2024-01-23 00:28:32
From crazy upsets to buzzer-beating shots, last week may have been the best of the men’s basketball season. Here are all of the top storylines.
West Virginia stuns No. 3 Kansas
The stunning upsets on Saturday were the biggest storyline of the week, so we’ll start there. In what was a high-scoring affair, Kansas got down early once morest West Virginia, but battled back to take the lead late. This didn’t faze the Mountaineers, though, who retook the lead and didn’t give it up, winning 91-85.
RaeQuan Battle was the best player for West Virginia, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. For Kansas, Kevin McCullar Jr. was his normal self, scoring 24 points, but it was the Jayhawks’ defense that hurt them.
Kansas is now 3-2 in conference play, which is not the place the Jayhawks would like to be in the standings. But with this talented of a group, they should end up just fine going down the stretch.
No. 7 Duke goes down to Pitt in another major Saturday upset
As for the other major upset from Saturday, Duke suffered an embarrassing defeat at home to Pitt. This was completely unexpected as Cameron Indoor Stadium is known for being one of the toughest places to play in college basketball.
However, the Panthers had no problem traveling to Durham and getting the win. Blake Hinton led Pitt to this victory by scoring 24 points and dishing out eight assists. He jumped up on the scorer’s table following the game, standing in front of the Cameron Crazies following an epic end to a crazy upset. Duke was missing two key players, Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell, but the Blue Devils are still talented enough that they should have come away with the victory.
No. 1 UConn, No. 12 Arizona survive upset bids from conference rivals
Top-ranked UConn escaped an upset bid from an underdog on Saturday, when the Huskies were tested once morest Villanova. The Wildcats fought tough, giving UConn all it might handle. The Huskies survived, winning 66-65.
Tristen Newton was the star, scoring a game-high 25 points. UConn’s defense was great all game, especially in a road environment. Villanova’s Justin Moore had 15 points, which was the team-high, showing the impact of UConn’s defense.
Across the country, Arizona hosted UCLA and the Bruins got out to a big lead early, but the Wildcats kept fighting back, chipping away at the lead. UCLA was up by 15 points at one point, which was a shock because Arizona was at home. Pelle Larsson was a huge factor in this game, scoring 22 points, the most of anyone on the floor.
UCLA seemed rattled by the end of this game, despite its amazing start. The Bruins fell short of an upset bid and Arizona won 77-71.
No. 25 Texas Tech, No 24 Iowa State win in ranked Big 12 battles
Moving from potential upsets to ranked matchups, Texas Tech battled back to beat BYU at home, winning 85-78. This was a tale of two halves with BYU shooting lights out in the first half and Texas Tech doing so in the second.
Pop Isaacs was sensational, scoring 32 points on six-for-nine shooting from three. He was especially great in the second half in which the Red Raiders dominated, making almost every shot he took. The crowd got into it, propelling Texas Tech to the win.
Iowa State beat TCU on the road in another ranked matchup in the conference. Early on, the Cyclones dominated the game, leading by as many as 18 points. This didn’t stop the Horned Frogs from making a furious comeback, almost tying it up, but ultimately falling short.
Keshon Gilbert stepped up for Iowa State, which was without its star Tamin Lipsey. Gilbert scored 20 points to lead his team to victory. Trevian Tennyson was great for TCU, leading the potential comeback bid with 19 points. Despite the resilience from TCU, Iowa State held on and got a huge road victory, 73-72.
Syracuse, Texas win with buzzer-beaters at home
Buzzer-beaters are some of the most exciting moments college basketball offers and we were treated to a couple on Saturday. First, Syracuse’s Quadir Copeland beat the buzzer to beat Miami at home.
The game was tied at 69 apiece when Copeland hit the step-back three to send the JMA Wireless Dome into a frenzy.
J.J. Starling scored 22 points for the Orange. This was damaging defeat for Miami, which is fighting for its NCAA tournament chances. Syracuse, on the other hand, might build momentum from this game.
The other buzzer-beater from Saturday occurred in the Texas-Baylor game, where Tyrese Hunter went coast to coast in under four seconds to beat the buzzer and make the game-winning layup. The game ended 75-73 in favor of the Longhorns, giving them a huge, upset victory over a conference rival.
Besides the fantastic play to end the game, Hunter impressed from start to finish, tallying 21 points. This win was huge for Texas, which may now be closer to the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble following previously losing to UCF. For Baylor, this isn’t a bad loss on its resume but it was the Bears’ second defeat in a row.
No. 17 Marquette and No. 18 Creighton win Big East thrillers
St. John’s tried to pull off a win over a ranked Marquette squad at Madison Square Garden. With the Johnnies rocking throwback uniforms, there was energy in the building for the Red Storm. That led to a first-half lead for St. John’s.
Marquette battled back, though, and following a failed game-winning shot attempt from St. John’s, the Golden Eagles won 73-72. Oso Ighodaro ended up being the best player for Marquette with 17 points, while R.J. Luis was the leading scorer for St. John’s with 20.
That game would be hard to top, but the battle between Creighton and Seton Hall most certainly did. This one went to not one, not two, but three overtime periods. It was a thriller from start to finish. Neither team led by more than five points.
Seton Hall got out to an early lead in the third overtime, but it went cold in the end, leading to the Bluejays’ 97-94 victory. Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner led all scorers with 28 points, but teammate Trey Alexander wasn’t far behind with 23. These two were critical down the stretch, especially in all the overtime periods.
No. 10 Memphis drops games to unranked USF and Tulane
Memphis was seen as a top-10 team earlier this season, but not so much anymore. The Tigers have now lost two in a row in upset fashion. Starting off their week once morest USF, the Tigers blew a 20-point lead to the Bulls on their home floor, losing 74-73.
It was an all-out collapse by Memphis.
Its next game once morest Tulane didn’t go any better for Memphis. The Tigers lost that one, too, 81-79. Although they didn’t blow a major lead and this game was on the road, it marked the end of a challenging week for a team of Memphis’ caliber. While there’s still hope for the Tigers, they need to pick up the pieces soon or their projected NCAA tournament seed might drop significantly.
No. 9 Baylor, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 16 Utah State and No.19 TCU lose on Tuesday
Last Tuesday was also a wild day of college hoops. A handful of ranked teams went down, including No. 9 Baylor, which lost to Kansas State. The game went into overtime, where Kansas State was the better team in the clutch. The Wildcats won 68-64.
Wisconsin also lost a tough road game to Penn State, 87-83. Penn State might be the worst team in the Big Ten, which makes this loss extremely surprising.
In a game that may not have even been an upset, Utah State was destroyed on the road by New Mexico, 99-86. The Lobos have been dominant at home this season, which makes the result less surprising.
Then, Cincinnati beat TCU in overtime 81-77. It was Cincinnati’s first big home win in the Big 12.
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