A loaded college basketball Saturday that featured 17 top-25 squads and plenty of Power 5 matchups has somehow surpassed its own lofty expectations, defined by crazy buzzer beaters, stunning blowouts and three unbeatens falling for the first time this season.
Here's a look at the biggest storylines from college basketball's most impactful afternoon so far:
Purdue survives in top-3 clash
Entering Indianapolis Saturday with a perfect 2-0 mark against Big Ten opposition, hanging on late against Michigan State and blitzing No. 23 Wisconsin in a wire-to-wire win, top-ranked and undefeated Arizona quickly learned No. 3 Purdue stands in a class above their conference mates. Sixty miles from their home in West Lafayette, Purdue's partisans made clear that Gainbridge Fieldhouse was no neutral site, partnering with some sweet Fletcher Loyer shooting to build an 11-point halftime lead.
Still sweltering, Purdue pushed its lead to 15 and looked set to steamroll No. 1 Arizona, but a stroke of genius from coach Tommy Lloyd cast a lifeline to his struggling Wildcat players. Adopting a 2-3 zone and disrupting the Purdue ball handlers with magnetic perimeter pressure, — the Boilermakers committed five turnovers in a back-breaking six minute stretch — Arizona dwindled its deficit down to four on several occasions. However, after a pair of Caleb Love free throws brought the score to 75-71, Lance Jones and Braden Smith nailed a pair of threes that restored Purdue's double-digit advantage and saw PU cruise to a mammoth 92-84 non-conference victory.
Creighton's big 3 sees Jays past Alabama
1,000 miles from home in the blistering Nebraska cold, Alabama would lose two players to foul trouble and shoot just 4/21 from three-point range — and yet, trailing by three in the final seconds, a 40-foot attempt from point guard Mark Sears clattered off the backboard and circled around the rim. Sears' shot ultimately rolled out, however, and Creighton defended home court with a thrilling 85-82 victory. The Blue Jays looked set to deliver a death blow much earlier on Saturday night, surging out to an early 10-3 lead, but a 11-4 response from Alabama tied the game and prompted a nip-and-tuck finish to the half — neither team led by more than one possession, entering the locker room tied at 44.
Creighton's star center Ryan Kalkbrenner suffered a first-half ankle injury, from which his return was questionable, and Alabama offset their perimeter shooting woes by capitalizing on Kalkbrenner's absence and scoring 50 of its first 62 points in the paint. The two-time Big East defensive player of the year's lengthy wing span forced the Tide into errant jump shooting, also adding 19 points as Creighton built crucial late-game separation. After a Nick Pringle layup gave Alabama a 62-59 lead, Creighton's fellow premier scorers Baylor Scheierman (20 points) and Trey Alexander (22 points) combined with Kalkbrenner to score Creighton's next 19 points, giving the Jays a late four-point lead they would never relinquish.
Two more unbeatens fall
Sharing in Arizona's misery were two more unbeatens that saw their hot starts quashed on a chaotic college basketball Saturday. Also mirroring the Wildcats, No. 6 Baylor stepped into Michigan State's home-way-from-home at Little Caesar's Arena and quickly proved no match for a desperate Spartans club looking to remedy a slow start to the season. Facing a relatively tame four two-point deficit after five minutes, Michigan State would embark on a stunning 27-4 run, filled with suffocating defense, sharp shooting from the perimeter and contest-ready fast break dunks from star freshman Coen Carr. Michigan State would take a 45-17 halftime lead, and while Baylor struck back with a 12-4 run out of the locker room, Tom Izzo's bunch quickly restored their first-half advantage and cruised to an 88-64 win.
Next up at the gallows was Clemson, who actually surged to an admirable start on the road against a strong Memphis side, leading by as much as 10 early on the funky Fedex Forum hardwood. Memphis would retake the lead after a quick 8-0 burst to open the second half and slowly gained separation in a nip-and-tuck final 20 minutes, leading by five with 39 seconds remaining. Some fortune at the free throw line gave Clemson a chance to tie at the buzzer, but star forward missed his attempt from three. Clemson loses 79-77, falling to 9-1 on the season.
Kentucky outlasts UNC in thriller
Two of the most revered brands in the sport, Kentucky and North Carolina battled in a blue-blooded thriller Saturday night at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta. Kentucky led from virtually the opening tip, taking 10 and 15 point leads on either side of halftime, but North Carolina surged back and managed to take a 72-71 lead following a slam and two free throws from star center Armando Bacot.
Kentucky's star-studded freshman class continued to lead the way, as a 6-0 spurt from Aaron Bradshaw and Rob Dillingham restored UK's lead, but back-to-back triples from Carolina's R.J Davis, who led all scorers with 27 points, dragged the Heels back within one inside the two minute mark. Davis' continued heroics gave UNC a chance with the ball down three, but Elliot Cadeau clattered his pass of the back off the back of an unaware Cormac Ryan, resulting in a turnover, and Kentucky escaped from ATL with a gutsy 87-83 win.
Kansas, Houston hang on
A pair of top-5 squads also found themselves in jeopardy of unsightly unranked losses, as No. 2 Kansas and No. 4 Houston both escaped scares against Indiana and Texas A&M, respectively, with sweaty palms.
Kansas trailed throughout the entire first half at a boisterous Assembly Hall Saturday, and a jumper from Trey Galloway, who finished with a game-high 28 points on 12-17 shooting, grew Indiana's lead to 50-37 with 13 minutes remaining. A three from Dajuan Harris, who responded impressively after a slow first half, capped off a quick 21-9 Jayhawk response to bring the game within one, and Kevin McCullar capped off his 21-point performance with two clutch free throws at the line to secure a come-from-behind 75-71 victory for Kansas in Bloomington.
Houston, conversely, looked set to cruise in their hometown Toyota Center, building a 53-32 lead early in the second half, but a stunning 31-10 spurt from the Aggies tied the contest at 63 inside the final four minutes. Trailing by two with seven seconds remaining, the Aggies' Henry Coleman III found himself at the line with a chance to tie, but the Virginian forward missed both his attempts, and Houston's Emmanuel Sharp iced the game from the stripe after knocking down a massive three moments earlier, securing a 70-66 Cougar win.
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