A win against the top-ranked team in the country always provides a special memory for those who witness the feat. If said victory happens to come against one’s rival, the contest becomes elevated to epic status, a “Where were you when” moment. This makes Indiana the easy choice as the biggest winner of an action-packed weekend in men’s college basketball thanks to its triumph over No. 1 Purdue.
The Hoosiers shook off a loss at Maryland in their most recent outing and fed off the electric atmosphere in Assembly Hall to build an early double-digit lead against the Boilermakers. Purdue rallied as good teams do, but IU made the needed plays down the stretch to seal it. Trayce Jackson-Davis further etched his name in the lore of IU’s storied history, recording 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
As for Purdue, the team’s first road loss of the campaign won’t be all that damaging. The Boilermakers are still two games clear in the Big Ten standings and remain well positioned for a top regional seed. The result also did nothing to diminish the player-of-the-year candidacy of Zach Edey, who put up 33 points and 18 rebounds while doing everything he could to lead Purdue’s comeback. And hey, we don’t have to wait long for the rematch in three weeks at Mackey Arena.
WILD SATURDAY: Indiana’s upset leads college basketball
Here’s a quick look at some other winners and losers from the busy weekend.
Winners
Texas
The Longhorns pulled off arguably the biggest road win of the weekend, rallying from 14 down in the first half to overtake Kansas State 69-66 in Manhattan. Texas now sits alone in first place in the high-powered Big 12, making a strong case that coach Rodney Terry should have the interim tag removed from his title.
Iowa State
Elsewhere in the rugged Big 12, the Cyclones snapped a mini skid with a 68-53 takedown of Kansas to split the season series with the Jayhawks and take over second place in the ridiculously balanced conference race.
Houston
The Cougars made a case to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, avenging their lone American Athletic Conference loss in the process in Sunday’s decisive 81-65 win at Temple. Jarace Walker, who was held to just nine points in his first encounter with the Owls, led the Cougars with 23 in the rematch.
The Pac-12 leaders
The league remains a three-horse race as UCLA, Southern California and Arizona all took care of business at home this week. The Los Angeles schools handled their respective dates with Washington and Washington State, while the Wildcats dispatched the league’s Oregon representatives in Tucson.
Anybody who watched Saint Mary’s-Gonzaga
You might have lost a bit of sleep, and if you’re a Gonzaga fan you probably weren’t pleased with the final outcome. But watching Gaels guard Aidan Mahaney and the Zags forward Drew Timme trade big shots down the stretch was pure entertainment. Ultimately, it was a huge overtime win for Saint Mary’s, which is now two games up in the West Coast Conference. They’ll do it again in less than a month in Spokane.
Duke
Jon Scheyer has been part of the Duke program for a long time and therefore needed no introduction to the intensity associated with the North Carolina rivalry. A big night from veteran Jeremy Roach and key contributions at the defensive end from freshman Dereck Lively II helped him win his first bout with the Tar Heels as the Blue Devils’ head coach.
REDEMPTION WIN: Duke holds off North Carolina in thriller
Florida Atlantic
FAU saw its 20-game winning streak come to an end Thursday at Alabama-Birmingham. But though the Owls came out flat against Charlotte Saturday, they rallied in the second half for a 71-67 victory to avoid a second defeat and remain atop Conference USA.
Maryland
The Terrapins followed their quality win against Indiana with a romp past Big Ten cellar dweller Minnesota to run their winning streak to four games. They’ve strengthened their tournament chances and jumped into a six-way tie for third place in league.
Virginia Commonwealth
The Rams are back in front of the topsy-turvy Atlantic 10 thanks to Friday night’s 73-65 road victory in a first-place showdown at Saint Louis. Adrian ‘Ace’ Baldwin led the way with 37 points for VCU.
Drake
The Bulldogs avoided an upset in an overtime thriller against Valparaiso to retain a share of the Missouri Valley Conference lead with league newcomer Belmont, Southern Illinois and Bradley.
Princeton
The Tigers swept Cornell and Columbia at home over the weekend to assume first place alone in the Ivy League. Yale, riding a five-game win streak, just one game behind.
Losers
Florida
The Gators made a big move toward the bubble with a mid-week triumph against Tennessee but came up short in their attempt to follow it up Saturday at Kentucky.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils continued to trend in the wrong direction, suffering their fifth loss in their last six outings in Saturday’s 75-70 setback to Oregon.
The ACC leaders
Virginia missed an opportunity to grab the top spot in the conference thanks to a loss at in-state foe Virginia Tech. Clemson, however, couldn’t take advantage as the Tigers suffered their first home loss of the season at the hands of Miami. Virginia and Clemson now are joined by Pittsburgh with three losses in the league.
Anybody who watched Tennessee-Auburn
It will go down as a win for Tennessee, but the 46-43 brick-laying fest will not be featured in the museum of hardwood masterpieces. The two teams combined made just 30 of 118 field-goal attempts (25.4%), including an abysmal 5-for-48 from three-point range.
North Carolina
The loss to Duke was UNC’s second of the week following a home setback against Pittsburgh. But in the bigger picture, the Tar Heels’ issues of offensive execution and questionable shot selection – the same questions they were facing a year ago around this time with nearly the same lineup – don’t appear to have been completely resolved.
Colgate
The Raiders still lead the Patriot League by two games, but their 26-game conference winning streak was stopped Saturday in a 61-60 loss at American University.
UC Santa Barbara
From the ‘anybody can have a bad night’ department, the Big West leading Gauchos were stunned 72-67 at Cal State Northridge, which entered Saturday night’s contest with just one league victory.
