A wild Wednesday

What a wild Wednesday! UCLA finally looked the part of a title contender against a nationally-ranked team in Maryland. Christmas came early for Louisville in the form of its first win of the season, and Mississippi State narrowly stayed unbeaten. Also, after six long years, Arizona finally heard from the IARP about their penalties for the "Pay for Play" FBI investigation.

Let's get to the news.

1. Bruins trounce Terps

A trip to College Park, Maryland, meant two things for UCLA: A road game against a nationally ranked team and the Bruins' first real test since losing to Baylor and Illinois three weeks ago.

Well, they were ready for finals week because they aced that test.

No. 16 UCLA (9-2) started hot and never relented in an 87-60 win, leading by as many as 37 in the second half against No. 20 Maryland. Guess they're ready for that move to the Big Ten.

Jaime Jaquez only scored 14 points but looked comfortable as the Bruins' number-one option. UCLA’s unsung hero Jaylen Clark led all scorers with 19 points (and also grabbed six boards, three dimes and four steals), while senior David Singleton had 18 off the bench.

UCLA appeared fresh, which coach Mick Cronin attributed to its recent easy stretch, compared to Maryland’s gauntlet of Illinois, at Wisconsin and against Tennessee. "They were in a bloodbath on Sunday," Cronin said. "We were able to play our subs most of the game against Denver on Saturday. They were in a bloodbath at Wisconsin last week, as well. I think the schedule was clearly in our favor."

The progression of UCLA's Adem Bona is another encouraging sign, as he posted 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds. The talented big man might be the key to a Final Four.

Worth noting — Willard led Seton Hall to solid starts the past three seasons before bottoming out and missing the tournament entirely. Is Maryland continuing the trend, or can we blame the three straight losses on its grueling schedule?

It's the latter. Maryland can finish top three in the Big Ten if Donta Scott and Hakim Hart can be consistent. Both can shoot close to 40 percent from deep, which would allow Jahmir Young to get some clean looks on drives to the bucket. Scott is only 3-of-19 from beyond the arc in Maryland's recent 1-3 stretch.

2. That sigh of relief? That was Louisville

Louisville entered Wednesday night as 7.5-point underdogs — at home — to Western Kentucky. That's how it goes when you're 0-9.

Well, the Cardinals can finally enjoy a well-earned win.

El Ellis scored a season-high 30 points and added 10 assists as Louisville (1-9) gave coach Kenny Payne the first win of his career.

“Love the way we played, loved the way we attacked, loved the way we finally played with toughness and energy and confidence,” Payne said. “I just told the guys this, ‘What does it smell like? What does it feel like? What does it taste like?’ Because winning one, imagine what it’s like to win 80 or 90 percent of your games. You’ve got to sacrifice your life to it.

"This hopefully is a stepping stone that they greatly needed, because they put in a lot of work. But we have to build on this game and continue the momentum going and get over the schneid. They deserve it, they worked really hard, harder than I can tell you. They’re good kids, it’s all about them.”

Perhaps the biggest difference on Wednesday was their perimeter shooting. The Cards entered the game only making 29 percent of their 3s; they hit 13-of-25 versus the Hilltoppers (8-2).

Better believe Ellis and Louisville relished this one. He told the AFTER DARK crew that he "hadn't seen my teammates that happy in a long time." Watch what happiness looks like:

Other key results from Wednesday:

Wake Forest 67, Appalachian State 66One can only imagine the rollercoaster of emotions for App State fans. Terence Harcum hit a go-ahead bucket with 14 seconds left, then watched as Wake's Cam Hildreth’s layup fell short. The game was all but over, but App State turned the ball over on the inbound. Then Andrew Carr did this.

Major win to keep Wake Forest (8-3) in at-large consideration — a loss would’ve left a pretty ugly scar on the Deacs' resume.

UCF 72, Ole Miss 61The Rebels (7-3) trailed UCF (8-2), 21-0 only eight minutes into the game. What happened? Did someone forget to tell Ole Miss the game started? Ole Miss staged a mini-rally to come within four but couldn’t get any closer. UCF’s CJ Kelly paced all scorers with 20 points.

UAB 84, South Carolina 70Sure, UAB (8-2) failed to cover the 16.5-point spread, but it controlled South Carolina (5-5) throughout. Former SEC forward KJ Buffen scored 25 and grabbed eight boards for UAB, while Jelly Walker scored 22 points. The Blazers slowly but surely continue building their NCAA Tournament resume.

Mississippi State 69, Jackson State 59Mississippi State (10-0) saw its unbeaten season flash before its eyes. Jackson State only trailed by four at the second half under-four timeout, but the Bulldogs' defense locked down in the final 3:30.

Auburn 72, Georgia State 64This was close until midway through the second half when the Tigers (9-1) finally got some breathing room. Jaylin Williams paced them with 20 points, while Wendell Green added 17.

Duquense 66, DePaul 55The Dukes have enough talent to finish top-four in the A10. Leading scorer Dae Dae Grant struggled and Tevin Brewer missed the game, but Joe Reece's 15 points helped Duquense (8-3) keep away DePaul (6-5).

Stephen F. Austin 80, Louisiana Tech 79, OTYet another dramatic game! The Bulldogs (6-4) got a Kenny Hunter layup with 11 seconds left to tie it at 68, then Cobe Williams' block on AJ Cajuste ensured OT. But Cajuste got his revenge in the extra period, scoring a tough driving layup in the final seconds, as the Lumberjacks (6-4) got the win. They'll head to the Greenville Winter Invitational this Saturday, where the Field of 68 will stream their showdown vs. Furman.

3. No sanctions for Arizona or Sean Miller

Once again, the waiting was the hardest part of an IARP decision. Not that Arizona is complaining.

The Wildcats and former coach Sean Miller avoided any serious punishment related to its Notice of Allegations from five Level I NCAA violations, stemming from an FBI sting in 2017, the Independent Accountability Process announced on Wednesday.

Miller, now the coach at Xavier, was assessed a Level I coach-control charge. The panel found no fault with him. Instead, it levied punishments on former assistants Emanuel "Book" Richardson and Mark Phelps. Phelps received a two-year show-cause penalty, while Richardson got a 10-year show-cause penalty for accepting bribes and for a lack of cooperation. He was charged in 2017 and later pled guilty in 2019 to the charges. He served three months in federal prison.

They were the focus, not Arizona or Miller. That's been the case in other recent IARP decisions involving NC State, Memphis and Louisville.

"The panel was intentional in limiting penalties to years infractions occurred and took consideration of the self-imposed penalties already levied," it said afterward.

The full decision can be found here.

Arizona's statement conveyed relief, mostly a reflection of how drawn out the five-year process has been.

Here's a list of the penalties, most of which were self-imposed:

• Postseason ban for 2020-21 (self-imposed)

• Reduction in one scholarship for the 2022-23 class (self-imposed)

• $5,000 fine, plus 1 percent of the average men's hoops budget based on the three previous years (self-imposed)

• Two-week ban on campus visits during March 2022 (self-imposed)

• Reduction in official visits by 10 percent for 2021-22 (self-imposed)

• A 15-day reduction of in-person recruiting days for 2021-22 (self-imposed), plus additional two-day reduction in recruiting days for 2022-23

• Seven-week recruiting (phone and written) bad for 2022-23

There are further censures, though. Any wins in which former player Rawle Alkins participated will now be vacated, which is 50 over a two-year period. That also includes two Pac-12 Tournament titles.

Miller was similarly relieved.

“This has been a long journey and I am glad everything is finally finished,” he said in a statement issued by Xavier. “I am excited to move forward. I’d like to thank my wife Amy and my entire family, President Hanycz and Greg Christopher for their support through the completion of this process.”

The panel determined that any vacation of wins applies if any ineligible athlete participates, regardless if the coach is not found to be at fault.

"These could not have been detected by the coach. The other actions by the second assistant did covert actions."

4. Aimaq won't play at Texas Tech after all

An injury delayed Fardaws Aimaq's debut at Texas Tech. Now it turns out he won't play for the Red Raiders at all.

A broken foot caused the 6-foot-11 center to miss the start of the season. Some reports indicated he could be ready by Jan. 1, but that was if there were no complications. And now, he's decided he just wants to play somewhere else and will enter the transfer portal.

While at Utah Valley, Aimaq lead the country in rebounding in 2020-21, and finished second behind Oscar Tshiebwe last season. The man nicknamed "Big Maple" also received WAC POY honors in 2020-21 and was first-team all-WAC last season.

Potential suitors for Aimaq include Washington, (one of Aimaq’s last five teams before picking Texas Tech), Iowa, and Notre Dame. And that's if he plays at all this season. There's a good chance he could just take a medical redshirt year.

His departure is massive for Texas Tech's front-court depth. Yes, Daniel Batcho and Kevin Obanor form a perfect tandem, but if either gets in foul trouble, that’s trouble for Tech in tough Big 12 games. Plus, Batcho is dealing with a foot injury of his own right now.

5. Don't let rivalries die

Saturday gave college hoops fans a big dose of what makes the sport so fun: Historically relevant rivalry games. Kansas and Missouri. Xavier and Cincinnati. Seton Hall and Rutgers. How much do fans love these games? Georgetown and Syracuse (combined records entering the game: 10-9) drew just shy of a million viewers for noon eastern tip off.

That shows how desperate college basketball fans are for the old school rivalries to return in college basketball.

But there's a real concern about how to sustain rivalries in the shifting college sports landscape. Kansas and Missouri hadn't played since 2012 until last season, driven in part by the Tigers' move to the SEC. Georgetown and Syracuse had a mini-hiatus during the mid 2010s.

These types of disruptions hurt the sport, as friend of the Field of 68 Kevin Sweeney wrote for SI.com:

Many would consider Duke and North Carolina as the biggest rivalry in college sports, but Sweeney's correct to wonder if the two will be in the same conference because of football's influence. It seems highly unlikely that they would let that rivalry dwindle, but who knows? After all, we're about to have UCLA and USC join the Big Ten, leaving behind decades of regional West Coast rivalries.

Don't let the great games go.

This holiday season, go green. Though ... you do have that black option for rough mornings after long nights. But even on those days, you can feel better by saving 20% off any purchase at the Field of 68's shop by using promo code "DAILY."

A must-see Moc

Thursday’s light slate ensures college hoops fans can watch Chattanooga’s Jake Stephens. The Mocs' star forward is one of the most productive front court players around — a 7-footer who’s averaging 21.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and shoots 44 percent from downtown. Chattanooga attempts 52 percent of its shots from 3-point range and Middle Tennessee struggles to defend the perimeter jumpers. MTSU wants to win using length and versatility defensively to force turnovers (taking the ball away on 24% of defensive possessions). Fun game! (7 pm ET, ESPN+)

Other games to watch (All times ET)

• Oregon State (4-6) vs. Seattle (7-1), 10:30 pm (Pac-12 Network)

• UC Irvine (7-3) at Santa Clara (9-3), 10 pm (WCC website)

Three guys, 12 teams, one prediction

We're almost through non-conference play, which means enough basketball has finally been played to give an honest Final Four prediction. Then again, how much can you trust Rob Dauster, John Fanta and Terrence Oglesby?

Probably depends on if you have the same predictions ...

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Links as you prep for winter storm warnings that could include tornados.

• Cincinnati announced a two-year extension for coach Wes Miller.

• Those waiting for Pelle Larsson's breakout might want to read this. ($)

• UMass likely won't have guard Noah Fernades for Saturday's game vs North Texas.

• UCF transfer Tony Johnson Jr is off to Manhattan.

• The UC Board of Regents approved UCLA's move to the Big Ten, but there are stipulations.

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