Kentucky and Indiana back on track?

Welcome back from another wild weekend of college hoops. Hopefully, you enjoyed the full slate.

Before we continue, we acknowledge that the games feel secondary to the news out of Alabama regarding Darius Miles, who was charged as a suspect in capital murder yesterday. Our condolences are with the family of the victim.

Let's get to the news.

1. Misery shirks company?

In case you haven't heard, the Kentucky Wildcats are mired in a down year.

Whenever a blue blood struggles, it always dominates college basketball headlines. But Kentucky's case felt different — it wasn't just the six losses, but how it lost (i.e., blowouts and head-scratchers.) Combine that with its recent history — a flop versus 15-seed St. Peter's in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and a disastrous 9-win campaign in 2021 — and fans' exasperation made sense.

Then there's Indiana, the Mercutio to Kentucky's Romeo. The Hoosiers didn't receive the same preseason hype as their old rivals, but the preseason pick to win the Big Ten did start 7-0 start, which cultivated optimism. And it was much needed. Indiana's issues extend further back than Kentucky's — it hasn't reached the Elite Eight since 1993. But unfortunately for the Hoosiers, injuries unraveled their promising beginning. Going into Saturday, they had lost five of their past seven games.

Well, the weekend brought rejuvenation for both storied programs.

Kentucky bounced back from its confounding home loss to South Carolina with a 63-56 win at Tennessee. (Floundering against No. 235 on KenPom and then toppling No. 2 on KenPom is quite the turnaround!) The victory marked the first time that an unranked Kentucky team beat an AP Top 5 team on the road. But the question remains: Will this be a one-off, or did Kentucky fix some of its central problems?

It all depends on whether John Calipari makes the necessary personnel changes.

Sahvir Wheeler's absence marked one of the game's most significant storylines. For just the fourth time this season, the senior point guard was not in the starting lineup, as a shoulder injury sidelined him. With Wheeler unable to go, CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves capitalized on their increased opportunities. Fredrick logged a season-high in minutes (37) and hit multiple 3-pointers (three) against a Power 5 opponent for the first time this season.

Reeves, meanwhile, posted his second-highest minutes total and fifth-highest usage rate; his perimeter scoring was especially helpful on a day when Cason Wallace scored zero points.

It also opened up the floor for Oscar Tshiebwe — a striking contrast to when the senior big shares the floor Wheeler. Tshiebwe’s 15 points marked the first time in three tries that he scored more than 13 against Tennessee.

The win, for the time being, has given Kentucky some hope. But to sustain the momentum, Cal needs his A-game in rotation management going forward.

Indiana’s 63-45 win over Wisconsin signaled a return to defensive form after it surrendered an average of 86.6 points in its previous three games (all losses). The Hoosiers operated as a singular unit, communicating on switches and rotations, and they made a concerted effort to challenge every Badger shot. (They held Wisconsin to .71 points per possession — a great sign after looking lethargic against Penn State's 3-point blitzkrieg on Wednesday.)

Now, Indiana still has some long-term uncertainty, even after the blowout victory. Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson remain out with injuries, and the Hoosiers just don't know what they'll get outside of the hyphenated hellraisers, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino.

After two nondescript starts, sophomore Jordan Geronimo chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds against Wisconsin. Indiana will need him to play at that level consistently, at least until Thompson returns. But Woodson acknowledged that he is still looking for others to step up.

"It's great but it can't just be Geronimo," he said after the game. "Everybody has to bring energy. I thought everybody that played tonight, they were touching the offensive man, putting heat on the basketball. We were in great position to help and recover. There were a lot of good things from a defensive standpoint that's been missing. You know, we've just got to build on this game and continue to grow."

2. Who's Kansas' biggest Big 12 threat?

With Kansas moving to 16-1 on Saturday, it's safe to say the reigning champs have successfully evaded the national title hangover. Must be nice to be a Jayhawks fan (stares into the abyss while ruminating on North Carolina's blown 16-point lead).

Anyway... The Jayhawks look primed to win another Big 12 title — which would be their 19th in the past 22 seasons. But which teams stand in the way?

We hit on Iowa State last week, but it is worth a mention again after the Cyclones took Kansas to the brink in Allen Fieldhouse. In a 62-60 loss, ISU held the Jayhawks under 1 point per possession — the first time any team has done that in Lawrence this season, and the third time in two years (ISU's done it twice).

But defense has never been the question under TJ Otzelberger. Instead, Iowa State's offensive strides could help it capture a league title. The 'Clones share the ball, ranking 31st in the country in assist rate. Freshman Tamin Lipsey shines as a table-setter, and St. Bonaventure transfer Jaron Holmes provides veteran savvy and secondary playmaking.

Of course, the guards' jobs become easier with two shooters flanking them. Caleb Grill and Gabe Kalscheur both decided they wouldn't miss shots in conference play. The former has hit 43.2 percent of his trifectas on 7.4 attempts per game, while the latter has canned 48.5 percent on 6.6 attempts — including a couple of insane ones in the Phog.

Iowa State isn't the only one putting the Big 12 on notice. TCU notched the weekend's most impressive win, clobbering Kansas State, 82-68. Maybe it's the Frogs' physicality, their unbridled aggression, or their MC Escher-type court that gets into opponents' heads — whatever the reason, teams find it exceptionally difficult to score in Fort Worth.

K-State was no exception, as TCU shut it down by challenging shots at the rim and forcing 20 turnovers. And the Frogs did a terrific job capitalizing off of the Wildcats' mistakes — it turned those turnovers into 16 points, many of which came in transition. Credit coach Jamie Dixon for unleashing Mike Miles, Damion Baugh and Emanuel Miller in the open court.

That defensive identity and transition game give TCU such a high floor — and if it finds itself in a hole, its pressure can erase deficits in a hurry.

Betting against Kansas still seems like a long shot. But looking at its next seven games (at K-State, vs. TCU, at Baylor, at Kentucky, vs. K-State, at Iowa State, vs. Texas), some losses could be on the horizon.

"That’s a joke. There’s not going to be any (easy) games,” Bill Self said after Saturday's win.

3. The mighty fall in Storrs and Tuscon

Three weeks ago, UConn and Arizona were ranked 2 and 5 in the AP poll and were a combined 26-1. Since then, they've gone 3-6. Who would've seen that coming?

Sunday was the biggest surprise yet as UConn lost at home to St. John's. The Huskies entered the contest as 14-point favorites but turned in a lackluster effort on both sides of the ball. On offense, they failed to deal with the Johnnies' pressure, and on defense, they couldn't keep them out of the paint.

Now losers of four of its past five games, these shortcomings are becoming a trend. In the four defeats, the Huskies have averaged 15.3 turnovers and been gashed by frontcourt players (Joel Soriano: 19 points, 13 rebounds, Oso Ighodaro: 19 points, O-Max Prosper: 17 points, Bryce Hopkins: 27 points, Ed Croswell: 13 points, 13 rebounds, Zach Freemantle: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists.)

Aside from a home triumph over Creighton, its fortress-like defense from the noncon has been MIA.

“To be where we were a couple weeks ago and to be where we are today, there’s just a lot of frustration,” coach Dan Hurley said after the game.

At least UConn can take solace in losing to quality opponents (for the most part.) The same cannot be said for Arizona. A week after Washington State ran them out of their own gym, the Cats traveled to Eugene and fell on the wrong end of another blowout.

For them, it's all about shooting.

But the Ducks didn't just heat up from deep in the 87-68 victory; they also dominated Arizona along the interior, shooting a season-high 71.9 percent from 2.

While this Wildcats team will never be known for their defense, they still must find a way to manufacture stops. In the halfcourt, they get caught on off-ball screens, and their drop coverage against pick-and-roll yields mixed results. They have also struggled to defend the fast break, ranking 190th in defensive effective field goal percentage in transition, per Hoop Math. (This possession against Oregon illustrates some of their issues.)

Arizona boasts one of the most entertaining styles of play — and it often leads to wins! But if it doesn't improve on defense, even a slightly off-night could bring its season to an end come March.

4. Another week in the bizarre ACC

Last Monday, we touched on the ACC and its glorious unpredictability. A week later, Clemson is still undefeated in league play (more on them later), but another surprising team has defied expectations.

NC State is just 4-3 in the ACC — but don't let that number fool you. The Wolfpack have ascended to 36 on KenPom, up 45 spots from their preseason ranking. They also sit at 22 on BartTorvik, the second-highest among ACC teams.

On Saturday, NC State exacted revenge on last month's loss to Miami, beating the Hurricanes, 83-81, in Raleigh. Terquavion Smith contributed his usual shot-making, but big man Ernest Ross was the story of the afternoon. The sophomore scored 17 points against the U, obliterating his previous career-high of eight.

His frontcourt mate DJ Burns also played a pivotal role in his shining moment. The Winthrop transfer made plays off the short roll and out of the high post, finding him for easy buckets.

The Wolfpack already flaunt an electrifying backcourt — Smith and Jarkel Joiner are late-shot-clock killers, while Casey Morsell has revived his career under coach Kevin Keatts. If Ross and Burns continue to progress, NC State can sneak into conference title contention.

Of course, to pull that off, it would have to dethrone 7-0 Clemson, which stockpiled another good win Saturday against Duke. Once again, the Tigers' frontline led the way in the 72-64 win. PJ Hall played like an all-conference big, torching the likes of Ryan Young and Dereck Lively both in the post and on the perimeter. But just as important were freshman Ian Schieffelin and sophomore Ben Middlebrooks. Schieffelin worked the hi-low with Hall, while Middlebrooks battled on the boards — and both helped limit Duke's Kyle Filipowski to just 8-of-22 from the field (36.4 percent).

It's still possible that the preseason darlings — North Carolina, Virginia and, yes, Duke — eventually surge ahead in the ACC standings. However, the once-esteemed, now-beleaguered league should take any help it can get in repairing its reputation. The rise of NC State and Clemson may do just that.

5. Other games of note

Sunday's matinee between Marquette and Xavier lived up to expectations for the nation's second- and fifth-ranked offenses. The contest showcased two squads that excel at cutting, shooting and ball movement (both assisted on greater than 64 percent of their field goals). Ultimately, though, the home team came out on top, 80-76. Jack Nunge stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 13 boards and 3 blocks, propelling Xavier to 15-3 and a sterling 7-0 Big East record. Marquette fell to 14-5 and 6-2 in conference play.

Here were the best of the rest:

Rutgers 68, Ohio State 64 (OT)Ohio State (10-7, 2-4 in Big Ten) dropped its fourth-straight game on the road in Piscataway, NJ. The Scarlet Knights (13-5, 5-2) are all alone in second place in the Big Ten and avenged its controversial loss in Columbus, holding pretty much every Buckeye (other than Brice Sensabaugh) in check.

Memphis 61, Temple 59The Tigers (13-5, 3-2 in AAC) avoided overtime and a potential disaster, thanks to Kendric Davis' game-winner as time expired. The fifth-year point guard chipped in 20 points to send Temple to 10-9 (4-2).

Oklahoma 77, West Virginia 76In a back-and-forth game, the Sooners (11-6, 2-3 in Big 12) clamped down on the Mountaineers (10-7, 0-5) down the stretch. Oklahoma forced Erik Stevenson into a contested fadeaway 3 that would've given WVU the lead, but the shot was off to the left.

Florida 73, Missouri 64Todd Golden got his first Top 25 win as the Gators' head coach, knocking off No. 20 Missouri in Gainesville. Florida (10-7, 3-2 in SEC) limited the Tigers (13-4, 2-3) to just nine assists and held them to 3-of-18 from 3.

Tulane 77, UCF 69Don't look now, but Ron Hunter has the Green Wave (12-5) and 5-1 in AAC play. Junior wing Jaylen Forbes is averaging 24.2 points across the five-game winning streak. UCF — a tournament hopeful — fell to 13-5 and 4-2 in league play.

Vanderbilt 97, Arkansas 84How about Jerry Stackhouse and the 'Dores with a double-digit home win against a Top 15 team? Vandy (9-8. 2-2 in SEC) averaged a blazing 1.41 points per possession, led by Tyrin Lawrence's 22 points. Arkansas (12-5, 1-4), meanwhile has lost three straight and desperately needs Nick Smith.

Florida Atlantic 66, North Texas 62FAU (16-1, 6-0 in C-USA) owns the nation's second-longest winning streak at 15 games, and it'll likely be ranked in the latest AP Poll later today. This win didn't come easy against the Mean Green (14-4, 5-2), who love to grind the game to a halt. But it was FAU who made the crucial defensive plays, holding North Texas without a field goal for the final 2:50.

Texas 72, Texas Tech 70It needed to rally from a double-digit deficit, but Texas (15-2, 4-1 in Big 12) got the last laugh in this contentious rivalry. Sir'Jabari Rice contributed clutch buckets and free throws to help the Longhorns to their best 17-game start since 2009-10. Texas Tech (10-7), meanwhile, is still looking for that first conference win (0-5).

Alabama 106, LSU 66Alabama (15-2, 5-0 in SEC) is really, really, really, really good. Like "best team in the country" good. Saturday marked its second-highest margin of victory in an SEC game, trailing a 94-53 win over Auburn in 2005.

Colorado State 82, UNLV 81 (OT)It's been a rough season for the Rams (10-9, 2-4 in MWC). But at least their fans got to witness Isaiah Stevens' fireworks on Saturday. The diminutive point guard hit a near-half-court shot to send the game to overtime, then knocked down the game-winner in the extra period.

New Mexico 76, San Diego State 67The Lobos (16-2, 3-2 in MWC) have now won two straight, including a rare win at No. 23 SDSU (13-4, 4-1). Jaelen House (29 points) and Jamal Mashburn Jr (22) led the way.

Howard 86, Norfolk State 84Norfolk State's (12-6, 2-1 in MEAC) 19-game home winning streak ended when Howard (9-10, 2-1) came to town on Saturday. The Bison received a balanced boost from its perimeter corps, as Steve Settle, Elijah Hawkins, Marcus Dockery and Jelani Williams all scored 13 or more points. But the game wasn't without a controversial foul call at the end.

VCU 63, Dayton 62On Friday, VCU (13-5, 4-1 in A10) pulled off an improbable comeback against Dayton (12-6, 4-1). The Flyers nursed a 4-point lead with 30 seconds left until David Shriver hit a 3 and all hell broke loose. Dayton turned the ball over on the next possession, and the Rams' Nick Kern hit the go-ahead layup.

Canisius 66, Siena 62Maybe the MAAC will be a race. The Griffins (5-12, 3-5) handed the Saints (12-6, 6-1) their first conference loss behind a combined 32 points from George Maslennikov and Tre Dinkins off the bench. It's not all bad for Siena, though. Iona is 5-2 in the MAAC after a 70-67 home loss to Rider.

Samford 75, Chattanooga 74Bubba Parham's two free throws with four seconds remaining kept the Bulldogs (12-7, 6-0 in Southern) unbeaten in conference play and all along atop the standings. Logan Dye's 23 points led Samford, while Jake Stephens led the Mocs (11-8, 3-3) with 19 points.

Seattle U 85, Utah Valley 80The Redhawks (14-4, 6-0 in WAC) snapped the Wolverines' 11-game win streak behind Cameron Tyson (20 points) and Riley Grigsby (19). Seattle U now leads Utah Valley, Southern Utah and Stephen F. Austin in the league standings.

Team of the week: Alabama Crimson Tide

When you 40-piece a conference foe, you get to be the team of the week. Those are the rules. And Alabama's demolition of LSU wasn't its only impressive win! It also thumped Arkansas by 15 in Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday. Brandon Miller continues to shine.

Player of the week: Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy

On Saturday, Davis became the NCAA's all-time leader in made 3-pointers with 510. The accomplishment came on an afternoon when he also hit a career-best 11 triples in a single game.

Weekend warrior: Drew Pember, UNC Asheville

Asheville sits at the top of the Big South standings at 5-1 after a hard-fought overtime victory at Gardner-Webb this weekend. Pember controlled the game on both ends of the floor — the senior big posted an otherwordly 22-point, 16-rebound, 4-assist, 5-block stat line.

An MLK Day Matchup

Tonight, Howard hosts its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Classic, welcoming D-II Morehouse College to D.C. Both schools are among the oldest and most esteemed HBCUs in the country. Howard coach Kenny Blakeney, coaching in his third MLK Classic, had this to say about the event: "It's an honor to play on the MLK Day. Among some of the things he stood for were perseverance, resiliency and pride. some of the same ingredients that are critical at succeeding in the classroom and in life. This is a special game and we're fortunate to be on national television. It's also critical to understand the sacrifices he made for our country." The university's website has more info about the game and the service project the team partook in last night. (7 pm, FS1)

Other games to watch (All times ET)

• Purdue (16-1, 5-1 in Big Ten) at Michigan State (12-5, 4-2), 2:30 pm (FOX)

• FAU (16-1, 6-0 in C-USA) at Western Kentucky (11-6, 3-3), 7 pm (ESPNU)

• Syracuse (12-6, 5-2 in ACC) at Miami (14-3, 5-2), 7 pm (ACCN)

No drama, just victories

UCLA's won 13 in a row, features one of the game's most balanced lineups and has a rapidly improving freshman in big man Adem Bona. It's past time people considered them a title contender (though a swing this week through the state of Arizona will be quite the test). Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman discuss what's working for the Bruins.

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Links to click as you thank God you're not a Chargers fan

• In the recruiting world, 5-star forward Airious "Ace" Bailey (2024) committed to Rutgers. And Vasean Allette, a top-150 guard in 2023, chose Old Dominion.

• 2024's No. 2 player Ian Jackson will announce his college decision today at 3 pm.

• Former Villanova guard Angelo Brizzi is heading to Davidson. I'm sure no one will compare him to Foster Loyer.

• We're not so good at predicting things — eleven AP Top 25 teams lost on Saturday, tying a record.

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