A loaded college basketball Saturday afternoon produced three top-15 upsets, including a second top-10 home win for Seton Hall, a bevy of spared blue-blooded blushes and a major ACC road win for North Carolina.
Here's a look back at all the biggest storylines from Saturday:
POWER 36: FAU, Arizona plummet in Andy Katz's latest men's basketball rankings
Dickin-save: No. 2 Kansas escapes TCU in thriller
One of the most vaunted fortresses in college basketball, Allen Fieldhouse hasn't let an unranked victim escape in nearly five years, a streak preserved today by some late Hunter Dickinson heroics as Kansas survived TCU, 83-81.
Dickinson started off his 30-point, 11-rebound afternoon just as brightly, converting a layup and swishing a 3 on KU's first two possessions to spark a 5-0 lead. Kansas would maintain this two-possession lead throughout a majority of the first half, but Avery Anderson III converted a pair of free throws early in the second, giving TCU the lead and ensuring that an upset bid was well and truly on in Lawrence Saturday afternoon.
Neither team managed to stretch their lead beyond five in a seesawing second half, but after a Jameer Nelson Jr. pull-up gave TCU an 81-79 lead, the Frogs corralled a crucial defensive rebound and looked set for a 5-on-4 opportunity inside the final minute. However, a late whistle halted the TCU movement, and official review determined that Dickinson had drawn a Flagrant 1 foul — the Michigan transfer would sink both free throws and calmly convert from the low block, securing a narrow Jayhawk victory.
Big Bacot: North Carolina over Clemson in defensive bout
With a pair of America's top-15 offenses meeting in Clemson, surprisingly it was a stretch of suffocating defense that thrust No. 8 UNC into temporary control of the ACC, holding the home squad without a point in the final five minutes to secure a 65-55 victory.
North Carolina jumped to an early 11-6 lead, but No. 16 Clemson remedied its errant shooting with strong defense, using four first-half steals and blocks and rallying to a four-point lead late in the opening period. Cormac Ryan and Jalen Washington led a near single-handed 10-2 North Carolina run thereafter, and the game settled at 34-34 entering the locker room.
A Chauncey Wiggins 3-pointer midway through the second half — Clemson's first and only long ball in a frustrating afternoon — snapped another five-minute Tiger scoring drought and restored Clemson's lead, but Harrison Ingram immediately answered with a triple of his own, giving Carolina the lead for good. UNC's All-American center Armando Bacot took ownership for the Heels' sputtering offense down the stretch, scoring eight of his squad's final 14 points and snagging 16 rebounds on the afternoon to bolster UNC's early conference title charge.
Rock 'em: Seton Hall beats Marquette for second top-10 home win
Dre Davis' bucket proved to be the game-winner ❄️
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX)
Seton Hall gets the W over Marquette‼️ x
After a lackluster 6-4 non-conference record, Seton Hall has firmly reestablished itself with a scorching start to Big East play that continued with a 78-75 victory over No. 7 Marquette.
Seton Hall kicked off conference play with a stunning win in Newark over No. 5 UConn and later emerged victorious over No. 23 Providence at the famously hostile "Dunk," but this fine form didn't translate early Saturday as Marquette built a 23-13 lead inside the first seven minutes. This early deficit sparked the resurgence of Al-Amir Dawes, however, who wiped away his shooting woes with a tremendous first half — the Clemson transfer scored the Hall's next five and totaled 15 first-half points.
Kadary Richmond would join his backcourt mate in the spotlight just 10 miles from Broadway, combining with Dawes to score 21 of the Pirates' first 25 second-half points and force a deadlock at 64 inside the final seven minutes. But it was Dre Davis, a senior leader that has carried Seton Hall all season long, stepping up in the home stretch, notching eight points and an assist while shutting down a furious Golden Eagles push with a clutch layup inside the final nine seconds.
Tenn toes down: Volunteers rout No. 22 Ole Miss
An opportunity for Chris Beard and his undefeated Rebels to score a monumental road win quickly evolved into a showcase for Rick Barnes' newfound offensive mojo, with Tennessee matching its largest SEC scoring output since 2021 in a 90-64 win.
Ole Miss' confidence from a flawless 13-0 start crumbled quickly in the face of a raucous Rocky Top crowd and Tennessee's famously stifling defense, managing just six points in the first nine minutes while Vol center Jonas Aidoo controlled the interior — the junior big man scored eight early points as UT built a commanding 18-8 lead, ultimately finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scorers. An immediate 7-0 response from Rebel guard Jaemyn Brakefield narrowed the deficit to three and Ole Miss would show impressive early resolve, but a backbreaking triple from Jahmai Mashack at the first-half horn extended Tennessee's lead to nine.
Zakai Zeigler emerged from the locker room a man possessed, notching six points and a couplet of assists within five minutes as Tennessee quickly drubbed the visitors in a 20-point deficit. The diminutive Tennessee guard continued to dominate, totaling 17 points and 10 assists on the afternoon, and the Vols led by as much as 29 in an stress-free second half.
Lak-HIM: Cincinnati stuns No. 12 BYU for first Big 12 win
While a road trip to Provo is hardly the quintessential locale for one's first Big 12 game, Cincinnati couldn't have picked a tougher place to start its conference slate — BYU entered Saturday ranked fourth in KenPom with the famously raucous Marriott Center at full capacity. All these advantages failed to phase Cincinnati's Victor Lakhin, however, as his 12 second-half points helped erase a sizable first-half deficit and lead UC to a massive 71-60 victory.
Cincinnati's eventual offensive explosion — the Bearcats scored 47 second-half points — took time to materialize Saturday, as BYU's sixth-ranked adjusted defense limited the visitors to just five points in the opening ten minutes. A Lakhin layup thereafter snapped a seven-minute scoring drought and Cincinnati battled back to take a slim lead late in the first half, but another lengthy Bearcat dry spell helped BYU complete an 11-0 run and swell its lead as high as 10 before the break.
Wes Miller's halftime tirade was well received by his UC squad, converting on its first three possessions out of the break, and a slam from big man Aziz Bandaogo brought the Bearcats within five out of the first media timeout — Bandaogo was immense off the bench for Cincinnati Saturday with 12 points and 10 boards in just 22 minutes. And it was another star substitute that finally tipped the scales for Cincy, as Jizzle James led a near single-handed 9-0 run to give the Bearcats their first lead of the half and spark a disastrous scoring slump... for BYU this time.
BYU star Trevin Knell carried the Cougar offense on Saturday, shooting 9-14 from the perimeter for 27 points, but would convert his final shot with 12:44 remaining in the second half. The Cougars scored just nine points in the final 12 minutes of action Saturday, and after John Newman III nailed a jumper with five minutes to play, the Bearcats maintained at least a three-possession lead to ice a historic road win.
Cavern of Chaos: Utah State knocks off No. 13 Colorado State
AND-1💪
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball)
⚡️
Another buzzing Beehive State venue provided another major upset Saturday, as the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum crowd pointed to No. 13 Colorado State as the losing team, 77-72, in Utah State's first ranked regular-season win since 2019.
Darius Brown II swished the first basket of the game from range for Utah State, a short-lived advantage as CSU's Nique Clifford and Isaiah Stevens engineered a rapid-fire 12-2 response that saw the Aggies trail nearly the entire first half. USU fell behind by as much as ten, but a slam from Great Osobor filed the deficit down to two straight out of the locker room and offered a statement of intent from the Aggie star — Osobor was outstanding Saturday, leading the home squad in points (20), rebounds (10), and assists (3).
Osobor would convert a layup for USU's first lead in 20 minutes at 42-41, partnering with secondary scorer Mason Falslev to pace the Aggies in a back-and-forth second half. But it was crucial baskets from role players Issac Johnson and Josh Uduje that capped off a 10-0 Utah State run heading into the final media timeout, allowing the Aggies to ride a two-possession advantage through to a major top-15 upset.
Grim Reever: No. 6 Kentucky escapes Gainesville
Kentucky's youthful roster reaped the rewards from Coach John Calipari's infamous "Camp Cal" program this holiday season, executing beyond their years late on Saturday with seven-straight free throws to secure a hard-fought 87-85 win over Florida.
Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., who co-led Florida with 23, and Riley Kugel, who poured in 15 points off the bench, led a crucial 12-2 charge late in the first half, and the Gators surged into the locker room with a 45-37 lead. UF's surgical offense suddenly sputtered to start the second half, however, and a D.J Wagner triple restored Kentucky's lead straight out of the under-16 timeout.
Kentucky's senior leader Antonio Reeves helped his squad brave an oranged-out O'Connell Center with 11 second-half points, — Reeves also led UK in scoring on the afternoon with 19. But with the game deadlocked at 76 inside the final 90 seconds, it was Kentucky's Garden State freshman connection that stepped up as D.J Wagner found Aaron Bradshaw for a massive three. Pullin, who equaled Clayton's 23-point output, stayed hot from a strong second half with an and-one finish later on, bringing the Gators within two, but six-straight free throws from Reed Shepherd kept the Gators at arms length to escape The Swamp victorious.
