We are one month away from Selection Sunday. As the regular season eclipses, teams are fighting for seeding, bubble teams are making their final push and Cinderella hopefuls are looking to build some momentum to make a late season run. This past week of the college basketball season has brought forth some unlikely upsets, utterly shocking the current landscape of the sport. In addition, several intriguing NBA prospects flew up the draft boards, showcasing their talent on the biggest stage in college basketball. Without further ado, here are some of the biggest upsets, top performances and must-see matchups for this week in men’s college basketball.
Biggest Upsets
Texas 82, No.15 Kentucky 78
The now unranked Texas Longhorns came into their inaugural season in the SEC with expectations of dominating the league. Despite struggling to adapt to the ever so competitive SEC and winning only five of their 13 conference games, the Longhorns managed to secure a hard-fought 82-78 over a very good Kentucky Wildcats squad ranked in the top 25. Leading the charge for the Longhorns was none other than freshman Garland, Texas native Tre Johnson, who recorded a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds. Senior Tremon Marks also joined him, scoring a season-high point total of 26, catapulting the Longhorns to victory.
Villanova 73, No. 9 St. Johns 71
With his team being down by one point with eight seconds left of a Big East showdown between No. 9 St. Johns and Villanova, sophomore guard Tyler Perkins drilled the eventual game-winning three-pointer for Villanova, winning the game by a 73-71 mark. With that, the Wildcats snapped the Johnnies’ 10-game winning streak, handing them their second Big East loss of the season. Perkins came off bench for the Wildcats and contributed a solid 12 points, all of which came from beyond the three-point arc. In addition, Wooga Poplar did a lot of damage as well, adding 22 points and six rebounds to the Wildcats’ cause.
Harvard 75, Cornell 73
Some of the best mid-major basketball that the NCAA has to offer is in the prestigious Ivy League, a tiny conference located in the upper northeast. I’ve said this before, but I’ll also say it again, the league not only cultivates some of the nations’ brightest individuals but also holds some ultra-competitive mid-major basketball games. After facing a 17-point halftime deficit, the now 8-13 Harvard Crimson rallied back to stun Cornell (13-8) within the final seconds of the game. Trailing by two points with three seconds to go, Cornell missed two free throws in a row that would have tied the game, ultimately sealing their fate. Harvard’s Thomas Batties II scored 21 points for the Crimson, while his counterpart Cooper Noard scored 22 points as well.
Top Performances
Liam McNeeley, UConn
It’s a known fact that UConn and the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska don’t really mix all too well together. Despite this, star freshman and potential lottery pick Liam McNeely flipped this narrative. He drained 38 total points with 11 rebounds in the unranked Huskies’ road win over No. 24 Creighton, avenging a loss from earlier this season. With four seconds left in the contest, McNeeley drilled two key free throws in a row to solidify the win for the Huskies, winning the game 70-66. McNeeley’s 38 points were a season-high for not only himself, but for anyone else on the program.
Cooper Flagg, Duke
No. 3 Duke Blue Devil’s forward Cooper Flagg, former high school teammate of McNeeley, finds himself on this list yet again after an explosive performance in a win versus unranked Virginia. The freshman amassed his fifth double-double of the season, scoring a solid 17 points while hauling in a season-high 14 rebounds. Duke Head Coach John Scheyer has a lot to look forward to in this young Blue Devils squad come March, which Flagg has solidified himself as the centerpiece for the teams’ success. With his defensive presence and his freakish athleticism, Flagg will continue to prove why he’s the nation’s best college basketball player.
Danny Wolf & Vlad Goldin, Michigan
For the first time in the history of Lato’s Lens, two players are being acknowledged for their dominant performances in the same game. In then No. 20 Michigan’s 86-83 victory over archenemy and bitter Big 10 rival Ohio State, the two big men recorded their own respective double-doubles, proving to be the driving forces behind the win. Danny Wolf scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists, while Florida Atlantic transfer Vlad Goldin matched him with 20 points and 10 rebounds. With Wolf and Goldin, the Wolverines are sleepers for not only the Big 10 tournament, but also the NCAA tournament.
Games to Watch
No. 6 Tennessee at No. 7 Texas A&M: Saturday at Noon
This Saturday will feature two matchups between top 10 teams. In the first of these matchups, the sixth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will travel south to take on the red-hot No. 7 Aggies of Texas A&M. Led by senior guard Wade Taylor IV, the Aggies currently ride a six-game winning streak playing their best basketball of the season. Meanwhile, the Vols merely escaped a battle with in-state rival Vanderbilt, narrowly winning by a score of 81-76. This game is crucial for seeding within the SEC and could have insurmountable implications for the NCAA tournament positioning.
No. 8 Iowa State at No. 5 Houston: Saturday at 2 p.m.
The second battle of the day between top 10 powers comes from the Big 12, as the No. 8 Iowa Cyclones take on the No. 5 Houston Cougars. While the Cyclones hoist a 20-5 record, the Cougars are having another incredible season themselves with a 21-4 record and a solid four-game winning streak. What’s interesting about this Big 12 duel is that ESPN Analytics currently give Houston an 80.4% chance of winning the game. A big part of this is a rough, tough and rowdy Houston home-crowd who I would dare to say is a key component to the Cougars’ success at home this season. Keep an eye out for Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, who’s averaged 17.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists thus far this season, being a battery for the Cyclones.
UConn at No. 10 St. John’s: Sunday at Noon
We all know what happened the last time these two perennial Big East powerhouses matched up against each other. With a few seconds left in the game, RJ Luis Jr. hit an absolute dagger of a mid-range shot to seal the deal in a 66-63 back-and-forth Johnnies win over the Huskies. This game, however, is much different. While the Johnnies are currently ranked tenth within the AP Top 25 poll, the Huskies are unranked and fresh off a heartbreaking upset loss to now 7-18 Seton Hall. The game will also be played at the world-famous Madison Square Garden in New York (or more commonly denoted by the UConn faithful as Storrs South), which adds another layer of intensity to an already heated and toxic rivalry.