Saturday shaped up to be a big day with several showdowns on tap. First place was directly on the line in a conference in a number of games, and in a few cases the end result was quite decisive. In addition, there were a number of important games in other respects, including road wins for some teams. In short, it was what you could hope a Saturday in February would be given the large number of games on the slate.
Without further adieu, here are notes from a number of the day’s games.
Duke 81, Virginia 71: The Blue Devils sweep Virginia and look like the unquestioned team to beat in the ACC. The Blue Devils shot an incredible 57.8 percent against the Cavaliers, including 13-21 from long range.
North Carolina 88, Miami 85 (OT): The Tar Heels are staying right there with Duke behind a career game from Coby White (33 points, six assists) as Miami suffers another tough loss.
Florida State 80, Louisville 75 (OT): The Seminoles are hot again, having won five straight after losing four of five early in ACC play, and at a good time with a three-game road trip ahead after Wake Forest comes to town on Wednesday.
Clemson 59, Virginia Tech 51: The Tigers have needed a signature win like this all season, and finally got it. There is naturally more work to do, but this now puts the Tigers in a better position regarding the NCAA Tournament than they have been in.
NC State 79, Pittsburgh 76: The Wolfpack stop the bleeding – narrowly. With three straight losses coming in, this one would have hurt even more from an NCAA Tournament resume standpoint.
Tennessee 73, Florida 61: The Volunteers continue to roll, pulling away from the Gators in the second half.
Kentucky 71, Mississippi State 67: A big road win for the Wildcats as this was a test in more ways than one. Not only was it against a good team, but the Bulldogs rallied from an 18-point deficit to get within one and the Wildcats held them off.
LSU 83, Auburn 78: LSU has run up some deficits of late to rally from, and this one was no different. By the end of the first half they had cut significantly into it and then won it in the second half to keep pace with Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of who they visit on Tuesday night.
South Carolina 77, Arkansas 65: Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament hopes took another hit with this one, while the Gamecocks are quietly all alone in fourth place, two games behind the top three.
Nevada 91, New Mexico 61: A little different result than the first meeting between these two, as the Wolfpack left no doubt in this one.
Michigan 61, Wisconsin 52: The first big showdown of the day went to the home team, as Michigan stays a half game ahead of Purdue for now.
Michigan State 79, Minnesota 55: After a couple of missed opportunities in a row for the Golden Gophers, this wasn’t a ballgame most of the way. They had not lost consecutive games all year until the current three-game losing streak.
Purdue 81, Nebraska 62: This is two teams that keep going in opposite directions, as Purdue wins their eighth straight to stay right with Michigan and Nebraska loses their seventh straight.
Kansas State 70, Baylor 63: A big win for the Wildcats in more ways than one as it comes in Waco. It now puts them two games up on everyone else in the loss column in the Big 12.
Texas Tech 66, Oklahoma 54: The Red Raiders had lost three in a row on the road before this one, so this gets them back on track in addition to keeping the Sooners reeling with their fourth straight loss.
Kansas 84, Oklahoma State 72: The Jayhawks take care of business in a get-well game of sorts, and with some help are now in a three-way tie for second in the Big 12.
TCU 92, Iowa State 83: Another big road win on the day is the first in Big 12 play for TCU, who has battled back to even their conference mark at 5-5.
Texas 75, West Virginia 53: In some ways, this was a game the Longhorns had to have because it was on the road and they could use a win away from Austin to help themselves. They got it in decisive fashion to keep the Mountaineers reeling.
Gonzaga 94, Saint Mary’s 46: In case you doubted how much better Gonzaga is than everyone else in the West Coast Conference this season, they provided us this piece of evidence against their arch rival. The Bulldogs scored more points in the first half than the Gaels did all night. This also tells you that while Saint Mary’s is still good, they’re certainly not the Gaels of the past couple of seasons.
Marquette 66, Villanova 65: This was quite the back-and-forth game. Marquette appeared ready to pull away, but Villanova rallied in the second half and eventually took the lead. Then Markus Howard (38 points) and Sacar Anim took over, scoring the Golden Eagles’ last 26 points to hand the Wildcats their first Big East loss and get within a game of them.
Seton Hall 63, Creighton 58: It might be a bit much to call this an at-large elimination game so early, but the Pirates needed this one to protect their home court and get a game ahead of the Bluejays, who are in a precarious position all their own in this regard.
Butler 73, Georgetown 69: Another sign of where the middle teams are in the Big East is both of these teams being 5-6 after the Bulldogs win this one on the road.
Providence 70, St. John’s 56: A double-digit home loss to a team tied for the bottom of the conference entering the day was not what the Red Storm needed, as they fall below .500 in Big East play.
DePaul 74, Xavier 62: This one came in Cincinnati and tells you all you need to know about this season. DePaul has improved and snapped an eight-game losing streak to Xavier, who is undeniably down – in fact, the Musketeers are unbelievably in last place in the Big East.
Arizona State 75, Washington 63: In handing the Huskies their first Pac-12 loss, the Sun Devils give their NCAA at-large bid hopes a much-needed boost, as they have been losing margin for error there of late.
Washington State 69, Arizona 55: The Cougars had a big weekend, winning by double digits at both of the Arizona schools and in the process dealing big blows to hope the conference has to stave off being a one-bid league in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the first time in 12 years they have swept the Arizona schools on the road. It’s also the fifth straight loss for the Wildcats, their longest losing streak since 1983-84 – Lute Olson’s first season at the helm.
Utah 93, UCLA 92: A sign of the season for UCLA, as Parker Van Dyke’s three-pointer at the buzzer capped a rally from a 22-point deficit to win at Pauley Pavilion and drop the Bruins to 5-5 in Pac-12 play. Utah scored 61 points in the second half.
UMass 54, Davidson 51: A surprise result even with this one being played in Amherst. Davidson’s five-game winning streak comes to an end as they scored almost 20 points below their season average, with Kellan Grady held to 1-10 shooting.
VCU 85, St. Bonaventure 55: A blowout win in Olean moves the Rams into a tie with Davidson, taking advantage of the Wildcats losing on the road.
Dayton 77, Rhode Island 48: The Flyers stay right in the thick of things at 8-3 in the Atlantic 10 with a blowout on the road.
Tulsa 76, Temple 58: This is a damaging loss for the Owls, even coming on the road. How much it hurts remains to be seen given how weak the bubble is, but they don’t appear to have a lot of margin for error to begin with.
UT Arlington 78, Appalachian State 68: The surprise team tied with Texas State atop the Sun Belt is the Mavericks, who have won eight of nine. They have no scholarship seniors and are one of the least-experienced teams in the country.
Hofstra 93, William & Mary 87: Justin Wright-Foreman had another huge game for Hofstra, scoring 48 points on 16-24 shooting, including 7-12 from long range.
New Mexico State 67, Grand Canyon 64: The Aggies go on the road and take a two-game lead on the Antelopes in the WAC.
UT Rio Grand Valley 79, CSU Bakersfield 74 (OT): The Roadrunners have hit the skids of late, losing three in a row to fall into a tie for fourth in the WAC.
Yale 78, Penn 65: With a little help, the Bulldogs are now alone in first place in the Ivy League as Miye Oni follows up his career night with 21 more points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Brown 78, Princeton 70: The Bears have had a rough go of it in the early going of Ivy League play, but this win will give them a boost. Princeton, meanwhile, gets swept in their southern New England road swing and has gone from undefeated to out of first place.
Cornell 67, Harvard 61: Was Harvard a little gassed after playing three overtimes a night earlier, even with their depth? Possibly. Cornell now joins the Crimson and Princeton at 4-2 right behind Yale on the Ivy League leader board.
Furman 91, East Tennessee State 61: The Paladins join the Buccaneers at 9-4 in Southern Conference play with an impressive win.
Wofford 83, Western Carolina 56: Fletcher McGee (30 points) and the Terriers continue to roll, as they are now 13-0 in Southern Conference play.
UNC Greensboro 78, Chattanooga 63: The Spartans keep pace with the Terriers, improving to 11-1 with a big week ahead that has trips to Furman and Wofford.
Sam Houston State 90, Abilene Christian 85 (2 OT): The Bearkats pull this one out on the road to remain undefeated in Southland Conference play and go three games up on Abilene Christian and everyone else.
South Dakota State 80, North Dakota 55: The Jackrabbits keep rolling as Mike Daum has another big game with 29 points and 20 rebounds.
Texas Southern 95, Prairie View A&M 90: With a big second half rally, the Tigers get within two games of the SWAC leaders in handing them their first conference loss.
