Last Night in College Basketball: Power Conference Tourneys Begin

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 last night in college basketball. Kentucky routs Arkansas in SEC opener The Power 4 conferences all had their women’s college basketball tournaments kick off on Wednesday, so let’s start with a look at games from those to start. Why not Power 5, you wonder? The Big East tournament doesn’t begin until Friday, as that conference has fewer teams — and therefore rounds — to get through in comparison to the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten. Let’s start with the SEC, as No. 17 Kentucky was, despite being ranked, stuck in a first-round matchup because the conference is just that ridiculously loaded. The SEC had eight teams in this week’s poll, and while Tennessee is no longer on it thanks to a rough stretch that saw it booted, it still finished with the sixth seed thanks to a strong start to conference play. So, Kentucky is the 9-seed, and took on 16-seed Arkansas in a first-round matchup on Wednesday. It was all Kentucky, all the way: the Wildcats would win, 94-64, only briefly being challenged by the Razorbacks in the second quarter. And that was following a first in which Kentucky outscored Arkansas, 29-10, so the Razorbacks were merely catching up. The gap returned when Kentucky dropped 28 points in the third quarter, and while Arkansas played it close in the fourth, the result of the game was already well in hand by that point. Every Kentucky starter reached double-digit scoring, with between 10 and 20 points. Junior center Clara Strack led the way with 20 as well as 13 rebounds for a double-double, while senior guard Tonie Morgan scored 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting with 6 rebounds and 10 assists for her own double-double. Off the bench, senior guard Jordan Obi added a third double-double to the mix, on 14 points and 10 boards. The Wildcats limited Arkansas to 36% shooting from the field, and a rough 6-for-28 from 3. The Razorbacks had little chance to make up for their poor shooting with second chances, too, as Kentucky outrebounded them 52 to 27. Arkansas’ season is over, but Kentucky takes on 8-seed — and No. 22 team in the country — Georgia on Thursday in the second round. Also advancing into the second round of the SEC tournament were 12-seed Florida (86-68 over Mississippi State), 15-seed Auburn (50-40 upset over 10-seed Texas A&M), and 11-seed Alabama (65-48 over Missouri). Those three winners will face Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Tennessee, respectively, while South Carolina, LSU, Vanderbilt and Texas await the victors of Thursday’s matchups in the quarterfinals. Miami beats Stanford in OT Miami and Stanford were a real close matchup. The Cardinal came into the game 42nd in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, the Hurricanes 58th. The two had identical records in ACC play, and were the 12- and 13-seed teams. It’s fitting, then, that it took overtime to sort out which of the two would advance to the second round of the conference tournament. Miami ended up doubling up (plus one) on Stanford in OT, though, so it’s the Canes that will take on fifth-seed Notre Dame on Thursday. This one was about as back-and-forth as a game can be. The first quarter ended with Miami up 19-10. Stanford responded with a massive second quarter in which it dropped 29 points to go ahead 39-37 at the half. The Hurricanes adjusted coming out of halftime, and Stanford gave up 28 points while scoring just 13 in the third. The Cardinal hit right back in the fourth with their backs against the wall, limiting Miami to just 5 points in the final frame, and forcing overtime in the process. There, Miami got its head back on straight, and outscored Stanford 13-6. It took three starters scoring at least 20 points for the Hurricanes to manage this, because the bench barely even took shots or played: five Canes came off the bench, but it was more to spell starters than to take over themselves, which is how they ended up with 34 combined minutes despite it being an overtime game. Senior Ra Shaya Kyle led all scorers with 25 points — the 6-foot-6 center logged a double-double with 11 rebounds, and shot 10-for-12 on the day. It was junior guard Amarachi Kimpson who saved the day in OT, however, as she scored 7 of her 20 points in the extended period. Stanford likely misses out on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament now, as it ranks 58th in Wins Above Bubble with a score of -1.06. It’s not impossible that the Cardinal make it, but they needed some notable ACC dubs to get that score into bubble territory. Now, it’s Miami looking for the tournament to extend its season: the Canes even with the W are behind Stanford, 60th with a score of -1.47. Beating Notre Dame on Thursday would move that needle quite a bit. Also advancing into the second round of the ACC tournament on Wednesday: 10-seed California (75-52 over Wake Forest) and 11-seed Georgia Tech (72-60 over Florida State). California faces 7-seed Syracuse while Georgia Tech takes on 6-seed Virginia Tech, and Virginia (8) was already scheduled to face Clemson (9). Duke, NC State, Louisville and North Carolina await the winners of day two in the quarterfinals. Kansas State sets Big 12 tournament 3s record Kansas State has just one way into March Madness, and it’s with the Big 12’s automatic bid. Now, that’s a long shot for the 12th-seeded team in the conference tournament, but long shots were what K-State excelled at on Wednesday against Cincinnati. The Wildcats sank a Big 12 tournament record 17 3-pointers against the Bearcats; Cincinnati had 23 buckets total. Kansas State won, 91-66, and advanced to the second round where it will face 5-seed and No. 21 team in the country, Texas Tech. The Wildcats’ long game was powered by freshman guard Jordan Speiser, who, in 21 minutes off the bench, sank 6 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 20 points total. Those 6 treys tied a Big 12 tournament record for a single player, as well: she was joined by fellow freshman guard, Aniya Foy, who hit a single 3, and then both junior forward Nastja Claessens and junior guard Taryn Sides had 5 from beyond the arc each. It’s tough to glean from the final score, but Cincinnati and K-State actually matched each other point for point in two of the four quarters. The problem was the other two, in which Kansas State outscored the Bearcats by a combined 25. The Wildcats shot 51% overall and 53% from 3 — yes, even better from deep than from inside the arc — while limiting Cincinnati to a 23-for-69 showing. That K-State made a bunch of turnovers, too, didn’t end up mattering, not when it was so accurate from range. BYU advanced against Houston, 76-66, while Arizona State edged Arizona, 54-51. Kansas handled UCF, 56-35, setting up these second-round matchups: K-State (12) vs. Texas Tech (5), BYU (9) vs. Utah (8), Arizona State (10) vs. Iowa State (7) and Kansas (11) vs. Colorado (6). Awaiting the winners of these games in the quarterfinals are Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia and Baylor. Indiana knocks out Nebraska Two likely March Madness teams faced off in the first round of the Big Ten tournament — a reminder of just how deep that conference is this year — when Indiana took on Nebraska. The Huskers should feel pretty secure in their likelihood for more March basketball, as they are 38th in WAB with a score of 1.57. Indiana, though, has a little more work to do to guarantee a spot, which makes its 72-69 win over Nebraska vital for continuing their season in more ways than just advancing in the Big Ten tourney. Indiana is 42nd in WAB after the W, at 0.64 — that’s a single-game bump up from -0.10 and 54th in Wins Above Bubble. And the Hoosiers got there with a huge comeback: the biggest lead they had all game was the 3-point one that won the game, and they were, at one point, down 20. Nebraska led for 97% of the game after scoring 29 points in the first quarter, but Indiana had a huge fourth, outscoring the Huskers 25-14 and finally taking the lead with 1:06 left in the game, on a 25-footer from Lenee Beaumont. The Hoosiers would not trail again. Indiana used just six players throughout the game — injuries have caused them to have a smaller rotation all season long, and that is only going to be further emphasized in tough tournament games. Senior guard Shay Ciezki led Indiana with 22 points on 10-for-20 shooting, adding 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Junior forward Edessa Noyan logged a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, and had 3 assists and a pair of blocks to go with it. Indiana will face 5-seed and No. 11 Ohio State in the second round. Elsewhere in the Big Ten tournament, Illinois defeated Wisconsin, 82-70, and Oregon took care of Purdue 82-64. The Big Ten tourney continues on Thursday with USC vs. Washington, as well as Illinois taking on 7-seed and No. 18 Michigan State, and Oregon against 6-seed and No. 14 Maryland. UCLA, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota wait to see who they will face in the quarterfinals. Purdue nearly loses to Northwestern No. 15 Purdue responded to being upset by Ohio State by beating Northwestern. In a vacuum, that sounds good and normal. With a little more context, though, it’s still fair to wonder what’s going on with the Boilermakers. Northwestern is not a tournament team, not unless it somehow, miraculously, comes close to (or actually does) win the men’s Big Ten tournament next week: the Wildcats lost to Purdue by just 4 points, 70-66. Purdue shot 53%. That’s good! The Boilermakers let Northwestern shoot 51%. That’s bad. Northwestern scored more points off turnovers — and forced more turnovers — than Purdue, and only lost because it couldn’t match the Boilermaker’s rebounding. As is, Northwestern was winning at halftime, and it took a 45-point second half for Purdue to come back from behind and win. The Boilermakers aren’t a lost cause by any means, but it is at least fair to wonder if they are going to play themselves right out of the Big Ten tournament early, which will in turn impact seeding for March Madness. As is, Purdue is tied for fifth in the conference at 13-6, alongside Wisconsin — which the Boilermakers face in their final regular-season game before the Big Ten tourney. Wisconsin crushes Maryland Speaking of Wisconsin, the Badgers made short work of Maryland on Wednesday. Wisconsin was up by 13 at halftime, and not only didn’t slow down but slammed harder on the gas in the second: Maryland still couldn’t shoot, but Wisconsin increased the lead by more than double, and would win 78-45. The Badgers held Maryland to 30% shooting while basically never fouling on shots — the Terps went to the stripe for just five free throws total. While Wisconsin didn’t have a single player dominate, it didn’t need one: four players scored at least 11 points, including two off the bench in sophomore forward Austin Rapp and senior guard Braeden Carrington. Maryland just could not match Wisconsin’s aggressiveness on either side of the ball: the Badgers forced 10 turnovers and converted those into 16 points, while Maryland managed to force just 3 of them, and Wisconsin scored 25 fast-break points to the Terps’ zero. If Wisconsin can beat Purdue on Saturday, it will put the Badgers ahead in the Big Ten standings and grant them the 5-seed. There isn’t a huge difference in terms of potential opponents there compared to the 6-seed, but it also keeps Wisconsin from having to worry about UCLA catching up in the standings, as well. Old Dominion eliminated despite Battle’s 45 points While the Power 5 conferences haven’t begun their men’s tournaments yet, many of the mid-major tourneys are already underway. The Sun Belt championship was in its second round on Wednesday, with 11-seed Old Dominion taking on 10-seed Georgia Southern. Despite a massive game from senior guard Jordan Battle, Old Dominion could not stop the Eagles. Battle scored 45 points to lead all Division I players, men and women, on Wednesday, but the Eagles still won by 4. What a game for Battle, though: 45 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including 8-for-10 from beyond the arc and a 15-for-16 showing from the stripe. Those points are a Sun Belt tournament record, too. He also had 3 rebounds and 4 assists with 2 steals, but the rest of his team just couldn’t add enough to keep the season going. They shot 14-for-38 — 37% — and could not convert turnovers into points at the rate Georgia Southern did. Despite both turning the ball over 11 times, the Eagles grabbed 21 points off those plays, while the Monarchs scored 10. Old Dominion did make it close, at least — the Monarchs were down by 14 at one point, and Georgia Southern led for 91% of the game. Even Battle’s huge performance wasn’t enough, however, and now Old Monarch’s season is over. Georgia Southern will take on 7-seed Arkansas State in the third round.