It’s March in college basketball. Well, it might as well be after this past weekend. It was only fitting that the sport delivered its wildest weekend as the perfect appetizer ahead of the best month of the year. We saw not one … not two … but several buzzer-beaters that changed the course of some teams’ seasons.
Look at Arizona State, which entered Saturday on the wrong side of the bubble but shifted back to the right side thanks to Desmond Cambridge’s 60-footer to beat Arizona.
In the Big Ten, fighting to keep the pulse of its season beating, Hunter Dickinson hit a 3 from the Crisler Center parking lot to force OT — and eventually lift Michigan past Wisconsin in a bubble battle.
The Mountain West provided a taste of madness as No. 22 San Diego State sucked the life out of New Mexico’s at-large hopes with a Lamont Butler game-winning shot.
ADVERTISEMENT
Then there was the wildest comeback of the season, as Iowa rallied from 13 down with 1:40 left in regulation to force overtime and eventually edge Michigan State, 112-106, in one of the best games of the year.
Beyond the bevy of heroics in the sport, we’ve seen a number of other storylines from the last week.
Kentucky has silenced the critics and won four in a row, and the Wildcats now look like a prime March dark horse.
Meanwhile, North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament hopes remain firmly on the bubble, with a win over Virginia on Saturday certainly helping their cause. Can the Tar Heels go out this week and beat Duke — which has won four straight — and Florida State? If that happens, they could be back on the right side of the equation.
Also, Villanova appears to be picking up steam while Indiana made a huge statement Saturday night in beating Purdue.
With just one week left in the regular season and some conference tournaments revving up this week, here’s an updated top 15!
1. Houston (27-2)
The Cougars are on a nine-game winning streak, winning them by an average of 17 points per contest. They claimed the American Athletic Conference title outright on Saturday with a 76-57 win over East Carolina behind Marcus Sasser’s 22 points. While the senior guard is the known commodity, keep an eye on 6-foot-7 forward J’wan Roberts throughout March. Over his last three games, the junior is averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds.
2. Kansas (24-5)
The Jayhawks have won six in a row in the sport’s toughest conference and lead the country with 15 Quadrant 1 victories. Nobody else has more than 10. Monday’s 63-58 win at TCU was very impressive considering Bill Self’s team was coming off the high of the comeback win over Baylor. They followed that with a 76-74 victory over West Virginia in which Dajuan Harris tallied 17 points, six assists and six steals.
3. Alabama (25-4)
It was a week of chaos off the court, as Alabama decided to continue playing star Brandon Miller despite his connection to a shooting (the school says he is not considered a suspect, but only a cooperative witness — you can read more about it here).
On the court, the Crimson Tide won two games by a combined five points. Jahvon Quinerly came up big off the bench in Saturday’s 86-83 comeback win over Arkansas, as the senior went for 16 points and seven assists. How will this team maneuver through March with everything happening off the court? It is a question to monitor.
4. UCLA (25-4)
The Bruins claimed their first Pac-12 regular-season championship in a decade on Sunday, grinding out a 60-56 victory at Colorado for their eighth straight win. What makes UCLA a national title contender? The Bruins have a great ability to settle into a game. They fell behind 21-11 in Boulder with less than eight minutes left in the first half, but their defense and rebounding doesn’t waver. Even on a day in which Mick Cronin’s team went 1-for-14 from 3-point range, the Bruins still found a way to win behind Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell.
5. Marquette (23-6)
For the Golden Eagles to go into Omaha this past Tuesday and fall behind by 12, only to punch back to win and all but lock up the Big East regular-season title, was extremely impressive. Shaka Smart is a lock for the conference’s coach of the year honor, and Tyler Kolek should win player of the year. The Golden Eagles’ point guard single-handedly took over at Creighton in the final 90 seconds last week before tallying 22 points and 14 assists in Saturday’s win over DePaul. With Kam Jones‘ scoring ability and Oso Ighodaro’s productivity as a mobile big, MU is a matchup nightmare. This team might be the nation’s biggest surprise this season.
6. Baylor (21-8)
Despite star freshman Keyonte George going down with an ankle injury on Saturday (day-to-day, will miss Monday’s game at Oklahoma State), the Bears rolled past Texas in Waco, 81-72. That’s because Jalen Bridges, Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer combined for 40 points, and the guard duo of Dale Bonner and Langston Love scored in double-figures off the bench.
7. Texas (22-7)
The Longhorns did blow out Iowa State in their first game last week, and Saturday’s loss to Baylor really causes no harm. The three things that went wrong: Texas committed 15 turnovers, got drilled on the glass 37-25, and saw Marcus Carr struggle at 2-for-9 from downtown. When Carr is off, he can start to force the issue. That’s a factor to monitor for Rodney Terry to work through in March in the event his senior has an off day.
8. Purdue (24-5)
A reminder: These are power rankings, and they have to do with a team’s recent performance with the overall body of work also taken into account, of course. The fact is, Purdue is not playing like a top-five team right now, losing three of its last four games. Matt Painter has said the perimeter shots have to create balance off of Zach Edey. In two losses to Indiana, the Boilers are 11-for-41 from 3-point territory. The guard duo of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer has hit a freshman wall of sorts. That’s part of life in the Big Ten, but they have to get through it for this team to win NCAA Tournament games past the first round.
Zach Edey’s dominance not enough
Purdue center Zach Edey racked up 26 points in Saturday’s 79-71 loss to Indiana.
9. Kansas State (22-7)
The Wildcats shut down Flagler and Baylor to start the week, while Markquis Nowell had 14 points, 10 assists and no turnovers in his latest master class at point guard for Jerome Tang. K-State followed it with a 73-68 win at Oklahoma State behind Nowell and Keyontae Johnson’s combined 39 points. The Wildcats have won three in a row.
10. Arizona (24-5)
The Wildcats got beat on a 60-footer on Saturday, and although it was a heartbreaker against Arizona State, they move down but hang around in the top 10. An emerging X-factor: senior wing Cedric Henderson Jr., who provides a perimeter burst and has scored in double-figures in four of the last five games.
11. Gonzaga (25-5)
The Zags got their revenge on Saturday night with a 77-68 win over Saint Mary’s to claim at least a share of the WCC regular season title for an 11th straight season. The key for this team is what happens beyond Drew Timme. On Saturday, 6-foot-8 senior Anton Watson went for 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Gonzaga is 17-1 when Watson scores in double-figures. The Zags may not be good enough to reach the Final Four, but they have Timme and coach Mark Few, and it’s hard to think those guys aren’t going to win some NCAA Tournament games. And in a wide-open year like this one’s been, maybe this is the season in which Gonzaga actually surprises everybody.
12. UConn (22-7)
Lately, the Huskies are looking like the team that had a perfect nonconference record and started the season 14-0. Dan Hurley’s group has won six of its last seven games, sophomore Jordan Hawkins has notched four 20-point performances in his last five. And in wins over Providence and St. John’s, Adama Sanogo compiled 34 points and 14 rebounds. The Huskies deserve a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and could have a pathway to the East Regional at Madison Square Garden, which is what happened in 2014 when they won it all.
Jordan Hawkins goes off on Providence
UConn guard Jordan Hawkins had an impressive performance against Providence last week, racking up 20 points.
13. Indiana (20-9)
The Hoosiers’ 20th win of the season was their biggest, a Saturday night prime-time game on FOX at Mackey Arena in which Mike Woodson’s team took down Purdue, 79-71. And no, it was not the Trayce Jackson-Davis Show this time. Five-star freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino put up his best performance as a Hoosier, exploding for 35 points on 14-for-24 from the floor while tallying seven rebounds. This team has won 10 of its last 13 games and should get Xavier Johnson back soon from a foot injury.
14. Miami (23-6)
The Hurricanes had one of the most shocking losses of the season on Saturday, building a 25-point lead over Florida State before unraveling to fall 85-84 on a buzzer-beater by Matthew Cleveland. While the Canes did not have Nijel Pack due to an injury, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Miami’s defensive issues came to light in the final 20 minutes. We’ll chalk it up to them taking their foot off the gas as well. This team has still won seven of its last eight games and looks like the most dangerous squad in the ACC.
15. Xavier (21-8)
The Musketeers answered a one-point heartbreaking loss to Villanova with an 82-60 rout over Seton Hall on Friday. If opposing teams let Souley Boum get cooking, goodnight. He tallied his 12th 20-point performance of the season in the win over the Pirates, scoring 23 points while going 5-for-8 from downtown. The leadership and playmaking of Colby Jones was also on display, as the junior scored 19 points in as many minutes. The good news for Xavier: Zach Freemantle is inching closer to a return after missing the last four weeks with a foot injury.
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
Read more:
College Basketball
Big Ten
Big 12
CBK trending
Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
