With Super Bowl LIII looming on Sunday, and the back-to-back weekends of Ivy League basketball now underway, a lot lined up for Saturday on the hardwood. It started with some big games and continued as the day went on, and the NCAA Tournament implications grow all the time.
As the season wears on, it becomes more clear that there is a lot of even-ness, or even mediocrity, throughout college basketball. So many conferences have a lot of teams at .500 or just above or below that in conference play. In a few conferences, the teams at the top already have three losses. So many teams aside from teams that should be considered locks for the NCAA Tournament often don’t seem like they should be in the NCAA Tournament if it were to begin tomorrow.
With that, here are notes from a number of the day’s games.
Duke 91, St. John’s 61: This outcome isn’t a big surprise, especially with the game being in Durham. St. John’s now has to get back to winning Big East games if they are to reach the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina 79, Louisville 69: The road team wins both games between these two and by double digits. The Tar Heels also climb into a tie with Duke right behind Virginia in the ACC standings.
Virginia Tech 47, NC State 24: When I first saw this score, I thought there had to be an error and that it was a football score from a few months ago. Then I found out I was wrong and that it was indeed the final score of a basketball game on Saturday, one in which NC State shot a school record low 16.7 percent from the field (9-54).
Florida State 59, Georgia Tech 49: The Seminoles are back on track with three straight wins heading into a trip to the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night.
Syracuse 65, Pittsburgh 56: The Panthers’ fall back to earth continues as they lose their fifth straight.
Notre Dame 79, Boston College 73: Boston College has still not defeated Notre Dame since both teams moved into the ACC.
Gonzaga 85, San Diego 69: No surprise in the end result, but this was a nice game for a couple of individuals as Rui Hachimura had 32 points on 11-15 shooting for Gonzaga, while Isaiah Piniero had 30 and 11 rebounds in the losing effort.
Indiana 79, Michigan State 75 (OT): This was quite a way to snap a seven-game losing streak, but the Hoosiers needed this in a bad way.
Illinois 71, Nebraska 64: The Cornhuskers’ slide, on the other hand, now reaches five in a row, and forget about the resume – they now have the same Big Ten record (3-8) as the Illini.
Ohio State 76, Rutgers 62: The Buckeyes continue to try to dig out of a ditch they dug themselves into earlier in conference play, moving to 4-6 in Big Ten play.
Kansas 79, Texas Tech 63: This was a big-time response to some adversity for Kansas, as they lost a game earlier in the week and then saw a key player declared ineligible.
Kansas State 75, Oklahoma State 57: The Wildcats remain tied atop the Big 12 with Baylor, as they go to Stillwater and win their six straight conference game.
Baylor 90, TCU 64: The Horned Frogs looked pretty good in non-conference play, to where some thought they might be as good a contender to knock off Kansas as anyone. Instead, they have really come back to earth in Big 12 play, falling to 3-5 after this blowout loss.
Iowa State 65, Texas 60: Texas just can’t seem to sustain any real momentum, as they couldn’t build off their win over Kansas earlier in the week even though they had their chances in this one.
West Virginia 79, Oklahoma 71: The Mountaineers finally get their second Big 12 win, and it’s a damaging loss for Oklahoma as the Sooners are on a slide of their own after a nice non-conference run.
Kentucky 65, Florida 54: This goes down as a big missed opportunity for Florida, and the Gators are running out of room. They once led 42-31 in this one.
Arkansas 90, LSU 89: This was a big win for Arkansas, and not just because it came at LSU. They blew a double-digit lead, had Daniel Gafford foul out with just over two minutes left, but still found a way to pull it out at the end and hand LSU their first SEC loss.
Mississippi State 81, Ole Miss 75: Both teams are now 4-4 in SEC play as the road team wins both games this season in this rivalry.
Auburn 84, Alabama 63: The Tigers certainly haven’t been what many expected them to be, so this win was a refreshing change for them. But at 4-4 in SEC play, they have work to do, and it won’t be easy given the depth of the conference.
South Carolina 86, Georgia 80: The Gamecocks move to 6-2 in SEC play after a road win, but because of their non-conference showing, they still have a lot of work to do.
Butler 70, Seton Hall 68: The Pirates rallied from being down by 17 and were agonizingly close to pulling out a much-needed quality win on the road. Instead, they have now lost five out of six.
DePaul 67, Providence 55: Providence really needed this one as their stretch with six of eight on the road continues. DePaul’s improvement continues as they go to 4-6 in Big East play.
Washington 69, UCLA 55: The Huskies are carrying the flag for the Pac-12 at this point, even as Arizona State tries to somewhat keep pace. Washington forced 23 turnovers to move to 9-0 in conference play.
South Florida 84, Memphis 78: 41 points from Jeremiah Martin and 65 total points in the second half weren’t enough to save the Tigers from a terrible start that saw South Florida score the first 19 points and take a 38-13 lead into the locker room. Memphis has now lost two straight and three of four with Cincinnati coming to town on Thursday night.
Dayton 68, Duquesne 64: The Flyers were down by eight at the half, but rallied to stay right behind Davidson in the Atlantic 10 at 7-2.
VCU 79, George Mason 63: As the Rams win this battle of old rivals dating back to the CAA days, they drop the Patriots back into a tie for second at 7-2 while coming right behind them at 6-2.
Northeastern 75, Hofstra 61: The Huskies end Hofstra’s 16-game winning streak and cut into their lead. Even so, the Pride are in a good place up two games over the Huskies in the CAA, as the Huskies need a good deal of help to catch them in the standings.
Illinois State 65, Loyola-Chicago 57: The Redbirds were in control for much of this game and move into a first-place tie with the Ramblers in the Missouri Valley.
Evansville 64, Valparaiso 53: The Crusaders’ slide continues. It’s hard to believe they were the last Valley team to lose their first conference game.
Georgia State 81, Georgia Southern 72: D’Marcus Simonds (29 points) carries the Panthers as they stay on top of the Sun Belt, and they got a little help as well.
UT Arlington 84, Texas State 77 (2 OT): Brian Warren was Mr. Clutch in his 30-point outing for the Mavericks, who have been a pleasant surprise at 6-3 in Sun Belt play. No team brought back less scoring from last season in Division I and only Mount St. Mary’s brought back a cast with fewer minutes played last year or career points at their current school.
Saint Mary’s 86, San Francisco 80: If you like offense, this was your game. Both teams shot over 52 percent from the field, both over 42 percent from deep, and they combined for 14 turnovers.
Wofford 99, The Citadel 61: The Terriers move to 11-0 in Southern Conference play, looking more and more like the class of a conference that is pretty good at the top.
Grand Canyon 72, CSU Bakersfield 59: An impressive road win thanks to a big second half puts Grand Canyon all alone atop the WAC at 7-1.
Radford 80, Winthrop 61: It took a half, but this was quite a response by Radford after their first conference loss of the season, as they went on the road and handled the Eagles, who were right behind them in the Big South, thanks to outscoring them 51-30 in the second half.
Campbell 83, Longwood 62: One team that’s not far behind Radford at 6-2 in Big South play has the nation’s leading scorer, and Chris Clemson had 39 more points as he closes in on the top 10 all-time scorers in Division I.
Princeton 70, Cornell 61 (OT): Though it took five more minutes, the Tigers exit this road trip at 4-0, all alone atop the Ivy League for now as the lone undefeated.
Austin Peay 74, Jacksonville State 71: The Ohio Valley got a little more interesting, as both teams are now part of a four-way tie at the top at 8-2.
Murray State 67, Tennessee Tech 63: The Racers barely pulled this one out, as they trailed late but were the more poised team in the final minute.
Monmouth 75, Rider 71: Quietly, the Hawks are making a move into contention in the MAAC, now standing 7-4 after handing the Broncs their second conference loss.
Norfolk State 80, Howard 78: The Spartans remain undefeated in MEAC play (8-0) in remarkable fashion, rallying from a 24-point deficit in the second half. After a 10-1 run by Howard to start the second half, the Spartans finished the game outscoring them 49-23.
Florida A&M 63, North Carolina A&T 39: The first MEAC loss for the Aggies comes in blowout fashion, and it puts the Rattlers right behind them in the battle for second place right behind Norfolk State.
