Tuesday’s college basketball tournament featured two fights in the top 10, with No. 2 Michigan facing No. 4 Illinois and No. 3 Baylor facing No. 6 West Virgina, and although these turned out to be games interesting, we already know that all four teams involved will make the NCAA Tournament. That’s why the real intrigue of the night was a pair of bubble battles involving blue-blooded programs.
Duke, who entered as one of the “first four eliminated” in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology, lost a decision in the 81-77 overtime at Georgia Tech. The defeat is the second in a row for the Blue Devils, who head to another bubble battle on Saturday at rival North Carolina at the end of the regular season for both. As overwhelming as the loss to Duke was, it was an equally big victory for Georgia Tech, who broke a streak of 14 consecutive losses for the Blue Devils since 2010.
The Yellow Jackets are trying to make their first NCAA tournament since 2010, and senior striker Moses Wright is doing everything possible to make sure that happens. The North Carolina native of Raleigh, who is six feet tall, continued his recent run with a 29-point performance and 14 rebounds. Wright now averages 24.8 points per game over Tech’s five-game winning streak.
Michigan State’s Aaron Henry was the hero of the other bubble battle of the night, when the Spartans survived Indiana 64-58. The Spartans came in as a projected No. 11 seed, according to Palm, while the Hoosiers came in as a bubble team from the outside looking inward. We will dive into more of these games and the winners and losers of the entire sport on a busy Tuesday night.
Loser: stars in struggle
Duke’s top scorer Matthew Hurt suffered a foul with 6:14 left to end Blue Devils’ defeat to Georgia Tech. It was the second consecutive game from which Hurt was eliminated – both defeats to the Blue Devils. Hurt ended with four or five fouls in nine of the 21 games he played this season, which appears to be a major problem for a player who is not usually injured on the crossbar in defense. He finished with 12 points out of 5 out of 8 shots, but missed the most important moments of the game.
Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis has been phenomenal this season, but failed when the Hoosiers lost the fourth consecutive time. He hit just 1 of 5 pitches and ended up with nine points and four fouls, which limited him to 27 minutes. It is the first time in the entire season that Jackson-Davis has failed to reach double digits, and the 27 minutes tied with the season’s lowest point in a game when the Hoosiers desperately needed him to do his best.
Winner: Alabama wins the Iron Basket
No. 8 Alabama has won four of its last five games by entering Tuesday’s rivalry competition with Auburn. But the latter two were a little worrying, as Crimson Tide lost 15 in Arkansas and, on Saturday, struggled to win a mediocre team from the state of Mississippi. For a while, against Auburn, it seemed that the slowdown could continue as the Tigers hung with Alabama until the middle of the second half. That’s when Crimson Tide showed why they are the SEC champions and a seed projected second in the NCAA Tournament. A 3-point basket by John Petty Jr. led to a 10-0 streak that helped Crimson Tide win 70-58. Now, 20-6 (15-2 SEC), Alabama has reached the mark of 20 victories only for the second time in the past eight years and eliminated the nets to celebrate the SEC title it secured on Saturday.
Loser: When Michigan falls, it’s hard
Michigan’s two defeats this season totaled 41 points after No. 4 Illinois beat the third Wolverines 76-53 on Tuesday. Losing to Illinois isn’t shameful, but losing to him by 23 points at home while the Illini are without point guard Ayo Dosunmu? This is worrying. The Wolverines had won seven in a row before Tuesday night and remain in the No. 1 projected seed line, according to CBS Sports Bracketology expert Jerry Palm. Still, with games against rival Michigan State on Thursday and Sunday being all that remains on Michigan’s regular season schedule, it’s worth wondering if some of the problems that were exposed against Illinois could linger in the postseason.
Winner: Illinois as a potential seed # 1
Illini, on the other hand, looks great. Illinois has won 10 of its last 11 games and is thriving in the adversity of playing without Dosunmu. This team emerged as the fourth seeded seed at No. 1 in the Palm standings, and the performance against Michigan only solidified its position there by going to Saturday’s seventh regular season finale, in Ohio State’s seventh place.
Loser: Wisconsin is reeling
Wisconsin reached its strength at this point last season, winning eight consecutive games to close the regular season as co-champion of the Big Ten. The return of the production of this team is the reason why the Badgers started the season in 7th place in the AP vote and went up to 4th position at the beginning of the season. But the lessons learned from last year’s long run are not translating to this year’s team. No. 23 Wisconsin has now lost four of its last five games after Tuesday’s 73-69 defeat at No. 23 Purdue. The Badgers (16-10, 10-9 Big Ten) entered the night as a projected No. 7 seed at the NCAA Tournament and will be fine on Selection Sunday, but a senior squad’s end-of-season bouts are confusing.
Winner: Baylor is back
In its first two games after a three-week break due to COVID-19 protocols, No. 3 Baylor just didn’t look like the team that emerged as a serious contender for the national title during an undefeated start. Well, the Bears got their mojo back on Tuesday in a 94-89 win in overtime in West Virginia No. 6, even though the defense was sometimes a little lacking. Baylor finally started out fast again and also enjoyed his best 3-point shooting performance since the restart. The Bears also had a welcome contribution from the reserve bank after Baylor’s reserves provided just five total points in the Kansas defeat. Matthew Mayer turned 18 on Tuesday, including 15 in the second half, after West Virginia advanced 50-43.
Loser: Xavier’s sense of security after a loss to Georgetown
Xavier did his best to mount an epic recovery in the second half to erase a 19-point handicap and avoid an embarrassing defeat for Georgetown. But in the end, the Musketeers fell short, dropping 72-66 to the Hoyas in a game they would like to have back. Xavier (13-6, 6-6 Big East) has already lost four of his last six games after an 11-2 start. The Musketeers entered the action on Tuesday as the No. 9 seed of the NCAA Tournament, according to Palm. But don’t be surprised if Xavier appears on the bubble entering what appears to be a must-see regular season finale at Marquette on Saturday.
Loser: Kentucky’s attack is bad again
Kentucky reached 70 points in six consecutive games during February and won three in a row, while it looked like the Wildcats were finally figuring things out. Not so fast. The UK is in yet another losing streak after Tuesday’s 70-62 loss to Ole Miss. The Wildcats (8-15, 7-9 SEC) fired only 37.5% from the ground, 25% in the 3-point range and hit only 15 out of -25 free throws. These offensive fights? They have not been fully healed. It is a pity that Ole Miss lost at Vanderbilt on Saturday, because otherwise it would have been a good bubble victory for the rebels (14-10, 9-8). But with just a rematch against the Commodores remaining on their regular season roster, it doesn’t look like a forced offer is in the cards for coach Kermit Davis’s team.
Winner: Arkansas continues to destroy people
Arkansas’s attack has been good this season, but it only hit 100 points once before beating South Carolina 101-73 on Tuesday. The Razorbacks’ previous high of 100 was against Central Arkansas in December, but reaching the century-old mark against a league opponent shows just how well Arkansas is playing. Razorbacks are now 20-5 (12-4 SEC) and have won 10 consecutive SEC games. Three players exceeded 20 points against Gamecocks, led by Moses Moody. The freshman wing has amassed 28 points out of 10 out of 15 shots and may be on the run with the SEC runner-up for the freshman title of the year.
Loser: Wake Forest is depressing
The Demon Deacons are making shows that didn’t make the coach changes last season look smart. Wake Forest fired Danny Manning and replaced him with Steve Forbes in the midst of the pandemic. To say the least, it has been a struggle this year, and it only got worse on Tuesday, in the 70-57 loss to Pittsburgh. Wake Forest (6-14, 3-14 ACC) has already lost six consecutive ACC games for the second time this season and has lost five consecutive double-digit games. The frustrating part of Tuesday’s defeat is that it was against a Pittsburgh team (10-10, 6-9) who had lost five in a row.
As Palm noted on Tuesday Bubble Watch, nothing good could come of the end of the regular season of Boise State on Tuesday against a Fresno State team ranked No. 202 on the NET. In the end, something disastrous happened to the Broncos, who lost 67-64 after coming in as one of Palm’s “last four”. Boise State was 13-0 in games against Quad 3 and 4 of the competition. But the defeat for the State of Fresno will count as a crushing defeat for Quad 4.