College Hoops: Monday Top 25 Results

No. 11 Texas 72, No. 3 Kansas 69. –UPSET–

One of those games that wasn’t all that surprising—you could really sense that Texas was due for a win like this.

I believe that the loss doesn’t hurt Kansas in terms of seeding, but only helps UT to ensure themselves an, at worst, five seed come March. To me, Texas is on a collision course with a three seed, though.

I think Damion James’ two made free throws (he’s barely above 50 percent for the season) is what lifted the Longhorns to the win. If you missed it, you missed some high-octane, balanced basketball that you’d never see in a place like the Big Ten.

No. 8 Georgetown 55, Villanova 53.

Sean McDonough was dead on when he called the ending to this game a travesty (that’s a paraphrase). I think we all wanted an encore for this one. And no, the photo to the right isn’t the final play of the game, but it served as an omen. I’m also sure there’ll be plenty of ESPN pub today with this call (February is the slowest media month behind July). But forget the call, let’s look deeper.

The game was exactly the type in which Villanova wanted to play, yet G’Town gets the win on the road. Few teams can morph into their opponent’s game like the Hoyas can.

The Wildcats should’ve put together some sort of run (which they haven’t been able to do in the past three weeks) and put the game away. But no, there’s a bad foul call before overtime, then Jonathan Wallace drains to freebies and Georgetown escapes yet another game this year.

Villanova may not be able to climb back from how far they’ve fallen.

No. 25 Saint Mary’s 54, Santa Clara 50.

I thought that the Gaels would take care of business here, but like any good band would do (sticking with this theme, I guess) they acquiesced to play a style out of their own genre.

All it took was a 12-foot fadeaway from Santa Clara to tie this one, but ’twas not to be.

Question: How will Saint Mary’s be rewarded if Drake (whose only loss came to SMC) enters the tournament with only, say, two losses? Anything less than an eight seed would probably be a crime.

Notable

Nevada 85, Utah State 80. After this loss, the Aggies are not likely to be written on the selection committee’s set list for March.