Luis finished with a game-high 21 points and also grabbed seven rebounds for St. John's. Richmond scored all 12 of his points after halftime and added six rebounds and six assists as the Red Storm (21-3, 12-1 Big East) won their 10th straight game.

Zuby Ejiofor and Simeon Wilcher each had 11 points to help St. John's snap its four-game losing streak to UConn.

Liam McNeeley, who missed the previous eight games with an ankle injury, had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies (16-7, 8-4). Tarris Reed Jr. paired 12 points with 15 rebounds and Solo Ball added 13 points as UConn had its two-game winning streak snapped.

The Huskies committed 22 turnovers one game after racking up a season-high 25 giveaways in last Saturday's win over then-No. 9 Marquette.

UConn cut an eight-point deficit to 64-62 on a pair of free throws by McNeeley with 39 seconds left. Ball blocked Wilcher's shot with 13 seconds to go, but the ball went out of bounds and Luis drained a jumper off the inbounds pass to give the visitors a four-point cushion.

McNeeley missed a layup at the other end, and Ejiofor hit two free throws to seal the win for the Red Storm.

Ball scored 11 quick points and Jaylin Stewart added eight to help the Huskies build a 26-12 lead at the 11:38 mark of the first half. St. John's surged back with a 25-9 run that gave the Red Storm a two-point lead at the break.

Wilcher and Luis had seven points apiece during the charge, which ended with Ejiofor converting a traditional three-point play with 58 seconds left to put St. John's ahead 37-35. UConn was 3-of-15 from the field with seven turnovers during the Red Storm's run.

The Huskies scored the first five points of the second half.

St. John's pulled even at 42-42 on a pair of free throws by Richmond before missing 11 straight shots and committing three turnovers during a seven-plus minute stretch. But UConn failed to seize control during the Red Storm's drought, managing just six points.

Luis hit a jumper with 10:54 left to end St. John's dry spell and pull the Red Storm within 48-44.

St. John's soon took control with a 12-0 run, which featured eight points from Richmond, to go ahead 60-52 with 3:11 to play.

In response, Northwestern went out and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-75 Big Ten Conference victory against visiting Southern California on Tuesday.

The Wildcats (13-10, 4-8 Big Ten) will aim to build on that victory on Saturday when they travel to Seattle to meet Washington (11-11, 2-9).

"I love that kid. Not seeing him be able to get out there just sucks, but we're gonna play our butts off for him," Collins said of Barnhizer, who was also among the Big Ten's leaders in assists (4.2) and steals (2.3) per game.

"He's had an unfair year. He had set everything up to have this be the best year yet and to lead this program and to take us to new heights, and to just have the injuries just derail that, it's unfair," Collins said. "But it's part of life, and he's going to be stronger for it."

Forward Nick Martinelli made up for Barnhizer's absence on Tuesday with 27 points and 13 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive glass. He also made the winning shot with 2.6 seconds remaining.

Martinelli averages a team-best 19.7 points per game, while guard Jalen Leach chips in 14.3.

The Huskies snapped a six-game skid with a 71-68 victory at Minnesota on Feb. 1 and seemed in position to make it two wins in a row when they built a 10-point halftime lead against visiting Nebraska on Wednesday.

But that possibility washed away as the Cornhuskers outscored the hosts by 24 points after halftime to post an 86-72 win.

"Tale of two halves," first-year Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. "We didn't come out with energy (in the second half) for whatever reason. That's what we challenged them at halftime. Forty minutes of energy. ... It wasn't there in that second half."

The Huskies made 10 of their first 12 field-goal attempts, including seven 3-pointers in that span, to take a 13-point lead midway through the opening half.

And then ...

"We got hit and we didn't hit back," Washington guard Mekhi Mason said.

Mason provided plenty of fight for the Huskies, though. He matched his season high with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

The Big Ten Conference-leading Boilermakers (19-5, 11-2 Big Ten) overwhelmed the Trojans in the interior, establishing dominance of the lane early to take a double-digit-point lead less than seven minutes into the contest.

Purdue pulled ahead 21-10, with 18 of its points coming from inside. The Boilermakers outscored USC in the paint for the night 52-36 and nearly notched as many points in the key by halftime with 32 as the Trojans had in total with 36.

Kaufman-Renn set the tone, shooting 7 of 9 from the floor in the first half for 14 points. He finished 8 of 12. Combining with Caleb Furst, who grabbed another 10 rebounds, Kaufman-Renn helped Purdue post a 48-31 advantage on the glass.

The Boilers capitalized on poor shooting from USC, which went 4 of 26 from 3-point range. Clark Slajchert, who went for a season-high 24 points on Tuesday at Northwestern, shot 0 for 6 from 3-point range on Friday and 2 of 10 from the floor overall en route to seven points.

USC (13-10, 5-7) was without Desmond Claude for the second time in as many games after its leading scorer sustained a knee injury in the Trojans' Feb. 1 win over then-No. 7 Michigan State.

Wesley Yates III picked up the scoring slack with a career-high 30 points. Isaiah Elohim added 11 and Jalen Shelley finished with 10 and a team-high six rebounds in the loss, which dropped USC to 0-2 on its Midwestern road swing after a defeat in the closing seconds at Northwestern.

Purdue, meanwhile, picked up its fourth consecutive victory and 11th in the last 12 games to maintain its pace in the Big Ten. Eight Boilermakers scored at least seven points, including Fletcher Loyer with 14.

Smith, who finished with nine points, had his highest assist total since distributing 14 vs. Nebraska on Jan. 12.

News broke Thursday that the sides had begun to discuss parting ways as Woodson winds down his fourth season on the job.

"During a meeting with Coach Woodson on Wednesday, he informed me he wanted to step down as our program's head coach at the end of the current season," Dolson wrote. "He said it had been weighing on his mind for a while, and that it was an emotional and difficult decision. We have had subsequent thoughtful conversations about his decision and his desire to ensure that the program is in the best position it can be moving forward.

"At an appropriate time, Coach Woodson will articulate his feelings about his decision and his experiences these last four years."

That time figures to be Saturday after the Hoosiers host No. 24 Michigan, which is coached by Indiana alum Dusty May.

"It's clear to me from our discussions in the last several days that his No. 1 priority is for the attention to be off him, and instead focused on uniting Hoosier Nation in support of our student-athletes, coaches, and, most importantly, the program," Dolson said. "We still have much to play for this season as we prepare for Saturday's game against Michigan and the remainder of the 2024-25 season, and we want to encourage Hoosier fans to rally around the program and support it in the same positive way that Hoosier fans did during Mike's All-America and Big Ten MVP playing career."

Woodson played for Bobby Knight at Indiana from 1976-80 and ranks sixth on the school's career points list with 2,061. He averaged 19.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 104 games.

Indiana is 14-9 (5-7 Big Ten) and not out of the running for the NCAA Tournament yet, but the Hoosiers have been in a downward spiral with a 1-6 record in their past seven games.

Woodson owns a 77-49 record in three-plus seasons with Indiana. He guided the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons and won a game in both bids.

Dolson went on to call Woodson a "class act" who helped Indiana evolve in the changing college sports landscape.

"No one loves IU Basketball more than he does," Dolson said. "I want to thank him for coming back to Bloomington and accepting the challenge of rebuilding our program and re-connecting it with its past and its foundation."

Both teams last played on Wednesday. NC State (9-13, 2-9) dropped a seventh straight when beaten 74-62 at Cal, while Stanford (15-8, 7-5) took visiting Wake Forest to the wire before falling 79-73.

The programs haven't seen each other since a home-and-home series in 2011 and 2012. Each won tight games at home, with the Wolfpack prevailing in the most recent head-to-head, 88-79 in December 2012.

A surprise national semifinalist a year ago, NC State hasn't won a true road game all season, going 0-6, including 0-5 in ACC play. The Wolfpack's overall seven-game skid equals their longest since a nine-gamer in 2008.

Marcus Hill paced the visitors with 20 points in their loss to Cal, but no one else contributed more than nine.

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts could find himself calling upon freshmen Trey Parker and Paul McNeil more after they combined for 12 of their 19 bench points in just a combined 18 minutes at Cal, making five of their nine shots.

"I love the way they are showing up every day," Keatts said of Parker and McNeil. "Showing up early, working, staying late, getting better -- they are catching up, and it's showing on the floor."

Stanford has lost consecutive games to two of the top teams in the conference -- SMU on the road and Wake Forest at home. The Cardinal will be looking at the other end of the conference standings when NC State visits.

The Cardinal faced Wake Forest without two key players -- guards Benny Gealer and Jaylen Blakes -- and could find themselves counting upon continued production from starter Ryan Agarwal and reserve Chisom Okpara, who put up 12 and 14 points, respectively, in the loss.

It helped keep the Cardinal competitive on a night when star Maxime Raynaud struggled from the field, missing six of his seven 3-point attempts and shooting just 4-for-11 overall.

"These are guys that haven't played almost at all this year that either started or played significant minutes," Raynaud said of Agarwal and Okpara. "I think you really have to tip your hat to them. If a guy is not here, then a guy is not here. It's just next man up."

The Cougars (15-7, 6-5 Big 12) had their four-game winning streak snapped when they lost 85-74 against No. 20 Arizona on Wednesday.

The Bearcats (13-9, 3-8) ended a four-game skid with a 93-83 win at UCF on Wednesday.

Egor Demin led BYU with 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting. He's the Cougars' second-leading scorer at 11.0 points per game, behind Richie Saunders (15.1). Demin is a projected lottery pick in many mock drafts, and BYU coach Kevin Young wants the freshman from Russia to continue to attack on offense.

"We've talked to him about being more aggressive for sure," Young said. "I thought he forced a couple of the 3-pointers, we strive on being able to get the ball into the paint and spray it out. We call it ‘paint the grate.' He forced a couple off the dribble, but we like him being aggressive. He's at his best getting downhill and getting to the rim."

The attacking mentality rubbed off on Dallin Hall, who scored 11 points and dished out six assists off the bench. The junior adds 6.2 points per game but played with an edge Young wants to see more frequently.

"I thought he was incredible," Young said. "That's the Dallin we want. He's been a little reserved -- for lack of a better term -- during parts of the season. I love seeing that out of him. If we can bottle that up and pull that out of him that will pay huge dividends for us."

Cincinnati guard Day Day Thomas recorded season highs with 20 points and six assists against UCF. He was well above his 7.8 points per game average.

"It's been a tough stretch for us the last month and a tough first half of the league," Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. "We haven't had nights where we've put it all together and have a bunch of guys play like we expect them to play and play like they expect themselves to play."

Simas Lukosius leads the Bearcats in scoring at 11.8 ppg. Dillon Mitchell adds 10.7 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contest, Jizzle James averages 10.5 points and 3.9 assists and Dan Skillings Jr. contributes 10.3 ppg.

Coach Pat Kelsey told reporters Friday that point guard Chucky Hepburn is day-to-day with a groin injury he suffered in Wednesday's victory at Boston College.

A senior who played his first three years at Wisconsin, Hepburn leads Louisville (17-6, 10-2 ACC) in scoring (15 points per game) and assists (6.2 per game). He also tops the ACC with 2.3 steals per game and ranks in the top 20 nationally in assists and steals.

Hepburn left the Boston College game less than five minutes into the second half after his layup gave Louisville a 48-39 lead. His absence was not an issue, as the Cardinals won 84-58 with Terrence Edwards Jr. (19 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and J'Vonne Hadley (22 points on 8-of-12 shooting) picking up the slack.

Edwards was the Sun Belt Player of the Year last season for James Madison.

"We have two point guards on the floor all the time," Kelsey said Friday. "Terrence can play on the ball, off the ball. He did a great job stepping up for us and leading us on the floor like all really good point guards do."

The Hurricanes (5-17, 1-10) had the week off after ending a 10-game losing streak last Saturday with a 63-57 home victory over Notre Dame. It was Miami's second win in its last 19 games.

Not having played since Saturday should help the Hurricanes against Louisville, interim coach Bill Courtney said earlier this week.

"Because we won, I think our guys will have a lot of confidence, a lot of energy and practice the next few days," he explained. "It gives us a chance to really prepare for our next opponent."

Matthew Cleveland led the Hurricanes with 21 points in the win over the Fighting Irish. He's been one of the ACC's best scorers since Duke held him to two points on Jan. 14. In his last five games, the senior guard has averaged 26.4 ppg and shot 56.1 percent.

Miami, though, will still be without Nijel Pack, who has missed the last two months with a right ankle injury. Courtney said the senior guard is no longer wearing a boot but will not be able to play at Louisville.

But once the calendar flipped, so did the Yellow Jackets, who pulled off upsets of then-No. 21 Louisville and Clemson.

Next up for Georgia Tech (11-12, 5-7) is a road date at Virginia (11-12, 4-8) on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., where the Cavaliers will raise a banner at halftime to honor former coach Tony Bennett, who stepped down in the preseason.

Last week, Georgia Tech snapped the 10-game winning streak of Louisville, 77-70. Three days later, the Yellow Jackets outlasted Clemson in triple overtime, 89-86, ending the Tigers' six-game run.

The surge has come despite foot/ankle injuries to three rotation players, including Kowacie Reeves, who had started 38 straight games for Georgia Tech before he went down in November.

The injuries have robbed the Yellow Jackets of their depth as they used just six players to beat Louisville. Against Clemson, four players were on the floor for at least 49 minutes.

"Injuries aside, we've got five or six players, seven players that I feel like can play with anybody," Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said.

Naithan George totaled 43 points and 16 assists in the two victories. Baye Ndongo delivered 30 points and 24 rebounds while Lance Terry supplied 35 points.

Also entering Saturday on an uptick is Virginia, which notched its best ACC victory this year, 73-57 at Pitt, as Dai Dai Ames scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting.

"He got really good looks," Virginia interim coach Ron Sanchez said. "He finished at the rim well but he also shared the ball."

The Cavaliers have shown progression lately. After a five-game skid in January, Virginia has won three of its last five fueled by outside shooting.

The Cavaliers have made 50 of 112 shots (44.6 percent) from deep in the last five games, behind Isaac McKneely (20 of 46), Taine Murray (8 of 11) and Andrew Rohde (8 of 15).

Playing point guard for the first time in his career, Rohde also has emerged as a ball-handling force, dealing 24 assists while committing just one turnover during the Cavaliers' run.

Virginia, which has won 12 straight times against Georgia Tech and beaten the Yellow Jackets 10 consecutive times in Charlottesville, leads the series 49-40.

The Mountaineers (14-8, 5-6 Big 12) enter this contest after having lost 65-60 at TCU on Wednesday. It was the sixth loss in nine games for West Virginia.

The Utes (13-9, 5-6) come in on a positive note, having withstood a Colorado rally to earn a 72-59 win at home on Wednesday. Utah had lost three of its previous four games.

Gabe Madsen finished with 17 points and made some key buckets in the final stretch when the Utes turned a close game into a double-digit blowout win with a late 20-9 run.

Utah left a lot of points on the floor, however, after only connecting on 18 of 35 free throws.

"It wasn't the prettiest of games," Madsen said. "But it was good to finish a game like that."

"It's a good win for us," Utah coach Craig Smith added. "It's a game we needed to win."

The Utes have now won two of three as they show signs of coming out of their midseason funk and push toward a postseason tournament invitation.

West Virginia fought out of an 11-point deficit to make things competitive against TCU but ended up falling short. They found out earlier in the week that second-leading scorer Tucker DeVries will miss the rest of the season to undergo shoulder surgery.

"We play with the guys we've got," said West Virginia coach Darian DeVries, who is also Tucker's father. "That's just part of it. Guys are out there competing and that's what we roll with."

The Mountaineers did pick up a nice road win at Cincinnati on Sunday and are still in the mix for a possible NCAA Tournament invitation if they can get things going in the right direction in the second half of conference play.

They'll continue to rely on guys like Javon Small, who had 20 points and seven assists against TCU. Reserves Joseph Yesufu (11 points) and Eduardo Andre (10 points) also had solid contributions in the loss.

"The league's terrific like everybody knows," Darian DeVries said. "It's a very tough, competitive league. Every night's a battle."

The Demon Deacons (17-6, 9-3) became the first ACC team to win a conference game at Stanford when they rode Cameron Hildreth's 22 points and a strong defensive effort on Cardinal star Maxime Raynaud to a 79-73 triumph Wednesday night.

On the other side of the San Francisco Bay, Cal (12-11, 5-7) welcomed back star Andrej Stojakovic from a hip injury in a 74-62 victory over North Carolina State.

The Golden Bears already have lost three ACC games at home -- to Stanford, Virginia Tech and Syracuse.

Cal responded to a players-only meeting with one of its best team efforts of the season in the win over NC State. The Golden Bears totaled 16 assists on 27 baskets against the Wolfpack after having had just four on 18 buckets in their previous game against Syracuse.

"It went from a famine to a feast," Cal coach Mark Madsen said. "There was a lot of emotion behind that because after the Syracuse game, our guys were upset (and) the staff was upset because the ball wasn't moving."

Stojakovic, who had missed the previous four games, had two of the assists as well as six points (2-for-12 shooting), four rebounds and a block in 25 minutes off the bench.

The Stanford transfer can expect a lot of attention from the Wake Forest defense, which took Raynaud out of his game Wednesday, forcing him into taking seven 3-point attempts among his 11 total shots.

"That was our best road win of the year," Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. "We did a good job on Raynaud. We mixed it up with the double team, and it got to the point where he played point guard more than he did in the post."

Stojakovic had scored 23 and 24 points in Cal's previous two home games before his return off the bench on Wednesday.

The Tar Heels have lost four of their last five in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and as Davis emphasized, turnovers have been costly.

Over its last two games -- both losses -- UNC has committed 28 total turnovers resulting in 41 points for its opponents. On the flip side, the Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5 ACC) have recorded just 11 points off 14 takeaways.

"Unforced turnovers is something that we've had a problem with," Davis said, pointing out the stat after UNC fell 87-70 at No. 2 Duke last Saturday. "Against good teams, that's just not going to work."

North Carolina has a chance for some retribution against Pitt (14-8, 5-6), which defeated the Tar Heels 73-65 on Jan. 28 after scoring nine straight points to close the game and holding UNC scoreless over the final three minutes.

The Panthers, though, have endured their own struggles, losing six of the last eight. They are coming off a 73-57 home loss to Virginia on Monday, when Cavaliers ripped off a 17-0 run early and held the Panthers to a season-low 19 points in the first half.

"I have to do a better job with this team," Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. "I have not done as good a job that's required for us to be the team that I think we can be, I thought we could be, I still think we can be. We collectively have to do a better job, but it starts with me."

Jaland Lowe, averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 assists per game, posted 18 and seven against the Tar Heels last week. Lowe looks to repeat the effort on Saturday as Pitt aims for its fourth straight win in Chapel Hill.

While RJ Davis leads the Tar Heels at 17.3 points per game, UNC would love to see Ian Jackson find his rhythm again. The freshman has recorded just one double-digit scoring game over the past five contests after averaging nearly 23 points over the previous seven outings.

"The one encouraging thing for me is that I don't think we've reached our full potential," Hubert Davis said. "That's out there. I've seen how good we can be on both ends of the floor. The consistency is the thing that's needed from this group. We have time and we have opportunity to move forward to be able to do that."

UCLA (17-6, 8-4 Big Ten) extended its overall winning streak to six games on Tuesday, upending No. 9 Michigan State 63-61 on Eric Dailey Jr.'s bank shot in the lane with seven seconds remaining.

The Bruins committed only three turnovers in the win, which coach Mick Cronin said sets an important building block for the team's push over the coming month.

"I told the (team), if we get to the NCAA Tournament and play every game with three turnovers, we'll cut the nets down," Cronin said.

UCLA averages 11.0 turnovers per game but has committed nine or fewer in six of its last seven games. Over the last three games -- wins at Southern California on Jan. 27, vs. Oregon on Jan. 30, and vs. Michigan State -- the Bruins averaged only six turnovers per contest.

In addition to cutting down on turnovers, UCLA has found scoring balance during its winning streak. Eight Bruins have scored in double figures at least once in the past six games, which helped UCLA weather the absence of season-long leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau (ankle) for most of the 65-60 win over Washington on Jan. 25 and the defeat of rival USC two days later.

Penn State (13-10, 3-9) makes its way to the West Coast for back-to-back games. The Nittany Lions bring a four-game losing skid into matchups at UCLA and USC (Tuesday).

Surrendering 48 second-half points to visiting Minnesota on Tuesday doomed Penn State in its most recent loss. The setback dropped the Nittany Lions to 1-8 over their last nine games. Five points or fewer decided four of those Penn State losses, including a pair of one-point defeats against Oregon and Iowa.

"We're in a funk," said Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades. "(While) we're in this hole, we've got to keep sticking together and find different ways to get out of it."

Rejuvenating a recently stagnant offense could be one key for Penn State. The Nittany Lions average 81.4 points per game for the season, enough to rank 32nd nationally through games played Wednesday.

During their losing streak, however, Penn State has averaged 68.0 points per game and experienced dips in scoring output each time out.

Opponents have held Penn State's season-long leading scorer, Ace Baldwin, to 10.8 per contest over the past four games. He has scored 14.1 points over the season.

It is the first time the teams will square off on the hardwood since a 2016 win for Texas in Austin that tied the all-time series at 4-4. The Longhorns have not played Vanderbilt in Nashville since the 1988-89 season.

The Commodores (16-6, 4-5 SEC) head home after back-to-back road losses to Oklahoma on Feb. 1 and to No. 6 Florida 86-75 on Tuesday. Vanderbilt has lost three of its past four games in a downturn that cost the team a spot in the Top 25.

Jason Edwards led the Commodores with 20 points against Florida, with Jaylen Carey adding 15, Devin McGlockton scoring 14 and MJ Collins Jr. finishing with 11. Vanderbilt led 50-49 with 12:08 to play but was outscored 16-4 over the ensuing four-plus minutes.

"We've got to figure out a better way to get stops in the second half," Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. "We're fighting, we're battling and I've got to do better and come up with a scheme or something. The guys' effort is good. We're undersized and we know it. We've got to come up with something."

Edwards' 17.6 points per game leads the Commodores, while McGlockton averages 11.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds.

The Longhorns (15-8, 4-6) arrive after a 78-70 loss at home to Arkansas on Wednesday. Texas scored just 24 points in the first half, trailed by 11 at the break and never found its stride despite Tre Johnson's 25 points and a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double from Arthur Kaluma.

The Longhorns, who shot just 34.4 percent from the floor, also got 10 points from Kadin Shedrick. Texas has lost two of its past three games and is 4-6 since the start of 2025.

"I still give our guys a lot of credit for what (we) were able to do with (our) defense tonight, but shots are not falling," Texas coach Rodney Terry said. "We have to still be able to sit down and go and try to play physical as well.

"We've got to regroup and have a short turnaround against a really good Vanderbilt team on their home court."

Johnson, the Longhorns' star freshman, leads the SEC in scoring with 19.2 points per game. Kaluma leads Texas in rebounding (8.2) and has six double-doubles.

The Friars (11-12, 5-7) haven't been able to escape the injury bug, with their latest loss being Jabri Abdur-Rahim. The fifth-year guard is done for the season due to a torn meniscus in his knee, an injury sustained in a 68-66 loss to then-No. 15 St. John's last weekend.

Abdur-Rahim joins Bryce Hopkins (knee) as Providence players on the shelf with season-ending injuries, and the Friars also didn't have Wesley Cardet Jr. (thigh) for their 80-69 home loss to Creighton on Wednesday.

Corey Floyd Jr. went for 16 points and Jayden Pierre added 14, but Providence simply didn't have enough firepower against the Bluejays. Still, Friars coach Kim English is trying to make the best of his team's situation.

"It's been the story of our season," English said of having players in and out of the lineup due to injury. "Preseason, in season, late season -- injuries have been a theme. And it's very disappointing. But I'm a basketball coach. I coach the players that we have."

Providence won the first meeting against Butler 84-65 at home on Jan. 8. Pierre and Bensley Joseph scored 18 apiece, Cardet had 17 and Ryan Mela added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The Bulldogs (10-13, 3-9) were going through their own recent problems, dropping three of four games before crushing Seton Hall 84-54 on Wednesday. Butler had six scorers in double figures, with Pierre Brooks II finishing with a team-high 14 points and Patrick McCaffery and Boden Kapke adding 13 apiece.

Everything was falling for the Bulldogs against the Pirates, as Butler canned 57.9 percent of its field-goal attempts and 50 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Bulldogs coach Thad Matta is hoping that the offense can continue to impress when the Friars are in town.

"You've got to score to win, and I've always said this, ‘If guys get hot, it does become contagious,'" Matta said. "I thought the hot shooting helped our defense. ... Down the stretch, we're going to have to shoot the ball well. Even when we're not, we're going to have to play great defense."

In last month's loss to the Friars, Jahmyl Telfort and Brooks led Butler with 17 points apiece.

The final three teams in the ACC standings do not qualify for the annual gathering for the league's automatic NCAA berth.

As visiting Virginia Tech (10-13, 5-7 ACC) and Notre Dame (10-12, 4-7) prepare for Saturday's matinee in South Bend, Ind., at least one head coach feels better about his team than their record might suggest.

Virginia Tech's Mike Young, who recently passed the 400-win mark, hoped to build on last week's wins at Florida State and Virginia with a home victory over SMU. The Hokies came up short 81-75 on Wednesday, but Young had nothing but praise for his guys.

"They're playing really hard and they're trying to do everything we give them to put ourselves into position to win every night," Young said. "I know this: I've got a good team. I've got a team that's getting better and better here. ... I'm proud of our bunch. I really am."

It probably helped to see fifth-year big man Mylyjael Poteat deliver 15 points and 10 rebounds against SMU to record his first double-double since March 19, 2022 . He also had a career-high-tying five assists.

Poteat stepped up on a night when leading scorer and rebounder Tobi Lawal (12.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds) had an off night. He finished with nine points, while going 0 of 5 from 3-point range.

Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry saw his team absorb a pair of single-digit losses at Miami and Florida State since last Saturday. The Fighting Irish have played just three of their past 10 games on their own court, but get to play six of their final nine regular-season games at home.

Notre Dame hopes to see the return of point guard Matt Allocco (wrist), who sat out Tuesday's loss at Florida State. Allocco has averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 assists, while shooting 47.3 percent from 3-point range and his production was missed in a 67-60 loss to Florida State.

"They had to play on the road and then travel back in a close, hard-fought game where guys are playing a bunch of minutes," Shrewsberry said. "We were at Miami and guys got banged up. It's just a short turnaround to get back and get ready.

Without Allocco, Shrewsberry gave freshman Sir Mohammed his first start. He played a career-high 25 minutes but missed all seven of his shots and finished with one point, four rebounds and three assists.

The Irish's Markus Burton has averaged 22.0 points since returning from a knee injury in early January, while Tae Davis is scoring 15.5 points on the season, and Braeden Shrewsberry adds 14.3.

The Orange (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) have lost four of their last five games, including an 83-54 rout by No. 2 Duke on Wednesday.

In addition to seeing the Blue Devils shoot 56.6 percent from the floor, the problems for Syracuse included poor shooting (6 of 23 from 3-point range), turnovers (14) and an inability to get to the free-throw line (four attempts).

"The biggest thing is, we have to do a better job of playing longer consistently," Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. "I know we're heading in the right direction, and we'll be fine."

One of this season's bright spots for the Orange came on Jan. 11 at Boston College, when Syracuse pulled away late for a 79-71 victory. J.J. Starling scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half and Eddie Lampkin Jr. posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

BC will need to be better from 3-point range than it was that day (4 of 16), plus the Eagles will hope for more than six points on 2-for-11 shooting from their reserves.

The Eagles (10-12, 2-9) have lost seven of their last eight games, including the first matchup with the Orange.

Boston College was throttled by Louisville 84-58 on Wednesday despite 19 points from Donald Hand Jr.

Chad Venning, the team's second leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, missed the contest with a foot injury.

"I don't think it's any major issue with his foot, but something's going on there," said Eagles coach Earl Grant, who added that "we didn't play well enough to win the game. Simple."

Syracuse, meanwhile, continues to play without Donnie Freeman, its second-leading scorer at 13.4 points.

The Orange have won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the teams.

The Bears (14-8, 6-5) have played shorthanded over the last 10 games, the amount of time guard Langston Love has missed with an ankle injury. In addition, Duke transfer Jeremy Roach just returned from concussion protocol after missing four games, while VJ Edgecombe sat out Tuesday's 73-59 loss at No. 13 Texas Tech with an ankle injury.

"In this league, it's hard when you're playing six, seven guys," Drew said. "Hopefully, we get VJ and Langston back, and that will really help with things. Us coaches, our plays really work a lot better when we have more players.

"I don't know if anyone's gone through what we've gone through with the injury bug."

Still, Baylor is in position to earn an NCAA Tournament berth with a strong finish. The Bears are led by forward Norchad Omier (15.4 points, 10.4 rebounds per game), who recorded his 79th career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Red Raiders.

Meanwhile, the Knights (13-9, 4-7) are coming off a 93-83 setback at home Wednesday night to Cincinnati that extended their losing streak to three games. They were gashed inside, allowing a whopping 56 points in the paint.

"We have to get back to understanding what the priorities are defensively," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. "That's protecting our paint and understanding that guys need to be where they're supposed to be. We know what our assignments are ... that's attention to detail."

The Knights have allowed 79.4 points per game, nearly five more than any other Big 12 team, and have permitted league opponents to make 48.4 percent of their field goals. That's also the worst mark in the Big 12.

Keyshawn Hall leads the attack with 18.3 points per game while Darius Johnson chips in 15.0 per game.

Baylor earned a 77-69 win last season in Orlando in the teams' first-ever meeting.

Despite losing seven of nine, the Hoyas (14-9, 5-7) still have much to play for as they find themselves in a group of four teams -- with Xavier, Villanova and Providence -- all within a game of each other, fighting for fifth place.

With a top-four finish in the standings likely out of reach, just one slot remains realistically viable for the fifth and final first-round Big East tournament bye at Madison Square Garden next month.

The clash with Seton Hall (6-17, 1-11) is Georgetown's first of three straight games against teams with losing records. The Hoyas, who beat the Pirates on the road 61-60 on Dec. 22, are attempting to complete a season sweep for the first time since 2015.

Micah Peavy (14.9 points per game) and Thomas Sorber (14.8) have been carrying much of the offensive load for Georgetown, which has scored more than 70 points just twice in league play. Peavy scored a career-high 27 points twice in the last four games while Sorber is tied for first nationally with Rutgers' Ace Bailey among freshmen with seven double-doubles.

Georgetown coach Ed Cooley thinks help could be on the way in the form of Jayden Epps (12.3 points), who missed the last two games with an illness after previously missing time with a hamstring injury.

"We're expecting him to be ready for Saturday," Cooley said this week. "We're looking forward to trying to get him back."

Injuries are something Seton Hall and coach Shaheen Holloway know all about this season.

The Pirates, who have lost eight straight and 13 of 14, were missing three key contributors in Chaunce Jenkins (knee), Scotty Middleton (ankle) and Dylan Addae-Wusu (ankle) during Wednesday's 84-54 lopsided home loss to Butler.

"Obviously, we don't have three guys that can help us," Holloway said after Wednesday's loss. "It's hard to win when you're fully healthy. Imagine not being healthy with three guys who can score the basketball and play a lot of minutes for you."

Holloway said he didn't expect to have any of them back by Saturday.

Entering the teams' Saturday night matchup in Baton Rouge, La., Ole Miss is tied with Marquette in Division I for the fewest turnovers per game at 8.9.

In a 98-84 home victory over No. 14 Kentucky on Tuesday night, the Rebels took avoiding mistakes to a new level by posting an almost-unheard-of 24-1 assist-turnover effort.

"Just one loose ball-handling play away from doing something that I've chased in my career," Rebels coach Chris Beard said. "It's not about me. I've just thought it would always be cool to coach a team that had zero turnovers in a game."

The one miscue, for the record, came from Sean Pedulla with 14:46 left. But since he is the team's leading scorer at 14.9 points a game and supplemented a below-par eight-point outing with eight assists, he presumably was forgiven.

An almost-clean game in that department led to an acknowledgment from Beard.

"I told the players after the game that I don't know if I've enjoyed watching a team play more than I did tonight watching us play," he said. "In the first half, especially."

Matthew Murrell, a fifth-year senior whose scoring average has dropped from 16.2 ppg last season to 11.8 this year as he battles lower-body injuries, found the best version of himself Tuesday night. He sank 6 of 11 3-pointers and scored a team-high 24 points.

Jaylen Murray, who averages 11.1 ppg and a team-high 4 assists, chipped in a 15-point, 10-assist double-double as Ole Miss (17-6, 6-4) shot 54.7 percent from the field and canned 13 of 30 3-pointers.

While the Rebels are coming off arguably their best game, the Tigers (12-10, 1-8) suffered their fifth straight loss with an 81-62 setback Wednesday night at Georgia. About the only thing they did fairly well was make 12 of 33 3-pointers, but that wasn't close to being enough.

LSU's biggest issue this season has been the thing Ole Miss does best -- preventing turnovers. The Tigers' average of 14.2 per game are 324th in Division I, and it was a key to their 77-65 loss against the Rebels on Jan. 11. They had 16 turnovers that day.

While LSU kept turnovers down to a reasonable 10 at Georgia, it ran into another problem. It was dominated 47-26 on the boards, ceding 17 offensive rebounds and 16 points off of those second chances.

"Just absolutely annihilated on the glass," third-year Tigers coach Matt McMahon said. "The rebounding, the points in the paint and the two-point percentages were clearly the difference in the game."

Cam Carter leads the team in scoring at an average of 17 points a game but was held to 10 on 2-of-7 shooting from the field at Georgia, although he dished out six assists. UT Martin transfer Jordan Sears is adding 13.8 ppg but is shooting just 38.6 percent from the field.

LSU owns a 127-91 advantage in the all-time series with the Rebels, although it's lost three of the last four matchups.

On top of that, five others in the 16-team league have been ranked at some point this season.

But somehow Auburn (21-1, 9-0) still has a clean SEC slate. The Tigers' 15-game league winning streak dates to last season and includes three wins in the conference tournament.

Auburn will face another SEC challenge on Saturday afternoon when it hosts No. 6 Florida (19-3, 6-3).

The Gators know the drill. A month ago, they toppled another top-ranked SEC team, stunning then-undefeated Tennessee 73-43.

As Florida prepares for this matchup with Auburn, which has won 14 games in a row overall this season, the status of perhaps its most vital player is uncertain.

Walter Clayton Jr., who averages team highs in points (17.4) and assists (3.8), sat out the Gators' 86-75 win Tuesday over Vanderbilt with an ankle injury.

"Obviously, we would always prefer him out there," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "But we have a lot of season left."

The value of the team's point guard was demonstrated last Saturday when Florida lost its rematch with Tennessee, 64-44.

With Clayton scoring 10 points in the first 14 minutes, he helped put Florida up 15-14. But after Clayton rolled his ankle and was limited the rest of the way, the Volunteers outscored the Gators 50-29.

In Florida's victory over Vanderbilt, Denzel Aberdeen replaced Clayton, providing 13 points, three assists and no turnovers, doing "an incredible job controlling the game," Golden said.

Will Richard bounced back from a season-low two-point performance against Tennessee, in which he took just two shots, to record 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field vs. Vanderbilt.

Auburn enters in high gear behind Johni Broome, who leads the Tigers in points (18.1), rebounds (10.9) and blocks (2.8) per game.

The 6-foot-10 Broome epitomizes a team that has extraordinary quickness and length. Broome pairs with 6-11 Dylan Cardwell in an imposing frontcourt as Auburn averages 7 blocks per game, which is the most in the nation.

And then there is the lethal Auburn offense. Not only do the Tigers lead the country in offensive efficiency, their current rating (130.5) is the highest in the 24-year history of the college basketball analytics site KenPom.com.

"Our offensive efficiency numbers are what they are," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We've got inside, outside and the fact that we will guard. Those two things together, I think, are why we're the No. 1 team in the country."

Helping fuel the offense are perimeter threats Miles Kelly, Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford. Each has hit at least 41 triples this season, with at least 40 percent marksmanship from deep.

Even with the success so far, Pearl is wary of the land mines ahead in the SEC, including Saturday against Florida.

"We're gonna get beat. It's coming up," said Pearl, who added that Florida is the "most physical team in our league."

"Todd Golden was my assistant. He played point guard for me in 2009 on the USA Maccabi team," Pearl added. "I'm not sure he has to shave but once a week. But his teams play hard, tough and physical."