Men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball – there’s no shortage of college ball, every night.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in college basketball.
UConn’s banner reveal
UConn won a record 12th championship this past spring, snapping a tie with UCLA’s men’s team. That squad was led by eventual No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers, Final Four Most Outstanding Player Azzi Fudd and Big East Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong. On Sunday, UConn hosted Florida State for their home opener, where they raised the championship banner that trio — and plenty of other members of this year’s UConn team — won.
And they looked the part against a game Florida State team, which kept things close at first, but just could not keep up against a relentless UConn attack that featured transfer Kayleigh Heckel endearing herself to the new home crowd with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals in 21 minutes off the bench, as a key part of a team-wide, stifling defensive approach against the Seminoles.
Sarah Strong is that player
Sarah Strong wasn’t the focal point of last year’s UConn squad, but with Bueckers gone and Fudd now in her last year of eligibility as a graduate student, it’s her era that starts now. And she’s been up to the challenge in the early going, whether it’s defensively — she had a pair of steals and blocks — or on the boards — Strong pulled down 9 rebounds, 8 of them in the first quarter while UConn was still getting their footing — and scored 21 points in 23 minutes of play.
Sometimes, she did a bunch of the above all in one go, too.
Strong is a 6-foot-2 forward who can cause problems on both ends of the court and run an offense when needed; there’s a reason her potential was spoken of so highly before UConn even opened this season.
Do you think UConn was feeling loose, or?
Michigan State beats Arkansas
No. 22 Michigan State hosted No. 14 Arkansas on Saturday, and pulled off the ranked-matchup upset in a thrilling 69-66 affair. Freshman guard Cam Ward starred off the bench for Michigan State, and it’s pretty easy to say he’s the reason they won: in 23 minutes, Ward scored a game-high 18 points with 10 rebounds to secure the double-double, and added a pair of steals to the mix, too. Also, dunks, plural.
He missed his one 3-point attempt, but was 8-13 overall, 61.5%, and picked up a starting lineup with just two double-digit scorers in it whether dunking or shooting from short range. A huge win for the Spartans, in more ways than one — not only was it an upset, but the outcome was very much undecided with under five seconds to go, until Michigan State’s defense helped force an off-the-mark 3:
Speaking of missed threes…
Michigan State couldn’t hit a 3
Michigan State shot 7% on 3-point attempts against Arkansas. They won, but they shot 7% on threes. Seven! Percent! Since they got the dub, coach Tom Izzo had jokes, at least.
Sorry about the phone call, Tom. Maybe next time more than one player — yes, just one — will successfully shoot a 3-pointer. That was Trey Fort, by the way: he went 1-4 on 3-point attempts, while the entire rest of the Spartans were a combined 0-for-10.
Bama upset St. John’s
Michigan State upsetting Arkansas is great for those who love upsets — unless you’re a Razorbacks fan, of course — but it wasn’t the only major one of the weekend. No. 15 Alabama took down No. 5 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, 103-96.
Sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. led Bama with a team-high 25 points on 10-17 shooting, and was joined by junior guard Aden Holloway, who added 21 points of his own. Taylor Bol Bowen had 17, as did Latrell Wrightsell off the bench — these big games were necessary, as everyone else for Bama scored in the single digits, and the game-high was on St. John’s, as senior forward Zuby Ejiofor dropped 27 points on 75% shooting — as well as 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks — on the Tide.
Alabama was able to withstand Ejiofor’s attack, though, in a game that remained close until the end. And also featured alley-oops.
Scoring in the paint is what separated the two teams: Bama won that particular battle, 54-40, and so too won the war, as it were. It’s a long season, however, so while St. John’s (and coach Rick Pitino) are understandably upset about taking this L, there is a lot of basketball left to play, and opportunities to make up for that imbalance in the paint.
Hidalgo had a game
Hannah Hidalgo was already great, but the junior guard from No. 15 Notre Dame is off to a hell of a start in 2025. She was Sunday’s point leader in D-I women’s basketball with 32, in what was a complete game: Hidalgo also grabbed 8 rebounds, stole the ball 4 times and racked up 8 assists.
If she had played more than 27 minutes, she might have had a triple-double. Notre Dame didn’t need her for more than 27, though, not in a game they won handily against Chicago State, 116-58.
Purdue is No. 1, but could be better
Feel like that’s harsh? That comes right from Purdue’s own Fletcher Loyer. The senior guard didn’t mince words about No. 1 Purdue’s performance against Oakland, which resulted in a 10-point victory.
Loyer himself went just 5-for-11 from the field, and added 3 rebounds with an assist and steal each to that. Not a bad game, but not a great one, which pretty much sums up Purdue’s performance against Oakland, a team that was blown out by preseason No. 7 Michigan, 121-78, in their opening game of the season.
Double OT!
Vermont and Brown faced off on Sunday, and sure, neither team is ranked, but they still put on a show for anyone who watched. It took two overtimes to settle things between the two teams, with TJ Long doing everything he could to bring Vermont to victory. And he did, putting up 40 points while pulling down 13 boards, for the first 40-point game in D-I basketball this season.
The senior guard has had a great start to the year, as he’s averaging 25.3 points per game to lead America’s East Conference. And while he threw 26 shots up on Sunday, it was a double-overtime game, and he finished at 50% shooting, too, while adding a pair of assists and 3 steals to go with the points and rebounds.
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