The NCAA hoops regular season is winding down
The GIST: The NCAA men are ending their regular season this weekend the way they started it: with anarchy. While most of the Power Five season titles have been booked, the ACC is keeping it chaotic down to the wire. And on top of all that, the women are deep in conference tourney action. How spoiled are we?
The record that wasn’t: Detroit Mercy star guard Antoine Davis came tantalizingly close but fell just three points shy of tying “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s 53-year-old NCAA career scoring record. His team lost 71–66 to Youngstown State in the Horizon League tournament last night, ending Davis’ collegiate career with 3,664 points. An unbelievable feat, record or not.
Pitt stop: Earlier this week, Pitt’s No. 25 men’s team was feeling good, like they should — the Panthers cracked the poll for the first time in seven years and controlled the ACC. Then, Notre Dame happened. Pitt was shockingly upset 88–81 by the terrible Irish on Wednesday, and now they’re stuck in a three-way tie for the title. “Yikes” is an understatement.
- It’s now do-or-die when the Panthers face No. 16 Miami tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET. Both are 14-5 in conference play, so the winner takes the crown — or at least a share of it, depending on whether No. 13 Virginia, who’s also 14-5, can beat Louisville at 2 p.m. ET.
All gas: The Big East tips off their tournament today, and the Big 12 won’t start until next Thursday, but the quarter-finals for four of the Power Five are set. We’ll be sliding into your inboxes on Sunday with everything you need to know about the championship games, but let’s dive into the early-round action now.
- Upsets are the name of the game across the conference tourneys so far. Wake Forest bagged a stunner yesterday when they returned from the grave (read: an 18-point halftime deficit) to beat Florida State 65–54 in one of the best comebacks in ACC tourney history.
- Then last night, Washington State came out of nowhere to shock No. 3 Utah 66–58 in the Pac-12, and Texas A&M completed a massive 79–72 upset of Mississippi State in the SEC. The struggle to keep up with these ladies is real.
