College Basketball Recap

[jbcarol]

Saturday, Jan. 31

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 4 Duke 69, No. 2 Virginia 63

BUZZER-BEATER OF THE NIGHT: If you haven't seen [Bama transfer] Trevor Lacey's buzzer-beater to give N.C. State a road win at Georgia Tech, I suggest you check it out.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/31/trevor-laceys-insane-3-pointer-gives-n-c-state-a-buzzer-beating-win-over-georgia-tech-video

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

3. No. 1 Kentucky 70, Alabama 55

With Virginia losing there's just one undefeated team left in college basketball, with that team being the Kentucky Wildcats. UK took care of Alabama in Lexington, with Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns leading four double digit scorers with 12 points apiece. The Crimson Tide shot 4-for-16 from three and finished the game with four assists and 13 turnovers. If there's a negative to take from this game for Kentucky it would be rebounding, as Alabama posted an offensive rebounding percentage of 42.9%. Kentucky's Trey Lyles missed the game due to illness.

STRUGGLED

1. Auburn's Trayvon Reed

The freshman big man was ejected from the Tigers' loss to Tennessee as he committed a silly technical foul after not lining up properly during a free throw. Reed only played three minutes and was also assessed a flagrant foul before being ejected. Reed on Saturday was like the basketball version of a hockey goon. [Steven Pearl's old role.]

NOTABLES

Florida escaped with a controversial win over Arkansas as Michael Frazier was fouled with 1.9 seconds left and made both free throws for the one-point win.

Tennessee cheered the return of former head coach Bruce Pearl and then cheered even more when the Volunteers beat Pearl's Auburn team 71-63. Armani Moore had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Tennessee.

Despite 25 points and 20 rebounds from Jordan Mickey, LSU lost on the road to Mississippi State.

A&M is a team to keep an eye on with regards to at-large bids in the SEC. Billy Kennedy's team has now won six straight, as they beat Vanderbilt 69-58 in College Station.

[jbcarol]

Kevin Brockway @gatorhoops  ·  19 hours ago

Frazier on whether he was fouled "I don't know. The refs made the call. We're just lucky it went our way tonight" #Gators

[jbcarol]

Rob Dauster @RobDauster  ·  Jan 31

VCU just sent out a release that Briante Weber tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus...

Weber was 12 steals away from setting the NCAA record...

[jbcarol]

Rob Dauster @RobDauster  ·  2 hours ago
Tried to tell you it was dumb to drop Virginia in the polls for the Duke loss. They whipped up on UNC at UNC tonight: http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2b7p

[jbcarol]

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1. No. 3 Virginia 75, No. 12 North Carolina 64

A big second half pushed the Cavaliers past North Carolina as Virginia looked great after its loss to Duke on Saturday...

2. No. 8 Kansas 89, No. 11 Iowa State 76

The streak has reached 20 at Allen Fieldhouse as the Jayhawks had five players in double figures in a Big 12 win over the Cyclones.

N.J.I.T. shot 58 percent from the floor (31-for-53) and 59 percent from 3-point range (13-for-22) in a big home win over Hampton. The Highlanders are now 13-10 on the season and 7-1 at home. Someone please get them a conference affiliation already.

[jbcarol]

Late Night Snacks: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Louisville [Arkansas] all win

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1. No. 5 Wisconsin 92, Indiana 78

2. No. 22 Butler 85, St. John's 62

3. Vanderbilt 67, Florida 61

Florida's already-slim NCAA tournament hopes took a major hit with a loss at Vanderbilt.

STARRED

1. Andrew Harrison, Kentucky

Harrison played his best game of the season on Tuesday night, finishing with 23 points and seven assists — with just one turnover — and the Wildcats needed every last play. Kentucky was up 63-58 on Georgia with two minutes left.

4. Craig Sword, Mississippi State

Sword scored 28 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the floor as the Bulldogs handed Tennessee a deflating, 71-66 lose in Knoxville.

NOTABLES

Bobby Portis had 18 points, 13 boards, three blocks, two steals and two assists in a win over South Carolina.

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Iowa handles Michigan, and LSU's resume takes a hit

Auburn 81, LSU 77

While Iowa avoided a loss in a game they needed to win, the same can't be said for LSU. Auburn managed to hang on for the four-point win in Baton Rouge, with K.T. Harrell scoring a season-high 28 points and Antoine Mason adding 24 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Mickey scored 24 and Tim Quarterman 17 for LSU, which is part of that major logjam behind No. 1 Kentucky in the SEC standings. Johnny Jones' team hosts Kentucky Tuesday night, and a loss like tonight's makes that game (and their game against Alabama on Saturday) even more important for LSU.

[jbcarol]

Brett Edgerton @EditorEdge  ·  52 minutes ago
Revenge Saturday: All of these blowout winners lost the first meeting...Duke 90, ND 60...Nova 69, G'town 53...Iowa St 75, Texas Tech 38.

[jbcarol]

Three ranked teams lose to unranked foes, No. 1 Kentucky now 23-0

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 1 Kentucky 68, Florida 61

John Calipari's Wildcats didn't play their best game, but they were able to do enough to move to 23-0 on the season. The differences in Gainesville: foul shooting and the front court tandem of Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein. While Kentucky shot 21-for-22 from the charity stripe, Florida made just seven of its 14 attempts. As for Towns and Cauley-Stein, they combined to score 32 points and grab 13 rebounds against a Gator front line that outside of Dorian Finney-Smith was overmatched. Add in 23 points from Aaron Harrison, and Kentucky was able to take care of business on the road.

Oklahoma State 67, No. 8 Kansas 62
On a day that the 1995 Final Four team was being honored, Travis Ford's Cowboys picked up a valuable win for their NCAA tournament resume

LSU rebounded from a bad loss to Auburn to beat Alabama, 71-60. Next up for the Tigers: top-ranked Kentucky Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.

[jbcarol]

Matt Jones @KySportsRadio  ·  9 hours ago

Yes!!!!! RT @DrewFranklinKSR: Jim Ross calls Willie Cauley-Stein's dunk. http://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/jim-ross-calls-willie-cauley-steins-dunk/ ...

[jbcarol]

GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 17 Oklahoma 93, No. 14 Iowa State 84

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

1. No. 21 Oklahoma State 74, No. 16 Baylor 65

2. No. 4 Duke 68, Florida State 59...

[jbcarol]

Rob Dauster @RobDauster  ·  16 hours ago

Player of the Year Power Rankings: It's time for Frank Kaminsky to get his due | http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2bjY

5. Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky: Karl Towns has been Kentucky's best player over the course of the last week, but after watching the Wildcats move past both Georgia and Florida this week, I was reminded why Cauley-Stein ranked so high on this list earlier in the season. He's arguably the most important piece in Kentucky's historically good defense. He doesn't log as many blocked shots as Towns, but that's because Cauley-Stein is typically guarding the more perimeter-oriented big man, the just most likely to be used in ball-screen actions. And it's his ability to switch onto ball-handlers that has made the Wildcats so good in that area. According to Synergy, Kentucky allows just 0.652 points-per-possession against pick-and-rolls, which is second nationally to Rhode Island. Oh, and this:

[vine]OUqatQKEAmx[/vine]

[jbcarol]

GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 19 Maryland 68, Indiana 66

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
1. La Salle 74, No. 20 VCU 69 (2OT)
2. No. 2 Virginia 51, NC State 47
3. St. John's 86, DePaul 78

Rick Barnes picked up his 600th career win as Texas beat TCU 66-43 in Austin.

Georgia picked up a solid road win, winning 62-53 at Texas A&M with Kenny Gaines scoring 15 points and Charles Mann adding 14, six rebounds and four assists

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Bubble Banter: Ole Miss, Illinois with clutch wins while Tulsa, Iowa take bad losses

Ole Miss: The Rebels further solidified their NCAA tournament profile thanks to a Stefan Moody jumper with 2.7 seconds left to give them a win at Florida. Ole Miss was an eight seed in our latest bracket, meaning they have breathing room. The Rebels host Arkansas on Saturday, and a win not only would give them a sweep in the season series, but it would likely put Andy Kennedy's club in a position where they can feel safe about dancing barring a collapse down the stretch.

Tulsa: The Golden Hurricane have played just 10 RPI top 150 opponents this season, and in their last two games, two of those opponents have beaten them. SMU won at Tulsa, and UConn blew them out in Storrs. Tulsa's a fun story and it's impressive that Frank Haith has been able to get this team to the top of the American, but they're probably right on the cut line as of today.

[jbcarol]

No. 1 Kentucky, No. 20 Baylor pull away for road wins; No. 17 Oklahoma outlasts Texas

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
1. No. 1 Kentucky 66, Tennessee 48
This one was close for over a half, but Kentucky had too much in the end and outlasted the Vols on the road. Devin Booker looked like a go-to scorer for the Wildcats as he scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds and took 16 shots on the night. Andrew Harrison added 14 points and Trey Lyles put in 10 points.

2. South Carolina 64, Georgia 58
When Georgia gets to Selection Sunday, they'll sweat looking back at this recent stretch. The Gamecocks swept the Bulldogs this season and Tuesday's loss also meant that Georgia has lost to Auburn and South Carolina in back-to-back home games.

NOTABLES
A&M had a big win over LSU as Danuel House had 20 points and Kourtney Roberson had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Alabama picked up a road win over Auburn as Levi Randolph had 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

[jbcarol]

GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 4 Duke 92, No. 15 North Carolina 90 (OT)

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
1. Syracuse 69, No. 12 Louisville 59
2. Xavier 59, Cincinnati 57
3. No. 14 Iowa State 70, No. 22 Oklahoma State 65

Michael Qualls scored 21 points and Bobby Portis added 16 points and nine rebounds as No. 18 Arkansas beat Missouri 84-69.

[jbcarol]

Cleveland State 66, Green Bay 61 (OT)

David Laury, Iona: The top big man in the MAAC scored 21 points and grabbed career-high 18 rebounds in Iona's win over Marist. It was his 13th double-double of the season

[jbcarol]

Rob Dauster @RobDauster  ·  36 minutes ago
Wild day on the bubble. The good? Pitt, A&M, St. John's, Xavier. The bad? Dayton, UMass. The awful? ... Texas? http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2bAU

[jbcarol]

Louisville, Iowa State both earn important wins; Arizona, Gonzaga earn tough victories

LSU's Jarrell Martin
Besides pulling off one of the best in-game dunks of the year — no defender category — Martin had 28 points and 13 rebounds in an important win for the Tigers against Florida.

No. 1 Kentucky, as expected, steamrolled Auburn 110-75 in Lexington. Karl-Anthony Towns led six Wildcats in double figures with 19 points, and he also tallied 11 rebounds and four blocks.

No. 18 Arkansas picked up an SEC road win at Mississippi State as Rashad Madden led four double-figure scorers with 16 points.

A&M got past South Carolina as Danuel House had 25 points and six rebounds.

Bubble Banter

LSU: The Tigers picked up a win at home over Florida on Saturday, giving them an even ten top 100 wins. Their three sub-140 losses are a blight on an otherwise very solid profile, which is why they will be in a good spot if they can get past a road trip to Auburn, their last non-top 100 opponent, next week.

A&M: There are three pieces of good news to report on the Aggies. LSU, who they've swept, is still ranked in the top 50 (No. 48) and Kansas State, who they lost to, climbed back up to No. 100, which means that the Aggies still have two top 50 wins and now don't have a sub-100 loss. They also added a top 100 road win on Saturday (at South Carolina), keeping them on the right side of the bubble for now. Wednesday's game at Arkansas can be something of a clincher for the Aggies.

Ole Miss: The Rebels did what they had to do on a quick turnaround, landing a win over Tennessee at home to keep themselves on the right side of the bubble for now. I'm not sure they're quite as comfortable as some think, however. They have just two top 50 wins against three sub-100 losses, although their 8-5 record against the top 100 is solid enough. Their final four games: Georgia, at LSU, at Alabama, Vanderbilt.

Georgia: The Bulldogs certainly didn't need losses to Auburn and South Carolina considering the strength of their profile was their computer numbers and a lack bad losses. The Bulldogs bounced back with a win at Alabama on Saturday, but there is still some work to be done. They still have to go to Ole Miss and get a visit from Kentucky, so there are opportunities to improve their resume.

[jbcarol]

No. 1 Kentucky moves to 28-0, Northwestern knocks off Indiana, GAME OF THE NIGHT: Richmond 67, No. 22 VCU 63 (2OT), No. 19 Baylor 79, No. 12 Iowa State 70

No. 1 Kentucky 74, Mississippi State 56
John Calipari's Wildcats didn't play their best basketball in the first half, and that carried over into the early stages of the second. Then Kentucky went on a 24-4 run and removed any doubt. Trey Lyles scored 18 points and Aaron Harrison added 16 for the Wildcats, who host No. 18 Arkansas on Saturday. Kentucky wraps up at least a share of their record 46th SEC regular season title.

Georgia picked up a solid road victory, winning 76-72 at Ole Miss. Kenny Gaines scored 22 points and Marcus Thornton added 18 and 13 boards for the Bulldogs...

[jbcarol]

Rob Dauster @RobDauster  ·  1 hour ago
I'm not gonna name names, but a First Take personality was just praising the defensive ability of Duke's back court. Which is asinine.

[jbcarol]

CollegeBasketbllTalk @CBTonNBC  ·  1 hour ago
Texas might have saved its season with an overtime win over No. 14 Baylor http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2bPZ

[jbcarol]

Kansas wins in OT; Kentucky survives; Georgetown, Iowa earn quality road wins

1. No. 9 Kansas 76, No. 20 West Virginia 69, OT
The Jayhawks trailed by 18 in the second half and didn't make a 3-pointer, but still won in overtime. The injury to junior forward Perry Ellis is the major development in this one, though.

2. Georgetown 60, No. 21 Butler 54

3. Iowa 77, Indiana 63
With both of these teams fighting for NCAA Tournament berths, the Hawkeyes came away with a huge road win in Bloomington.

4. Florida 66, Texas A&M 62

The Aggies are sitting on the bubble at this point in the season and lost a tough SEC game at Florida on Tuesday night. Texas A&M only shot 35 percent from the floor as Danuel House was 0-for-10 and was held scoreless. Billy Kennedy's team closes SEC play with a home game against Alabama before the conference tournament next week.

5. Rallying in the second half, No. 1 Kentucky moved to 30-0 with a win over Georgia on the road.

6. Ole Miss toppled Alabama for a SEC road win as guard Stefan Moody had 25 points.

7. Keith Shamburger had 21 points to lead Missouri past Auburn.

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Tennessee shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half as they won 78-63 at LSU. Not only does the loss hurt the Tigers, but it also hurts the profile of a Texas A&M team that has two wins over LSU on its resume and not much else.

NJIT, which announced Wednesday afternoon that it will be playing in the CIT, beat Howard 71-62 for its 18th win of the season.

Cincinnati won 56-47 at Tulsa, dropping the Golden Hurricane into a tie for first in the American with SMU. Tulsa closes its regular season with a game at SMU, and the winner gets the conference title outright.

Anthony Hickey and Le'Bryan Nash scored 20 points apiece to lead Oklahoma State to an 82-70 win over TCU.

Vandy came back to defeat Miss. State 66-56 on Senior Night.

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No. 18 Arkansas erased an 11-point second half deficit to win 78-74 at South Carolina. Bobby Portis led the Hogs with 24 points and eight rebounds, and Anthlon Bell scored 17 off the bench.

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Kansas freshman forward Cliff Alexander has experienced the highs and lows that most newcomers have to deal with in college basketball, but his season took a significant turn February 28. Alexander was sidelined as a result of the NCAA looking into an issue that could compromise his eligibility...

...it's likely that Alexander be forced to play the role of spectator Saturday when the Jayhawks visit No. 15 Oklahoma because of the "speed" at which the investigation is moving...

Kansas will also be without junior forward Perry Ellis, who suffered a sprained right knee in Tuesday's overtime win over No. 20 West Virginia.

[jbcarol]

Bubble Banter: Big wins for LSU, Xavier, Texas; why is Indiana in trouble and Georgia safe?

WINNERS

LSU: The Tigers picked up a massive, massive win on Saturday, going into Bud Walton Arena and knocking off No. 18 Arkansas, which is one of the better road wins that you'll come across for any bubble team this season. The win just about locks LSU into an NCAA tournament bid. They can still get tripped up by one of the league's bottom-feeders in the SEC tournament, but even with another loss to a sub-150 team, LSU might be OK. They now have five top 50 wins, with the Arkansas win being their best on the season [maybe ever].

Georgia: The Bulldogs won at Auburn, and the consensus seems to be that will be enough to get Georgia into the Big Dance. I don't understand that. Like Texas A&M, the Bulldogs don't have any great wins. They've beaten two NCAA tournament-caliber teams, winning at Texas A&M and sweeping Ole Miss. But they also have four bad losses — South Carolina twice, Georgia Tech and Auburn. At 20-10 overall, I just don't see how Georgia has a markedly better profile...

LOSERS

Every bubble team: Illinois State upset No. 8 Wichita State, meaning the Redbirds will be playing for the Missouri Valley's automatic bid. Bid thief!

A&M: The Aggies lost to Alabama at home on Saturday, meaning that they are now staring down the barrel of a potential trip to the NIT. The only NCAA tournament team that the Aggies have beaten is LSU, who they swept (and who beat Arkansas today), and while they're 21-10 on the season, losing to Alabama at home — No. 90 in the RPI — is their worst loss of the season. My opinion of A&M can be read in full right here. I haven't changed it at all.

Ole Miss: The Rebels lost at home to Vanderbilt on Saturday evening, dropping Ole Miss ever closer to the cut line. For now, they're probably safe, but it means that their margin of error in the SEC tournament is just that much smaller. Also working against the Rebels: three ugly non-conference losses to TCU, Western Kentucky and Charleston Southern.


Oklahoma State...

[jbcarol]

CollegeBasketbllTalk @CBTonNBC  ·  1 hour ago
Introducing Cinderella: Meet the Wofford Terriers http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2c2k

[jbcarol]

Tonight's game: Texas vs. Texas Tech
Tip time: 9:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Line: Texas -10.5

There's a popular saying that goes like this: It's hard to beat a team three times in one year.

My response to that cliche?

Not if you're clearly better than the other team!

[jbcarol]

Jerry Palm @jppalmCBS  ·  3 hours ago
Making them unique today RT @BTNTomDienhart: Indiana is playing like its NCAA life is on the line ... which it is.

[jbcarol]

NBC Sports @NBCSports  ·  5 hours ago
If you missed anything on a wild Friday night of college hoops, @CBTonNBC has you covered: http://tw.nbcsports.com/3aV 

No. 1 Kentucky 64, Florida 49

The top-ranked Wildcats are now 32-0, as they held Florida without a point for more than five minutes in the second half in Nashville.

No. 19 North Carolina 71, No. 3 Virginia 67

Freshman forward Justin Jackson dropped 22 points off 8-of-10 shooting, lifting the Tar Heels into the ACC Tournament title game.

No. 11 Notre Dame 74, Duke 64

The Fighting Irish defeat Duke for the second time this year, potentially knocking the Blue Devils off the top line

SEC quarters: In addition to Kentucky, Auburn continued its surprising run with a 73-70 overtime win over LSU. KT Harrell's three-pointer with four tenths of a second remaining in regulation forced overtime. Bobby Portis went for 26 points and 11 boards in Arkansas' 80-72 over Tennessee.

[jbcarol]

No. 3 Villanova, No. 5 Arizona and No. 11 Notre Dame among conference tournament winners

GAME OF THE NIGHT: No. 13 Iowa State 70, No. 9 Kansas 66
Despite trailing by as much as 17 Iowa State found a way to once again come back

1. No. 11 Notre Dame 90, No. 19 North Carolina 82
Mike Brey's Fighting Irish went on a 22-2 run in the second half as they beat the Tar Heels to earn their first ACC title in their second year in the conference.

2. No. 3 Villanova 69, Xavier 52
Villanova used a balanced effort to take care of the Musketeers in the Big East title game.

3. Wyoming 45, San Diego State 43
The fears of bubble teams across the country have been realized, as the Cowboys completed their run through the Mountain West tournament.

4. No. 5 Arizona 80, Oregon 52
It's safe to say that Arizona is not a good matchup for Oregon (or a lot of other teams for that matter). The Wildcats rolled to their first Pac-12 tournament title since 2002...

STRUGGLED
Auburn's K.T. Harrell

The senior guard will end his season with a 1-for-12 performance from the field and was 0-for-6 from the 3-point line. To his credit, Harrell wad 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, but Kentucky held Harrell in check and Auburn didn't really stand a chance without him.

SEC semis: No. 1 Kentucky made short work of Auburn, racing out to a 15-4 lead and winning 91-67. The Wildcats will play No. 21 Arkansas in Sunday's title game, as the Razorbacks limited Georgia to 32.7 percent shooting in their 60-49 victory.

[jbcarol]

CollegeBasketbllTalk @CBTonNBC  ·  9 hours ago
No. 11 Ole Miss advances after overcoming 17-point deficit against BYU http://wp.me/p1aWjM-2cgU

[jbcarol]

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanESPN  ·  12m 12 minutes ago
Georgia State coach Ron Hunter told ESPN he will play Ryan Harrow today. Will likely come off the bench early.

[jbcarol]

Tourney Snacks: Recapping the first day of the Round of 32

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 8 N.C. State 71, No. 1 Villanova 68

The Wolfpack got 17 points from Trevor Lacey and 13 points and 12 boards from Abdul-Malik Abu as they became the first team to knock off a No. 1 seed in their year's tournament.

TEAM OF THE DAY: No. 1 Kentucky

The Wildcats set an NCAA record on Saturday, becoming the first team in the history of the NCAA to start a season 36-0. They knocked off a scrappy No. 8 Cincinnati team to get to the Sweet 16.

INJURY SCARE?: Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina

No. 4 North Carolina outlasted No. 5 Arkansas to get to the Sweet 16, but the concern is the health of Kennedy Meeks.

[jbcarol]

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/23/tourney-snacks-acc-pac-12-teams-make-up-half-the-sweet-16

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 7 Michigan State 60, No. 2 Virginia 54

Tom Izzo's Spartans ended the ACC's unblemished run through the NCAA tournament with a win over Virginia in Charlotte.

No. 5 West Virginia 69, No. 4 Maryland 59: Bob Huggins' Mountaineers were all over the place defensively, forcing 23 Maryland turnovers which they converted into 26 points. Devin Williams led four West Virginia players in double figures with 16 points, and he also grabbed ten rebounds (three offensive).

No. 3 Oklahoma 72, No. 11 Dayton 66...

TEAM OF THE DAY: No. 7 Wichita State

The Shockers have been waiting a long time to get a shot at No. 2 Kansas (1993 to be exact), and they took full advantage of the opportunity Sunday in Omaha. Wichita State won 78-65...