With the action coming non-stop until April, it can be hard to keep track of everything going on in the college basketball world. That’s where Hoops HQ comes in. In this weekly rundown, we’ll spotlight the biggest storylines, games, performances, highlights and more from the past seven days.
When the new AP poll drops on Monday, Georgia will almost certainly be ranked for the first time since 2011. The 14-2 Bulldogs knocked off No. 6 Kentucky, 82-69, and No. 17 Oklahoma, 72-62, in Athens last week. The program hadn’t defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back games in 18 years.
In his third season at the helm, head coach Mike White has his squad in position to end a decade-long NCAA Tournament drought. “We’ve got a tough and connected group,” White tells Hoops HQ. “We’ve got an unselfish group and a bunch of guys who delight in competing and who like to work on a daily basis. We’re not coaching effort with these guys. We certainly have some room for improvement in a few areas, but night in and night out, we know our guys are going to sit down and defend and fly to the ball and compete.”
Asa Newell, the 6-foot-11 freshman forward projected as a lottery pick, has been the driving force behind the team’s turnaround. He leads the Bulldogs in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) and has been the anchor of an impressive defense. “Still waiting on him to have a bad day,” White says about Newell. “His consistency, his work ethic and his competitiveness levels are all incredibly high for a true freshman.”
All Reps and No Rest: Georgia Freshman Asa Newell Is Already Making His Mark
Newell has shined for the Bulldogs and emerged as a top prospect for the 2025 NBA draftGeorgia has excelled on the defensive end, where it has struggled immensely in recent years. The team takes advantage of its size (12th tallest roster in Division I, per KenPom) and length to contest shots and protect the rim. It held Kentucky, which has one of the best offenses in the country, to just 38 percent shooting. Then it completely shut down Oklahoma’s top two scorers, Jeremiah Fears and Jalon Moore, who went a combined 7 of 25 from the field.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Bulldogs. As a reward for their stellar week, they will face Tennessee in Knoxville on Wednesday and Auburn at home on Saturday. “Good wins for our team and our program, but it’s onto the next,” White says. “We have room for improvement and there aren’t any easy ones in this league. But we’re not giving those two back.”
The results of Georgia’s two games also reaffirmed just how difficult it is for teams to win on the road in conference play. Tennessee’s 30-point loss to Florida in Gainesville — the third largest margin of defeat for a No.1 since the AP poll began in 1948 — was further evidence of that. The atmosphere at a sell-out O’Connell Center was among the craziest that Florida sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu, who hails from Nigeria, has ever experienced. “That zeal to be there and support, it was really beautiful,” Chinyelu tells Hoops HQ. “It was really buzzing in there. The fans were so happy. They were hyped to be there. That’s something you always want to see, just people being appreciative by showing up to watch the games, by wanting to be there, by supporting. I love it. There’s nothing like just playing and seeing everybody enjoying it.” Spurred on by the crowd, Chinyelu grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, and Florida as a whole bullied Tennessee all game long.

A day later, UConn lost to Villanova at a raucous Finneran Pavilion. Down one in the final seconds, junior forward Alex Karaban had a chance to give his team the lead at the free throw line. With the fans going berserk, Karaban missed a pair for the first time in his college career. Villanova secured the win, 68-66. “I don’t think many people are going to win here,” Dan Hurley said afterwards.
UCLA got crushed by Maryland, 79-61, in College Park. Iowa State needed overtime to beat Texas Tech in Lubbock, which is one of the toughest places to play according to KenPom’s home court advantage estimates. Auburn nearly blew a big lead at Texas and had to mount a second-half comeback to win at South Carolina. Alabama squeaked by Texas A&M, 94-88, in College Station, even though the Aggies were without their leading scorer Wade Taylor IV.
There will also be a new No. 1 in this week’s AP poll: the Auburn Tigers. Tennessee, the previous No. 1, got demolished by Florida on Tuesday, while the Tigers took care of business with wins over Texas and South Carolina on the road. But the ranking is of little concern to Bruce Pearl right now. His star player, forward Johni Broome, suffered an ankle injury over the weekend. An MRI revealed no serious damage, but Broome will miss time with what Pearl called a “significant sprain.”
The fifth-year senior entered the weekend as the frontrunner for national player of the year, averaging 18.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks. Auburn has loads of weapons, but everything the team does on both ends of the floor revolves around Broome. He is the anchor of the defense and the orchestrator of the offense, having improved tremendously as a passer in Pearl’s system. “We invert our offense a lot,” Pearl told Hoops HQ in December. “We created an offense where we make our bigs come out and face and shoot and handle. And he’s just really excelled there.”
Auburn survived without Broome in Columbia, eking out a 66-63 victory by locking down on defense. The Tigers have enough talent and depth to remain a force in the SEC until their leader returns, but we’ll see how they fare this week with games against Mississippi State and Georgia.
Game of the Week: No. 25 Utah State 81, Boise State 79
Utah State’s magical season continues. Trailing by 10 with 13 minutes left, the Aggies clawed their way back in front of a wild crowd at the Spectrum. After Boise State’s Alvaro Cardenas buried a three to give his team a 79-77 lead with 15 seconds left, fifth-year guard Ian Martinez answered with a game-winning four-point play. His shot bounced on the rim six times before it dropped! The Aggies are now 16-1 and 6-0 in the Mountain West.
Upset of the Week: USC 82, No. 13 Illinois 72
Yes, Illinois was without its best player, star freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, but this was still a shocking result. The Fighting Illini were favored by 13.5 points, coming off a dominant 91-52 win over Penn State (also without Jakucionis). Musselman’s squad went into Champaign and shut down Brad Underwood’s high-powered offense. USC junior guard Desmond Claude scored a season-high 31 points on 12 of 20 shooting.
Team of the Week: Florida
Florida followed up its 30-point win against Tennessee with a 71-63 victory over Arkansas on the road. Everyone talks about Florida’s elite guards (Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin) and its explosive offense, but this team has built an identity of toughness and physicality on the interior. The Gators rank first in the country in rebounds per game, fourth in offensive rebounds per game and 16th in blocks, and they are holding opponents to just 43 percent shooting on two-point field goals. With the aforementioned Chinyelu, 6-foot-11 sophomore forward Alex Condon and 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, Florida has owned the interior.
Player of the Week: Cooper Flagg
The Cameron Crazies were bowing towards Flagg as he walked to the free throw line to put the finishing touches on a historic performance Saturday afternoon. The Duke star set an ACC freshman record with 42 points in an 86-78 victory over Notre Dame. Flagg shot 11 of 14 from the field, 4 of 6 from three and 16 of 17 from the free throw line. He also added seven assists and six rebounds. It was the first time a Duke player has scored 40-plus points in a game since JJ Redick in January of 2006.
Four days earlier, in the Blue Devils’ 76-47 beatdown of Pitt, Flagg put up 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He has knocked down nine of his last 14 attempts from behind the arc, which is bad news for the rest of the ACC.
Highlight of the Week: Cooper Flagg
What a week it was for the freshman. In addition to his 42-point masterpiece, Flagg had perhaps the highlight of the year against Pitt. The 6-foot-9 forward got a steal, drove the length of the court in three dribbles and put 7-footer Guillermo Diaz Graham on one of the craziest posters you’ll see:
Lowlight of the Week: Minnesota
There is much debate about whether you should foul up three in the closing seconds of a game (I know which side Hoops HQ Editor-in-Chief Seth Davis falls on!), but you’re definitely not supposed to foul up two. That’s exactly what Minnesota did against Ohio State on Monday night, sending guard John Mobley to the stripe with four seconds left in overtime while leading 73-71. Mobley sank both free throws and the Buckeyes got the 89-88 win in double OT.
NBA Draft Watch
- Khaman Maluach (Duke): Cooper Flagg wasn’t the only prospect on Duke to shine in Saturday’s win over Notre Dame. Maluach, a 7-foot-2 freshman center, had his second double-double of the season, posting a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. One NBA scout told Hoops HQ that if Maluach was playing with more of a true point guard, his stock would be considerably higher because of his ability to finish at the rim. Maluach is averaging 8.8 points on 79 percent shooting from the field.
- Tre Johnson (Texas): The 6-foot-6 freshman guard, who is projected as the sixth overall pick in Hoops HQ’s latest mock, was unstoppable at times facing Tennessee’s stout defense on Saturday. Johnson finished with 26 points and shot 11 of 17 from the field and 4 of 8 from three.
Best Interview Moment: Maxime Raynaud
Sorry Mick Cronin, but this one goes to the senior big man from Stanford. After helping the Cardinal get a 70-59 win over Virginia Tech with 19 points and 14 rebounds, Raynaud invited a dancing fan to join him for his postgame interview. Awesome stuff.
Five Games to Watch This Week
Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network: Mississippi State @ Auburn
Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2: Kansas @ Iowa State
Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network: Georgia @ Tennessee
Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN: Alabama @ Kentucky
Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock: Purdue @ Oregon
Additional Notes
- More injury news: Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV has missed the last two games after sustaining a lower-body injury against Texas on January 4. Buzz Williams has not yet provided a timetable for Taylor’s return. As previously mentioned, Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis sat out both of his team’s games this week due to a forearm injury. He was a game-day decision for Saturday’s matchup with USC, so expect him back in the lineup on Tuesday when the Fighting Illini take on Indiana. As Hoops HQ covered here, Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, who is dealing with another injury to his left knee, has to decide whether to return this season or apply for a medical hardship waiver and preserve his final year of eligibility.
- With Wade Taylor sidelined, Texas A&M senior guard Zhuric Phelps, a transfer from SMU, helped the Aggies get a big-time win at Oklahoma on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 34 points and hitting the go-ahead three with 19 seconds left.
- In Michigan’s blowout win over UCLA on Tuesday, which preceded Cronin’s widely discussed press conference, fifth-year center Vladislav Goldin put up 36 points (on 13 of 18 shooting) and seven rebounds.
- Texas Tech senior guard Chance McMillan is currently shooting 58 percent from the field, 49 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line. As Fran Fraschilla pointed out, McMillan is on pace to become the first college player to join the 50-40-90 club since Virginia guard Trey Murphy in 2021.
- Over his last four games, Howard freshman guard Blake Harper has been on a tear, averaging 26.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 58 percent from the field and 62 percent from three.