The Blue Devils’ tournament hopes continue to hang in the balance after dropping a critical game at home Sunday against Georgia Tech. Duke began the week on a high note, defeating Virginia Tech 66-62 in Blacksburg, Va. But the Blue Devils struggled on their home court, committing 22 turnovers and allowing the Yellow Jackets to score 21 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 64-59 defeat. With only one more game on the conference schedule—a road contest against North Carolina—Duke will need to make the most of its remaining opportunities to avoid receiving a dreaded NIT bid.
Around the country, it was another busy week in the women’s college basketball world. Third-ranked South Carolina traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., Monday and left with a 62-56 win against No. 24 Tennessee. Gamecock forward A’ja Wilson scored 25 points and had five blocks to lead South Carolina to the victory and guarantee the team at least a share of the SEC regular season championship. The Gamecocks then clinched the title outright Thursday with a 61-51 win at home against Georgia. Meanwhile, the Lady Volunteers dropped out of the AP Poll for the first time in 31 years.
No. 1 Connecticut continued its streak of dominance, beating Cincinnati and East Carolina by a combined 97 points. With the team’s win against the Pirates, the Huskies claimed at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season title.
Looking now at the Big 12, it was not a great week for No. 17 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys started the week by getting blown out 66-41 at fourth-ranked Baylor before getting upset 79-65 by an unranked Texas Christian team Saturday. No. 20 Oklahoma faired only slightly better than its in-state rival, suffering a 63-55 defeat to West Virginia on the road before rebounding in Lawrence, Kan., with a 72-66 win against Kansas.
Sixth-ranked Maryland added two more conference wins to its resume. The Terrapins came from behind to beat Michigan 76-56 Wednesday after falling behind by nine points at the half. Maryland came out Saturday and sprinted past Rutgers 73-58, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 20-8 in the second quarter. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 25 Michigan State defeated Minnesota 114-106 in a fast-paced offensive battle, and fifth-ranked Ohio State put together two quality wins against Nebraska and Illinois.
In the ACC, No. 3 Notre Dame tightened its grip on the regular season title by picking up wins against 19th-ranked Miami and Wake Forest. The Fighting Irish do not have the regular season honors locked up just yet as No. 11 Louisville remains half a game back heading into the final week of conference competition. The Cardinals picked up two conference wins this week against Boston College and Virginia as well as a non-conference victory against No. 11 South Florida to cap off a hectic week. No. 23 Syracuse also made some waves in conference play, securing the ACC’s lone upset of the week with a 83-73 win against 10th-ranked Florida State.
The Pac-12 saw a lot of game action Sunday with all 12 members hitting the hardwood. No. 15 Stanford dispatched Utah 72-54 to start the day off. Seventh-ranked Oregon State hosted No. 12 UCLA in a 9 p.m. contest to finish things off and came away with a 10-point victory to remain tied atop the conference with Arizona State at 15-1.
ACC Game to Watch: Duke at North Carolina, Sunday, Feb. 28, 3 p.m.
Rivals in Rank: No. 18 Miami at No. 10 Florida State, Sunday, Feb. 28, 3 p.m.
Upset Alert: No. 25 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2 p.m.
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