Markus Howard has another big game, while Xavier falls to 3-5 in the Big East.
Washington 79, Oregon State 69: The Huskies took care of business on the road and look more and more like the Pac-12 favorites at this point with their 7-0 mark.
USC 69, Arizona State 67: Another loss that hurts the Sun Devils’ resume, making their non-conference wins a little less valuable. They fall to 5-3 and are now behind the Trojans.
UCLA 90, Arizona 69: If you looked at the Wildcats’ record at various time this season and had no clue about the quality of their wins, you might have been taken aback by this result. They were very short-handed in this one as Chase Jeter was out with a sore back, and it was on the road, but the reality is that like most Pac-12 teams (including UCLA), they are a “strictly automatic” NCAA Tournament team as it looks more and more like a one-bid league.
Colorado State 74, Fresno State 65: This knocks the Bulldogs back a bit, dropping them to 5-2 as they had been keeping pace with Nevada better than expected.
Davidson 54, Saint Louis 53: Saint Louis has suddenly lost two in a row, and Davidson is now right behind George Mason (who also won on Saturday) at the top of the Atlantic 10 with a 6-1 mark after getting this one on the road (the Patriots are 7-1, so the two teams are even in the loss column).
VCU 80, Duquesne 74: With this result as well, the Atlantic 10 gets a little more interesting as both of these teams are 5-2 as well.
Hofstra 84, Towson 61: Hofstra keeps rolling, as their winning streak is up to 16 games and they are three games up on everyone else in the CAA.
Georgia State 77, UT Arlington 71: The Panthers blew a 16-point lead but pulled this one out, and it’s an especially good win considering D’Marcus Simonds scored just one point on 0-9 shooting and they were out-rebounded 48-30.
Georgia Southern 74, Texas State 58: Not only does this lead to a two-way tie at the top of the Sun Belt once again, it brings the Eagles to within a game of the Bobcats and Georgia State at 5-3.
South Dakota State 83, Omaha 73: The Jackrabbits win round one between the two teams that came into the day tied atop the Summit League. Mike Daum had another big game with 33 points and 16 rebounds.
American 76, Bucknell 68: With Army and Lehigh winning on Saturday, they and Bucknell are now in a three-way tie atop the Patriot League.
Jacksonville State 77, Morehead State 71: While Murray State and Belmont get a lot of attention, the Gamecocks are tied with Murray State for the top spot as a visit from the Racers beckons.
Belmont 96, Austin Peay 92: Both of these teams are 6-2 in OVC play as Belmont shot 63 percent to win two straight on the road this week. Dylan Windler had a monster game with 33 points and 12 rebounds.
Montana 75, Weber State 68: These two are now tied at 7-2 right behind Northern Colorado (8-2 after handling Northern Arizona on Saturday) atop the Big Sky.
Vermont 73, Stony Brook 52: The first showdown between these two was a big road win for the Catamounts, who now pull a half game ahead of the Seawolves with one more win. The second meeting in Burlington in early March may well decide who has the top seed in the conference tournament.
