Ahhhhh, March! The fantastic month arrived on Saturday with a loaded slate. As if the Southeastern Convention has not flexed its collective muscular tissues sufficient all through the season, the league despatched a reminder to the nation that it has posted a historic marketing campaign by giving us three top-20 matchups on the primary day of school basketball’s finest month of the yr.
And in Knoxville, we obtained an prompt style of insanity when Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack hit a 40-footer on the buzzer to offer the Volunteers a 79-76 win over Alabama. Rick Barnes’ group rallied from down 76-72 with 36 seconds left to attain the sport’s closing seven factors in wild trend:
Elsewhere in school basketball on Saturday, we noticed Auburn and Duke present why they’re the nation’s prime two groups.
The Tigers held Kentucky with no subject objective for near 11 minutes, rolling to a 94-78 win in Lexington. Bruce Pearl’s group claimed the outright SEC regular-season title with the victory and went to 27-2 general, displaying you need to play an A+ recreation to have an opportunity at beating them. Why? As a result of Miles Kelly drilled 9 triples and had 30 factors, whereas Chad Baker-Mazara scored 22. Johni Broome? He shot 3-for-9 whereas a double-figure scorer in Denver Jones tried simply two pictures — and it did not remotely matter.
This group defends at a terrific stage and is a complete nightmare for opponents to protect as a result of the Tigers can reply each query. I am truly a bit perplexed as to why we’re not speaking extra about Auburn being a generationally nice school group. The Tigers misplaced only one league recreation and have run away with a title within the SEC, which is monitoring to ship 13 groups to the NCAA Event.
[Related: Mike DeCourcy’s latest NCAA Tournament projections]
Once we’re speaking about dominance, how about Duke? The Blue Devils have received six straight video games, every of them coming by no less than 18 factors.
After Cooper Flagg exited within the first half with a watch damage, there have been some nerves at Cameron Indoor Stadium in regards to the future No. 1 decide within the NBA Draft being OK. However the famous person freshman did return for the second half and completed with 16 factors, six rebounds and 4 assists in a 100-65 rout of Florida State. For Jon Scheyer’s group to be with out Tyrese Proctor — who was out resulting from a knee damage however ought to be again within the close to future — and nonetheless win by that margin, even amid a Flagg scare, is proof of how a lot of a wagon this group is. Duke is No. 1 in KenPom for a cause.
Whereas we have led with Auburn and Duke all through the season, I feel it bears noting that Florida has each little bit of a shot to chop down the nets in San Antonio this April. The Gators are an offensive juggernaut, shredding a top-10 Texas A&M protection on Saturday night time and beating the Aggies 89-70 on 14 made triples.
I feel the largest testomony to how good Todd Golden’s group is at scoring is the truth that All-American guard Walter Clayton shot 3-for-13 from the ground and 2-for-8 from downtown, and it did not make a distinction. That is as a result of senior guard Will Richard was a flamethrower on Saturday night time, taking pictures 9-for-13 from the ground and delivering 25 factors, whereas huge man Thomas Haugh was a significant matchup downside for the Aggies, going for 17 on 7-of-10 from the ground. How about 21 assists on the night time? And on the opposite facet, the Gators shut down Wade Taylor IV to the tune of 3-of-11 because the Aggies dropped their fourth in a row.
Three different weekend takeaways:
The St. John’s Red Storm are extra than simply again — they’re champions. For the primary time since 1985, the Johnnies are outright Huge East regular-season champions after RJ Luis led the way in which with 21 factors in a title-clinching 71-61 win over Seton Hall in entrance of a 3rd straight capability weekend crowd at Madison Sq. Backyard. Rick Pitino’s Corridor of Fame profession has written one among its finest chapters ever, because the 72-year-old has elevated St. John’s College to a stage it hasn’t seen in 4 a long time. He is the primary school coach to win a regular-season convention title at 5 completely different colleges and, along with his 880th profession win on Sunday, he handed Dean Smith for seventh all-time. What a narrative brewing in Manhattan.
Iowa State and Texas Tech made statements on Saturday. For the Red Raiders to win at Allen Fieldhouse and drill 15 triples within the course of confirmed why they could be a harmful group on the Huge Dance flooring. Grant McCasland’s acquisition of JT Toppin from the switch portal was a slam dunk. In Ames, the Cyclones obtained revenge on Arizona and in addition displayed why they’re nonetheless a darkish horse to achieve the Remaining 4. After they get offensive stability like they did Saturday, with 5 scoring in double-figures and Milan Momcilovic inflicting matchup issues along with his 3s, they’re particular as a result of the protection doesn’t waver.
Life on the bubble continues to accentuate, and we had bubble winners and losers over the weekend. The most important eyebrow-raising outcome was John Calipari and Arkansas taking a 19-point loss to a weak South Carolina group. That ought to push the Razorbacks out of projected fields for now. Georgia completely modified its hopes this week, following a Q1 win over Florida with a dominant street victory at Texas. The Longhorns ought to be out of projected fields and Rodney Terry’s seat is heating up.
Within the Huge Ten, Indiana rolled previous Washington behind Malik Reneau, who’s such a expertise, and Luke Goode, who’s displaying why Mike Woodson wished him out of the portal. If the Hoosiers win at Oregon on Tuesday night time, they belong in. Both means, their residence recreation in opposition to Ohio State on Saturday is a mammoth showdown. Nebraska ought to be very bubbly after taking a foul loss to Minnesota.
And within the Huge East, Xavier actually helped itself with a 22-point win over Creighton. Zach Freemantle and Ryan Conwell mixed for 43. They’re underappreciated as a terrific duo within the sport. The Musketeers have received 5 in a row. If Xavier wins at Butler after which beats Windfall this week, it ought to be on the fitting facet of the bubble.
Now this is my prime 25:
1. Auburn (27-2)
2. Duke (26-3)
3. Houston (25-4)
4. Florida (25-4)
5. Tennessee (24-5)
6. St. John’s (26-4)
7. Alabama (23-6)
8. Michigan State (24-5)
9. Texas Tech (22-7)
10. Clemson (24-5)
11. Iowa State (22-7)
12. Wisconsin (22-7)
13. Louisville (23-6)
14. Maryland (22-7)
15. Memphis (24-5)
16. Saint Mary’s (27-4)
17. Missouri (21-8)
18. Purdue (20-9)
19. BYU (21-8)
20. Marquette (22-7)
21. Michigan (22-7)
22. Kentucky (19-10)
23. VCU (24-5)
24. Vanderbilt (20-9)
25. UC San Diego (26-4)
John Fanta is a nationwide school basketball broadcaster and author for FOX Sports activities. He covers the game in quite a lot of capacities, from calling video games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Community to offering commentary on The Subject of 68 Media Community. Observe him at @John_Fanta.
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