The final Saturday of college basketball's regular season delivered thrilling finishes, dramatic bubble games and general chaos as the madness of March continued ramping up. Among the top storylines were a pair of "double bubble" battles between big-name brands in premier conferences needing victories.
Oklahoma toppled Texas 76-72 after entering as one of the "last four in" the projected NCAA Tournament bracket of Jerry Palm. The Longhorns entered as one of the "first four out" and will likely need a strong showing at the SEC Tournament after dropping four of their final five regular season games.
In the Big Ten, Indiana beat Ohio State 66-60 in a critical game for both. The Hoosiers entered on the bubble but in the field as a projected No. 10 seed. At 19-12 (10-10 Big Ten), IU is now on the cusp of locking up a spot in the Big Dance in coach Mike Woodson's final season. The Buckeyes were projected as a No. 11 seed and one of the "last four in" entering the day and could have some work to do in the conference tournament.
We tracked the day's top storylines. Keep scrolling for news, highlights and analysis from across the country.
No. 19 Kentucky 91, No. 15 Missouri 83 -- Recap | Carr drives Cats again
No. 6 St. John's, 86 No. 20 Marquette 84 (OT) -- Recap | WATCH: Red Storm stuns Golden Eagles in OT
Arkansas 93, No. 25 Mississippi State 92 -- Recap
Penn State 86, No. 12 Wisconsin 75 -- Recap
No. 10 Iowa State 73, Kansas State 57 -- Recap
No. 4 Tennessee 75, South Carolina 65 -- Recap
No. 7 Alabama 93, No. 1 Auburn 91 (OT) -- Recap | WATCH: Sears hits buzzer-beater
No. 5 Florida 90, Ole Miss 71 -- Recap
No. 2 Duke 82, North Carolina 69 -- Recap | Blue Devils win outright ACC title
No. 3 Houston 65, Baylor 61 -- Recap
Check out Saturday's full scoreboard
Here's the rundown of the top winners and losers from Saturday's college basketball action. From thrilling finishes to bubble battles and more, we summed it up.
In a double bubble battle in the SEC, Oklahoma -- which entered the day as one of the last four teams in Jerry Palm's projected bracket -- takes down Texas in Austin 76-72 for a crucial win to add some cushion with Selection Sunday looming. That win should get OU off the bubble and into the field right now. We'll see if it sticks.
Texas on the other hand has work to do. Resume not good enough right now to be in the field or even flirting with the bubble. A couple wins in the SEC tourney and maybe things'll change there. But could be a missed March Madness by the Longhorns if it can't string together several quality wins in the SEC tourney.
Four weeks after a back-and-forth double overtime game in Lubbock that saw Texas Tech beat Arizona State, the Red Raiders went to the desert for the second game in the series and dominated from start to finish. Tech got 25 points from JT Toppin and shot 12 of 33 from 3-point range while holding ASU to 2 of 15 from distance. The 28-point final margin is Texas Tech's third win this season by 28 or more and 11th since 2010 vs. Big 12 opponents.
Baylor gets a great chance to ease some fears tonight (10 p.m., ESPN) against the Houston Cougars. A win over Houston might be enough to punch its ticket, assuming the Bears don't give it away in the Big 12 Tournament. If they lose, they can still get what they need without a Big 12 title.
No. 2 Duke claimed the outright ACC title and the No. 1 seed in next week's ACC Tournament with an 82-69 victory over rival North Carolina on Saturday. The win completed a season sweep of the Tar Heels for the Blue Devils, who could also be in line to jump Auburn for the top spot in next week's polls.
Duke's win denied North Carolina (20-12, 13-7) a desperately needed Quad 1 victory after the Tar Heels entered the day among the "First Four Out" of Jerry Palm's projected NCAA Tournament field. Now just 1-11 in Quad 1, the Tar Heels will likely enter the league tournament with work to do in their pursuit of an at-large bid to the Big Dance. Had Duke (28-3, 19-1) lost, it would have shared the regular season title with Clemson and Louisville been relegated to the No. 3 seed for the ACC Tournament.
Both teams in this "double bubble" game — 8 p.m. ET on the SEC Network — are are coming off wins. The Sooners beat Missouri last time out to move to 5-11 in Quad 1, but they also have a loss each in Quad 2 and 3. The Quad 2 loss came at home to the Longhorns. Texas looked dead in the water, biding its time until the season ended, and then suddenly, the Longhorns won at Mississippi State. They still have more work to do. Neither of these teams can play themselves in the field Saturday, but the Longhorns have more to do to get in due to four Quad 2 losses.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer decided to play star freshman Cooper Flagg with two fouls, but it backfired as he picked up his third foul on a charge with 3:18 remaining. The Blue Devils were up 41-32 when he exited, but UNC caught fire during his absence to close the half down just one. RJ Davis has 15 points so far on his Senior Day.
In a stunning four overtime blockbuster, Notre Dame outlasted Cal for a home win in its regular season finale, 112-110. Fighting Irish guard Markus Burton scored a game-high 43 points and out-dueled Bears guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who had 36 points.
The difference came from ND's Matt Allocco who drilled a late go-ahead 3 that served as the final dagger. Allocco had 24 points in the win and was 4 of 9 from 3-point range.
Cooper Flagg picked up his second foul with 12:53 remaining in the first half and went to the bench with three points, one assist and a rebound in seven minutes. Will Jon Scheyer keep him on the bench for the rest of the half? Duke is shooting 69% from the floor, and Kon Knueppel is cooking early with 10 minutes. The Blue Devils may be able to withstand a significant stretch of non-Flagg minutes considering how well the supporting cast is performing early.
A rocky season for Kansas ends on a high note as the Jayhawks defend their home court and send No. 24 Arizona back to the desert with an 83-76 loss. The Jayhawks began the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll but will likely enter postseason play unranked after a 4-5 record over the final month of the season.
Despite obvious struggles, that's quite a way to launch into the postseason for Kansas. Hunter Dickinson had 33 points and 10 rebounds, and Zeke Mayo added 20 points in a complementary role.
If this Kansas team can nail down a solid rotation behind Mayo, Dickinson and Dajuan Harris -- which remains a big if -- then KU has a chance to be a sleeper this March after underperforming much of the regular season.
The Tar Heels have been waiting for this moment to arrive. They are just 1-10 in Quad 1 games. Their last attempt at win No. 2 resulted in a loss to Clemson. They have been handling the ACC punching bags for the last three weeks and now they get their shot at a quality opponent. Fail here and there is still hope in the ACC Tournament, but no guarantee they will get the games they need.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton secured a win in his last home game as coach of the Seminoles with a 76-69 win over SMU in Tallahassee. The win propelled Hamilton, who is stepping aside from his post at the end of the season, to 200 career regular season wins in ACC play, joining Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith and Roy Williams as the fourth to reach that mark.
After a bumpy last few weeks which included three losses in its last four outings leading into Saturday, No. 10 Iowa State got back on track in a big way with a wire-to-wire 73-57 road win over Kansas State. The Cyclones held K-State to 2 of 21 shooting from distance in the win and forced 17 turnovers.
Injuries have played a huge role in ISU's stagger to the finish line of the regular season, but even without Keshon Gilbert on Saturday, it looked to have found a groove.
Whether ISU can get healthy and stay that way is another story, but it seems to be finding some mojo at a good time with Big 12 tourney play upcoming.
Ohio State led Indiana 46-36 with 12 minutes remaining but came unglued late as the Hoosiers rallied for a 66-60 victory in a "double bubble" battle. The Hoosiers entered as a projected No. 10 seed in Jerry Palm's Bracketology and bolstered their resume by improving to 19-12 (10-10 Big Ten). Ohio State (17-14, 9-11) will head to the Big Ten Tournament in an uncertain position after the Buckeyes entered the day as one of the projected "Last four in" the 68-team field. This team may end up looking back on a squandered Quad 1 opportunity at Indiana with some regrets.
Drake had to scramble to avoid falling victim to a bit of Arch Madness during the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Saint Louis. The No. 1 seed Bulldogs trailed No. 4 seed Belmont 30-21 at halftime before roaring back for a 57-50 victory. Bennett Stirtz led the way with 24 points for Drake, including 16 in the second half, as the Bulldogs inched one step closer to securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament under first-year coach Ben McCollum. Potential No. 5 seeds everywhere should have been pulling for Belmont, because the thought of playing Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is terrifying.
Mark Sears hit a tough shot at the overtime buzzer to lift No. 7 Alabama to a 93-91 win over No. 1 Auburn. That was a much-needed victory for the Crimson Tide, who entered having lost four of their past six games, which included a 9-point home loss to the Tigers last month. Auburn has now dropped two straight for the first time this season. While Auburn could be susceptible losing its No. 1 ranking in the AP poll, it will remain the projected No. 1 overall seed in Jerry Palm's Bracketology. Alabama will move up to be the top projected No. 2 seed.
The Mountaineers have had some big wins against the 14th toughest schedule this season, including victories against Iowa State, Arizona and at Kansas. They do not have a great record against better teams though, sitting at 6-11 vs. Quad 1. A win over UCF gives West Virginia some cushion heading into the Big 12 Tournament.
One season removed from an abysmal 8-24 campaign, first-year coach Pat Kelsey has Louisville's good vibes rolling into the postseason after the Cardinals downed the visiting Cardinal inside the KFC Yum! Center, 68-48 on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives Louisville a 19-1 record to close out its final 20 games of the regular season.
It will head into ACC Tournament play after an 18-2 run through regular-season conference action. That record is likely to give the Cardinals a T2 finish in the conference title race, pending games today involving Duke and Clemson.
Remarkable turnaround for Louisville with some real momentum carrying into the postseason.
Xavier has been hanging around the cut-line and a loss to Providence may make it harder to get back above it. The Musketeers will likely need a quality win in the Big East Tournament as well, but a loss to the Friars might mean they need to win out.
A rematch of one of the more thrilling Big Ten regular-season games is upon us Saturday as Ohio State faces Indiana on the road, seeking to avenge its home loss to the Hoosiers from mid-January. This time around, even more is at stake for the Hoosiers, whose NCAA Tournament hopes have been resurrected in recent weeks.
At halftime, hanging-on-to-the-bubble Wake Forest is running away from Georgia Tech 34-16. I wrote earlier this week that Wake needed to beat the Yellow Jackets and then notch at least one quality win in the ACC Tournament to have any shot at an NCAA Tournament selection.
Penn State goes on the road and wins over Wisconsin for the first time ever at the Kohl Center (which opened in 1998) and first time on the road vs. Wisconsin in 30 years (!!) in one of the biggest surprises of the day in college basketball. Nittany Lions were 11.5-point dogs on the road but exploded for 51 second-half points to erase a 13-point first-half deficit.
It's the fourth win over a top-15 opponent under second-year coach Mike Rhoades and its highest ranked road win since Feb. 1, 2009.
Strange outcome made all the more bizarre by the win being the final game of Penn State's season. At 16-15 (6-14 Big Ten), they did not qualify for the Big Ten Tournament and don't have the resume to make the NCAA Tournament, so the team's season ends with its best win of the season.
We've got a frontrunner for most thrilling game of the weekend thanks to a stunning finish in Milwaukee that saw No. 6 St. John's down Marquette on the Golden Eagles' home floor with a last-second steal and subsequent buzzer-beating basket from Zuby Ejiofor.
Ejiofor's game-winner came courtesy of a last-second steal from teammate Simeon Wilcher, who collected the ball while applying full-court pressure and dished it in the lane to Ejiofor to finish the stunning sequence.
St. John's led at one point by as many as eight points in the first half and Marquette led by as many as six in the first half, but it was a tight battle throughout that came within milliseconds of going to a second overtime.
The Johnnies defeated Seton Hall in their last outing to clinch the outright Big East title, and the win over Marquette in the regular season finale gives them a tie for the most regular season wins (27) in program history, matching the previous record set in 1985-96.
This iteration of Maryland is the program's fourth-best offense in the Internet era, behind a team that won the national title in 2002, made the Final Four in 2001 and earned a No. 4 seed in 2010. That's pretty darn good company. This defense is up to ninth nationally and scoring at the rim against these Terps remains a chore. Just ask Michigan.
No. 19 Kentucky shows its resilience in a big spot with an impressive 91-83 win over No. 15 Missouri on the road to close out the regular season. It's the eighth win for the Wildcats this season over teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll or higher, tying a program record previously set in 1997-98.
Impressive stuff for the Wildcats as road underdogs after starting guard and second-leading scorer Jaxson Robinson underwent season-ending surgery last week.
UK leading scorer Otega Oweh led the way with 22 points, and Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams all reached double figures in scoring. More important, UK shot a scorching 11 of 20 from 3-point range and torched Missouri's flagging defense, which has now given up 91 or more points in its last three outings.
Kentucky was a 4 seed in Jerry Palm's bracket entering Saturday and Missouri a 5, so that's a big one in particular for UK to net a quality Quad 1 win ahead of SEC tourney play.
Few teams will hit the postseason with more momentum than Georgia, which won solidified its NCAA Tournament resume with a 79-68 victory over Vanderbilt. The Bulldogs (20-11, 8-10 SEC) entered as a projected No. 10 seed in Jerry Palm's Bracketology and should be regarded as virtual locks now, regardless of what happens on Selection Sunday. Just two weeks ago, Georgia was sitting at 16-11 (4-10) entering a home game with an elite Florida team. UGA found its stride with a dominant first half in that game and hasn't looked back. The result is almost certainly going to be the program's first appearance in the Big Dance since 2015.
Arkansas entered its showdown against Mississippi State on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in Jerry Palm's Bracketology but with little room to spare as a projected No. 11 seed. The Razorbacks may finally be able to exhale now after a thrilling 93-92 win over the Bulldogs. Arkansas (19-12, 8-10 SEC) gave up a 16-point lead in the second half but got seven points from DJ Wagner in the final three minutes and a critical late stop on its way to a big win. After an 0-5 start to league play under first-year coach John Calipari, Arkansas will enter the postseason having won 7 of its past 11 games.
Most impressive for Arkansas is that its late surge has come amid two potentially catastrophic injuries. Star freshman guard Boogie Fland has been out for weeks and isn't expected to play again this season, and leading scorer Adou Thiero remains out with a back injury. But Calipari's club and its newfound 7-man rotation appears destined for the Big Dance. Wagner led Arkansas with 24 points Saturday, but Jonas Aidoo may have been the MVP. The towering Tennessee transfer had his best game of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Wake Forest needs to beat the Yellow Jackets and pick-up at least one quality win in the ACC Tournament to have any shot at an NCAA Tournament selection. The Demon Deacons have already lost too many games to ACC also-rans.
The top-ranked Auburn Tigers close out their regular season with a rivalry game at home Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET with Alabama coming to town. Auburn won the first matchup 94-85 in Tuscaloosa and can complete the season sweep with a home win today.
"To do that, we're going to have to play great basketball," Pearl said this week. "We played one of our best games in Tuscaloosa."
The last meeting between the two was a rare No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup when Auburn went on the road and stole a win in impressive, complete fashion.
Auburn has already clinched the outright SEC title but can continue its historic run today; a win would set program records for SEC and regular-season victories.
A big game in The Little Apple will take place Saturday as Kansas State welcomes the slumping 10th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones to Manhattan, Kansas, for both teams' regular-season finale. The game is an afternoon tip on CBS, and K-State looks to keep its momentum rolling after rebounding from a four-game losing skid to end February.
![[object Object] Logo](https://sportshub.cbsistatic.com/i/2020/04/22/e9ceb731-8b3f-4c60-98fe-090ab66a2997/screen-shot-2020-04-22-at-11-04-56-am.png)