Shocking Saturday: No. 1 Gonzaga and rest of AP’s top six teams lose
Tommy Kuhse had 14 points and six rebounds, and No. 23 St. Mary’s beat No. 1 Gonzaga 67-57 on Saturday night in Moraga, Calif., to prevent the Bulldogs from completing another undefeated run in the West Coast Conference.
The top six teams in the Associated Press poll all lost and seven of the top nine fell Saturday.
Fans poured onto the court in a wild celebration of the Gaels’ 18th consecutive win at McKeon Pavilion.
“That’s really special,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett said after his squad completed a 16-0 run this season at McKeon Pavilion. “It’s been hard to get. We lost it one year to Loyola Marymount in our last home game. It’s been something hard to get, and we finally got it. Especially when it’s against the No. 1 team in the country, it just makes it a night you’ll never forget.”
St. Mary’s ended Gonzaga’s 17-game winning streak, beating a No. 1 team for the first time since knocking off the Bulldogs in the 2019 conference tournament title game.
“It’s kind of life in late February and early March, especially on the road,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
UCLA goes on a big run in the second half and moves on from its dud against Oregon in a 94-55 victory over Oregon State.
Matthias Tass added 13 points for the Gaels (24-6, 12-3) and made a pivotal block with 1:15 seconds remaining. Kyle Bowman made a pair of clutch three-pointers after missing his first seven shots.
Rasir Bolton scored 16 points for Gonzaga (24-3, 13-1). Drew Timme had six points and eight rebounds but shot two for 10 for the Bulldogs, who had already clinched the WCC regular-season title.
St. Mary’s had lost seven straight to its rivals from the Pacific Northwest, including five straight at home, before stunning the Bulldogs.
at Colorado 79, No. 2 Arizona 63
K.J. Simpson and Tristan da Silva led a second-half surge that carried the Buffaloes (19-10, 11-8 Pac-12) past the Wildcats (25-3, 15-2), matching the highest-ranked opponent ever beaten by Colorado.
Fans stormed the floor after the Buffaloes ended Arizona’s nine-game winning streak. The loss by the nation’s second-ranked team behind No. 1 Gonzaga added to a shocking Saturday in which No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Purdue, No. 5 Kansas and No. 6 Kentucky all lost, as did No. 9 Texas Tech.
Da Silva scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, and Simpson scored all but one of his 13 points after halftime.
Arizona led 37-32 at the break, but the Wildcats’ leading scorer, Bennedict Mathurin, was held scoreless in the second half after scoring 12 points in the first half. Azuolas Tubelis led the Wildcats with 13 points.
Drew Peterson hit the winning three-pointer with 11.5 seconds left, and No. 16 USC beat Oregon 70-69 for its school-best 25th regular-season victory.
at No. 17 Tennessee 67, No. 3 Auburn 62
Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and Zakai Zeigler had 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead the Volunteers (21-7, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) past the Tigers (25-4, 13-3).
Kennedy Chandler had 13 and Josiah-Jordan James added 10 for Tennessee, which improved its record at home to 15-0 this season.
The Tigers were led by Jabari Smith with 27 points. K.D. Johnson had 18 points as Auburn lost on the road for the third straight time.
Tennessee led by 10 with two minutes left in the game, but Auburn chipped away at the lead. Smith had a four-point play with 58 seconds left to cut the difference to three, then Zeigler hit a running jumper to push the lead back to five at 65-60.
at Michigan State 68, No. 4 Purdue 65
Tyson Walker made a tiebreaking three-pointer with three seconds left, helping the Spartans (19-9, 10-7 Big Ten) top the Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5).
Michigan State gave Tom Izzo his 662nd victory, matching Bob Knight’s total at Indiana for the record by a coach at a Big Ten school.
Purdue had won three straight and nine of 10 overall.
The Boilermakers’ Zach Edey scored a career-high 25 points. Jaden Ivey had 16 points, and Trevion Williams added 11 points.
The Spartans’ Gabe Brown had 13 points. Julius Marble scored 12, while Max Christie and A.J. Hoggard each finished with 11.
at No. 10 Baylor 80, No. 5 Kansas 70
Flo Thamba had 18 points, Jeremy Sochan had 17 and the Bears (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) overcame a big early deficit to beat the Jayhawks (23-5, 12-3), avenging an embarrassing loss three weeks earlier and keeping Kansas from clinching a share of its 20th Big 12 title.
Baylor didn’t take the lead until the opening minute after halftime and went ahead to stay at 65-63 on Thamba’s jumper with 4:07 left. That came after Ochai Abaji, who had 27 points for Kansas, made a tying three-pointer.
The Jayhawks’ four-game winning streak ended, and they missed a chance to lay claim to another Big 12 title. They still have three games left, including a game postponed from Jan. 1.
at No. 18 Arkansas 75, No. 6 Kentucky 73
JD Notae had 30 points and eight assists, and the Razorbacks (23-6, 12-4 SEC) topped the Wildcats (23-6, 12-4) in a matchup of teams peaking late in the season.
Jaylin Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds as Arkansas helped create a tie with Kentucky and Tennessee for second place in the SEC with two games to play. The Razorbacks won for the 13th time in their last 14 games.
Notae passed to Williams for a jump shot that lifted Arkansas to a 71-70 lead with 1:22 left. Williams and Davonte Davis each made two free throws to help the Razorbacks hold on down the stretch.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 30 points and 18 rebounds for the Wildcats, who lost for the only the second time in their last 10 games. Sahvir Wheeler and Keion Brooks Jr. each scored 14 points.
No. 7 Duke 97, at Syracuse 72
Mark Williams scored a season-high 28 points, Paolo Banchero had 21 and AJ Griffin added 20 as the Blue Devils (25-4, 15-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) raced to an early lead and beat the Orange (15-14, 9-9).
It was the final regular-season meeting between the two winningest coaches in Division I history — Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (1,195), who’s retiring after the season, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (997). It was Krzyzewski’s 200th road win in the ACC, extending his record.
Duke is closing in on its first ACC regular-season championship since 2010. The Blue Devils were a game ahead of Notre Dame, which beat Georgia Tech on Saturday night. The Blue Devils have a seven-game road winning streak, the longest active one by a Power 5 team.
Buddy Boeheim led Syracuse with 23 points, Joe Girard had 18 and freshman Benny Williams a season-high 14.
at Texas Christian 69, No. 9 Texas Tech 66
Mike Miles scored 26 points, Xavier Cork dunked for the go-ahead bucket late and the Horned Frogs (18-9, 7-8 Big 12) boosted their NCAA tournament hopes by rallying for an upset of the Red Raiders (22-7, 11-5).
TCU trailed by 11 points early in the second half and went ahead for the first time after the break on a three-pointer by Francisco Farabello for a 61-60 lead.
The Horned Frogs won the second of four consecutive games against ranked opponents after losing a 10-point lead in the second half at 20th-ranked Texas. The next two are back-to-back against No. 5 Kansas. Winning one of the four helps TCU’s resume significantly.
Farabello’s bucket started a stretch of seven consecutive possessions in which the lead changed hands inside the four-minute mark. That run ended on a shot-clock violation by Texas Tech after Cork’s dunk put TCU ahead 67-66 with 1:11 remaining.
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