Seth Trimble hit the corner, game-winning three-pointer for North Carolina to beat Duke.
He’s a four-year senior who stayed his entire career at UNC.
Zuby Ejiofor was the dominant presence for St. John’s, scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 boards, dishing out 7 assists and blocking 3 shots in the Red Storm’s critical Big East win over UConn.
Ejiofor is in his third season at St. John’s after a freshman year at Kansas.
Sam Alexis scored 19 points with 7 boards in the 78-77 overtime win for Indiana over Wisconsin.
Alexis may be on his third school (Chattanooga and Florida), but he is a senior.
Otega Oweh scored 21 for Kentucky in its 74-71 comeback win over Tennessee.
Oweh is a senior, but in his second season at Kentucky after two at Oklahoma.
The greatest, most completive set of conference weekend games were all led by seniors, and in the majority, by players who have spent multiple seasons at the same school.
This is the year of the freshmen. This first-year class is a historic group of players who will dominate the NBA Draft and season-ending awards. But the seniors — the experienced players — will always find a way to be the leaders, and the winners when the games matter most.
And that’s what makes the Friday and Saturday games even more special. The veteran players will likely be the ones who make a number of the decisive plays. They may not always be the leading scorers, but look for this senior class to still have a say when the games matter most.
(Yes, looking and expecting the same in March out of seniors Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Arizona’s Jaden Bradley, Purdue’s Braden Smith, UConn’s Alex Karajan, Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson, Houston’s Emanuel Sharp, an eventually healthy Kylan Boswell of Illinois, Nebraska’s Rienk Mast, Kansas’ Melvin Council Jr. and Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler.)
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And the games that we had over the weekend proved yet again how tough it is to win on the road, but also how special this season has been.
The Carolina 13-point comeback at Duke was the latest chapter in what I think is the greatest rivalry in sports (yes, I’ve got it over Michigan-Ohio State and Auburn-Alabama football and even Red Sox-Yankees). Duke-Carolina never disappoints. Ever. And the game always matters either in the ACC standings, the NCAA Tournament bracket, or for bragging rights among two extremely proud alumni bases.
The Red Storm are back to where they were predicted — the top of the Big East with UConn in front of a raucous Madison Square Garden.
Kentucky has dealt with as much if not more injuries than any other power conference contender and continues to find a way to win. The Wildcats are now just a game out of first in the SEC.
Michigan State survived an overtime thriller to beat Illinois and is back in business with getting a triple bye at the Big Ten tournament after a recent slide. Jeremy Fears Jr. started the rehab of his image by leading the Spartans with 26 points and 15 assists.
Indiana got past Wisconsin in overtime, despite a bit of a controversial call at the end, to feel even more comfortable on the right side of the bubble. And the good news in Bloomington continues this winter.
Alabama surged past Auburn on the road behind All-American Labaron Philon Jr., who finished with 25 points, 6 assists and 5 boards
The rivalries that do play twice are hot and should continue to be even more on fire when the teams meet again.
Oh, and just to toss this one in there, Harvard is back to being relevant in the Ivy again and is headed for a showdown with Yale.
This is all good news!
Shout Outs
Meanwhile, I want to give shout outs to a number of coaches who took over jobs and have delivered thus far.
Kevin Willard, Villanova: The Wildcats are heading for a solid entrance in the NCAA Tournament. They are clearly the third-best team in the Big East and have one of the best players, regardless of class, in freshman Acaden Lewis. Willard has a Jay Wright-like program. He knows what works in the Big East and at Nova. He’s got big guards, there is a real culture in place and the Wildcats are back.
Niko Medved, Minnesota: Medved went to Minnesota, grew up around the program and worked there under Clem Haskins as a student manager. He’s got the Gophers playing hard, efficient offense and playing in front of a crowd that is all-in at the Barn. Four of their seven losses during their losing skid easily could have gone Minnesota’s way. Three of their first four Big Ten wins came against ranked teams in Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.
Will Wade, NC State: Wade had to find his way with the Wolfpack and a team that was cobbled together with plenty of portal all-stars. Well, he’s got it going now, as the Wolfpack are in the thick of a race for second place in the ACC. They should be in the NCAA Tournament and could be a threat to get to the second weekend.
Eric Olen, New Mexico: Yes, the Lobos lost late Saturday night to Boise State, but Olen has the Lobos in the thick of the Mountain West race and in position for a possible at-large bid. The Pit is alive and well and the Lobos should be the dominant team in the new Mountain West next season.
The most under appreciated coach every season is clearly — Clemson’s Brad Brownell. The Tigers continuously get overlooked and yet here they are in mid-February, tied with Duke for first place in the ACC. The Tigers reached the Elite Eight in 2024 and should be in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
The most unheralded star of the week was Joel Foxwell of Portland, who scored 27 points in a shocking upset of Gonzaga. The 6-foot-1 freshman guard from Australia was on fire in the 87-80 win. The Zags won’t be coming back to play Portland now that they’re off to the new Pac-12, so this was quite the sendoff.
Texas A&M will remember this past week as the one where it had a chance to make its mark. But the Aggies dropped games at Alabama and to Florida, falling to 7-3 in the SEC. A&M will host Missouri before going to Vanderbilt this week.
Win streaking: Keep an eye on these teams come March Madness if they can win their automatic qualifying bid.
Miami of Ohio (MAC): 24
Saint Louis (A-10): 17
Liberty (CUSA): 14
Winthrop (Big South): 10
Belmont (MVC): 9
Stephen F. Austin (Southland): 9
Santa Clara (WCC): 8
Cal Baptist (WAC): 8
Navy (Patriot): 7
Bethune-Cookman (MEAC): 7
On court storming: I’ve been swallowed up a number of times during my 30-plus years covering the sport. The worst court storms for me, in terms of being nearly overwhelmed by the fans, were Stanford over Arizona at Maples Pavilion and Clemson over North Carolina at Littlejohn. I had another one Wednesday night as Minnesota fans rushed the court after the win over Michigan State. Fans were coming to rush the court and I got caught in the middle, and as I clutched the back of my cameraman’s sweatshirt I was like a salmon up stream searching for Niko Medved to interview. What was missing in each of these instances was proper security. And that’s where Duke’s Jon Scheyer is 100-percent correct. I thoroughly enjoy the enthusiasm and love being in the euphoria of doing the interview among the chaos with the coach and/or player. The opposing players, officials and staff HAVE to be able to get off the court safely. The security has to be quick with the ropes to keep them separated. They failed miserably at North Carolina. Duke had no chance to get off the court without interacting with opposing fans. If it means having two sets of rope lines to double up the security, then so be it.. Selfishly, to do the interviews, we need just a little help so that we can deliver what the fans at home want — to hear from their coach and/or player before we get off the air. Searching for the person amid the chaos doesn’t help get it on the air.
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