Upset Saturday! Top 6 teams in AP poll lose on same day for first time
College basketball decided not to wait until March to turn the excitement level up to maximum volume. In fact, the last Saturday in February might end up being as wild as anything fans will witness once the NCAA Tournament begins.
When No. 23 Saint Mary’s finished off its 67-57 victory over No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday night, it wasn't just a thrilling moment worth a court-storming for the Zags' West Coast Conference rivals — though it certainly was.
Fans storm the court as No. 23 St. Mary's tops No. 1 Gonzaga
And it wasn't just the end of the longest conference winning streak in the nation, though it was that, too.
Actually, it was only the final upset on a day filled with them.
In fact, the top six teams in the AP men's basketball poll all lost on Saturday, something that has never happened before. On top of that, No. 9 Texas Tech also lost — 69-66 vs. TCU — and No. 8 Villanova was idle. So of the AP's top 10, only No. 7 Duke and No. 10 Baylor won.
Here's a breakdown of how the top 6 teams all went down, counting down from No. 6 to No. 1.
No. 6 Kentucky loses to No. 18 Arkansas, 75-73
JD Notae had 30 points and eight assists as the Razorbacks knocked off the Wildcats in Fayetteville.
Jaylin Williams added 16 points and 12 rebounds as Arkansas (23-6, 12-4) helped create a tie with Kentucky (23-6, 12-4) and Tennessee for second place in the Southeastern Conference with two games to play. The Razorbacks won for the 13th time in their last 14 games.
"What the group has done, they’ve weathered a really, really tough schedule," Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. "And not only did they kind of weather it, but they dominated it winning basketball games against some incredible teams."
JD Notae drops a team-high 30 in Arkansas' win over Kentucky
No. 5 Kansas loses to No. 10 Baylor, 80-70
Jeremy Sochan had 17 points off the bench as the Bears rallied from an early deficit to dump the Jayhawks in Waco. It was just three weeks ago that the defending champion Bears suffered an embarrassing 83-59 loss to this same Kansas team.
"They were the aggressor in the first game and in the first six minutes this time," Sochan said. "But we matched their mentality and their strength and just beat them."
The Bears (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) didn’t take a lead until the opening minute after halftime, and went ahead to stay at 65-63 on Flo Thamba’s jumper with 4:07 left. That came after Ochai Agbaji, who had 27 points for Kansas, made a tying 3-pointer. Thamba finished with a career-high 18 points.
Kansas (23-5, 12-3) had its four-game winning streak snapped and missed a chance to lay claim to another Big 12 title. They still have three games left, including a game postponed from Jan. 1.
No. 4 Purdue loses to unranked Michigan State, 68-65
Tyson Walker made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, not only helping Michigan State knock off Purdue in East Lansing, but pushing Spartans coach Tom Izzo into a tie with legendary coach Bob Knight for most wins by a men's basketball coach at a Big Ten school.
"We needed to win a game, and we needed to win a game the way we won," Izzo said after the game.
The slumping Spartans (19-9, 10-7) had lost three straight and five of six. The dramatic victory over the Boilermakers was win No. 662 for Izzo, equaling Knight’s total with the Hoosiers from 1972 to 2000.
Izzo took over Michigan State’s program in 1995 and, after struggling early, he won the national championship in 2000 during one of eight Final Four appearances. He chose to stay at the school after having chances to coach elsewhere in college and the NBA.
The Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) had won three straight and nine of 10 overall.
"I still think they’re the best team in the league, but we earned the win," Izzo said.
No. 3 Auburn loses to No. 17 Tennessee, 67-62
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield sparked a crucial 17-2 run by drilling his first 3-pointer in 27 games as the Vols pulled off the upset in Knoxville.
The 6-foot-10 freshman, who finished with five points, eight rebounds and two blocks, made his big shot early in the second half as the Volunteers trailed by 11 points.
"I was getting ready to shoot," Huntley-Hatfield said. "I shot with confidence and it went in. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know we were down by 11."
Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and Zakai Zeigler had 11 of his 13 points in the second half as Tennessee (21-7, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) improved its record at home this season to 15-0.
Auburn (25-4, 13-3) was led by Jabari Smith with 27 points and K.D. Johnson with 18. The Tigers lost their third straight road game.
No. 2 Arizona loses to unranked Colorado, 79-63
About six weeks after watching a four-point halftime deficit in Arizona turn into a blowout, the Buffaloes went into the locker room trailing the Wildcats by five Saturday night and vowed not to let them get away again.
KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva led a second-half surge that carried Colorado to an upset of the nation’s second-ranked team, matching the highest-ranked opponent ever beaten by the Buffaloes.
"Yeah, ’Bari said it in the locker room," da Silva said of teammate Jabari Walker. "We’ve been in this situation a few weeks ago at Arizona. And you know, we said to ourselves, we can’t let this happen again, basically.
"So, we went out there and gave it even more than in the first half. It paid off."
A court storming in Boulder as Colorado upsets No. 2 Arizona
Fans stormed the floor after the Buffs (19-10, 11-8 Pac-12) snapped the Wildcats’ nine-game winning streak by outscoring Arizona 47-26 in the second half.
Arizona (25-3, 15-2) 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.
The Buffs’ second win in 19 games all-time against No. 2 teams followed a dispiriting 82-65 loss to Arizona State on the same court 48 hours earlier.
"Come on, you knew they were going to play better," Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.
No. 1 Gonzaga loses to No. 23 St. Mary's, 67-57
Tommy Kuhse had 14 points and six rebounds and Saint Mary’s beat Gonzaga in Moraga, California to prevent the Bulldogs from completing another undefeated run in the West Coast Conference.
Fans poured onto the court in a wild celebration of the Gaels’ 18th consecutive win at McKeon Pavilion.
Saint 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.
Matthias Tass added 13 points for the Gaels (24-6, 12-3) and made a pivotal block with 1:15 seconds remaining.
Rasir Bolton scored 16 points for Gonzaga (24-3, 13-1). Drew Timme had six points and eight rebounds, but shot 2 of 10 for the Bulldogs, who had already clinched the WCC regular-season title.
Saint Mary’s had lost seven straight to its rivals from the Pacific Northwest, including five straight at home, before stunning the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs had beaten the Gaels handily on Spokane two weeks earlier and had won 34 consecutive conference games, 33 by double-digits.
But Saint Mary’s never let Gonzaga get comfortable, leading from start to finish while winning their fourth straight since that loss to the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga trailed by 16 with 13 minutes remaining and got to 57-50 before Bowen buried a 3-pointer. The Bulldogs responded with four points, but Bowen made another 3 and Logan Johnson sank a pair of free throws.
The game drew a packed house at McKeon Pavilion, with scouts from the Warriors, Knicks and Pistons in attendance.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
