College Hoops Breakdown: 2/8/22

Recapping the Busiest Saturday of the Season

By Riley Saxon

Auburn 74, Georgia 72
Auburn barely beat lowly Georgia, and while it wasn’t a huge story because of everything else that happened, the guard play off Auburn leaves a little to be desired. Guard play is the make or break factor for teams trying to win a title, so it’ll be important for Auburn to solidify moving forward.

Gonzaga 90, BYU 57
The 4-bid WCC gets less and less likely each day, and BYU’s at-large hopes may have just crumbled for good. The Zags absolutely dominated the Cougars, and the WCC is down to three potential bids: Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and San Francisco.

Arizona State 87, UCLA 84 (3 OT)
A wild Saturday was capped off with a horribly played and executed game. The Bruins had multiple chances to win the game, but in the end they could not overcome their poor end of the first half / start of the second half. The Bruins have some soul-searching to do.

Purdue 82, Michigan 76
This was a much bigger game at the start of the season, but Purdue handled business as they needed to as they kept pace with Illinois. Michigan’s at-large hopes are teetering on the brink, but they do have six-ranked teams left on their regular season schedule.

Kentucky 66, Alabama 55
Kentucky continued their hot streak, winning at Alabama. Auburn and Kentucky won’t meet until the SEC tournament, but the entire nation needs that game to happen.

Arizona 72, USC 63
USC kept it close for a while, but eventually U of A was too much for them as they swept the LA schools. USC will likely drop out of the Top 25, but they will be favored to beat UCLA this Saturday. Arizona solidified themselves as the best PAC-12 team and its best chance at the title.

Kansas 83, Baylor 59
Kansas recovered the mystique of Allen Fieldhouse and their status as Big 12 favorite. Baylor has struggled as of late, losing 2 of their last 3 and they’re 4-4 in their last eight.

Duke 87, North Carolina 67
Duke built a 31-8 lead in route to an easy victory, but at least UNC fans booed Coach K.

Wisconsin 51, Penn State 49
The score at the half was 18-13. Luckily for both teams the offenses decided to play in the second half and the teams ended with a somewhat-norma score.

Rutgers 84, Michigan State 63
Had UCLA escaped Tempe, this would have been the biggest upset of the day, as Rutgers handled the Spartans with ease.

Texas Tech 60, West Virginia 53
West Virginia jumped out to a solid lead, but Texas Tech won a tough battle. Don’t sleep on the Red Raiders.

Illinois 74, Indiana 57
Indiana hung tough through the first three-quarters of the game, but the Illini pulled away late thanks to Kofi Cockburn’s dominance and Trent Frazier’s shot making.

Texas 63, Iowa State 41
Finally, Texas scored a victory over an AP Top 25 this year. This could be the turning point for both teams: Iowa State is trending down, and Texas might be back.

The Bruin Bias
Oof!
Lose by 10 to your rival + lose to one of the worst power conference teams in triple OT + one of your players spits on fans? This is the worst weekend since the Bruins went to China four and half years ago.
Now, the Bruins have to go to Maples Pavilion to take on Stanford on Tuesday, then head across town to take on the Trojans on Saturday. This week will tell us a lot about who the Bruins really are.