Men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball – there’s no shortage of college ball, every night.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in college basketball.
Purdue upset by Ohio State
“Michigan at the top” seems to be the only thing that the Big Ten can keep straight this season. Is Ohio State March Madness-worthy? Is Purdue a threat to win the conference title? The answer depends on when you ask the question, apparently. Entering into Sunday’s matchup between the two in Columbus, the Buckeyes were ranked 44th in Wins Above Bubble, with a score of 0.55 — basically, right on the bubble itself, and not a sure thing for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament depending on how the rest of the season went. Purdue, meanwhile, was ranked No. 8 in the country, and while it had some recent losses they were against the likes of Michigan and Michigan State — getting one of the top byes in the Big Ten that would grant a pass to the quarterfinals was still very much in the cards with the unranked trio of Ohio State, Northwestern and Wisconsin left on the schedule.
Ohio State upset Purdue on Sunday, 82-74, throwing all of this into chaos. The Buckeyes now have a WAB of 1.33 with regular-season games left against Penn State and Indiana, giving them some cushion as far as the Selection Committee goes. They are in position to get not one of the top byes, but could still end up passing by the first two rounds, as Ohio State is tied with eighth-place Iowa at 10-8. Purdue, meanwhile, has lost two in a row and is still a full game back of Illinois for a ticket straight to the Big Ten quarterfinals, despite the Fighting Illini also losing two in a row. Nebraska and Michigan State have rebounded from some midseason struggles and are now two games up on the Boilermakers with two to go. See? Chaos!
Purdue was hot from beyond the arc early, which is why it remained in a game that Ohio State slowly took more and more control over. At halftime, the Boilermakers were 8-for-14 from 3, but then went 3-for-15 in the second half, with the last of those coming right before the buzzer as Ohio State was half-heartedly defending the final possession.
Outside of the cold shooting in the second half, Purdue also kept sending Ohio State to the line: while the Buckeyes made four fewer field goals than the Boilermakers and two fewer 3s, it went 25-for-32 from the line compared to Purdue’s 7-for-10. Even if Purdue had kept hitting from deep, it might have ended up losing given its inability to avoid fouling shooters.
Ohio State was led by guards John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton. Mobley, a sophomore, shot 8-for-15 with 5 3s and a game-high 21 points, while the senior Thornton had 20 on 6-for-9 shooting with a 5-for-7 performance from the stripe. Junior forward Devin Royal went to the line the most and sank 8 of 9 attempts, but four of Ohio State’s starters drained at least 5 free throws.
Ohio State crushes Michigan State
It was a great night for Ohio State on the women’s side of the game, too. No. 13 Ohio State came into the weekend still fighting for March Madness seeding, and just one game up on Maryland for fifth in the Big Ten. With the Terrapins losing their regular-season finale against No. 8 Michigan, that last point became less of a priority, but a matchup against No. 15 Michigan State meant that seeding conversations were very much still in play.
The Buckeyes would win, and convincingly, 87-68. A 23-9 first quarter did not decide the game at that point by any means, but it gave Ohio State the breathing room it needed to survive a strong start to the second half by the Spartans. Sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge continued to star for the Buckeyes, scoring a game-high 33 points on 12-for-24 shooting while shooting 7-for-12 from deep. She also picked up 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Her sister Kennedy Cambridge, a junior guard, nearly had a triple-double with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, while sophomore center Elsa Lemmila had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double with 3 blocks and 3 assists. Senior guard Chance Gray added 21 points, all on 3-pointers, to tie Jaloni Cambridge for the team lead from beyond the arc.
Michigan State did not have answers for such a well-rounded attack. Senior forward Grace VanSlooten had 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting with 7 rebounds and 5 assists — she had the team lead in all three categories. It was a tough day at work for basically everyone but her in the starting lineup, as the Spartans were held to 40% shooting overall, and the bench was responsible for most of the rest of the points with 32.
Ohio State enters the Big Ten tournament as the fifth seed, and will take on the winner of 12-seed Nebraska vs. 13-seeded Indiana on March 5, setting the Buckeyes up for a potential quarterfinals clash against Minnesota. Michigan State, meanwhile, will get the winner of 10-seed Illinois and 15-seed Wisconsin — the Spartans will be rewarded with a clash against a rested Iowa in the quarterfinals if they advance.
UConn completes undefeated regular season
Given that UConn has had six “perfect” seasons already — meaning, six occasions in which the Huskies have been the undefeated national champions — there is only so much excitement to glean out of an undefeated regular season. Don’t sleep on the achievement, however: UConn opened the season against a ranked Louisville team, dropped 100 points on Ohio State, defeated Michigan, pushed USC and Iowa around, handled tourney-caliber Villanova twice, and crushed Tennessee and Notre Dame by the most lopsided margins in the history of those rivalries to get to this point. There is a whole lot of season left for an undefeated defending champion with sights set on more, but taking a moment to acknowledge that 31-0 just jumps off the page is warranted, too.
UConn defeated St. John’s 85-49 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, and did so with the bench doing a whole lot of the heavy lifting. Sophomore forward Sarah Strong did her usual thing, with 11 points on 50% shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals, but four bench players picked up at least 10 minutes while the Huskies used 12 players in all in the final game before the Big East tournament kicks off on Friday.
Every St. John’s player was held under double-digit scoring, and the Red Storm shot 35% as a team while being forced into 22 turnovers, which UConn converted into 25 points. This is the kind of aggressive defense that has led to not just a 31-0 record, but also 47 consecutive wins for the Huskies: that ties them for the fifth-longest streak in Division I women’s basketball history, with the 2013-2015 edition of UConn.
Next up for St. John’s is the opening round of the Big East tournament, where the Red Storm, as the 6-seed, will face 11-seeded Xavier. UConn will play Saturday, against the winner of Butler (8) and Georgetown (9). Should St. John’s advance, it will take on Seton Hall (3) on Saturday night in the quarterfinals.
Texas Tech upsets Iowa State without Toppin
You would be forgiven for assuming Texas Tech was in serious trouble once it lost star junior JT Toppin for the season to an ACL tear, but the Red Raiders keep plugging along. They scored 100 points against Kansas State, beat Cincinnati 80-68 and, on Saturday, upset No. 4 Iowa State, 82-73. Again: without JT Toppin, who was scoring a team-leading 21.8 points per game while averaging nearly 11 rebounds.
The Red Raiders shredded the Cyclones’ defense, shooting 58% while making up for the lack of a huge individual performance by getting everyone involved. Four of Texas Tech’s starters scored between 12 and 18 points, while the only two bench players to get meaningful minutes both hit double-digits, too — in his 20 minutes off the bench, sophomore forward Josiah Mosely nearly had a double-double, as he picked up 9 rebounds to go with his 10 points. Toppin isn’t around, no, but try not to forget that Texas Tech still has sophomore guard Christian Anderson to lead the way.
Iowa State, conversely, wrapped up its offensive performance almost entirely in senior and junior forwards, Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic. The pair combined for 42 points on 13-for-28 shooting, which sounds like a great start until you see the rest: the other Cyclones shot 9-for-31.
While Iowa State had a much better second half, it couldn’t slow Texas Tech’s shooting, nor could it truly overcome a first half in which the Red Raiders outscored it by 16 points. There are two games left in the Big 12 season, but through March 1 Texas Tech is tied for second in the conference with Houston, while Iowa State is now tied for fourth with Kansas.
[Men’s College Basketball Rankings: ‘I’m so Impressed With the Red Raiders’]
Iowa State will get big W to finish common season
Issues have been higher for Iowa State’s ladies, not less than. These Cyclones are already preventing for his or her lives, not less than unofficially, because of the outlet that the absence of Addy Brown left in the midst of the season. With the junior ahead again from an undefined leg damage — however not 100% — Iowa State had an opportunity to enhance its seeding each within the Huge 12 and with an eye fixed towards March Insanity. Brown did her half in opposition to Kansas State, with 7 factors and a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 3 assists, whereas junior guard Jada Williams performed facilitator with 9 assists, whereas scoring 23 of her personal factors. Junior middle Audi Crooks was the beginning once more, nevertheless, together with her first huge efficiency since… effectively, since Brown was a wholesome rotation common. Crooks scored 41 factors on 16-for-19 capturing with 13 rebounds, and the results of this trio trying again at practically full capability as soon as extra was 93 factors and a W. Oh, and Crooks tied Brittany Griner for the profession Huge 12 file for 40-point video games, with 5 — 4 of which have come this season.
Iowa State ends the common season because the 7-seed within the Huge 12, which is worse than its preseason aspirations however good news contemplating how rapidly the workforce faltered with out Brown’s triple-threat presence. The Cyclones simply made it to that time, with yet one more win in convention play than each BYU and Arizona State, and with a tiebreaker over Utah. The reward is a bye to the second spherical of the Huge 12 event — that’s an additional day of relaxation for Brown — and a matchup in opposition to the winner of Arizona (10) and Arizona State (15). No. 17 West Virginia (second within the Huge 12) awaits if Iowa State will get previous that time, however that sort of heavyweight bout was at all times going to be on the desk. A minimum of this manner Iowa State has to play only one recreation earlier than that matchup as a substitute of two.
Gonzaga misplaced to Saint Mary’s in finale
Gonzaga goes to see Mikey Lewis in its nightmares for some time. The sophomore guard from Saint Mary’s scored a game-high 31 factors with 5 rebounds and 4 assists in opposition to the Bulldogs, undoing a lot of what was in any other case a fantastic defensive effort — Gonzaga restricted the Gaels to 35% capturing total, however Lewis simply saved on hitting, even going 7-for-13 from past the arc.
That career-high efficiency powered Saint Mary’s previous Gonzaga, 70-59 — the Bulldogs didn’t fare a lot better in opposition to the Gaels’ protection, hitting simply 39% of their pictures, and with 11 fewer 3-pointers than Saint Mary’s managed to make up for the low hit price.
Now, Gonzaga remains to be the highest seed within the West Coast Convention, regardless of the loss: each the Bulldogs and Gaels are tied at 16-2, forward of 15-3 Santa Clara. Fortunately for Gonzaga, the format of the WCC event performs in its favor: the Bulldogs have had a ton of near-miss losses in convention play which have triggered concern, however being the highest seed vaults all of them the way in which to the semifinals. Which suggests Gonzaga nonetheless has to defeat which workforce earns its means there, after which presumably tackle Saint Mary’s within the finals, too.
Each the Bulldogs and Gaels are seemingly for March Insanity, however nonetheless. Higher to win the automated and the superior seeding that convention victories deliver, particularly since Gonzaga’s WAB score is way worse (16) than its standing within the NCAA Analysis Device (6), given the commonly decrease competitors stage of the WCC mixed with a loss to Portland. Gonzaga can pull off a final WCC championship, however whether or not it is going to is a unique query.
Arizona is entire once more
You don’t must marvel about when Koa Peat will return to Arizona from damage, because the freshman ahead did so in time for the Wildcats to tackle Kansas. The Jayhawks ended Arizona’s undefeated season the final time the 2 met, however issues have been completely different on this event, even though Kansas might boast having freshman star Darryn Peterson in its lineup within the rematch.
Peterson led all scorers with 24 factors, albeit on 8-for-21 capturing, and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a pair of blocks. The Jayhawks as an entire shot poorly, at 34% from the sector, and noticed their rating salvaged a bit by 10-for-11 from the stripe. It was nonetheless nowhere close to sufficient in opposition to Arizona, nevertheless, which went to the road 34 occasions and sank 30 of these makes an attempt, to go along with capturing 45% from the sector.
Arizona received the struggle within the paint with ease, outscoring Kansas 30-20 there, whereas knocking down 48 rebounds to 26 — throw in drawing foul after foul in opposition to a Jayhawks’ protection that couldn’t appear to gradual Arizona every other means, and the place this recreation was one turns into clear.
What this recreation serves as a reminder of is how tough it’s to foretell something concerning the Huge 12 this yr, particularly with regards to the event. Kansas received with out Peterson in opposition to Arizona however acquired handed a extreme L with him, regardless of Peterson taking part in effectively when he had the possibility. Iowa State misplaced to a Toppin-less Texas Tech, Houston is both dominant or susceptible… it’s simple sufficient to select a favourite, however to be proper about that decision is perhaps more durable right here than in every other Energy 5 convention.
UCLA wraps good Huge Ten season
Senior middle Lauren Betts was held to simply 5 factors. UCLA shot simply 41% total. It didn’t matter for the Bruins. UCLA took down USC, 73-50, with Betts nonetheless grabbing 15 rebounds — USC as a workforce had 22 — and each different Bruins starter scoring between 11 and 20 factors. The bench shot simply 4-for-15, dragging down the general numbers, however these starters had the sport locked down. USC is a tournament-caliber workforce, however the absence of star JuJu Watkins — misplaced to an ACL tear throughout final yr’s March Insanity — is keenly felt when going up in opposition to one the caliber of UCLA.
With the win, the Bruins accomplished an 18-0 run by means of the Huge Ten common season: nobody else had fewer than 3 losses, with each Iowa and Michigan ending at 15-3. UCLA has received 22 video games in a row, with its lone defeat coming in opposition to Texas again in November throughout Feast Week. It ought to be famous, too, that the Bruins have been down by 23 in that recreation because of an uncharacteristically tough first half, after which put a late scare into the Longhorns, anyway — and this was earlier than freshman ahead Sienna Betts, sister of Lauren Betts, debuted as effectively. Sienna Betts, in her 19 video games, averaged 15.7 minutes with 6.8 factors, 4 rebounds and 1.2 assists whereas capturing 52.4%. That’s a depth piece that’s going to come back into play in March, and her presence on a roster already loaded with seasoned senior expertise has helped make UCLA that a lot better in convention play. A kind of seniors, senior guard Gianna Kneepkens, scored her 2,000th profession factors on this recreation.
USC is the 9-seed within the Huge Ten event, and can face Washington (5) within the second spherical on March 5. Ought to the Trojans advance previous the Huskies, top-seed UCLA awaits them for a rematch within the quarterfinals.
