Just when it seemed like the college basketball season was getting too predictable, the first week of February brought in some much-needed drama. Upsets and buzzer-beaters were the storylines of the week. Perhaps the craziest result of all came on Saturday night when Seth Trimble's clutch three with 0.4 seconds left helped No. 14 North Carolina topple No. 4 Duke 71-68 to inspire a court-storming in Chapel Hill.
Trimble's triple capped a second half surge for the Tar Heels, who trailed by a dozen at the break and are now trending up as we head down the stretch of the season. How will this result and other crazy finishes from Week 13 impact the new AP Top 25 poll set to drop on Monday? Read on to find out the projected rankings as well as some deeper analysis of the week's most meaningful games.
Projected AP top 25 rankings
- Arizona Wildcats
- Michigan Wolverines
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Houston Cougars
- UCONN Huskies
- Duke Blue Devils
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Kansas Jayhawks
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Michigan State Spartans
- Florida Gators
- Saint Louis Billikens
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Clemson Tigers
- St. John's Red Storm
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Miami (Ohio) Redhawks
- Louisville Cardinals
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Utah State Aggies
North Carolina wins round one against Duke
While Trimble's buzzer-beater will draw the highlights, the Tar Heels wouldn't have come back in the game without a sterling effort from freshman Caleb Wilson, who led the way for North Carolina with 23 points. Big man Henri Veesaar also held his own against Cameron Boozer, putting up 13 points and 11 rebounds to give Hubert Davis' team a needed physical presence in the paint.
The loss was the first for Duke in ACC play and just their second of the season after falling to Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden in December. Both defeats followed a similar script as the Blue Devils collapsed down the stretch, giving Jon Scheyer's staff something to work on as they continue through an improved ACC.
St. John's continues its recent mastery of UConn
Perhaps the most anticipated game of the weekend came at MSG on Friday night as No. 3 UConn took on No. 22 St. John's in front of a standalone national audience. Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino implored his fan base to come out in big numbers for the matchup, which has seen the Garden turn into Storrs South for years. They showed up as the Huskies were swallowed up in a sea of red as St. John's won 81-72 to snap UConn's 18-game winning streak.
Physicality was the name of the game for St. John's, which bullied the Huskies down low with their front line of Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins. The trio combined for 50 points, 22 rebounds and three blocks on 17-of-26 shooting from the floor. The Red Storm also made sure to get to the free throw line often, racking up 31 free throw attempts compared to only 12 for UConn, and have now won three straight meetings between the schools dating back to last season.
Michigan State needs overtime to take down Illinois
There are no easy games in the Big Ten. We got another classic from the league on Saturday night as No. 5 Illinois and No. 10 Michigan State needed overtime to settle their contest. It wasn't always easy for the Spartans, who entered the night losers of two straight, but they won a shootout with the Fighting Illini 85-82 in the extra session to get back in the win column.
The game was also very important for Spartans' guard Jeremy Fears. He recorded 26 points and 15 assists to pick up his team after drawing criticism from head coach Tom Izzo for some reckless play of late, including questionable fouls against Michigan and Minnesota. Fears is Michigan State's best perimeter threat. They need him to be on the floor and performing to survive their rugged schedule down the stretch.
BYU drops fourth straight game against Houston
The slump for No. 16 BYU continued on Saturday as they were outclassed by No. 8 Houston, losing 77-66 at home to drop their fourth consecutive game. Three of those losses have come to ranked Big 12 competition, while the fourth was a sloppy effort against a bubbly Oklahoma State team, which put up 99 points on the Cougars earlier in the week.
Something definitely seems to be off for BYU, which is likely to fall out of the rankings after their fourth consecutive defeat. Kevin Young still has time to figure out the Cougars' issues ahead of postseason play, but the longer BYU continues to struggle, the more likely it is they will have an underwhelming performance in March.