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The last Saturday of the 2020-21 college basketball regular season went without a doubt. There were implications of NCAA tournament support across the country, buzzer drummers, upheaval and a top 10 thriller that set the stage for an epic Big Ten tournament.
Illinois’ victory at Ohio State marked both Ayo Dosunmu and the Fighting Illini’s comeback as they approached a seed 1 in the NCAA tournament. It not only helps that Illini had back-to-back road wins against the Top 10 teams, but that the victories came against a Michigan team seemingly locked in the front row and a State team from the USA. Ohio who still had a slim chance that she could roar. back from a losing streak and end the season strong after retaining that “intended seed” status earlier in the season.
As Illinois celebrated the return of their top player, Oklahoma State proved they have depth beyond Cade Cunningham with a win in West Virginia as the potential No.1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. was treating an ankle injury sustained Thursday night. On the other end of the spectrum, Villanova played her first game since losing Collin Gillespie, and not only lost to Providence, but saw goalkeeper Justin Moore injure his ankle in the first half.
North Carolina were one of the big winners of the night with their dominant win over Duke, bolstering their NCAA tournament profile and closing a regular season sweep of their biggest rival. The loss highlights Duke’s streak of 24 straight appearances in the NCAA tournament, especially as the 11-11 finish marks the first time the Blue Devils have not had a record for regular season wins since. this 1995 absence at the Big Dance.
The day saw several No.1 seeds lose in their conference tournaments and a USC buzzer winner to sweep UCLA. We cover some of that and much more below in our edition of Winners and Losers from Another Busy Saturday in College Hoops.
Winner: Oklahoma State without Cade Cunningham
While freshman star Cade Cunningham was ruled out with an ankle injury and lead rebounder Isaac Likekele also missed a fourth straight game with a hand injury, no one would have blamed the No. 17 Cowboys for sending him out in Saturday’s regular season finale at No. 6 West Virginia. Instead, OSU scored one of its most impressive wins of the season with an 85-80 victory over the Mountaineers. Avery Anderson III led the Cowboys with 31 points as he broke his previous career record of 14 points and reminded the country that this team is bursting with talent beyond its one star.
Loser: Villanova’s bad luck continues
The No.10 Wildcats were already facing the crushing loss of senior leader Collin Gillespie for the remainder of the season. In the first half of their first game without Gillespie on Saturday, third-leading scorer Justin Moore fell, and Villanova coach Jay Wright said Moore would need a knee MRI. As if things weren’t tough enough for the Wildcats, they ended up losing 54-52 to Providence in a game that would have been extended if that tip had come just a moment earlier.
Matt Painter has been 7-0 against Indiana since Archie Miller was hired, and there isn’t a Purdue fan in Hoosier State who won’t remind his former colleagues in the state of that fact. ‘Indiana Monday and during the offseason. Beyond the bragging rights of the rivalry, however, there is real excitement about this Purdue team as we kick off March Madness. The Boilermakers have a strong NCAA tournament profile that includes a sweep of Ohio state and a win over Wisconsin, but just as exciting as the roster is their current form. Purdue has five straight wins and plenty of signs to suggest this squad which leans on two freshman debutants and two other rookies as important contributors off the bench grow up and are ready to play some of their best playoff ball. .
Loser: Florida State relinquishes ACC crown to South Bend
The Seminoles were fortunate enough to win the ACC regular season championship for the second straight season on the road at Notre Dame. It wasn’t the only path to a conference championship and a No.1 seed in the ACC tournament, but beating the Fighting Irish certainly seemed like the easier path given Notre Dame had lost. four consecutive games and that things had deteriorated enough for the students. sing “Fire Brey” after Wednesday night’s loss to NC State. Brey and Notre Dame helped turn the tide in a major way with this victory over the Seminoles, but the bigger story is a missed opportunity for the State of Florida. The bad loss cost the Seminoles the regular season championship as Virginia defeated Louisville later in the day.
Winner: USC’s Tahj Eaddy defeats the Bruins to the buzzer
Down 63-61 with 3.7 seconds left, USC guard Tahj Eaddy avoided the fact that he had missed five of his six three-point attempts in a game that the Trojans did. had never led. It was the rivalry against UCLA in the Pauley Lodge, and Eaddy was going to escalate in a way that would prove to be a dagger for all daggers for the Bruins. UCLA did almost everything to avenge the unbalanced loss of the Trojans earlier in the year and defend the field to divide the series, but that was not enough as Eaddy’s 3-point pointer to the horn cemented the sweep for Andy Enfield and a USC. team that will be dangerous in the NCAA tournament.
Loser: No.1 seeds miss automatic auctions
The Patriot League tournament seed fell on Saturday afternoon as the Navy won a 76-68 loss to Loyola-Maryland. This opens the door for Colgate, winner against Boston University for the fifth time this year, to take advantage of the situation as he avoids a potential clash with the contenders in his pursuit of a conference championship and candidacy for the NCAA tournament. Navy, the league’s top defensive team, and Colgate, the league’s top offensive team, have never played in the regular season and will no longer be participating in the conference tournament. The Raiders, now 12-1, become the new favorites to claim the Patriot League automatic auction.
But that wasn’t all: seeded UMBC lost to UMass Lowell in the America East tournament and Wagner lost to Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC tournament. Add to that Belmont’s loss to Morehead State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Final and you’ve got four Seed 1s who more than likely saw their NCAA tournament hopes dashed on Saturday. It wasn’t a bad day overall for the No.1 seeds. Loyola Chicago, St. Bonaventure and the State of Georgia moved closer to the NCAA tournament with tournament semifinal wins, while that the UNCG and the state of South Dakota avoided early upheaval in their quarterfinal clashes.
Belmont’s loss, given his coming in the league game and the team’s 26-4 record, brings the biggest fallout. The Bears are a good team that have lost quality opponents from their 2020-2021 non-conference schedule to the pandemic, cutting off several opportunities to record quality NCAA tournament wins and bolstering the strength of the rankings. the team. But even with the context applied to the squad settings, the argument will be tough against other Bubble teams and it’s possible that Saturday’s loss could take the Bears from Big Dance to NIT.
Winner: Rutgers cements NCAA tournament resumption
The Scarlet Knights entered Saturday’s regular season finals in Minnesota as the projected No.9 seed in the NCAA tournament, and may have been on the court again with a loss. But for a program that hasn’t been to Big Dance since 1991, a little solace would be nice. Rutgers achieved this by knocking out Minnesota 77-70 in overtime to enter the Big Ten tournament with a 14-10 (10-10 Big Ten) record. Last year’s team was going to break the drought of the NCAA Tournament program, but COVID-19 shattered the opportunity. So it was nice to see the long-suffering Scarlet Knights getting the chance to expire on Saturday.
Loser: Big Ten coaches under siege
Saturday’s wins probably wouldn’t have done much to save the faded NCAA tournament hopes of Indiana and Minnesota. But besieged Gophers coach Richard Pitino and Hoosiers coach Archie Miller certainly could have used the wins. The Rutgers’ loss was the seventh in a row for the Gophers, who will end with a record-breaking loss for the second straight season and the fourth time in eight seasons for Pitino unless they win a few games in what should be a Big Tournament. Ten brutal. As for Miller, the Hoosiers stumble in the Big Ten Tournament with five straight losses. This is Miller’s fourth season at the helm of the Hoosiers, and his tenure saw the program reach the AP’s Top 25 for a total of five weeks. It was in 2019 when they peaked at No. 21 and then missed the NCAA tournament.
Winner: Alabama returns against Georgia
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Georgia led Alabama at halftime and then the Crimson Tide came out of the locker room with decidedly different play and came back strong for a win. Okay, all the Tua-related national championship game jokes aside, this was a strong course correction from an Alabama team that got the jets going and kicked off. started burying three-point jets en route to turning a double-digit first-half deficit into a double-digit deficit. to win. Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly came off the bench and had a team-high 18 points to lead the Crimson Tide, who overcame 22 turnovers to move to 21-6 on the year.
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