College Basketball March Madness: Bubble Trouble

With the month of Madness just a week away, it's not too early to start looking at which teams have to amp it up a bit to make the field of 65 for the NCAA Tournament. Here's a quick peek at teams that are surely in, those with a solid shot and those on the bubble.

No-Doubters: These teams can relax. They're 99% assured of getting in, no matter what.

Memphis
Tennessee
Kansas
North Carolina
Texas
Duke
Butler
Drake
Vanderbilt
Stanford
UCLA
Washington St.
Georgetown
Louisville
Notre Dame
Indiana
Wisconsin
Purdue
St. Mary's
Gonzaga
Xavier
Connecticut
Kansas State
America East Conference Champion
Atlantic Sun Conference Champion
Big Sky Conference Champion
Big South Conference Champion
Big West Conference Champion
Colonial Athletic Association Champion
Ivy League Champion
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion
Mid-American Conference Champion
Mid-Continent Conference Champion
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion
Mountain West Conference Champion
Northeast Conference Champion
Ohio Valley Conference Champion
Patriot League Conference Champion
Southern Conference Champion
Southland Conference Champion
Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion
Sun Belt Conference Champion
Western Athletic Conference Champion

That's 43 spots already taken. I've included the likely winners or runners-up from the major conferences as individual teams, like Tennessee in the SEC, Duke and North Carolina in the ACC, etc.

That leaves 22 spots remaining to be filled. All records are as of Friday, Feb. 22.

Likely candidates:
Clemson 19-7
Wake Forest 16-8
Marquette 19-6, ,
Michigan St. 21-5, ,
St. Joseph's 16-8
Texas A&M 20-6
Houston 19-6
Wright St. 20-8

That's 8 almost certain to get in, leaving just 14 more spots, but, uh-oh, there are 31 teams on the bubble (and there may be a couple I missed from minor conferences). Texas A&M, Wake Forest, Michigan State and Marquette could get bumped from the likely list if they lose 3 or more games or take early exits from conference tourneys. Overall, however, those still look like they'll make the grade.

On the Bubble:

ACC: Virginia Tech 15-11, Miami 18-7, Maryland 17-10 - The Terps lay claim to a win over North Carolina. Miami upset Duke last week and late-season wins count more. The Hokies have beaten Maryland twice, but essentially, nobody else. With Maryland losing to Miami on Saturday, give the Hurricanes the edge and maybe just five teams from the ACC go dancing.

Big East: Cincinnati 13-12, West Virginia 18-8, Pittsburgh 19-7, Syracuse 17-10, Villanova 16-9 - With 16 teams in the conference, the Big East could legitimately send 7 teams to the party. Villanova got a huge boost on Saturday, breaking UConn's 10-game win streak. Cincy lost to Georgetown, and 13 losses is going to be tough to overcome, even though the Bearcats are now 8-6 in the conference. Pitt's been sketchy to say the least, losing three of their last five. The 'Cuse and Mountaineers could make some noise in the Big East tourney and grab a bid.

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Big Ten: Ohio St. 17-9, Minnesota 16-9 - Both teams need to step it up, though it is conceivable that the Big Ten only sends four teams and both of these are out. Most of the smart money is on Ohio State.

Big 12: Oklahoma 18-8; Baylor, 17-8, Texas Tech, 14-11 - Doubtful that even two of these can get to the tourney unless the Aggies continue to implode. Baylor, hot early, needs to win a couple more. The Red Raiders evened their Big 12 record at 6-6, plus their recent win over K-State will look good to the committee, but they have A&M, Texas and Kansas all in a row upcoming. The Sooners have quietly hung around, and early wins over Arkansas, Gonzaga, West Virginia and Baylor should go a long way.

Conference USA: UAB 18-8 - With Memphis running the table in the C-USA and Houston playing well, UAB is about all that's left from this weakened conference.

Mid-American: Akron 9-4, 19-7; W. Michigan 9-3, 15-10 - Kent State looks like the team to beat, and one of these, but not both, could make the final cut.

Missouri Valley: Illinois St. 11-5, 19-8; Southern Ill. 10-6, 15-12; Creighton 9-7,18-8; Bradley, 9-7, 16-12 - With Drake odds-on to win the Missouri Valley title, each of these teams are deserving of a closer look. Bradley has won their last two, against Creighton and Drake, the two Illinois schools are solid. Illinois State had a nine-game win streak earlier in the year that included four straight road wins. The Salukis have won three straight and have loads of playoff experience, plus that great name. Lots to like in the land of the Ozarks and the tournament committee might take a total of four teams from this excellent mid-major.

Northeast: Robert Morris 13-2, 22-6 and Wagner 13-2, 20-6 - these two tip on Saturday, so the winner will likely take the Northeast Conference Champion championship. A sleeper is Sacred Heart, which owns a win over Robert Morris.

PAC-10 USC 7-6, 16-9, Arizona St. 6-7, 16-9, California 6-7, 15-9 , Arizona 6-7, 16-10, Oregon 6-8, 15-11, Washington 6-8, 15-12 - How many Pac-10 teams are going to go? Four, five? Almost certainly not six. That means four of these will miss out. While USC has a leg up in conference play, they don't look particularly well-balanced and could miss out, especially with big games at home vs. Cal and Stanford and a road trip to both Arizona teams coming up. Washington will have the toughest time, and Arizona hasn't impressed all season. From the looks of it, Arizona State, Cal and Oregon will battle it out for two spots.

SEC: Kentucky 8-3, 14-10, Florida 7-5, 20-7, Mississippi St. 8-3, 17-8 , Arkansas 7-4, 18-7, Mississippi 4-7, 18-7 - After Tennessee and Vandy, everybody in the SEC is on the bubble. Figuring that the conference will send a maximum of six teams to the tourney, two of these aren't going to make it and the decision will likely come down to the SEC tournament. Of these, Mississippi, with that losing conference record, looks the weakest. Kentucky beat Arkansas on Saturday and upped their conference record to 9-3. Florida, Mississippi St. and Arkansas may all go, if Kentucky gets their pass.

Confused? You should be. I've identified 16-19 teams on the bubble with good chances of moving forward, but, like I said earlier, only 14 can go. Some good teams will be bumped, as is usually the case.

I'll provide another update next Saturday. Selection Sunday is March 9, so why haven't you bookmarked College Basketball Daily?

Irish Win 35th Straight Home Game

Pittsburgh 70 (21) Notre Dame 82
Luke Harangody scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as the Irish ran their home win streak to 35 games.

Pitt made it difficult. Notre Dame overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half for the win. 5'11" Tory Jackson hauled in a career-high 13 rebounds.

The win tied the Irish with UConn at 10-3 in the Big East. The two trail Georgetown and Louisville, both at 11-3, by 1/2-game.

Pitt continues to struggle through their Big east schedule. The Panthers dropped to 7-6 in league play, have lost two straight and host Louisville on Sunday.

Other Top 25 Scores:

Oregon St. 49 (6) UCLA 84
Duquesne 48 (10) Xavier 75
Arizona St. 47 (17) Washington St. 59

Duke, K-State Stunned: College Hoops Notes from Feb. 19 & 20

Tuesday's Results

DePaul 60 (13) Connecticut 65
Punch that ticket to the dance for the Huskies. Any team capable of winning 10 straight in any conference, much less the Big East, has earned the right to play on.

(14) Purdue 68 (15) Indiana 77
Indiana put all concerns over the future of coach Kelvin Sampson behind them as the Hoosiers' tremendous trio of Eric Gordon, A.J. White and Armon Bassett scored 22, 19 and 16, respectively. White and Bassett controlled the boards, which the Hoosiers won convincingly, 46-30. White had 15 rebounds, while Bassett finished with 8.

The win tightened the race in the Big Ten, with Purdue a 1/2-game up - at 12-2 - on both Indiana and Wisconsin, both with 11-2 records.

Bradley 72 (16) Drake 71
Disappointment for Bulldog fans as Drake suffered its first home loss of the season, but, with only two conference games remaining the Missouri Valley is already a done deal. Drake plays at Butler on Saturday.

Wednesday's Results:

(1) Memphis 97 Tulane 71
Coach John Calipari notched career win #400 as his Memphis Tigers built a 19-point lead at the half and coasted to their 26th straight win and a 12-0 conference record in advance of their Saturday meeting with #2 Tennessee. Chris Douglas-Roberts had 20 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 29 on 13-17 shooting, including 2-of-3 three-pointers.

Auburn 70 (2) Tennessee 89
In one of their easier wins of the season, the Vols led 46-20 at the half and cruised to their 24th win against just 2 losses. At 10-1, Tennessee leads the SEC East by two games over Kentucky.

(3) North Carolina 84 NC State 70
Once again, Tyler Hansbrough led the way for the 24-2 Tar Heels, with 32 points and 12 rebounds. Hansbrough, a strong candidate for player of the year honors, hit 11 of 19 shots from the field and canned 10-13 free throws.

(5) Duke 95 Miami (FL) 96
Sophomore Dwayne Collins scored a season-high 26 points, while Duke's Greg Paulus struggled through a tough shooting night as Miami upset #5 Duke. Leading 41-36 at halftime, the Hurricanes went on a 18-3 run to open the second half, building a 20-point lead which proved insurmountable. Collins was nearly unstoppable inside, connecting on 12 of 14 shots, most of them from point-blank range. Jon Scheyer kept Duke in the game, hitting 5 of 9 three-pointers and a game high 27 points. Duke closed the gap and scored at the buzzer, but still fell short. Paulus was 3-12 from the field and finished with 12 points.

The loss dropped Duke into a tie with North Carolina for the ACC lead. Miami improved to 5-6 in the conference and 18-7 to keep their post-season hopes alive

(8) Butler 51 Illinois-Chicago 46
In a night loaded with blowouts, this Horizon League matchup provided some excitement. A.J. Graves hit his 4th three-pointer of the game with 48 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 49-46 lead and his two free throws with 2 seconds left sealed the win. Butler has clinched at least a tie for the conference title and can wrap it up with a win over arch-rival, 2nd place, Wright St. next Thursday.

(11) Wisconsin 71 Illinois 57
The Badgers won their third straight and tied Purdue atop the Big Ten at 12-2. Trevon Hughes scored 18 points and Marcus Landry had 17.

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Penn St. 49 (19) Michigan St. 86
After losing three of their last four, the Spartans got back on track, avenging a Feb. 2 loss at Penn State. They did it in a big way, leading by as many as 35 points in the second half before Tom Izzo emptied his bench. Eleven different Michigan State players had at least a bucket as the Spartans shot 58% for the game.

(24) Kansas St. 64 Nebraska 71
Michael Beasley had an off night, hitting just one of six three-point attempts and finished with 17 points as the Wildcats dropped a key road game. The loss dropped K-State to 8-3 in the Big 12, a game behind leaders Kansas and Texas.

(25) Marquette 73 St. John's 64
Jerel McNeil had 20 points and Dominic James scored 19, boosting Marquette's season record to 19-6.

Note: Home teams listed second in line scores; AP rankings in parentheses.

College Hoops Scores and Notes for Feb. 18

(10) Xavier 81 Rhode Island 77
The X-Men are now 10-1 in the A-10, with a three-game lead over 7-4 St. Joseph's and 3 1/2 over 3rd place Richmond, the two teams against whom the Musketeers finish the regular season. With the lead they have, the games may be, well, academic. Seven Xavier players scored 8 or more points, led by senior forward Josh Duncan's 23.

(12) Georgetown 68 Providence 58
Roy Hibbert led the Hoyas with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. The win kept them tied with Louisville atop the Big East standings at 11-3.

Syracuse 50 (18) Louisville 61
Every game critical for the Orangemen, but Louisville (11-3, Big East) was too much down the stretch. Syracuse shot just 28% for the game and hit just 2 of 20 three-pointers.

(22) Texas A&M 50 (7) Texas 77
This loss may have taken A&M off the short list for an NCAA bid and into bubble territory. While 20-6 overall, the Aggies are just 6-5 in the Big 12. An earlier win over Texas, plus non-conference victories over LSU, Alabama, Washington and Ohio St. will help, but the schedule is a testy one, especially the regular season finale against Kansas.

D.J. Augustin scored 27 points and dished 9 assists for the Longhorns, who tied Kansas at 9-2 in the conference.

(23) St. Mary's 100 Pepperdine 64
The Gaels put six players into double figures and notched 100 for the first time this season. Their previous high score was all the way back on November 20, when they beat Oregon, 99-87. St. Mary's hit 17-of-29 three-pointers.

Oh! The Horror! Blue Devils Torched by Freshmen Deacons

Wake Forest 86, (2) Duke 73
Freshmen James Johnson and Jeff Teague scored 50 points between themselves and Wake Forest did what no other ACC team has done this season: they beat Duke.

Johnson, a 6-8 forward, scored 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting and snagged a career-best 16 rebounds. The Blue Devils had no answer for the big man, and when he wasn't dancing inside, Teague was blazing from the perimeter, scoring a game-high 26 points, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.

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Duke simply could not guard every on the floor efficiently, as all five of their starters fouled out of the game. Kyle Singler, who was coming off his best performance of the season against Maryland, was 6-of-10 and scored 17 points, but the shooting was off for Duke. Greg Paulus was only 1-6 on three-pointers, and Duke shot just 41% for the game, much of that attributable to the Deacons pressure defense.

Other alarming stats for Duke showed up at the free throw line. Wake Forest went to the charity stripe 38 times - unusual against a Duke team which almost always gets to the line more than their opponent - and the Blue Devils were also shabby at the line, making only 13-of-25. Wake Forest hit 27 of their freebies - 71%.

While the loss was not critical for Duke, the win was important for Wake Forest, a team squarely on the bubble at 16-8 and now 6-5 in the conference. The win over the #2 team in the country certainly improves their chances for an at-large bid, though they still have to travel to #5 North Carolina next Sunday before filling out the regular season schedule with winnable games against Maryland, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and NC State. 19-10 or 20-9 overall should be good enough, considering only five teams in the ACC have winning conference records right now.

Notre Dame 71 Rutgers 68
The Fighting Irish aren't very good on the road and it showed as they struggled past Rutgers. The Irish managed only 41% shooting from the field, though they did manage to hit 8-of-17 3-pointers (47%). Rutgers was simply worse, hitting only 38% including 9-of-25 beyond the arc.

UCLA 56 USC 46
In the West Coast version of Last Man Standing the Bruins, who used only 8 players, outlasted the Trojans, who used just six. USC turned the ball over 22 times against the Bruins trapping defense and were outrebounded, 38-31. Freshman standout O. J. Mayo was held t a season-low 4 points.

Top 25 Results and Notes from Saturday, Feb. 16

(1) Memphis 79 UAB 78
Closest game so far this season for the unbeaten Tigers, who needed a three-point play from Chris Douglas-Roberts and a made shot by the Blazers ruled too late. Memphis was only 12-22 (.545) from the foul line, which won't help their cause in March. Here's a #1 with targets on their chests. 25-0 ain't bad, though.

Colorado 45 (3) Kansas 69
Bill Self emptied the bench as this one was done early. KU remains in commanding position in Big 12.

(4) Tennessee 74 Georgia 71
This one figured to be close and it was. Chris Lofton had 18 of his 22 in the second half, and the Vols roll ever closer to clinching the SEC East. Tennessee visits Memphis on the 23rd (Saturday) in a major out-of-conference showdown.

VA Tech 53 (5) UNC 92
Nobody's paying much attention to the Heels, but Tyler Hansbrough (23 points and 9 boards in 29 minutes) is making a bid for player of the year.

(7) Stanford 67 Arizona 66
Stanford got out of Arizona with a loss and a narrow win. As the competition heats up their close-out games with Washington St., then At UCLA and USC should prove how good the Cardinals really are.

(8) Georgetown 70 Syracuse 77
Paul Harris, 22 points and 8 boards; Jonny Flynn, 17 points. The main strength and vulnerability for the Hoyas is center Roy Hibbert (11 points, 3 rebs.) and 'Cuse coach Boeheim knew that. Georgetown's center saw plenty of bench time with foul trouble. Syracuse still on the bubble, but this was huge for them.

Cleveland St. 46 (9) Butler 51
Butler has a date with Missouri Valley top dog, Drake, on Feb. 23 and only 3 conference games left. Wright State on the 28th should be the clincher for the Horizon league. Mike Green and A. J. Graves make these Bulldogs tough to beat (23-2)

(10) Michigan St. 61 (13) Indiana 80
Down 18-8 early, the Hoosiers went on a 33-15 run to the half and never looked back. Despite the distractions involving coach Sampson, the team is solid and Eric Gordon (game-high 28 points) is ridiculous. Look for him to enter the draft shortly after the Hoosiers are knocked out of the tourney. Spartans have lost 3 of their last 4. In March, 2 dance limit for them.

(11) Texas 82 Baylor 77
Damion James had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the Longhorns' 5th straight win and 22nd straight over Baylor. The fact that it was close gives the Bears some cred, but they have to start winning a few here and there.

(14) Drake 65 N Iowa 55
The Missouri Valley title clincher for Drake wasn't all fun and games, as the Bulldogs shot just 39% from the floor, but hit 18 of 19 freebies to the Panthers' 3 of 5.

Minnesota 56 (15) Wisconsin 65
Balanced scoring and tenacious defense make the Badgers one of the real sleepers in the nation. Just one game behind Purdue (11-1) in the Big 10 standings at 10-1, they could run the table (only Michigan State left as ranked opponents) and the conference tourney and end up a #2 or #3 seed.

Oklahoma St. 59 (16) Texas A&M 54
No real knocks on the Aggies, but 18 second half points at home isn't going to cut it in this or any other conference. The loss snapped a five-game win streak, but the schedule suggests that A&M still has work to do.

(17) Connecticut 74 S Florida 73, OT
A tough road win for the Huskies, puts them in great position for the post-season. Their ninth straight win and no ranked teams in their final six Big East games means they're a lock for an at-large bid.

Missouri 63 (18) Kansas St. 100
Michael Beasley tied his season high with 40 points (and 17 rebounds) and this one turned into a rout early on as the Wildcats opened up a 21-point lead at the half. Beasley makes K-State one of the more dangerous teams in the nation. Nobody's been able to slow him down yet and it's doubtful anybody will as he's averaging 25.7 and 12.6. #1 draft pick? Count on it.

(19) Purdue 71 Northwestern 56
Make it 11 straight for the Boilermakers, who might be a little under-appreciated by the pollsters. Tuesday's visit to Bloomington ought to be killer.

(21) Wash St. 62 Oregon 53
The Ducks hung in until the final three minutes, and both teams may be just good enough to get tourney bids, but how far they'll go is an open question. Lots to still be sorted out in the PAC-10.

(23) Louisville 80 Providence 72
Cardinals now tied with Georgetown at 10-3 in the Big East standings, but have a tough schedule remaining: Syracuse, at Pitt, Notre Dame, Villanova, at Georgetown. Louisville sure to move up in the polls while the Hoyas fall.

Florida 58 (24) Vanderbilt 61
Commodores seem to have their groove on once more, with their 5th straight win. The Gators are still fighting for an at-large bid, but have to contend with with three solids in the SEC West: Arkansas, Mississippi and Mississippi State. All four teams have 7 losses and winning conference records.

(25) St. Mary's 80 Loyola-Marymount 49
If you can hold a team to 26% shooting, your chances for a win improve dramatically. That's what the Gaels did on Saturday, and that tough defense will work in March as well. Big games with San Diego and Gonzaga, Feb. 25 and March 1, respectively, should tell us more.

Note: Home teams listed 2nd in line scores, rankings in parentheses.

Bubble Puzzle: Marquette Pounds Pitt

Marquette 72 Pittsburgh 54
There's a swinging door at the entrance to the NCAA field of 65, and it swung wide open for the Marquette Golden Eagles last night. For the Panthers, though, that door is closing fast, and they may just have to climb in through an open window in the Big east tournament.

Marquette outplayed the Panthers in every aspect of the game: the Golden Eagles shot 49%, grabbed 36 rebounds, dished 20 assists, turned the ball over 10 times, made 6 steals and blocked 4 shots. The numbers for Pitt were 37%, 33, 12, 15, 3 and 1. The Panthers were also a dreadful 1-11 from 3-point range.

Marquette stepped past Pitt in the Big East standings, improving to 8-5 in conference and 18-6 overall. Pitt is 7-5 and 19-6. Both teams are on the bubble, but Marquette served notice that they are worthy of reaching the next level.

Pittsburgh is an enigma wrapped in a sweat sock. Here's a team that's beaten both Duke and Georgetown, but has lost to the likes of Dayton, Rutgers, Cincinnati, UConn and Villanova. They're a horrible 2-4 on the road against Big East opponents and their next game is at Notre Dame, where the Irish have won 34 straight. Pitt will have to raise the ghost of Andrew Carnegie to win that one.

Next Sunday, the Panthers host Louisville, one of the hottest teams in the country, then play Cincy, a team that already beat them. Two road games, against contentious Syracuse and West Virginia precede the season finale against DePaul.

If the Panthers finish up 4-3 or 5-2 in those final seven games, they'll need a bit of a run in the Big East tourney to impress the NCAA selection committee. Winning less than four of their remaining games probably wipes them off the bracket board even before the conference tourney.

Marquette has similar bubble problems, but the win over Pitt really aids their cause. A pair of losses to Louisville, a split with Notre Dame and road losses at UConn and West Virginia are among the negatives. An out-of-conference win over Wisconsin helps, though a March 1 showdown with Georgetown, at Marquette, and the Big East tourney, will be keys to their success.

The Big East is likely to send seven teams to the national tournament. Georgetown, UConn, Louisville and Notre Dame look like locks already. With Syracuse, Cincinnati and West Virginia knocking on the door, Pitt may be the odd team out.

PAC-10 Punch: Arizona St. Downs Stanford in OT

Arizona State 72 Stanford 68 OT
Is this a bubble team or a real contender for the field of 65 in March? The Arizona State Sun Devils (6-5, 16-7) will have every chance to claim that they belong as they continue to play down the stretch of their PAC-10 schedule.

After losing five straight - to Stanford, Washington, Washington St., USC and UCLA - the rest of the conference was about to write them off. But, with their second straight win, they are suddenly back in the thick of it, just a 1/2-game behind third place Washington St. (7-5), with 9-3 Stanford and 9-2 UCLA ahead.

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The PAC-10 will likely send 5 or even six teams to the national tourney, and Arizona State has a legitimate chance at being one of the chosen few.

With seven games left on their schedule, they have the opportunity to avenge all of their losses, they've already swept in-state rival Arizona, and the remaining games are with Cal, Oregon and Oregon State, three teams they've already beaten. Supposing they win those three and split the revenge/avenge games, they'd finish up at 21-9 and 11-7 in the conference, and it would depend on which of the teams (USC, UCLA or the two Washington teams) they beat and how those teams finish.

They may be firmly on the bubble for a couple of weeks, but after last night's win, the Sun Devils have everything in front of them. The big home win over highly ranked (#7) Stanford, in which they rallied from seven points behind in the final two minutes of regulation, could be just the juice they needed.

Elsewhere in the Top 25, the Butler Bulldogs (23-2, 12-2) easily dispatched Youngstown St., 89-73, to maintain their two-game lead in the Horizon league, and #21 Washington State won their second straight after three consecutive losses, going on the road to defeat Oregon St., 70-57.

Tonight's schedule is light, with only one top 25 team in action. #22 Pittsburgh travels to Marquette for a pivotal Big East showdown. The Panthers are 7-4 in the conference and have won two straight, while rebounded with a win at Seton Hall after losing to Louisville and Notre Dame. The Golden Eagles are 7-5. Point guard Lavance Fields is expected to see action for the Panthers. He's been out 7 weeks with a broken foot.

The weekend has a number of great games on tap with all Top 25 teams taking to the hardwood. Saturday's Texas at Baylor game stirs some interest, along with Missouri at Kansas State. A late Saturday game sends Michigan State to Indiana in a battle of Big Ten powerhouses.

On Sunday, #2 Duke visits Wake Forest, while out West, UCLA tangles with crosstown rival USC.

Big Ten Mash-up: Purdue, Wisconsin on Top

Wisconsin 68 Indiana 66
Following Tuesday's surprisingly easy win by Purdue over Michigan State, the Big Ten produced another upset as the Wisconsin Badgers upended Indiana in Bloomington, 68-66, handing the Hoosiers their second conference loss and third overall.

Down 66-65, Wisconsin senior Brian Butch hit a three-point shot with 4.5 remaining to propel the Badgers to their second victory over the Hoosiers this season and into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings at 10-2. Both of Wisconsin's losses have been to Purdue.

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Purdue leads the Big Ten with a 10-1 record, Indiana is third at 9-2, followed by 8-3 Michigan State.

Butch's big three-pointer capped a 13-point effort, including 9 of the Badgers' final 12 points. Michael Flowers had 15 and Jason Bohannon led the way with 18, but it was Butch's work at the rim that kept the Badgers in the game late, converting misses by Flowers and Bohannon into scores.

Indiana was led by Eric Gordon and D.J. White, who had 23 and 17, respectively.

The game itself was partially overshadowed by a NCAA report which took Hoosier head coach Kelvin Sampson to task for violating previously-imposed recruiting sanctions from his tenure at Oklahoma.

While Sampson defended his actions, penalties are likely, but not until the off-season, as Indiana has 90 days in which to appeal the charges that Sampson participated in recruiting phone calls and three-way calls which the NCAA had specifically prohibited him from making.

Texas Tech 84 Kansas State 75
Pat Knight's first win as a head coach was a big one, knocking K-State out of first place in the Big 12 and sending the conference into a February frenzy.

Knight, who took over the coaching reins when his father, Bob, abruptly retired on Monday of last week, got a career-high 30 points from Alan Voskuil and a big boost in job security.

Voskuil hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and canned 7 of 9 from the charity stripe in the Red Raiders' biggest upset of the season. The loss sends 7-2 Kansas State into a second-place tie with Texas, behind 8-2 Kansas. 6-3 Texas A&M and 5-4 Baylor remain in the mix, as the conference heads down the stretch to determine a regular season champion.

All of the contending teams have either 5 or 7 games remaining of the 16-game slate.

Around the Nation
17th-ranked UConn downed Notre Dame, 84-78, for its 8th straight win and an 8-3 record in the Big East. Georgetown leads the conference at 10-2, with Louisville second at 9-3. Notre Dame shares third with the Huskies at 8-3.

Three of the top four teams in the nation were in action on Wednesday. #1 Memphis rolled to 24-0, handling Houston, 68-59; #2 Duke held off Maryland, 77-65, and #4 Tennessee crushed Arkansas, 93-71.

In a story that didn't get as much coverage as it should have, #24 Vanderbilt pounded Kentucky, 93-52 on Tuesday night, the worst SEC loss ever for the Wildcats.

Kentucky, which shot 33% for the game, scored just 11 points in the first half while the Commodores piled up 41. The Wildcats hit only 1 of 10 3-pointers and committed 25 personal fouls and 15 turnovers.

It was a rout of historic proportions, unfortunately for first-year coach Billy Gillespie, who took over after Tubby Smith left the program in shambles. Smith is now head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are 15-8 overall, but just 5-6 in the Big Ten.

Carolina Wins Another Close One; Purdue Whips Michigan St.

North Carolina 75 Virginia 74
Tyler Hansbrough's hook shot with 21 seconds left in the game gave North Carolina a 75-71 lead and it turned out to be enough to hold on over feisty Virginia. Sean Singletary scored 27 points to top all scorers and hit a three-pointer with 8 seconds remaining to claw the Cavaliers back to within a point, but it was all they could muster.

For Hansbrough, the little hook shot that gave the Tar Heels a 4-point lead in crunch time was almost routine for the North Carolina star. He finished with a team-high 23 points and 7 rebounds and Roy Williams' kids have ridden his first rate efforts to a couple of close wins in the challenging ACC.

On Sunday, the Tar Heels had to go to double overtime before finally dispatching Clemson, 103-93. North Carolina has five straight games against lower-eschelon teams in the ACC before closing out the regular season March 8 at Duke.

The Blue Devils already have a win over Carolina (a Feb. 6 89-78 win) and have a grip on the top spot in the conference standings. Duke leads at 9-0. The Tar Heels are second at 8-2, followed by 6-3 Maryland and 5-4 Clemson.

Duke hosts Maryland tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Purdue 60 Michigan St. 54
These are tough times for Tom Izzo and his Spartan basketball team. On Tuesday night, they found out that the Boilermakers were for real, dropping their only meeting of the season at Purdue in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates.

Outshot, 47 to 38%, the Boilermakers forced Michigan State into a slew of mistakes and turnovers, building a huge lead that left them ahead 34-18 at the break. The Spartans rallied to within one point three times in the second half, but could never draw even or take the lead away.

Frosh Robbie Hummel had another brilliant game, with a career-high 24 points, including 4 of 7 3-pointers. He also grabbed 11 rebounds in an all-around noteworthy effort.

While Purdue improved to 11-1 in the conference and stayed in first place ahead of 9-1 Indiana, the Spartans fell back to 4th at 8-3. Michigan State's losses have all come on the road - at Iowa, Penn State and last night at Purdue.

Indiana hosts 9-2 Wisconsin in tonight's key Big 10 matchup.

#1 Memphis hosts Houston, #2 Duke welcomes Maryland while in the Big East, #17 Notre Dame travels to #20 Connecticut.

Longhorns KO KU, 72-69

In the premier college hoops match Monday night, #4 Kansas traveled south to Texas to face the #11 Longhorns. By the time the night was over, Kansas had suffered their second loss, Texas earned their 20th win and unlikely Kansas State stood alone atop the Big 12 standings.

Both teams had ups and downs during the contest, but especially D.J. Augustin, whose only bucket of the game (on 1-13 shooting) turned out to be the most important.

The lead had changed hands several times during the first half and most of the second half. With 7:28 remaining, the score was knotted at 57-all. When the teams got back on the court, Texas took the advantage. A.J. Abrams made a jumper, Justin Mason hit one of two free throws and then Augustin made a layup at 5:58 to give Texas the lead for good at 62-57.

Though the Jayhawks had enough time and opportunity to get back in the game, the closest they could come was 69-67 on Mario Chalmers' only three-pointer of the game.

Kansas hit just 4-of-17 shots from beyond the arc, and though they outshot the Longhorns 44 to 41%, they didn't get to the foul line often enough - they were 11 of 14, to Texas' 20 of 28.

Chalmers had a final chance at the buzzer, but his long jumper bounded off the rim.

Both squads placed four players in double figures, though Kansas' Darrell Arthur topped all scorers with 22 points. Damian James had a double-double for Texas with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and teammate Connor Atchley had a perfect shooting night, hitting 6 of 6 from the floor and making all four of his charity tosses for a team-high 16 points.

Kansas dropped to 23-2 and 8-2 in the conference; Texas improved to 20-4 and 7-2. Both teams trail 7-1 K-State, with #16 Texas A&M following at 6-3. Kansas State, while leading the conference, is the lowest ranked team of the bunch, at #18.

Memphis Tops Polls; Tar Heels Survive Clemson; Bruins Fall

As the sole remaining undefeated team in the country, the Memphis Tigers received all possible first place votes in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls.

Playing in watered-down Conference USA, the 23-0 Tigers, have only one more significant challenge leading up to the NCAA tournament, that being a non-conference home game against Tennessee on February 20. The Vols were ranked #4 in the most recent polls.

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Besides the Tennessee game, Memphis has only seven games left in their regular season schedule. Two games are against UAB, currently third in the conference standings at 6-2, and one against Tulane (5-4, 15-8). The other four games are against opponents the Tigers have already defeated once - Houston, SMU, Southern Miss and Tulsa. The Tigers have beaten those teams by an average of 23 points, the worst of those an 83-47 pasting of Southern Miss.

Memphis has more than just a gaudy conference record to their credit, though, owning wins over Gonzaga, Connecticut, Georgetown, USC, Arizona and Oklahoma. All but the Connecticut game were played on the Tigers' home floor.

On Sunday, North Carolina (22-2) survived a scare at home from the testy Clemson Tigers, who got a huge game from senior guard Cliff Hammonds as the Tar Heels won in double overtime, 103-93.

Hammonds had a season-high 31 points, but Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough - who is averaging a double-double on the season - outdid him, scoring 39 points to go with 13 rebounds. Hansbrough has been doing it all of late; he's scored 89 points and grabbed 51 rebounds over the last three games, even though one was a home loss to Duke.

Out West, UCLA (21-3) suffered their worst loss of the season, a 71-61 setback at Washington. The Huskies' Justin Dentmon scored 20 points while holding Bruins point guard Darren Collison to just 3 points on 1-for-8 shooting.

The win was wholly unexpected. Washington won its 4th PAC-10 game against 7 losses and is 13-11 overall. The Bruins were ice cold, shooting 34% from the field, including a dismal 1-16 from 3-point range.

Big East, Big 10 Tighten Up

Two critical games were played in two of the nation's top conferences Saturday and the results tighten the races for their respective titles.

In the Big East, Louisville defeated Georgetown, 59-51 to create a four-team log jam atop the division. Georgetown still leads with a 9-2 record, but 8-2 Notre Dame, Louisville (8-3) and Connecticut (7-3) are in the mix. With 7 or 8 games remaining for each squad - some against each other - the Big East is certainly up for grabs, setting up a thrilling finish to the regular season and a highly anticipated post-season tournament.

The same applies in the Big 10, where unheralded Purdue knocked off Wisconsin for the second time this season, 72-67. The Boilermakers got 21 points from freshman swingman Robbie Hummel on Saturday and lead the conference at 10-1, followed by Indiana (9-1), Wisconsin (9-2) and Michigan State (8-2).

Purdue hosts Michigan St. on Tuesday (Feb. 12) and, after a trip to Northwestern, stays on the road to play Indiana on Feb. 19. Those two games may go a long way toward deciding the conference and whether Purdue will have any staying power when the competition ratchets up in March.

On Sunday, the Hoosiers downed Illinois, 59-53, getting 21 points from power forward D. J. White, but have a testy slate of games just ahead. Indiana hosts the top three contenders in the conference in consecutive games. Wisconsin comes calling on Feb. 13, followed by Michigan St. on the 16th and then Purdue on the 19th. A sweep would give the Hoosiers serious bragging rights, though that's hardly a done deal. Wisconsin already has a win over Indiana, Purdue leads the conference and Michigan State can run with anyone.