With the end of the season getting closer, every game becomes more important, which made these games just that much more entertaining to watch. We’ve seen big top-10 matchups, along with crazy upsets, which are just two things that make college basketball great on a daily basis. This weekend, plus Monday night’s Houston/Iowa State game, gave us some great moments, including some fantastic ranked battles. With fewer than four weeks until Selection Sunday, the games are only going to get better, but they were very solid over the weekend plus Monday.
No. 2 Houston gets the win over No. 6 Iowa State to maintain Big 12 lead
An addition to the weekend recap I just couldn’t pass up was the battle for first place in the Big 12 standings, that being Iowa State at Houston. Both the Cyclones and Cougars have been having phenomenal seasons, but only one team could prevail and that was Houston, winning 73-65.
Houston maintained control for most of the game, but Iowa State kept fighting back throughout the second half. Jamal Shead hit two key 3s to give the Cougars breathing room, as he finished the night with 26 points and six assists. Iowa State’s key performer was KeShon Gilbert, who had 17 points.
This win for Houston avenged its previous loss to Iowa State on the road, while also improving its home win streak to 20 games, the longest in the country. UH is looking like a clear one seed, while Iowa State is looking like a top-four seed. With how good of a game this was, it’ll be interesting to see if they can meet again for the Big 12 Tournament championship.
No. 2 Purdue loses in shocking upset against Ohio State
Big ranked matchups weren’t the only games of note over the weekend, as one upset many have needed the most noteworthy story of the weekend slate. That upset would be Ohio State knocking off Purdue in what was arguably the most surprising result of the season.
For the Buckeyes, Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle were key, with Thornton scoring 22 and Battle 19. These two commanded the offense, which allowed them to have the lead and half and control it for most of the second. With just a few minutes left Purdue tied it, but clutch shooting by Battle put the Boilermakers away.
Zach Edey was fantastic, per usual, scoring 22 and rebounding 13 times. It was the outside shooting, though, that really hurt Purdue. The Boilers had three 3-pointers, while the Buckeyes had seven 3s. This 12-point swing proved to be huge, especially in this close of a game, and led to the huge upset victory for OSU we saw on Sunday.
No. 1 UConn destroys No. 4 Marquette for 14th straight win
What was supposed to be a great game between two great teams ended up being about as one-sided as a game could get. This was because when Marquette walked into XL Center to face UConn, they got utterly dominated, the final score being 81-53 in favor of the Huskies.
Although UConn’s offense was great throughout the entire game, they didn’t have one player stand out, but a more balanced attack. This is what they’ve become known for, and in this game four players scored over 13 points. Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra all had 14 or more, leading to the overall great offensive performance we were treated to.
Marquette was severely limited on offense, with UConn not allowing them to score like they usually do. Tyler Kolek had just seven points in what was his worst performance of the season. Oso Ighoadro had 15, but besides that their offense was essentially nonexistent. This just goes to show how impressive UConn is on both sides of the ball, especially with how great Marquette is on a usual basis. Nonetheless, these are still both great teams, it’s just UConn who was the dominant force on Saturday.
No. 22 Kentucky gets a great road win vs. No. 13 Auburn
With both Kentucky and Auburn seeming to be going in different directions, the result from Neville Arena in Auburn was a bit of a surprise. The Wildcats, who had lost four of eight before this game, won against the Tigers 70-59.
This game should be a huge momentum builder for Kentucky, as they were struggling before this game, but this win could get them back on track. This is because of senior leader Antonio Reeves, who had 22 points. It was Kentucky’s defense, though, that proved to be the difference. They limited most of Auburn’s players to subpar games, leading to just 59 points for the Tigers.
This tightens up the SEC standings, with Alabama still being ahead. These squads are definitely in the mix, but need to play almost flawlessly if they want to finish first. Both teams are very talented, but UK prevailed here in a result that may have been surprising to some.
No. 6 Kansas picks up a bounce-back road win against No. 25 Oklahoma
Another team that was struggling recently, Kansas, also picked up a solid win on Saturday. This was when they traveled to Oklahoma to take on the Sooners, who have also been scuffling recently, and continued their recent struggles, with Kansas winning 67-57.
The Jayhawks had many good performances, one being from Hunter Dickinson, who scored 20 and collected 16 rebounds. Johnny Furphy also scored 15 points and has been really heating up for KU. For the Sooners, Jalon Moore had 17 as their highest point scorer, but with less than 60 points as a team, the offense really wasn’t there.
With both teams projected to be in the Tournament, this has more Big 12 implications than national, especially with Kansas still fighting for the top seed in the league. They’re still chasing Iowa State and Houston, but this win keeps them in good position moving forward. As for Oklahoma, the losses cannot keep stacking up for them, as this one here would have been a golden opportunity for a big win, yet Kansas took it with their impressive performance.
No. 19 BYU, No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 23 Indiana State all get upset on Saturday
In addition to Purdue going down, there were other upsets over the weekend, one of those being BYU going down to Oklahoma State, with OSU winning 93-83. The Cowboys had control of this one for the entire contest, which was a stunning surprise because of their last-place position in the Big 12. Jamyron Keller and Brandon Garrison each had over 20 points for Oklahoma State, which led to their offensive explosion of 93 points. BYU was solid on offense too, but couldn’t keep up with the Cowboys and suffered the upset loss that should affect their seed in the Tournament.
Wisconsin also lost in upset fashion Saturday, going down 88-86 to Iowa in overtime. This was their fifth loss in six games, which is an incredibly shocking collapse, considering their projected two seed just a couple weeks ago. As for Iowa, Owen Freeman, Tony Perkins and Payton Sandfort were sensational and all scored over 17 points. Wisconsin had a good offensive game too, with Steven Crowl as the leading scorer for the game with 22. Their defense just couldn’t keep up though, giving them the loss and having them fall further down projected brackets and rankings.
Indiana State also suffered a shocking loss on Saturday, losing to Southern Illinois in a close one 74-69. This was the Sycamores’ second loss in a row, something that seemed unthinkable with the way they were playing even a week ago. Nonetheless, SIU got it done behind a great performance from Xavier Johnson, who had 21 points. Robbie Avila was phenomenal himself, scoring 30, but his supporting cast was lackluster, leading to the loss. This defeat may drop ISU out of the at-large conversation, but with a strong resume besides the two recent losses, they may still not need to rely on the conference tournament to get them in.
Elms' Essentials: Week 12
