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College Basketball Tuesday: Winners and Losers from a Wild Night

channels4_profileby: Field of 68 Staff02/11/26TheFieldOf68

We had overtime games, crazy finishes and much more on a wild Tuesday night of college basketball.

Here’s the Field of 68’s winners and losers from the action:

WINNERS

UNDERDOG BIG TEN ROAD TEAMS — It was an electric night in the Big Ten with two games decided in overtime. Oddly enough, the lower ranked road team won both games.

Starting with Purdue’s 80-77 win over No. 7 Nebraska, the Boilermakers were up by 22 points early in the second half before Nebraska stormed back to send the game to overtime. Even in the final frame, Nebraska had a chance to tie with under five seconds left, but Jamarques Lawrence slipped and fell, effectively ending the game. Purdue (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten) had 21 offensive rebounds to six for Nebraska (21-3, 10-3), which was the difference.

“That’s the game,” Fred Hoiberg said. “When you have 20 more offensive rebounds, kind of amazing it’s a possession game, right?” Matt Painter added.

The other upset came an hour or so later as Wisconsin defeated No. 8 Illinois in Champaign, 92-90, thanks to a combined 49 points from guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell. On a night where Illini fans celebrated Jake Davis’ hair, it was Greg Gard who had the last laugh.

Wisconsin (17-7, 9-4) has now notched its second top 10 road win of the season, joining Illinois as the only schools with two such wins this season. The Badgers also have seven top 10 road wins during the Gard era, tied for most in the country.

JAI LUCAS — In his first season as Miami’s head coach, Lucas has the Hurricanes (19-5, 8-3 ACC) in position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. A 75-66 home win over No. 11 North Carolina on Tuesday will only help Miami’s case.

The Hurricanes beat the Tar Heels to every 50-50 ball while leading the rebounding battle 41-35 and points in the paint battle 46-28. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar didn’t have their usual nights, combining for just 23 points and 12 rebounds, and that was the difference. Miami’s frontcourt pairing of Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh combined for 31 points and 20 rebounds.

ROB WRIGHT — This past offseason, Wright left the Baylor program for BYU, much to the dismay of Baylor coach Scott Drew, who claims the two parties had reached a contract agreement. Nevertheless, Wright became a Cougar, and he made his return to Waco on Tuesday as the enemy.

The fans boo’d loudly and called him a traitor. But Wright didn’t let it phase him. Instead, he poured in a career-high 30 points to go with four assists and four steals, and his play helped BYU (18-6, 6-5) snap its four game losing streak and beat Baylor in Waco, 99-94. Wright’s running mate, freshman wing AJ Dybantsa, was also sensational with 36 points.

TCU — When we get to Selection Sunday, Jamie Dixon’s Horned Frogs might have the wackiest resume of any bubble team. And it got even weirder, although positively, with TCU’s 62-55 home win over No. 5 Iowa State on Tuesday.

Here’s a look at TCU’s resume:

  • Marquee wins over Iowa State, Florida, Wisconsin.
  • Loss to New Orleans (sub-200 on Kenpom) on opening night.
  • Losses to Notre Dame, Utah and then Colorado by 26 points.
  • Led Kansas by 15 points in Allen Fieldhouse with under five minutes to go, but lost in OT.
  • Close losses to Michigan, Houston and BYU.

It’s impossible to make sense of TCU (15-9, 5-6), but a win over the Cyclones will definitely help its NCAA Tournament hopes, and the Frogs have a chance to stack some wins with only two top-50 Kenpom left on the schedule in UCF and Texas Tech.

VANDERBILT — It’s not easy to win in the jungle, but Vanderbilt (20-4, 7-4 SEC) took it to the Tigers to emerge victorious, 84-76, on Tuesday night. Sophomore guard Tyler Tanner was great as usual with 25 points and six assists, but it was Jalen Washington who really stepped up for the Commodores with 22 points. Mark Byington was pleased with his frontcourt postgame and also mentioned that Vandy continues to evolve.

“We got to reinvent ourself,” he said. “We looked a certain way in December. We looked a certain way in January the first couple weeks. And now right now. We’re still fighting.” 

EMANUEL SHARP — The headlines all season long have been about freshman point guard Kingston Flemings and freshman big man Chris Cenac, but senior guard Emanuel Sharp reminded everyone on Tuesday that he can still take over games. Sharp finished with 27 points including eight triples to lead the Cougars to a 66-52 win at Utah. He was the only Cougar (22-2, 10-1) in double-figures and now has the most 3-pointers in Houston basketball history.

TREVON BRAZILE — The Arkansas forward was flying all over the court in the Razorbacks’ dominant 91-62 win at LSU, tallying 14 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and four steals. When Brazile plays like that? Head coach John Calipari said “it makes us different.”

MICHIGAN — Nebraska and Illinois falling was very beneficial to Michigan’s quest for a Big Ten regular season title. The Wolverines still play at Purdue, Illinois and Iowa and UCLA and Michigan State at home. It’s a tough schedule, but it also means Michigan controls its own destiny.

LOSERS

IOWA STATE — The Cyclones (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) have taken themselves out of the top tier of the Big 12 race and need a home win over a hot Kansas team on Saturday to keep pace for a first round tournament bye.

AUBURN — The Tigers (14-10, 5-6 SEC) are a bad loss away from being on the bubble.

OKLAHOMA STATE — After a home win over BYU, Oklahoma State (16-8, 4-7 Big 12) really helped its tournament resume, but falling to Arizona State 85-76 isn’t an ideal result.

NORTH CAROLINA — As Tyler Hansbrough mentioned on After Dark, it’s been one step forward, two steps back for North Carolina (19-5, 7-4 ACC) this season.

MORE NOTABLE SCORES

TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

  • AJ Dybantsa (BYU): 36 pts, 5 rebs, 7 ast, 1 stl, 14/20 FG
  • Rob Wright (BYU): 30 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 4 stls, 12/21 FG
  • Darius Acuff (Arkansas): 28 pts, 2 rebs, 5 ast, 13/22 FG
  • Emanuel Sharp (Houston): 27 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 9/17 FG, 8/13 3FG
  • Nick Boyd (Wisconsin): 25 pts, 2 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls, 10/19 FG
  • Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt): 25 pts, 4 rebs, 6 ast, 2 stls, 6/16 FG, 12/13 FTs
  • Keaton Wagler (Illinois): 34 pts, 1 rebs, 7 ast, 12/23 FG, 5/10 3FG
  • Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor): 37 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast, 12/19 FG, 5/8 3FG
  • Jaron Pierre Jr. (SMU): 22 pts, 8 rebs, 6 ast, 8/15 FG, 3/8 3FG
  • Tyler Perkins (Villanova): 22 pts, 8 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stls, 5/9 3FG

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