On what was the last day of the regular season for a large swath of teams across the country, many at their home venues in holding with tradition observed Senior Day to pay tribute and commemorate the contributions of seniors to their respective programs.
To ghastly results.
At Auburn, the No. 1 Tigers lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer in overtime. At Marquette, Big East-leading St. John’s stunned the Golden Eagles with its own buzzer-beater from chip-shot range. At North Carolina, the Tar Heels let Duke — and perhaps its NCAA Tournament hopes with it — slip away. And at Missouri, shorthanded Kentucky took a blowtorch to the Tigers’ flailing defense and came away with a needed win.
Even at Wisconsin, where the Badgers had never lost to Penn State at the Kohl Center, the Nittany Lions checked a box by doing exactly that and in the process spoiling Senior Day in Madison.
Duke clinches outright ACC title, makes claim for No. 1 ranking after spoiling North Carolina’s upset bid
David Cobb
Duke clinches outright ACC title, makes claim for No. 1 ranking after spoiling North Carolina’s upset bid
Indiana, Louisville, Clemson, Arkansas and others wound up on the winning side of the ledger in similar situations, so it wasn’t all bad for senior celebrations. But it was nothing if not entertaining.
Our recap of the mayhem is below with a look at all the day’s biggest winners and losers.
Winner: Duke flips switch late vs. UNC
Despite a relatively competitive game on the road in a tough environment vs. a desperate rival, No. 2 Duke, well, it wound up doing No. 2 Duke things in the end. The Blue Devils completed the regular-season sweep of the North Carolina Tar Heels and did so with relative ease, winning 82-69 in Chapel Hill to clinch the outright ACC championship.
It was a close game at half (Duke led 43-42) and UNC hung around in the second half for a bit (it was 59-all with just under 11 minutes remaining), but Duke then dialed up the pressure and flipped a switch to run away with it. A bucket from Kon Knueppel with 10:49 remaining was part of a quick 9-2 run that broke the game open, and UNC never got within two possessions thereafter.
Cooper Flagg had a casual 15-9-6 to go with four blocks in 29 minutes, and Knueppel led Duke in scoring with 17 points. — Kyle Boone
Winner: Alabama gets back on track
Just a week after losing on a buzzer beater at Tennessee, Alabama was on the right side of a dramatic ending. Mark Sears hit a tough shot at the overtime buzzer to lift the No. 7 Crimson Tide to a 93-91 win at No. 1 Auburn. It was a much-needed victory for the Crimson Tide, who entered having lost four of their past six games, which included a 9-point home loss to the Tigers last month. While Sears was the hero, it was actually a quiet afternoon for the star guard, who finished with just 9 points. It’s a testament to Alabama’s grit that it was able to earn an emotional road victory over the nation’s top-ranked team on a quiet night for its best player. — David Cobb
Loser: Auburn limping into postseason
Auburn will enter the postseason on its first two-game losing streak since last January after falling 93-91 in overtime against rival Alabama. The outcome won’t change the Tigers’ status as the projected No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology, but it does change the vibe surrounding Bruce Pearl’s club. A team that dominated the SEC en route to an outright regular season title has suddenly flashed vulnerability. In an 83-72 loss at Texas A&M on Tuesday, it was poor rebounding that was the culprit. On Saturday, it was an inability to keep Alabama out of the paint. The Crimson Tide outscored Auburn 52-40 in the paint as Bama bigs Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds. — Cobb
Winner: St. John’s stuns Marquette at the buzzer
No. 6 St. John’s downed Marquette on the Golden Eagles’ home floor with a last-second steal and subsequent buzzer-beating basket from Zuby Ejiofor in one of the most dramatic finishes of the weekend.
Ejiofor’s game-winner came courtesy of a last-second steal from teammate Simeon Wilcher, who collected the ball while applying full-court pressure and dished it in the lane to Ejiofor to finish the stunning sequence.
The Johnnies defeated Seton Hall in their last outing to clinch the outright Big East title, but the win Saturday tied a program record for the most regular season wins (27), matching the previous record set in 1985-96.
“It’s a hell of a win,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Probably my favorite win of the season by far.”
With 27 wins and counting, he has plenty to pick from in what has been one of the most successful seasons in school history. — Boone
Loser: Ohio State squanders great opportunity
Ohio State led Indiana 46-36 with 12 minutes remaining but came unglued late as the Hoosiers rallied for a 66-60 victory in a “double bubble” battle. The Hoosiers entered as a projected No. 10 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology and bolstered their resume by improving to 19-12 (10-10 Big Ten). Ohio State (17-14, 9-11) will head to the Big Ten Tournament in an uncertain position after the Buckeyes entered the day as one of the projected “Last four in” the 68-team field. This team may end up looking back on a squandered Quad 1 opportunity at Indiana with some regrets. — Cobb
Winner: Shorthanded UK scores big road win
No. 19 Kentucky showed its resilience in a big spot with an impressive 91-83 road win over No. 15 Missouri to close out the regular season. It’s the eighth win for the Wildcats this season over teams ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll or higher, tying a program record previously set in 1997-98.
Kentucky was a road underdog and shorthanded after starting guard and second-leading scorer Jaxson Robinson underwent season-ending surgery last week. The result was a big game from Otega Oweh, and each of Koby Bre, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams scoring in double figures.
Strength in shooting propelled the win with UK finishing 11 of 20 from 3-point range in a blowtorching of Missouri’s flagging defense. Missouri has now given up 91 or more points in its last three outings, all losses, as it heads to SEC tourney play. — Boone
Winner: Bubbly Arkansas survives
Arkansas entered its showdown against Mississippi State on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology but with little room to spare as a projected No. 11 seed. The Razorbacks may finally be able to exhale now after a thrilling 93-92 win over the Bulldogs. Arkansas (19-12, 8-10 SEC) gave up a 16-point lead in the second half but got seven points from DJ Wagner in the final three minutes and a critical late stop on its way to a big win. After an 0-5 start to league play under first-year coach John Calipari, Arkansas will enter the postseason having won 7 of its past 11 games.
Most impressive for Arkansas is that its late surge has come amid two potentially catastrophic injuries. Star freshman guard Boogie Fland has been out for weeks and isn’t expected to play again this season, and leading scorer Adou Thiero remains out with a back injury. But Calipari’s club and its newfound 7-man rotation appears destined for the Big Dance. Wagner led Arkansas with 24 points Saturday, but Jonas Aidoo may have been the MVP. The towering Tennessee transfer had his best game of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. — Cobb
Loser: Seton Hall humbled by hungry Huskies
Seton Hall’s season from hell continued Saturday with an 81-50 road loss to UConn, giving the Pirates a 2-20 record over its final 22 games leading into Big East Tournament action. The loss is the program’s largest since a 36-point defeat at Creighton on Jan. 6, 2021, and the fifth-largest loss by margin since 2000. Ouch. — Boone
Winner: Bumpy regular season for Kansas ends on high note
A rocky regular season for Kansas ended on a high note as the Jayhawks defended their home court and sent No. 24 Arizona back to the desert with an 83-76 loss. The Jayhawks began the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll but will likely enter postseason play unranked after a 4-5 record over the final month of the season.
Despite obvious struggles, that’s quite a way to launch into the postseason for Kansas. Hunter Dickinson had 33 points and 10 rebounds, and Zeke Mayo added 20 points in a complementary role.
If this Kansas team can nail down a solid rotation behind Mayo, Dickinson and Dajuan Harris — which remains a big if — then KU has a chance to be a sleeper this March after underperforming much of the regular season. — Boone
Loser: Wisconsin falls flat in season finale
Penn State stunned No. 12 Wisconsin as an 11.5-point underdog with an 86-75 win over the Badgers in Madison, scoring its first ever win at the Kohl Center (which opened in 1998) and first win on the road vs. Wisconsin in 30 years (!!)l. The Nittany Lions exploded for 51 second-half points to erase a 13-point first-half deficit.
It’s the fourth win over a top-15 opponent under second-year coach Mike Rhoades and its highest ranked road win since Feb. 1, 2009. It was a strange outcome made more bizarre by it being Penn State’s last game of the season after failing to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. — Boone
Winner: Louisville stays hot entering postseason
One season removed from an abysmal 8-24 campaign, first-year coach Pat Kelsey has Louisville’s good vibes rolling into the postseason after the Cardinals downed the visiting Cardinal inside the KFC Yum! Center, 68-48 on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives Louisville a 19-1 record to close out its final 20 games of the regular season.
It will head into ACC Tournament play after an 18-2 run through regular-season conference action. That record gives the Cardinals a T2 finish in the conference title race behind Duke and tied with Clemson. That’s not a first place finish and there are no moral victories at a blue blood like Louisville, but the turnaround — to be more specific, the immediate turnaround — under Kelsey is remarkable. They should carry some real momentum into the postseason as a quality team with far more than just a fun story. — Boone
Winner: Notre Dame outlasts Cal in four (!) overtimes
In a stunning four overtime blockbuster, Notre Dame outlasted Cal for a home win in its regular season finale, 112-110. Fighting Irish guard Markus Burton scored a game-high 43 points and out-dueled Bears guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who had 36 points.
The difference came from ND’s Matt Allocco who drilled a late go-ahead 3 that served as the final dagger. Allocco had 24 points in the win and was 4 of 9 from 3-point range. — Boone
Winner: Drake averts disaster in MVC tourney
Drake had to scramble to avoid falling victim to a bit of Arch Madness during the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Saint Louis. The No. 1 seed Bulldogs trailed No. 4 seed Belmont 30-21 at halftime before roaring back for a 57-50 victory. Bennett Stirtz led the way with 24 points for Drake, including 16 in the second half, as the Bulldogs inched one step closer to securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament under first-year coach Ben McCollum. Potential No. 5 seeds everywhere should have been pulling for Belmont, because the thought of playing Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is terrifying. — Cobb