That was a bonkers hoops weekend

College basketball had its wildest Saturday of the season.

Those weren’t just overrated teams, either. Half of the top four seeds from our latest NCAA Tournament projection lost. There was a 29-game home win streak snapped, ejections from rivalry games double-digit blown leads, and a homecoming that might’ve been the biggest surprise of them all.

Let’s get into all of it.

1. Groin kicks, headbutts, massive Big 12 rallies

No league epitomized the unhinged Saturday more than the Big 12.

Take Texas Tech’s 82-81 overtime win at No. 6 Houston, which hadn’t lost a league game in 361 days.

Less than four minutes into the game, Tech forward JT Toppin — the team’s leading scorer and rebounder — was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected for kicking Houston’s Jojo Tugler in the groin. It looked questionable on the replay, but Tech coach Grant McCasland went a bit further, ranted to refs and also got ejected. (Tech AD Kirby Hocutt issued a statement of complaint after the game.)

So what did No. 22 Texas Tech do? It went right at the Cougars. Chance McMillian (23 points) beat players off the dribble, and Elijah Hawkins (17 points, 4 assists) did the same, which opened up shots on the perimeter. Tech (17-4, 8-2 in the Big 12) hit 12-of-30 from outside, scored 1.15 points per possession — the best any team’s done vs. Houston (17-4, 9-1) since Auburn — and played just enough defense to snap Houston’s 18-game league win streak.

But wait, there’s more!

Caleb Love scored 27 points in Arizona’s 81-72 win over Arizona State, but that wasn’t his most notable moment. He exchanged words with ASU’s B.J. Freeman throughout the second half and with 30 seconds remaining, both were ejected after Love argued with Freeman … and Freeman headbutted Love.

The teams skipped the postgame handshake line in an effort to avoid any further heated moments, and ASU coach Bobby Hurley made it clear that he wasn’t pleased with Love’s behavior. Might not matter much. The Wildcats (15-6, 9-1) are now tied with Houston atop the Big 12 after winning for the 11th time in the last 12 games.

Then there’s No. 3 Iowa State, which got drilled, 80-61, by Kansas State. The Cyclones (17-4, 7-3) lost their second straight game, and had a 29-game win streak snapped. The offense struggled (.87 ppp) and the defense got crushed on the boards. K-State grabbed 44% of its misses and scored 21 second-chance points.

Given they were playing at home, it was a surprising, and perhaps concerning result. (Kudos to K-State, which has won three in a row and is 10-11 overall.)

And No. 11 Kansas? Well, it led Baylor by 21 points in the first half, and by 19 at halftime. The Bears should’ve been cooked as they were playing without guards Jeremy Roach and Langston Love. And when freshman VJ Edgecombe left early in the second half, it should’ve made things even easier on Kansas.

Instead it lost 81-70. The Bears went on a 17-0 run and took the lead. Kansas responded with another run and a 10-point lead with 9:09 remaining in the game. It then got outscored 32-11, resulting in an 81-70 win probability befitting Himalayan peaks. Baylor (14-7, 6-4) scored 60 second-half points and 1.58 ppp, a staggering differential from KU, which managed just .81 ppp in the second half.

For a team that couldn’t close against Houston, nearly fumbled away a home win vs. UCF, and now at Baylor, coach Bill Self had a simple assessment afterward: “We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.”

2. Tennessee’s SEC statement, Calipari’s revenge and more

I doubt anyone enjoyed Saturday more than John Calipari, but Arkansas’ win at Kentucky wasn’t the most impressive SEC outcome. That would be Tennessee’s 64-44 win over No. 5 Florida.

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