With simply 4 weeks remaining till Choice Sunday, college basketball delivered the very best weekend of the common season that we’ve seen to this point, headlined by the primary No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown within the sport in 4 years.
Final week, we stored Auburn as the highest staff within the nation just because the Tigers nonetheless possessed the very best résumé in America — even after a house loss to a projected No. 1 seed, Florida, and so they might afford to have a day when issues didn’t go their approach.
This week, Bruce Pearl’s staff proved our rankings had been appropriate, because the top-ranked Tigers flexed their muscle groups in Tuscaloosa on Saturday with a 94-85 win over Alabama. How did Auburn management the sport? With a protection that took away the 3-point line, holding the Crimson Tide to 5-of-26 capturing from past the arc, and containing All-American guard Mark Sears to simply 4-for-17 capturing from the ground.
[Read more: Auburn keeps the No. 1 crown with complete win at No. 2 Alabama]
Auburn’s Johni Broome continued his nationwide participant of the 12 months candidacy with 19 factors, 14 rebounds and 6 assists, whereas Denver Jones tallied 16 factors, Miles Kelly and Chad Baker-Mazara every had 15 factors, and two others had been in double figures. Alabama might by no means achieve traction on the defensive finish, and for good cause. When Auburn is making 12 triples on 40% capturing and a man like Chaney Johnson is hitting constant elbow pictures, it simply provides to the efficiency of the Broome-charged offense. He actually set the tone for the win, one which confirmed why it might take quite a bit for Auburn to lose its standing as the primary total seed within the NCAA Event.
Listed below are 4 different takeaways from a wild Saturday in faculty basketball:
Houston joined the Big 12 within the 2023-24 season. The Cougars are within the driver’s seat to win the regular-season title for a second consecutive 12 months and are 27-2 of their previous 29 regular-season convention video games after a gutsy 62-58 highway win over Arizona. The Wildcats entered Saturday at 58-4 at McKale Heart, relationship again to the beginning of the 2021-22 season. L.J. Cryer hit two clutch 3s when the Cougars fell behind 48-45 with seven minutes left and Milos Uzan scored 19 factors, exhibiting why Houston can reduce down the nets this April in San Antonio. Kelvin Sampson has a staff that defends like this system all the time has, plus much more shot-making expertise.
Tom Izzo is the brand new Big Ten wins king. The Hall of Famer passed Bob Knight for the most Big Ten conference game wins by a head coach in league history, notching his 354th victory with a 79-65 win at Illinois on FOX Primetime Hoops. The Spartans held the Illini scoreless within the last 8:29. For a mirrored image of Izzo’s historical past, read this beautiful tribute letter from our very own Bill Raftery.
How about Wisconsin! Greg Gard has reinvented his offensive scheme, and it’s paying off in an enormous approach. Wisconsin moved to 12-2 in its previous 14 video games with a 94-84 win at Purdue on Saturday behind John Tonje’s 32 factors and Max Klesmit delivering 17. Two years in the past, Wisconsin was a hundred and fortieth in effectivity on the offensive finish and missed the NCAA Event. Quick-forward to this 12 months, and the Badgers are sixth within the nation. They picked aside Purdue’s protection, with the Badgers’ massive guards exploiting them within the lane and actually getting no matter they needed at will. It was a particularly spectacular highway win for a top-four staff within the Large Ten standings. Wisconsin is an actual darkish horse to get to the Elite Eight, if not a step additional.
Kansas and UConn have been fairly disappointing this season. The Jayhawks are 5-5 of their previous 10 video games and 3-6 in true highway contests after a 74-67 loss at Utah that dropped Invoice Self’s staff to 8-6 within the league. In Self’s first 20 years at Kansas, his groups misplaced six video games in simply two seasons. The Jayhawks have now performed that in back-to-back campaigns. The Hunter Dickinson period has not panned out.
After which there’s UConn, who’s 9-5 within the Big East and appears just about performed within the convention regular-season title race after a stunning 69-68 time beyond regulation defeat at Seton Hall on Saturday. The Huskies led by seven with 36 seconds left in regulation, then by 5 with a minute left in time beyond regulation. The Corridor had received only one sport since Dec. 5, however Saturday introduced a miraculous second and win, courtesy of Scotty Middleton.
For UConn, it’s a brutal Quad 3 loss that hurts the match résumé. The Huskies might very properly be in an 8-9 sport. There’s some form of reward for the 1-seed in that area.
Mike DeCourcy had SMU, Arkansas, San Diego State and BYU as his final 4 groups to get into the match in his latest bracket forecast, which is launched each Tuesday and Friday on FOXSports.com. DeCourcy had Wake Forest as one among his first 4 groups out of the match, however one would suppose the Mustangs and Demon Deacons would reverse after Steve Forbes’ staff received in Dallas. SDSU put Boise State within the blender defensively, outlasting the Broncos 64-47, whereas BYU dominated Kansas State. Whereas Arkansas fell quick to Texas A&M, Texas — one other one among DeCourcy’s first 4 groups out — knocked off top-20 ranked Kentucky behind a mixed 58 factors from Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark. The bubble may be very fluid this time of 12 months, however Saturday’s massive winners had been Wake Forest, Texas and BYU.
That mentioned, right here’s my up to date high 25!
1. Auburn (23-2)
2. Florida (22-3)
3. Duke (22-3)
4. Alabama (21-4)
5. Houston (21-4)
6. Texas A&M (20-5)
7. Tennessee (21-5)
8. Iowa State (20-5)
9. Wisconsin (20-5)
10. Texas Tech (20-5)
11. St. John’s (22-4)
12. Michigan (20-5)
13. Michigan State (20-5)
14. Purdue (19-7)
15. Marquette (19-6)
16. Missouri (19-6)
17. Arizona (17-8)
18. Clemson (21-5)
19. Kentucky (17-8)
20. Memphis (21-5)
21. Maryland (20-6)
22. Mississippi State (18-7)
23. Louisville (20-6)
24. New Mexico (22-4)
25. Saint Mary’s (23-4)
John Fanta is a nationwide faculty basketball broadcaster and author for FOX Sports activities. He covers the game in quite a lot of capacities, from calling video games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Community to offering commentary on The Area of 68 Media Community. Observe him at @John_Fanta.
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