Keita Bates-Diop scored a career-high 32 points to lead four players in double-figures as Ohio State landed their first marquee win of the season, whipping up on No. 1 Michigan State, 80-64, in Columbus.
The game was tied at 29 late in the first half, but the Buckeyes scored the final 12 points before intermission – including 10 points in the final :45 – and then outscored the Spartans 8-2 to open the second half, opening up a 49-31 lead that Tom Izzo’s club would never find a way to erase. The Buckeyes led by as many as 25 points in the second half.
This was the third time this weekend and the 14th time this season that a top five team lost to an unranked opponent, further validating something that we have been saying all season long – the top teams in college basketball just aren’t all that good this year. I still believe Michigan State is one of college basketball’s two-best teams, but that doesn’t mean that the gap between them and the rest of the field is so big that they can avoid taking a beating on the road in league play.
Put another way, I think that the Spartans will be fine. The inability to get back into the game was somewhat concerning, but frankly, that might say more about Ohio State than anything.
The Buckeyes are now 13-4 on the season and sitting tied with Purdue atop the Big Ten standings at 4-0.
The Atlantic 10 invades NBCSN and the NBC Sports app on Sunday.
It begins at 12:00 p.m. EST with Davidson traveling to George Mason. The Wildcats (6-7, 1-1) are coming off of a win over Saint Louis as senior forward Peyton Aldridge is one of the best scorers in the country. George Mason (7-8, 1-1) just earned a conference road win at UMass as this will be the conference home opener for the Patriots.
PLAYER OF THE DAY
This was a game that No. 10 Kansas was supposed to lose. With Billy Preston still ineligible and Silvio De Sousa still awaiting clearance from the NCAA, a night where Udoka Azubuike picked up five fouls in just 13 minutes of action was supposed to be a night where the Jayhawks simply did not have enough size or enough depth to beat a good basketball team, let alone a good basketball team on the road.
But that’s exactly what the Jayhawks did.
Kansas knocked off No. 16 TCU in Fort Worth, 88-84, and they did so because Mitch Lightfoot played the game of his life. I’ve been hard on Mitch, questioning whether or not Kansas was actually a good team when one half of their front court rotation was the former three-star prospect. I’ll eat those words with a size of queso after he went for nine points, seven boards (six offensive) and six blocks on Saturday.
Lightfoot was terrific. Not only did he provide energy on the glass and some rim protection, he also knocked down a three and a 15-footer. If and when De Sousa (and/or Preston) get eligible, this provides Kansas with even more lineup versatility.
Mitch, consider this my humble apology.
THE REST OF SATURDAY’S STARS
- JEVON CARTER, DARIUS MILES and JAMES BOLDEN, West Virginia: Those three did the heavy lifting against Trae Young as the No. 7 Mountaineers knocked off No. 6 Oklahoma.
- VINCE EDWARDS, Purdue: Edwards doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention nationally. He finished with 21 points, 10 boards and six assists on Saturday as the No. 13 Boilermakers beat Nebraska 74-62.
- DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, Kansas: Lightfoot made the plays defensively, Graham did offensively. He finished with 28 points and six assists.
- TREMONT WATERS, LSU: Waters finished with 21 points, five boards and four assists in a win at No. 11 Texas A&M, but that’s not the full story: He also hit two threes in the final 12 seconds, including the buzzer-beater you see below, for the win.
TEAM OF THE DAY
No. 23 Tennessee’s season was getting ready to go off the rails. The Vols had were coming off of a loss at home to Auburn which came just days after they blew a lead at Arkansas, losing in overtime. That came a couple of weeks after they choked away a home win over North Carolina, and in the second week of the season, Tennessee blew a 14-point lead against Villanova.
That seemed like it was going to be the story of the season for the Vols, particularly if they lost at home to No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday evening. That would have dropped Tennessee to 0-3 in the SEC and 10-5 overall.
Then Saturday happened. Admiral Schofield went for 20 points, nine boards, four assists and four steals while Grant Williams chipped in with 18 points, eight boards and four assists as Tennessee landed a much-needed win. With a trip to Vanderbilt and a home game against a presumably healthy Texas A&M team coming up next week, this was a must-win.
And instead of blowing a lead down the stretch, Tennessee ran away with a 76-65 win.
GAME OF THE DAY
No. 21 Seton Hall won a thriller at Butler on Saturday, coming from 11 points down to knock off the Bulldogs in Hinkle behind 28 points, 15 boards and six assists from Angel Delgado and 29 points from Khadeen Carrington. All the details are here.
WTF???? OF THE DAY
Colorado completed a sweep of the Arizona schools on Saturday, jumping out to a massive lead on No. 14 Arizona and holding on to beat the Wildcats down the stretch.
We told you everything you need to know about the actual game itself here.
Let’s talk about what happened after.
First, Colorado head coach Tad Boyle was asked if there was any extra satisfaction in beating a team like Arizona, which was caught up in the FBI investigation in September.
“Absolutely,” he told reporters, adding he had great respect for Sean Miller. “They recruit very, very well. USC has recruit very, very well. The two most talented teams in our league from top to bottom are USC and Arizona. So, hell, yes, there’s extra satisfaction.”
Miller’s quote, while having nothing to do with Boyle’s, were equally as interesting.
“I can’t get them to play hard,” Miller said. “I really can’t. We do it for a while. I know we’ve had a win streak and we also have a good team. We have a lot of talent. A lot of times our offense can get us to the finish line, but you have to be able to play both offense and defense. And any really good team or good program, you’re going to have those days (when) the ball doesn’t go in, but you rely on your effort and your togetherness and maybe your defense to maybe keep you in the game.
“With our team, man, it’s really hard to get our guys to run as fast as they can. And that’s not them. That’s me. I have a hard time reaching our guys.”
WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
Mustapha Heron finished with 17 points and six boards while Jared Harper chipped in with 14 points and eight assists as Auburn landed their second-straight win over a ranked team on Saturday, knocking off No. 22 Arkansas, 88-77. The Tigers were up by as many as 23 points, taking a 17-point lead into the half and cruising in the second half. This win comes just three days after Auburn beat No. 23 Tennessee in Knoxville. Suddenly, Auburn is sitting at 14-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC while playing as well as any team in the SEC. It begs the question: Can this Auburn actually win the conference?
The easiest bet in sports is any team that is hosting a team coached by Mike Anderson. The second easiest bet is Virginia against North Carolina. The No. 8 Cavaliers beat the No. 12 Tar Heels, 61-49, today.
Florida‘s Chris Chiozza had the play of the day.
Jalen Brunson had 27 points and eight assists as No. 3 Villanovaknocked off Marquette. Markus Howard, one game after going for 52 points, had 37 points and eight assists.
Providence got 19 points and nine assists from Kyron Cartwright as they landed a critical win over No. 5 Xavier. The Friars entered the night 10-6 overall, having lost two in a row without anything close to a marquee win on their résumé. The Musketeers had been flirting with a loss like this for a few weeks.
Marcquise Reed finished with 24 points, five steals and three assists as No. 25 Clemson knocked off Louisville in overtime, 74-69. The Tigers are now 14-1 on the season with their only loss coming to Temple on a neutral court.
Keenan Evans had 27 points as No. 18 Texas Tech blew out Kansas State. The Red Raiders look like they might be the best team in the Big 12 right now.
The Burn Offense is back! Notre Dame executed it to perfection in Mike Brey’s first win at Syracuse since 2007.
PHILADELPHIA — Perfect record ruined and No. 1 ranking gone, Villanova couldn’t wait to play again.
The schedule, though, made the Wildcats wait a week.
“We learned that it’s really hard to have a week off after getting your butt kicked,” coach Jay Wright said.
Jalen Brunson had 27 points and eight assists and No. 3 Villanova bounced back from its first loss of the season by holding off Marquette 100-90 on Saturday night.
Eric Paschall added 19 points and Mikal Bridges had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (14-1, 2-1 Big East), who never trailed and shot 56 percent from the field to give Wright his 400th win at Villanova.
After stewing over a 101-93 loss at Butler, the Wildcats were efficient, hitting 27 of 32 free throws and getting assists on 20 of 32 baskets.
“It’s really hard, for a lot of reasons. No one is in a good mood, you want to play another game,” Wright said. “It was a rough week.”
Villanova, which hasn’t lost consecutive games in nearly five years, needed a good performance to overcome another great performance by Markus Howard.
The guard had 37 points and eight assists for Marquette (11-5, 2-2), three nights after scoring a Big East record-tying 52 points in an overtime win at Providence. His reverse layup with 23 seconds left made it 96-90, but he missed a 3 with 13 seconds left while trailing 97-90.
Andrew Rowsey was held to six points on 2-of-12 shooting and Marquette couldn’t duplicate a home victory over then-No. 1 Villanova last January.
“We knew coming into the game we were going to see the best of Villanova, obviously, coming off a loss and having a week to prepare,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “And the best of what Villanova has to offer is, in my humble opinion, as good as there is in the United States.”
With Brunson producing six assists in the first half, three on no-look passes for dunks, Villanova was sharp early and led by as many as 13 points before halftime. The lead swelled to 67-50 on Bridges’ three-point play with 12:47 left.
Howard, who hit a Big East record 11 3s against Providence, started just 1 of 4 from the field before catching a rhythm late in the first half.
He was 5 of 13 from 3-point range and also used his speed to score off the dribble, making 13 of 27 shots.
“Markus has become a much more complete basketball player,” Wojciechowski said. “Obviously the 3-point shots gain the most notoriety, but he’s much more than a 3-point shooter. He’s having a phenomenal sophomore year.”
BIG PICTURE
Marquette: It marked the fourth loss to a ranked team (Purdue, Wichita State, Xavier) for the Golden Eagles, despite another big performance from Howard. Marquette may have had a chance if Rowsey didn’t struggle so much. He came in averaging 22 points.
Villanova: You could tell the Wildcats were itching to get back on the court, racing to leads of 6-0, 17-9 and 23-12 with a strong focus on both ends of the court that was missing at Butler. Wright was mostly happy with his defense despite giving up 90 points.
WRIGHT’S MILESTONE
Wright improved to 400-162 in 17 seasons at Villanova, but shook off is significance.
“I promise you one day when I’m finished I’ll look back on it with great pride,” he said.
PERFECT HOWARD
Howard also went 6 of 6 from the foul line. He’s made 58 straight dating to March.
NEW CONTRIBUTIONS
With injuries sidelining Villanova’s Jermaine Samuels and Collin Gillespie, the Wildcats are looking for players to contribute in new ways.
They got it from Paschall, who was 3 of 3 from 3-point range after entering the game 2 of 27 from long range. And Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree surpassed his previous career-high of eight points by halftime. He finished with 10.
UP NEXT
Marquette: Home vs. No. 21 Seton Hall on Tuesday.
Villanova: A showdown at home Wednesday night vs. No. 5 Xavier, which will likely drop in the rankings after losing to Providence on Saturday.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Devonte Graham scored 28 points with eight straight free throws in the final 2:02 as No. 10 Kansas held on for an 88-84 victory over No. 16 TCU on Saturday night.
Vladimir Brodziansky had eight straight points for TCU to tie the game at 77-all before Marcus Garrett’s two tiebreaking free throws put the Jayhawks ahead to stay with 3 minutes left. Graham then made all of his free throws down the stretch for the Jayhawks (12-3, 2-1 Big 12).
Svi Mykhailiuk added 20 points for Kansas, which was coming off a home loss to Texas Tech and avoided its first 1-2 conference mark since 1990-91. Udoka Azubuike had 14 points, but played only 13 minutes before fouling out.
Brodziansky led TCU (13-2, 1-2) with 20 points, while Jaylen Fisher had 18 points and Desmond Bane 13 before fouling out. Kenrich Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
It was the first meeting between the schools since TCU upset the then-No. 1 Jayhawks in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament last March. The Horned Frogs went on to win the NIT championship, and started this season with a 12-game winning streak before losing two of its first three games in Big 12 play.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas: The Jayhawks got off to a fast start, making 10 of their first 12 shots and building a 14-point lead less than 7 minutes into the game. The problem is they couldn’t keep Azubuike on the court. The 7-foot center was 6-of-6 shooting, including inside shots for their first three baskets of the game. Back in after halftime, he also scored the first basket again — on a dunk after a bounce pass from Graham. But he fouled out with about 5 minutes left when he was trying to stop Brodziansky.
TCU: After falling behind by 10 again early in the second half, the Frogs bounced back and were within 48-47 when Bane beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer from the left side. But TCU then went cold from the field and did get even, or ahead, until the quick spurt by Brodziansky.
UP NEXT
Kansas, which has already lost multiple home games for the first time in 11 seasons, plays three of its next four games at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks host Iowa State on Tuesday night.
TCU has seven more games in January, five of them on the road. The Frogs play at Texas on Wednesday night and at No. 7 Oklahoma next Saturday.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Admiral Schofield had 20 points and nine rebounds Saturday night and No. 23 Tennessee rallied in the second half to beat No. 17 Kentucky 76-65 and end a two-game skid.
This marks the third consecutive season that Tennessee (10-4, 1-2 SEC) has beaten Kentucky (12-3, 2-1) in Knoxville. Kentucky entered the night leading the overall series 153-69, but no team has beaten the Wildcats as often as Tennessee.
The Volunteers had blown leads of at least nine points in each of its four losses this season – including its first two SEC games – while Kentucky had rallied from halftime deficits to beat Georgia and LSU in its first two SEC matchups.
This time, it was Tennessee staging the second-half comeback.
Grant Williams scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as Tennessee erased an eight-point halftime deficit. Lamonte Turner added 11 points and five assists.
Quade Green scored 14 points to lead Kentucky. PJ Washington had 13 points and Wenyen Gabriel added 11 points, but both missed much of the second half. Washington limped to the locker room with about 12 1/2 minutes left and didn’t return, while Gabriel fouled out with just under 12 minutes remaining.
After Kentucky built a 37-29 halftime lead, former Tennessee star and SEC player of the year Ron Slay went onto the Thompson-Boling Arena court and delivered a pep talk to the sellout crowd. The Vols responded as soon as the second half began.
Williams tied the game at 39-all with 17:28 left and he then drew his third foul 11 seconds later when he was defending Gabriel and the two players collided. Tennessee argued the call, and technical fouls ended up being assessed to both Vols coach Rick Barnes and Kentucky coach John Calipari.
This marked the first time a Tennessee coach had picked up a technical foul since Bruce Pearl received one on March 11, 2011. A total of 216 games had elapsed since a Tennessee coach had been assessed a technical foul.
Williams put Tennessee ahead for good with 12:37 left as part of a 10-0 run that eventually gave the Vols a 54-47 lead with 11:12 remaining. Washington got injured and Gabriel fouled out during that spurt.
Both teams had been dealing with flu bugs this week.
Kentucky guard Hamidou Diallo and forwards Sacha Killeya-Jones and Nick Richards were feeling sick Wednesday in a 74-71 victory at LSU. Tennessee’s Jordan Bone also had the flu this week.
Diallo scored five points in 16 minutes before fouling out. Killeya-Jones had four points in 16 minutes and Richards had nine points in 24 minutes. Bone was Tennessee’s starting point guard but played just 9 minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Kentucky: The Wildcats built their first-half lead by working the ball inside on offense and containing Williams on defense. They weren’t nearly as effective doing either of those things in the second half. After outscoring Tennessee 22-6 in the paint in the first half, Tennessee had a 24-10 edge in that category in the second half.
Tennessee: The Vols badly needed this victory to avoid falling to 0-3 in SEC competition with three of their next four games on the road. Barnes had criticized Tennessee for playing too casually in a 94-84 loss to Auburn on Tuesday, and the Vols’ second-half comeback was an impressive response.
NEXT UP
Kentucky hosts No. 11 Texas A&M on Tuesday.
Tennessee is at Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
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