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Good morning! We had another big night of college hoops, so let’s get to it.

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1. SEC reasserts itself, holds court vs. ACC

The ACC entered Wednesday night with a chance to win its challenge vs the SEC. Then the games tipped off.

The SEC went 5-1, including a couple statement wins and a couple dramatic finishes. Final tally: SEC 9, ACC 7.

Still, that’s a marked improvement from last season when the SEC went 14-2 and the ACC endured one of its worst overall seasons in years. The ACC ranks fourth in overall NetRtg on KenPom (14.89, its highest since 2019) and has eight teams in the Top 50 of the NET. The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC all have between nine and 10 in the Top 50.

But Wednesday wasn’t its best night, which wasn’t a huge surprise. Five of the ACC’s seven games were on the road.

No. 25 Arkansas handed No. 6 Louisville its first loss of the season, 89-80. The Razorbacks (6-2) held Louisville to just 33% shooting in the first half when it opened up an 18-point lead. The Cards (7-1) cut the lead to four with 2:27 remaining in the game, but their struggles beyond the arc (8-of-37; 22%) derailed them, as did repeated defensive lapses.

Not that Louisville was alone in its struggles. No. 20 Auburn played one of its best games this season in an 83-73 win over NC State.

The Tigers (7-2) shot 59% from the field, 55% from deep and scored 1.19 points per possession. NC State (5-3) recovered from an early deficit to briefly take the lead in the first half, but never led again. Kevin Overton (career-high 29 points) and Keyshawn Hall (28 points) were terrific.

It was a result that prompted some questions about NC State’s roster blend and how it adjust going forward.

No. 17 Vanderbilt got a career-high 26 points from Tyler Tanner in a an 88-69 win over previously unbeaten SMU. The Dores (9-0) were “a little bit” lethargic, according to coach Mark Byington, which says a lot about how good they’ve been lately. They boast the nation’s second-most efficient offense (126.2 points per 100 possessions) and could enter SEC play unbeaten.

The one result that did go the ACC’s way? Virginia throttled Texas, 88-69, in Austin.

The Cavaliers (7-1) led by double digits after just seven minutes and were never tested. They led by as many as 27 points in the second half and stayed hot by shooting 54% from the field and 50% (12-of-24) from deep). Chance Mallory scored a game-high 16 points off the bench. Texas dropped to 6-3.

Other ACC/SEC Challenge results:

No. 12 Alabama 90, Clemson 84: The Tide (6-2) led by as many as 19 points before Clemson (7-2) made a run early in the second half. It briefly took a 1-point lead, but couldn’t find enough offensive consistency to pull off the road upset. Labaron Philon (29 points) was awesome for Alabama.

LSU 78, Boston College 69 (OT): The Tigers (8-0) stayed unbeaten, but it took some work. They blew an 11-point lead in the first half and needed a Dedan Thomas basket in the final 21 seconds to force OT. He finished with 23 points.

Miss State 85, Georgia Tech 73: Josh Hubbard scored 25 points as the Bulldogs (4-4) handed Tech (5-4) its third-straight loss.

2. ‘Everybody stepped up’ in Gophers’ win vs. Indiana

Indiana’s high-octane offense hit a speed bump in its Big Ten opener in the form of the Minnesota defense.

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