NEWS AND NOTES
-Gonzaga was shorthanded and really had to sweat, but they came from behind and hung on to beat San Francisco. The Zags were without Killian Tillie, who is nursing an ankle injury he sustained earlier in the week.
-Everything else in the top ten was rather chalky, expect in the Big East where Xavier jumped out to a 30-6 lead on the road at Seton Hall and while the Pirates closed it up, X never really looked back and picked up a huge win. After watching that, you wonder where that level of play was at Xavier before yesterday. As for Seton Hall, the injury bug hit them again as Quincy McKnight had to leave the game with an injury. Thankfully it is not a season ending injury, though.
Creighton also picked up a very impressive and very decisive win at Villanova. This now makes the Bluejays look like a potential protected seed, and moves the Bluejays into third place in the league.
-Stanford needed a notable win against a quality opponent, and they got it yesterday as they were able to knock off Oregon 70-60. It was a home win, but it still helps their resume out a ton.
-Auburn also got their first really big win of the year as they knocked off Kentucky at home. The Tigers had a poor shooting night, but dominated the glass and hit their freethrows. I have been beating up on Auburn for not having any wins against teams that are likely to make the field. Well, that is no longer the case.
-Wisconsin picked up another big win at home against Michigan State. Wisky jumped out to a huge first half lead, and although Sparty came back, they weren’t able to come all the way back. Wisconsin’s record is 13-9, but when you look at how good their wins are and how none of their losses came against bad teams, they still look like a team that’s safely inside the bubble.
-Butler dropped a somewhat surprising one at home yesterday to Providence. The Friars are playing really well, but it may be too little too late since they struggled early in the season. Butler is still safely inside the bubble, but they’ve looked less and less like a protected seed these last couple of weeks.
-Colorado picked up a VERY impressive road win at USC. They just completely blew the Trojans off their own floor, and USC had been looking like a tournament team prior to the game last night. It was one of the more impressive showings by the Buffs all season long.
-Cincinnati is now 6-1 in their last seven games, and picked up a big one against Houston last night. They’ve still got a lot of work to do, but they are stepping closer and closer to the bubble. Houston led for the entire first half, but at about the midway point in the second half a Houston player was issued a flagrant 2 for biting a Cincinnati player. I do believe that is a first in basketball. That was sort of the turning point. The Bearcats came from behind and got the win.
-Tulsa is also playing well after getting off to a slow start this season. They knocked off Wichita State with a last second buzzer beater yesterday, and are now 7-1 in conference play with some pretty nice wins, and 15-6 over all. Like Cincinnati, they still have some work to do, but also like Cincinnati they are sprinting toward the bubble.
-Michigan picked up a nice neutral floor win against Rutgers 69-63. Rutgers tried to rally late, but could not get over the top. Both of these teams have impressive resumes with one exception. Road wins. Michigan has some really nice neutral floor wins, including this one yesterday, but is just 1-5 in true road games. Rutgers is about the same at 1-6 in true road games.
-Memphis has now won two in a row, although it was at home against UConn and they had to sweat to do it. I’m still not really all in on Memphis at the moment.
-Cole Anthony returned to North Carolina’s line up yesterday after a long absence…and UNC still lost at home to Boston College.
-Arkansas picked up a really good and very much needed road win at Alabama yesterday. Alabama is not inside the bubble, but they have been playing like at least a bubble caliber team since conference play started and are not easy to beat at home, so the Razorbacks should get some credit for that win.
-Arizona, who entered the week without any true road wins, now has two, and now looks to be in better shape than they were a couple of days ago. Winning at Washington State isn’t exactly the selling point of any resume, but it at least checks the box of being a road win.
-BYU beat Saint Mary’s in a thriller yesterday, which is a quality win for the Cougars and helps make them a little more safe. Saint Mary’s is still inside the bubble, but REALLY could have used this type of road win on their resume.
-Arizona State got the win at Washington and remains within reach of making the field.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-ILLINOIS AT IOWA (Big Ten). Both teams are in the top half of the bracket, and Illinois is actually in first place in the conference. It’s an opportunity for a quality win for both teams.
-GEORGETOWN AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). Both teams are outside the bubble and need to string together some wins to get back on the committee’s radar.