Another Saturday is in the books, and a number of important games and results came along the way. We saw the one undefeated team continue to win, while a team that had been undefeated until recently lost for a second straight time. A couple of first conference wins came up that were quite noteworthy as well, and several teams had to rally to have a chance to continue their winning ways.
And as if that’s not enough, one of the last games of the day had as wild an ending as can be imagined. There is more on that one coming elsewhere on here because it’s a subject all by itself.
In other words, we saw a little bit of many things. So with that, here are notes from many of the day’s games.
Gonzaga 92, BYU 69: The Bulldogs rolled in one of the more likely games where they could have been knocked off from an opponent standpoint. It didn’t help that BYU didn’t have Yoeli Childs, but that was expected and he alone would not have turned this into a Cougar win by any stretch.
Baylor 75, Oklahoma State 68: 15 straight wins for the Bears now, but this didn’t come easily at all. They were down by 12 with about 14 minutes left and rallied with an 18-4 run and then overcame great responses by a tough-luck Cowboy team that amazingly still doesn’t have a Big 12 win.
Kansas 66, Texas 57: Texas lets another opportunity get away, as they led at the half only to lose again at home with a chance for a quality win in front of them.
Kansas State 84, West Virginia 68: This was quite a way to get the first Big 12 win, as the Wildcats shot over 59 percent from the field, including 9-18 from long range, and were in control for most of the game.
Texas Tech 72, Iowa State 52: The Cyclones are 1-4 in Big 12 play, but even that seems better than you think. It feels as though there are the Cyclones and Kansas State, and then everyone else in the Big 12 is a notch above them, even hard-luck (and winless) Oklahoma State.
Louisville 79, Duke 73: Last year, the Cardinals famously blew a 23-point lead to the Blue Devils in Louisville and spiraled out of control from there, winning just three of their final nine games after that. This year, they did well not to blow a 15-point first half lead this time around and in a more hostile venue.
Florida State 83, Miami 79 (OT): The Seminoles continue to win, though this one took a rally from down nine in the final four and a half minutes to force overtime.
NC State 60, Clemson 54: The Tigers’ momentum stops after two big wins in a row, and the Wolfpack needed this one given that their margin for error with the NCAA Tournament isn’t that big to begin with.
Virginia 63, Georgia Tech 58: The Cavaliers needed to stop the bleeding as they had lost three straight, and did so on the road by holding off the Yellow Jackets.
Syracuse 71, Virginia Tech 69: The Orange hold off the Hokies in Blacksburg behind the coach’s son, as Buddy Boeheim had 26 points on the afternoon, and are now above .500 in ACC play at 4-3.
Pittsburgh 66, North Carolina 52: Simply put, the Tar Heels are going nowhere fast. They have lost four in a row and are now under .500 this late in the season for the first time since the disastrous 2001-02 season.
Florida 69, Auburn 47: Auburn has now lost two in a row after winning their first 15, and this one in dominating fashion as they shot below 26 percent from the field and were out-rebounded 44-29.
LSU 80, Ole Miss 76: Breein Tyree’s 36 points weren’t enough as LSU continues to pull out close ones in SEC play, overcoming 16 turnovers with a big 47-31 rebounding margin. The Tigers have won four in a row, all by four points or less.
Kentucky 73, Arkansas 66: A solid rebound from a loss a few nights earlier by the Wildcats, especially after a rally by the Razorbacks tied it in the second half and led to John Calipari’s ejection, all on the road no less. It’s one more sign that this team is growing.
Mississippi State 91, Georgia 59: The Bulldogs romp for their second straight win after three straight losses behind a big night from Reggie Perry (22 points, 12 rebounds).
Seton Hall 82, St. John’s 79: The Pirates rally from being down by 13 at the half to pull one out at Madison Square Garden, their eighth straight win to go to 6-0 in Big East play.
DePaul 79, Butler 66: In case you need a reminder of how littler separation there is between the teams in the Big East, we offer you this result. DePaul finally gets their first conference win over a Butler team that just lost their second straight after a 15-1 start.
Creighton 78, Providence 74: Providence has been one of the better stories in Big East play, as they have rebounded from a so-so non-conference showing to start well, but they couldn’t keep it going in Omaha despite 36 points (on 12-18 shooting) from David Duke, as they simply didn’t defend well enough.
Marquette 84, Georgetown 80: Markus Howard does it again with 42 points to carry the Golden Eagles to a big road win and get to 3-3 in the Big East.
San Diego State 68, Nevada 55: The Aztecs were down at the half, but a big second half and a big night from Yanni Wetzell (17 points, 16 rebounds) keep them as the lone undefeated in college basketball.
Boise State 88, Utah State 83 (OT): There are brutal losses, and there’s this one, as will be covered in more depth in the Morning Dish. Utah State was up by 18 with four minutes to go, blew that lead and trailed throughout overtime to drop to 3-4 in Mountain West play.
UNLV 99, New Mexico 78: While the Lobos could easily head into a downward spiral with one top player already gone and another potentially out longer, give the Runnin’ Rebels credit as they go to 6-1 in Mountain West play.
Oregon 64, Washington 61 (OT): The Huskies will surely wish they could have this one back, as they led by 12 at the half and by 16 nearly halfway through the second half. They are now 1-3 since Quade Green was declared academically ineligible, and one of the preseason favorites in the Pac-12 is 2-4, tied for ninth place, and facing a trip to Utah and Colorado next week.
Arizona 75, Colorado 54: A solid, convincing win for the Wildcats to complete a bounce-back weekend after getting swept in Oregon last week. Colorado still has never won in the McKale Center.
USC 82, Stanford 78 (OT): This is one the Cardinal would surely love to have back. They led by 20 at the half and by one more to open the second half. These two teams are now tied atop the Pac-12 at 4-1, but the Cardinal could easily be up by two games in the loss column over everyone else.
Washington State 89, Oregon State 76: All of a sudden, the Cougars have won two in a row, and this won’t help the Beavers’ NCAA Tournament resume.
Maryland 57, Purdue 50: The Terrapins had to rebound from two straight losses, and did just that, holding off the Boilermakers in a game they led throughout, though Purdue was right there late before seemingly running out of gas.
Penn State 90, Ohio State 76: This is a good way to stop a three-game losing streak, as the Nittany Lions won in convincing fashion with a double-digit lead for a lot of the afternoon and a solid offensive outing.
Illinois 75, Northwestern 71: Quietly, Illinois is right behind Michigan State at 5-2 in the Big Ten, and they needed to hold off the Wildcats since three of their next four are on the road and one of the few opportunities in the Big Ten for a bad loss.
VCU 91, St. Bonaventure 63: This was never a ballgame, and just what VCU needed after a couple of losses. The Bonnies came in playing well and without an Atlantic 10 loss, clearly a team getting better.
Richmond 97, George Mason 87: A big road win for the Spiders given that they just lost their leading scorer for over a month, and they got big games from Grant Golden (25 points) and Jacob Gilyard (20 points, eight assists).
Villanova 61, UConn 55: A tough one on the road for the Huskies, who have lost four of five, as this was there for the taking, especially after they were on a roll at one point in the second half to build a six-point lead.
Northern Iowa 86, Bradley 71: An early showdown of leaders in the Missouri Valley goes to the road team, with A.J. Green scoring 25 to lead the way as they pulled away in the second half.
Houston 65, Wichita State 54: All of a sudden, the Shockers have lost two in a row by nearly identical scores, with this one coming at home.
SMU 68, Temple 52: The Owls looked like an at-large candidate coming into American Athletic Conference play, but at 2-4 they’re moving very quickly into “strictly automatic” territory if they aren’t there already.
East Tennessee State 85, Western Carolina 66: After quietly running off four straight to start Southern Conference play and being overshadowed by others, Western Carolina has now lost two straight as the Buccaneers ran out to an early lead and never looked back behind 26 points and 12 rebounds from Isaiah Tisdale.
Drexel 84, William & Mary 57: The Tribe’s first CAA loss came in blowout fashion as Drexel shot 54.5 percent from the field, including 9-18 from long range, and out-rebounded them 40-26 to win despite another great game from Nathan Knight (28 points, nine rebounds).
UNCW 76, Northeastern 74 (OT): After winning in Charleston two nights earlier, hopes had to be high for a road sweep down south for the Huskies, but getting clipped for the Seahawks’ first CAA win knocks them back down with their third loss.
College of Charleston 69, Hofstra 67: A well-played game between two contenders goes to the home team, and that makes the four-team race for the top a little tighter along with the other results of the day.
Colgate 79, Boston University 70: The Raiders win a battle of teams that entered the day at 4-1 in the Patriot League to go back in front.
Vermont 74, Hartford 57: Hartford had quietly started 3-0 in America East, but now these two are even along with Albany at 3-1 and all right behind 4-1 Stony Brook, who beat the Great Danes on Saturday.
Austin Peay 92, UT Martin 81: While fellow undefeated Murray State and one-loss Belmont get a lot of attention, the Governors are quietly 6-0 in OVC play and got 31 points from Jordyn Adams in this win.
Merrimack 53, Robert Morris 49: The incredible first year in Division I continues for Merrimack, as they have won four in a row and are now tied atop the Northeast Conference with Saint Francis U, who they visit on Monday afternoon.
