College basketball rankings: Duke takes over No. 1; St. John's enters top 5
NCAA Tournament tickets are getting punched in the mid-major leagues. Power conference tournament brackets are being set. Stars are being born across America and turning into household names.
March is in full swing and the next week is going to be glorious. Why? Because you truly never know what to expect. On Saturday, we saw SIU Edwardsville — better known as SIUE — claim its first NCAA Tournament berth behind star guard Ray'Sean Taylor going for 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a 69-48 win over Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Game. While the Cougars, who joined Division I in 2008, were making history on Saturday, Auburn and Alabama played the game of the year to date.
Who wouldn't sign up for two more rounds between the Tigers and Tide with another potential showdown in the SEC Tournament, as well as some point in the NCAA Tournament? The Tigers tied the game at 91 on a second opportunity and a triple by Johni Broome, sending The Jungle into a frenzy and leaving Alabama coach Nate Oats to draw up a play with 14 seconds left for the win. Mark Sears got a step on one of the best defensive guards in America, Denver Jones, and the All-American made the most of it with a free-throw line runner at the buzzer.
While Sears only scored nine points on 3-for-9 shooting from the floor, it's a testament to the Tide's offense that they still shot 52%. What changed in this rematch for Alabama to get revenge from the home loss it suffered three weeks prior?
Alabama was the more physical team in key moments, with Grant Nelson delivering 23 points and eight rebounds, while Cliff Omoruyi showed why he was such a great transfer portal add from Rutgers, delivering 15 points and eight rebounds. With Labaron Philon supplying 15 points in the win, it masked some of what was missing. The other non-negotiable against Auburn is that you have to supply some resistance to its 3-point shooting. The Tigers' backcourt was able to find a rhythm at times, and Tahaad Pettiford was very good with 19 points and six assists off the bench, but coach Bruce Pearl's starting backcourt finished with 4-for-13 shooting from 3-point territory. Broome had 34 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, three assists and three steals in the loss, which speaks to Alabama's ability to take punches and counter.
[Related: Mike DeCourcy's latest NCAA Tournament projections ]
Here are six other things that stood out from the weekend:
Zuby Ejiofor hit a buzzer-beater for St. John's in the program's road opener at Providence, a 16-point comeback victory that really changed the course of the Red Storm's season at the time. After a furious scramble in overtime on Saturday, the junior big man cashed in again at the buzzer to give the Johnnies an 86-84 win over 20th-ranked Marquette.
The fact that the Johnnies matched a single-season record for regular-season wins with 27 and matched last year's UConn national championship team with a conference-record 18 league wins in a season is incredible. RJ Luis, who I believe will be Big East Player of the Year, had 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Kadary Richmond was not to be outdone. The Brooklyn native had the program's first triple-double (10 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) since Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest) did so in 1999. Coach Rick Pitino was on "The Tonight Show" on Thursday and completed a regular season that's as good as any the program has had on Saturday. He's the king of the world at this moment and should be at the top of the national coach of the year voting.
How about Mark Pope and Kentucky? The Wildcats matched a college basketball record with their eighth top-15 win of the season, spoiling Missouri's Senior Day with a 91-83 victory. Kentucky can be a wagon offensively, and it showed on Saturday when Otega Oweh scored 22 points, Koby Brea was sizzling from deep with 17 points, and Andrew Carr had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Carr's leadership means so much to this team and obviously a healthy Lamont Butler keeps the Wildcats organized. They could lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament or be sitting in the Elite Eight.
BYU has won eight in a row and is one of the hottest teams in the conference, powered by Richie Saunders and top draft prospect Egor Demin. That said, the story in the Big 12 still belongs to coach Kelvin Sampson. For Houston to go to 19-1 and steamroll to another outright regular-season title — this one coming by four games — is an amazing testament to Sampson. The Cougars are 34-4 in two years in Big 12 contests.
Duke completed a 19-1 record in ACC play to grab the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, and the Blue Devils could be the reason North Carolina is kept out of the NCAA Tournament after pulling away in the second half to win 82-69 behind a balanced attack. Cooper Flagg? Generational. Fifteen points, nine rebounds, six steals, four blocks. Combine that with Kon Knueppel having 17 and the duo of Tyrese Proctor and Sion James combining for 32 to show why they're the No. 1 team in the NET, KenPom and Torvik. Coach Jon Scheyer has a team that can win it all in San Antonio.
Illinois is back in my top 25 after three consecutive wins, two of which were ranked victories over Michigan, and most recently, Purdue on Friday. The way the Illini strung stops together on the Boilermakers in the 88-80 victory, closing the game on a 13-1 run, was really impressive. Shots were falling on the offensive end for the Illini, as Brad Underwood's squad drilled 11 triples. With a potential top-five pick in the NBA Draft in Kasparas Jakucionis and a solid core of veteran guys who have no shortage of making the right plays, there's a reason to believe that this team can make the second weekend of the Big Dance. Fellow freshman Will Riley tallied 22 points in the win, while Tre White had 20 points and nine rebounds. When White, a transfer from Louisville, scores more than 11 points in a game, Illinois is 10-1. Jakucionis had 10 points and seven assists, and even though it wasn't his best offensive day, he still made the shot of the game.
Finally, bubble watch! With Duke's win over North Carolina, the 1-11 record in Quad 1 seems like the reason the selection committee might not include the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament. Indiana might have punched its ticket to the Big Dance with a 66-60 win over Ohio State, giving the Hoosiers a combined nine wins in Quad 2. For Ohio State, its NET is 35 and its six Quad 1 wins are a real differentiator. Boise State lost by 10 on Friday night to Colorado State. The Rams were led by Nique Clifford with a career-high 36 points in their Mountain West Tournament-clinching victory over the Broncos. Meanwhile, Xavier has done all in its power over the last month to improve to a 12-3 record. The Musketeers got 46 points combined on Saturday from Zach Freemantle and Ryan Conwell on Senior Day in the win over Providence and clinched the No. 4 seed in the Big East Tournament. They will meet Marquette on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals. Getting a second Quad 1 victory would likely stamp Xavier's bid. Even with a loss, barring an extreme number of bid-stealers, the Musketeers are a top-50 metrics team with an 8-1 record vs. Quad 2 and no bad losses.
With that, here's my updated top 25:
1. Duke (28-3)
2. Houston (27-4)
3. Auburn (27-4)
4. Florida (27-4)
5. St. John's (27-4)
6. Alabama (24-7)
7. Michigan State (26-5)
8. Tennessee (25-6)
9. Texas Tech (24-7)
10. Clemson (26-5)
11. Maryland (24-7)
12. Louisville (25-6)
13. BYU (23-8)
14. Iowa State (23-8)
15. Memphis (26-5)
16. Wisconsin (23-8)
17. Kentucky (21-10)
18. Saint Mary's (27-4)
19. Texas A&M (22-9)
20. Missouri (21-10)
21. Illinois (20-11)
22. Purdue (21-10)
23. Oregon (22-8)
24. UC San Diego (28-4)
25. Drake (29-3)
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta .
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