Seven Top 25 teams lost Saturday……
— Big 12
Houston 82, Baylor 76, OT
Cougars led 29-12 early on.
Four Baylor subs played, but totaled only 21:00.
Houston was +11 in turnovers (19-8).
Oklahoma 84, Oklahoma State 82 OT
Cowboys led by 11 late in first half.
Both teams shot 62%+ inside the arc.
Both teams had a sub score 20 points.
Houston leads Iowa State by a game, Kansas by two games.
— ACC
Wake Forest 83, Duke 79
Neither team led by more than six points.
Both teams shot 62%+ inside the arc.
Duke scored 1.30 points/possession but lost; a red flag.
North Carolina 54, Virginia 44
Tar Heels had lost eight in a row in Charlottesville.
UNC won despite star G Davis going 1-14 from the floor.
UNC G Ryan made 6-11 shots on the arc.
North Carolina leads Duke by a game, Virginia/Wake Forest by 3 games.
— SEC
Kentucky 117, Alabama 95
Wildcats scored a ridiculous 1.46 points/possession.
Kentucky led by 37 with 8:37 left in game.
Alabama allowed 85+ points in all eight of their losses.
Auburn 97, Georgia 76
Auburn was 14-26 on arc, Georgia 3-14.
Tigers scored 1.43 points/possession.
Auburn is 21-6, 0-4 in games decided by less than 10 points.
Alabama/Tennessee lead the SEC at 11-3; Auburn/South Carolina are 10-4.
— Pac-12
Arizona State 73, Washington State 61
Coogs beat Arizona, then lose to the Sun Devils. Oy.
Loss ends Wazzu’s 8-game winning streak.
USC 62, UCLA 56
This game was 34-34 at halftime, after USC led 33-19 early on.
Trojans snap a 7-game road losing streak.
Bruins are 14-13, 9-7 in the Pac-12; they’ll need a great Pac-12 tournament to get into the NCAA’s for the fourth year in a row.
Arizona leads Washington State by a half-game, Oregon by 2 games.
ESPN’s Bracketology has only two Pac-12 teams getting in the NCAA’s.
— Big West
Cal-San Diego 92, Cal-Irvine 88 OT
Both teams had double-digit leads in this game.
Tritons have won four in row, 13 of last 16 games.
These teams are tied for first in Big West, but Cal-San Diego isn’t eligible for the Big West tournament; this is only their 4th season as a D-I team.
— WAC
Abilene Christian 79, Grand Canyon 73
Antelopes lost last two games, after a 24-2 start.
Wildcats were 29-36 on foul line, Grand Canyon was 19-24.
Tarleton State 82, Cal Baptist 65
Tarleton State was +12 in turnovers (17-5)
Texans have won eight games in a row.
Tarleton only played 7 guys; they’re #354 in bench minutes.
Grand Canyon/Tarleton are tied in loss column for the WAC lead; their conference tournament should be very interesting.
— Upsets of the Day:
Air Force (+18.5) 78, New Mexico 77
Tex-San Antonio (+13.5) 64, North Texas 62
Brown (+11.5) 78, Cornell 74
Oregon State (+10.5) 85, Stanford 73
Eastern Michigan (+10.5) 58, Ball State 56
Abilene Christian (+8.5) 79, Grand Canyon 73
Georgia Tech (+8.5) 80, Miami 76
Sacramento State (+7.5) 66, Montana State 63
— Word of the Day: Voracious- someone who has a huge appetite, whether for reading, knowledge or food.
— Famous people with birthdays on February 25
Ric Flair, 75
Carrot Top, 59 (real name Scott Thompson)
Bob Brenly, 70
Cesar Cedeno, 73
Rashida Jones, 48
Jeff Fisher, 66
— Missouri Valley
Northern Iowa 91, Drake 77
This loss probably makes Arch Madness a must-win for Drake.
Both teams shot over 60% inside the arc.
Tytan Anderson had 18 points, 18 rebounds for UNI.
Indiana State 88, Ill-Chicago 73
Sycamores have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Larry Bird’s alma mater has the #1 eFG% in the country.
Indiana State leads Drake by a game.
Bracketology is saying the MVC is a one-bid league.
— Ivy League
Brown 78, Cornell 74
Cornell loses as an 11-point favorite, after beating Yale Friday.
Cornell, Yale, Princeton are tied for first, at 9-2.
Brown/Harvard are tied for 4th in Ivy with three games left; only four teams make it to the Ivy League tournament.
— Southern
Samford 87, East Tennessee State 71
Bulldogs led 53-27 at halftime.
Samford shot 75% (18-24) inside the arc.
Samford leads SoCon by three games, which will only put pressure on them in conference tournament, since the SoCon is a one-bid league.
— Mid-American is the #24 league this season, the lowest it has been ranked in this century; they were #20 two years ago, their next lowest ranking.
— Big Sky
Eastern Washington 85, Northern Colorado 76
Northern Colorado led by 12 midway thru first half.
Cedric Coward scored 30 points, had one assist; his job is to shoot.
Eastern Washington has a 2-game lead in Big Sky, with three games left.
— WCC
Gonzaga 94, Santa Clara 81
Zags have won six in row, 11 of last 12 games.
Despite that, Bracketology has Gonzaga as a bubble team; they play Saint Mary’s Saturday, then probably again in the WCC tournament- they better at least split with the Gaels.
Saint Mary’s 88, San Diego 62
Gaels have won 15 games in a row, after an 8-6 start.
Bracketology has Saint Mary’s as a 6-seed, so they’re pretty much in the NCAA’s.
WCC is the 11th-ranked conference this year, its lowest rank in six years. BYU bolting for the Big X this year hurt the WCC’s rating.
