A significant setback: The Kentucky Basketball have made it official that they will be selling the all-time great player who wasn’t the main target for sale.
Saturday’s slate began with the ultimate bubble battle: Villanova at Providence, which pitted one team among the “first four out” against one clinging to a “last four in” spot. The schedule ended with a Gonzaga squad in need of a win to secure an at-large bid traveling to face a Saint Mary’s team looking to complete an unbeaten WCC season. In between, there were dozens of games with huge NCAA tournament implications.
After a couple of weeks that featured debates near the top of the rankings, three of the top five teams in this week’s AP poll were heading on the road, which has been kryptonite for top-25 teams this season. Were we in store for another wild day of losses by Final Four contenders? March is here, and the first Saturday of the best month on the calendar did not disappoint.
ESPN’s Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello and Joe Lunardi break down the big storylines from a loaded slate of games.
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Baylor fans erupt on Rayj Dennis’ steal-and-scoreRayj Dennis comes up with the steal and drives to the rim for 2 Baylor points.
No. 15 Baylor Bears 82, No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks 74
Myron Medcalf: Right now, Kansas doesn’t look like a national title contender. While the return of Kevin McCullar Jr. was a positive — coming just days after Bill Self said he didn’t expect the potential All-American to play the rest of this season because of a knee injury — the Jayhawks failed to overcome the same issues that plagued them in their home loss to BYU on Tuesday. Against both Baylor and the Cougars, their half-court offense failed to deliver when they needed it most. On Tuesday, they had no rhythm and eventually blew a 12-point lead in the second half. Against the Bears, they resorted to hero ball late in an attempt to climb back.
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Men’s Bracketology: Duke plus Cooper Flagg makes Blue Devils early overall No. 1
14dJoe Lunardi
One of the worst seasons to be a Top 25 team in men’s college basketball in past 15 years
61dNeil Paine
These offensive woes have been a growing problem. Hunter Dickinson settles for tough shots sometimes. Freshman Johnny Furphy doesn’t always look comfortable. Dajuan Harris Jr., who is more impactful as a distributor, sometimes becomes a scorer by default, as he did in key possessions on Saturday. It’s difficult to see the Jayhawks having a shot to cut down the nets in April. Which is a rare thing for a Kansas team. But this group seems to be a step below the real contenders right now.
Jeff Borzello: The continued improvement of Yves Missi and growing consistency of Ja’Kobe Walter make Baylor’s offense one of the most dangerous in the country, and a difficult out in the NCAA tournament. Since their three-game losing streak in January (by a combined nine points, it should be said), the Bears have won seven of 10, falling only at Kansas, at BYU and against Houston. They have the best offense in the Big 12 — though they’re not as reliant on the 3-point shot as they were earlier this season — with RayJ Dennis establishing himself as the bellwether of this attack.
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Entering Saturday, Dennis averaged 13.9 points, 6.3 assists and 2.9 turnovers on 44.3% 3-point shooting in Baylor’s wins, and 11.4 points, 7.1 assists, 4.5 turnovers on 23.1% 3-point shooting in Baylor’s losses. Against the Jayhawks, he took over late and finished with 19 points, 10 assists and just 3 turnovers.
Joe Lunardi’s bracket impact: Another mammoth matchup with no bracket changes from the result. That’s often the case when the “expected” happens, especially this late in the season with so many other data points in the book. We’ll keep both as 3-seeds, though the Bears (No. 10 overall) creep past the Jayhawks (No. 11) on the overall seed list.
