With March just around the corner, Thursday night provided some tasty matchups in the Midwest and a notable upset on the west coast.
Here’s a quick recap of what went down across men’s basketball.
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No. 22 Ohio St. tops No. 15 Illinois in top-25 battle
In the marquee matchup of the night, Ohio State's offense exploded for 50 points in the second half to take down Illinois, 86-83.
A quick 10-0 run by the Illini cut the Buckeyes' lead to two with 1:49 left and a late Trent Frazier 3 made it a one-point game with 14.6 seconds remaining. But after Ohio State went 1-for-2 from the free throw line on the ensuing possession, Frazier turned the ball over on a drive-and-pass, essentially icing the game.
Buckeyes freshman Malaki Branham poured in 31 points, driving his way to rim relentlessly all night.
👀 @MalakiBranham is a problem.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 25, 2022
27 and counting (again) for the @OhioStateHoops freshman! pic.twitter.com/qn5pz5RKbT
With the win, Ohio State is just half a win behind Illinois in the Big Ten standings and a game and a half out of first place.
Oregon upsets No. 12 UCLA
After nearly upsetting Arizona this past weekend, Oregon got its signature win Thursday. The Ducks were led by four double-digit scorers and held No. 12 UCLA to just 36.8 percent shooting from the field in a 68-63 upset.
A late 3-pointer by junior guard De’Vion Harmon got Eugune rocking. Harmon finished with a game-high 17 points.
The Ducks are FEELIN’ it 🦆@OregonMBB pic.twitter.com/7V70oCgfG6
— ESPN (@espn) February 25, 2022
Playing away from the comforts of the Pauley Pavilion, UCLA has now dropped four of its last five road games this month. To make matters worse, leading scorer Johnny Juzang played just 10 minutes, leaving the game with an ankle injury.
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Holmgren, Timme stuff stat sheet in Gonzaga win
In 32 minutes of action each, Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme traded baskets against San Francisco, finishing with 21 and 20 points, respectively in No. 1 Gonzaga's 89-73 win over San Francisco.
Holmgren also crashed the boards for 15 rebounds and swatted away six shots. Not to be outdone, Timme grabbed nine rebounds of his own and dished out a team-high eight assists, including this dime to Holmgren for an alley-oop.
2️⃣1️⃣ points for the 🦄
— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) February 25, 2022
Also
1️⃣1️⃣ boards
5️⃣ blocks
3️⃣ steals
🥶 pic.twitter.com/sS5YYhzxZF
The Zags keep rolling along this season with yet another double-digit win in conference play and haven’t tasted defeat in 82 days.
The Bulldogs will wrap their regular season on Saturday at Saint Mary’s.
No. 16 USC survives Oregon State in double overtime
No. 16 Southern California needed two overtimes to escape Corvallis with a road win over Oregon State, 94-91. Drew Peterson finished with 23 points, Isaiah Mobley had 19 and three others reached double figures for the Trojans.
The Beavers had a chance to send the game to a third overtime, down three with four seconds left in the second extra period. But Dashawn Davis missed on the corner 3 and a putback attempt was no good, allowing time to expire. Davis had a career night with 31 points, including the game-tying, double-clutch 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
DOUBLE-CLUTCH THREE TO SEND IT TO OT‼️ @beavermbb pic.twitter.com/nOLgAeAf90
— ESPN (@espn) February 25, 2022
USC moved to 24-4 on the season, marking the most regular season wins in program history.
Indiana ends skid, picks up much-needed win
Indiana snapped a five-game losing streak Thursday night against Maryland, winning 74-64, marking its first victory since Jan. 29 over the same Terrapins.
Senior guard Xavier Johnson had a perfect shooting night, finishing 7-of-7 with 24 points and six assists. When you play that well in such a crucial game, you deserve a mini-Gatorade bath.
All love to my brothers. Good team win. pic.twitter.com/uHbwCFt8a4
— Xavier Johnson “X” (@XavierJ0hnson) February 25, 2022
