On the day before the Super Bowl, men's college basketball had 22 of 25 ranked teams in action to create a "Super Saturday" of its own. There were two ranked vs. ranked games, upsets and much more.
Here's what you may have missed from men's hoops on Saturday, February 11.
Missouri stuns No. 6 Tennessee at the buzzer
For the second straight game, No. 6 Tennessee lost in heart-breaking fashion at the buzzer, falling to Missouri 86-85 at home.
The Volunteers, who lost have lost consecutive games for the first time this season, were up 85-82 with seven seconds to go. But after a Sean East II free throw, a miss for Tennessee and a turnover, DeAndre Gholston dribbled up the court in the closing seconds before heaving up a prayer from just beyond half court that found nothing but net.
.@DreeGholston4
— Mizzou Hoops (@MizzouHoops) February 12, 2023
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? #MIZ 🐯 pic.twitter.com/arcXwEnMob
The loss squashed what would have been a resilient comeback from the Vols, who came back from being down 44-32 at halftime after losing 66-65 to Vanderbilt at the horn on Wednesday. Tennessee went on a 32-15 run to take the lead in the second half, but the Tigers hung around, never falling behind more than two possessions.
The Vols outrebounded Missouri by a 37-24 margin and got to the charity stripe 16 more times than the Tigers. Kobe Brown (21 points), Gholston (18), East II (17) and D’moi Hodge (14) each hit double digits for Mizzou.
For Tennessee, Tyreke Key led the way with 23 points, while Santiago Vescovi added 16 and Zakai Zeigler had 11. It doesn’t get any easier for the Vols, who have to deal with current-No. 3 Alabama next Wednesday.
Stanford outscores No. 4 Arizona for big upset
An impressive second half lifted Stanford to a 88-79 win against No. 4 Arizona — the Cardinal's first home win against the Wildcats since 2009.
Stanford scorched Arizona by shooting 61.1% from the field and drilling 10 3-pointers on 18 attempts. All five starters finished in double figures, led by Michael O'Connell's 22, and each starter made at least one 3-pointer.
No. 3 Alabama escapes Auburn
No. 3 Alabama outlasted in-state rival Auburn 77-69, picking up a road win in a hostile environment.
Coming into the matchup, Auburn ranked third in the defense amongst SEC teams, five spots above Alabama. Yet, it was the Crimson Tide that locked down the Tigers and soared offensively. Alabama finished the game 59 percent shooting from the field while holding Auburn to 32 percent shooting.
Rylan Griffen scored a team-high 16 points off the bench on 71 percent shooting, going 3 of 5 from 3. Tide starters Mark Sears, Brandon Miller, and Jaden Bradley contributed double-figures and combined for 40 points.
Despite Alabama's elite shooting, the Tide trailed for most of the game. They held the lead for just over 10 minutes of the game, taking their largest lead of 10 with eight seconds left to play. Auburn took its last lead with 6:12 left before Alabama finished off with a 16-5 run.
The Crimson Tide racked up their 13th win in 14 games, while Auburn extended its losing streak to three.
SCOREBOARD: Stay up to date with every game
No. 8 Virginia survives Duke in overtime
After a back-and-forth 40 minutes of regulation, No. 8 Virginia took over in overtime, outscoring Duke 11-4 for the 69-62 win.
Armaan Franklin led the way for the Cavaliers with 23 points. Kihei Clark added 16 points, while Ben Vander Plas had 13.
Four different players hit double digits in scoring for the Blue Devils, with Jeremy Roach (16) and Tyrese Proctor (14) setting the pace. Ryan Young cleaned up on the glass with 11 boards as Duke outrebounded Virginia by a 39-24 margin.
The Blue Devils were more efficient at the free throw line (75 percent) and from 3-point range (39.1 percent), but Virginia was lights out from the field, shooting 51.9 percent on 28 of 54.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over 22 times, compared to just nine for Virginia, who came up with 10 steals to Duke’s three.
𝙏𝙤𝙥 𝘿𝙪𝙣𝙣!
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 11, 2023
🔶⚔️🔷#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/tkPrrvvE4W
The Cavaliers led 58-53 with 1:43 left In regulation, but a jumper from Roach cut the deficit to three nine seconds later before Jacob Grandison’s 3 with 51 seconds left evened it up.
In overtime with the Cavaliers leading 63-62, Franklin hit a 3 with 40 seconds left to add insurance before some Virginia free throws sealed the 69-62 final.
Texas Tech takes out No. 12 Kansas State
Texas Tech picked up only its second conference win of the season with a 71-63 win against Kansas State.
The Red Raiders got 20 points from De’Vion Harmon and improved to 13-12 overall and 2-10 in league play while dropping the Wildcats to 7-5 in the conference.
Texas Tech's win along with other Big 12 results mean six teams are within two games of first place: 9-3 Texas is in first.
St. John's takes down No. 20 Providence
St. John's knocked off No. 20 Providence 73-68. The Red Storm saw five players score double-figures, led by David Jones' 16 points.
St. John's jumped on the Friars earlier, building a 16-point lead by the 10-minute mark of the first half. But Providence fought back to make it a two-point game by halftime. St. John's opened the second half with another scoring flurry to lead again by as many as 10 points. Providence never led in the game outside of scoring the game's opening basket.
Posh Alexander with eyes in the back of his head 👀 pic.twitter.com/Epfq74TF2D
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) February 11, 2023
With the loss, Providence fell to 10-4 in the Big East.
Oklahoma State upsets No. 11 Iowa State
No. 11 Iowa State fell at home to Oklahoma State 64-56 in a crucial Big 12 matchup.
The Cowboys found their shooting stroke in the second half, going 57% in the second — up almost 20% compared to the first.
John-Michael Wright and Caleb Asberry were second-half catalysts by scoring a combined 23 in the final 20 minutes. Wright finished a game-best 19 points and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Asberry scored all of his 10 points in the second half.
Iowa State held the lead for most of the duration, but Oklahoma State took over midway through the second and the Cyclones never regained control. In the final two minutes, Iowa State went scoreless from the field.
Now both teams hold 7-5 conference records with the Cowboys holding the tiebreaker.
No. 14 Baylor outruns No. 17 TCU
No. 14 Baylor rode a big second half run to survive No. 17 TCU with a 72-68 victory.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Horned Frogs led 34-31, but Adam Flagler came alive in the second half for the Bears, taking over down the stretch.
Flagler led the way offensively with 28 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He hit three straight 3s to cap off a 17-6 run that put Baylor back in the lead.
He made three free throws moments later to restore the lead and added another jumper late before two more free throws with a second to go sealed the win. LJ Cryer also had a strong night with 23 points.
TCU had a poor night from 3-point range, going just 2 for 10, compared to 10 for 26 from 3 (38.5 percent) for the Bears, who also missed just one shot at the line. Damion Baugh put up a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists along with seven rebounds for the Horned Frogs, whole Jakobe Coles added 15 points and Emanuel Miller had 10.
No. 23 Creighton edges No. 21 UConn at home
Surging No. 23 Creighton led by more than six points just twice in a nail-biting 56-53 win over No. 21 UConn. Creighton has now won eight in a row and are 11-3 in the Big East.
The Huskies had a lead only twice, taking a 3-2 lead in the game’s first minute before starting out strong in the second half to jump to a 35-33 advantage, but the Bluejays successfully kept them at arm’s length the rest of the way.
Trey Alexander led the way for Creighton with 17 points. Baylor Scheierman added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Kalkbrenner had 12 points and six boards. Ryan Nembhard’s eight rebounds were key as well.
For UConn, Adama Sanogo showed out with a double-double, leading the Huskies with 17 points and 10 boards. Jordan Hawkins chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
Illinois knocks off No. 21 Rutgers
In front of a vibrant home crowd of over 15,000, Illinois handled its business against No. 21 Rutgers, 69-60.
Following a four-point deficit in the first half, the Fighting Illini rallied back with the help of junior Coleman Hawkins. The steady 6-foot-10 forward posted 18 points and 8 rebounds while shooting an impressive 62% clip.
Sophomore Dain Dainja and senior Terrence Shannon Jr. joined Hawkins in double-digit scoring, each posting 15 points. The name of the game, however, was a stretch of stifling defensive stretches.
Illinois held the Scarlet Knights scoreless for over 10 minutes in the second half. By the end of the scuffle, Rutgers settled with a team field goal percentage of 35 percent — eight percent lower than its season average. The home team now boasts a 17-7 record, notching a second-place spot on the Big Ten standings.
