Game of the year?

Good morning! What a Wednesday night of hoops. Hope all those NBA fans were watching.

Let's get to it.

1. Acuff drops 49, but Bama still beats Arkansas

It took double-overtime to finally crown a winner in Tuscaloosa, and even as the final horn sounded the game was still in question. But ultimately it was No. 25 Alabama who walked away with a 117-115 win over No. 20 Arkansas on Wednesday.

Darius Acuff’s clutch triple in regulation sent the game to overtime, and the freshman tallied an Arkansas freshman record 49 points to continue his SEC POTY campaign. It’s the most points ever by a freshman against an AP Top 25 opponent, and the most by any freshman since 1990.

But Labaron Philon (35 points) and Aiden Sherrell (26 points, 13 rebounds) were sensational as well and were the catalysts of a 17-2 second half run to get back in the game.

And yes, it’s a rarity to score 115 points with less than 10 turnovers and still lose.

Alabama was down as much as 14 points in the second half but ended up shooting 76% in the final frame to complete the comeback. The Tide (19-7, 9-4 SEC) have now won five in a row and look like they may be starting to turn a corner post-Charles Bediako.

As for Arkansas, it was an incredible effort. The Razorbacks (19-7, 9-4) just didn’t come out on top.

“We make more threes than they make, we make more field goals than they make, we only have seven turnovers, they outrebound us by a few and we have six blocks and they have one, and you get beat,” John Calipari said postgame as he slightly tapped the table in frustration.

Both teams return to action on Saturday: Arkansas hosts Missouri, while Alabama travels to LSU.

2. How concerning is UConn’s loss to Creighton?

The best way to contextualize No. 5 UConn and its 91-84 home loss to Creighton on Wednesday? The Jays had been the Big East’s worst team since Jan. 1.

Alex Karaban and Solo Ball combined for just 10 points. Josh Dix (21 points), Nik Graves (18 points) and Fedor Zugic (14 points) all scored season-highs, and UConn simply couldn’t guard Creighton (14-13, 8-8) off the bounce.

The common denominator when UConn’s struggled this season has been defense. Creighton got consistent paint touches, which means UConn may be in trouble against more stringent competition in March. Coach Dan Hurley echoed those remarks and started subbing out players based off missed assignments.

“Creighton just went at us from a 1-on-1 standpoint for a team that really shares the ball,” Hurley said. “They were targeting our guys that can’t guard. If we can’t fix that, obviously we’ll have issues moving forward.”

As far as NCAA Tournament implications? This could knock UConn (24-3, 14-2) off the one-line. It’s still No. 3 in WAB and SOR (strength of record), but it’s overall metrics (No. 13 KenPom, No. 9 Torvik, No. 10 in NET) aren’t great.

But Hurley is probably more worried about his defense right now than NCAA tournament seeding, and the Huskies have fallen a game behind St. John’s in the Big East standings.

3. Darryn Peterson saga continues + more scores

At one point in Kansas’ 81-69 win at Oklahoma State, Darryn Peterson was outscoring the Cowboys (16-10, 4-9 Big 12) by himself, 20-16. It was another jaw-dropping first half, but as the story has been most of the year, he was unable to stay on the court.

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