\u2014 Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The game was billed as a matchup between Toppin, one of the best veterans in college hoops, and AJ Dybantsa, one of the top freshmen in the country and a contender for the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft<\/a>. Toppin was terrific, but Dybantsa struggled in the second half, scoring just 2 points and taking only six shots. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-17 shooting, his lowest scoring output of the season.<\/p>\n Both teams are looking up at No. 1 Arizona (18-0, 5-0) and No. 7 Houston (16-1, 4-0) in an impressive top of the Big 12. But both could be looking at top-four seeds in March.\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s NCAA Tournament projection<\/a> last week had BYU as a No. 3 and Texas Tech as a No. 5; the Red Raiders are now poised to move up.<\/p>\n Saturday marked only the third time this season that BYU (16-2, 4-1), which averages almost 88 points per game, has been held to 71 points or less. The teams meet again in their regular-season finale on March 7 in Provo, Utah.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else caught our eye Saturday.<\/p>\n Your new SEC front-runner? Florida<\/p>\n Don\u2019t look now, but the reigning national champions might have their mojo back.<\/p>\n The No. 19 Gators won their third consecutive ranked game on Saturday, outlasting No. 10 Vanderbilt 98-94 in Nashville to (temporarily) climb to first on the SEC leaderboard.\u00a0 The star for UF Saturday was Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee, who had his best game yet in a Florida jersey \u2026 despite the team forgetting to pack his usual No. 1 jersey, forcing him to wear a leftover No. 99.<\/p>\n But after Lee\u2019s 20-point, six-rebound, zero-turnover performance \u2014 including a stepback 3-pointer with 43.9 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner \u2014 there\u2019s no way the guard can go back to his normal number. It was the most points Lee has scored in an SEC game, and ties his season high against a high-major foe.<\/p>\n STEP BACK BOOM. \ud83e\udd2f@GatorsMBK<\/a> x \ud83d\udcfa ESPN pic.twitter.com\/NAHve9lrv4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Southeastern Conference (@SEC) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Commodores, meanwhile, have lost back-to-back games after tying a program record with their 16-0 start. Vanderbilt trailed for most of the first 25 minutes before a 9-0 run midway through the second half turned Saturday\u2019s contest into a back-and-forth affair. Star Commodores guard Duke Miles fouled out with 4:14 left to play, putting an outsize burden on sophomore Tyler Tanner to complete the Vanderbilt comeback.<\/p>\n And Tanner \u2014 who continued his All-America-caliber campaign with 20 points and five assists \u2014 almost pulled it off. But after Lee\u2019s stepback 3 gave Florida a 1-point lead, Vanderbilt forward AK Okereke turned the ball over on the team\u2019s subsequent possession, and Tanner, who slid into the front row of sideline seats for the loose ball, couldn\u2019t save it. Tanner got one more look at tying the game with less than 10 seconds left, when coach Mark Byington opted to let Vanderbilt play out the possession instead of calling a timeout, but Tanner\u2019s last-ditch layup attempt \u2014 a tough look over UF guard Boogie Fland \u2014 clanked off the rim.<\/p>\n Even with this week\u2019s losses, Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2 SEC) should be fine in the long term, and the Commodores still have a chance to win the SEC, especially if they get guard Frankie Collins back from injury soon. But for Florida (13-5, 4-1), Saturday\u2019s win proved that the Gators, who suffered a series of close losses in nonconference play, can close out a tough win. \u2014 Brendan Marks<\/p>\n Miami (Ohio) stays undefeated<\/p>\n The dream season continues for the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, who became the first team to reach 19 wins this season, and did so in dramatic fashion. Miami is one of only three remaining unbeaten teams, along with Arizona and Nebraska, in Division I.<\/p>\n The RedHawks\u2019 streak was on a razor\u2019s edge in a 105-102 overtime victory against Buffalo on Saturday. Senior guard Peter Suder drilled a game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of OT to give the RedHawks the win, with Suder hitting the home crowd at Millett Hall with Steph Curry\u2019s signature \u201cnight night\u201d celebration.<\/p>\n SUDER SAYS GOODNIGHT\ud83d\udd25@petersuder1<\/a> calls ballgame at Millett\u203c\ufe0f@MiamiOH_BBall<\/a> | #MACtion<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/GPHDozrPS1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MACtion (@MACSports) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That came after Miami needed to tip an offensive rebound for a last-second 3-pointer to tie the game at the end of regulation, with Eian Elmer draining the triple as time expired.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we hit adversity, we just get tighter as a team,\u201d said Suder, who led all scorers with 37 points, including 7 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc. \u201cThat\u2019s our special power, that\u2019s why we\u2019re so good.\u201d<\/p>\n We’re heading to overtime.#UnFinishedBusiness<\/a> || #MiamiMindset<\/a> || #RiseUpRedHawks<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tSnZ52Nmri<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Miami Men\u2019s Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Thus far, it hasn\u2019t been quite enough for Miami and coach Travis Steele to crack the Associated Press Top 25 poll \u2014 they were essentially No. 29 in last week\u2019s rankings, based on votes received. But that could change Monday, as the team\u2019s wins continue to stack. The program was last ranked in the Top 25 in the 1998-99 season, when Miami reached the Sweet 16 led by senior guard Wally Szczerbiak.<\/p>\n Already the best start to a season in program history, the RedHawks matched the best start in Mid-American Conference history with Saturday\u2019s win, and can take sole possession of that honor on the road at Kent State on Tuesday as Miami aims for 20-0. \u2014 Justin Williams<\/p>\n \n Sencire Harris and Cincinnati led by as many as 17, earning a much-needed win over Iowa State after a rough start. (Dylan Buell \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n No. 2 Iowa State drops a second straight<\/p>\n A tough week continued for No. 2 Iowa State, dropping a second straight on the road after a 16-0 start to the season.<\/p>\n The Cyclones lost 79-70 at Cincinnati on Saturday, coming on the heels of Tuesday\u2019s 84-63 shellacking by Kansas. A hot start to the second half fell short for Iowa State (16-2, 3-2 Big 12), which trailed by 4 at the half and fell behind by as many as 17 in the second half. Milan Momcilovic led all scorers with 34 points on 8-of-14 shooting from 3-point range, scoring 26 in the second half with a late surge of triples. But it wasn\u2019t enough for a Cyclones team that made only one other 3-pointer for the game and made just 17 of 27 from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n It was a similar story to the Kansas loss, when Iowa State fell behind by as many as 26 and shot just 37 percent from the field. Joshua Jefferson finished with 16 points and nine rebounds against the Bearcats, but was just 4 for 12 from the field and the only Cyclone other than Momcilovic to score in double digits. Point guard Tamin Lipsey had 7 points on 3-for-7 shooting.<\/p>\n Cincinnati scored 20 points off 12 Iowa State turnovers and had just eight turnovers of its own, led by 19 points from guard Day Day Thomas. Saturday\u2019s upset was the biggest win of head coach Wes Miller\u2019s four-plus seasons at the helm, with Bearcats fans storming the court after the final buzzer. It was Cincinnati\u2019s first win over a top-two opponent since defeating No. 2 Syracuse in the 2012 Big East tournament, and the team\u2019s first home win over a top-two opponent since a 1967 victory over Louisville.<\/p>\n IT IS STORMIN’ IN CINCY \u2614\ufe0f@GoBearcatsMBB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9iGTdsPOF6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s been a rough season for the Bearcats (10-8, 2-3), and Miller\u2019s job status will remain under heavy scrutiny the rest of the way, but the team has won two in a row in conference play, with another chance to spring a major upset Wednesday at top-ranked Arizona.<\/p>\n Iowa State had impressive nonconference wins over Purdue, St. John\u2019s and Iowa during that 16-0 start, but the Cyclones are now two games behind Arizona in the Big 12 race and have probably fallen off the No. 1 seed line. The Cyclones will look to get back on track at home against UCF on Tuesday. \u2014 Williams<\/p>\n UNC\u2019s defense in shambles after 0-2 West Coast swing<\/p>\n If North Carolina\u2019s winless West Coast trip has made anything clear, it\u2019s that the Tar Heels have serious defensive issues.<\/p>\n On Saturday, days after allowing Stanford to score 95 points in regulation, No. 14 UNC trailed Cal wire-to-wire in an 84-78 loss, the team\u2019s third in four games. When you\u2019re defending like UNC has been in recent games, that\u2019s what can happen. The Bears \u2014 who had only shot better than 40 percent from 3 in four games this season \u2014 became the fourth straight team to make at least 14 3s against North Carolina, and did so at a 53.8 percent clip, their second-best mark all season.<\/p>\n The Tar Heels (14-4, 2-3 ACC) have allowed each of their last four opponents \u2014 SMU, Wake Forest and the ACC\u2019s two West Coast schools \u2014 to score at least 81 points and shoot above 50 percent from the floor.<\/p>\n In an attempt to stabilize the team, coach Hubert Davis tweaked his starting lineup against Cal, inserting freshman guard Derex Dixon, who finished with 14 points and four of UNC\u2019s nine made 3s, over the struggling Kyan Evans. Davis also had the Tar Heels play zone defense for stretches of the first half in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.<\/p>\n But with UNC\u2019s ball-screen coverages in shambles, and miscommunications putting the team\u2019s defensive rotations a step behind, nothing could prevent the Tar Heels from dropping two winnable games that could knock them out of the top 25.<\/p>\n North Carolina still did enough in the nonconference, beating Kansas at home and Kentucky in Rupp Arena, to remain in the NCAA Tournament field \u2014 for now. It entered the week as a No. 4 seed, meaning it had margin for error.<\/p>\n But at this rate, questions about this season\u2019s trajectory \u2014 and Davis\u2019 future as head coach \u2014 are going to get louder if UNC doesn\u2019t solve its defensive woes. \u2014 Marks<\/p>\n \n Will Wade\u2019s first season at NC State has been up and down. (Jaylynn Nash \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n As for NC State \u2026 welcome to the bubble<\/p>\n For all of first-year coach Will Wade\u2019s blustery postgame comments this season<\/a> \u2014 in defense of his NC State team at large and specifically transfer forward Darrion Williams<\/a> \u2014 the first-year Wolfpack coach struck a different, more somber tone Saturday after his team\u2019s Quad-4 home loss to Georgia Tech (11-8, 2-4 ACC)<\/p>\n \u201cYou lose a home game like this, it\u2019s hard to recover from,\u201d Wade said after the 78-74 defeat. \u201cOur resume wasn\u2019t great to begin with, but the best part of our resume was, we didn\u2019t have any bad stuff on it. It was pretty clear. We didn\u2019t have any Quad-1 wins, but we didn\u2019t have any (Quad) 3 or 4 losses, either. \u2026 Now the best part of our resume is blemished.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2256799715.jpg\")
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