Winners and losers: Indiana, Kentucky, Texas A&M earn resume-boosting road wins

Saturday’s college basketball slate had a little bit of everything. Darryn Peterson’s apologists and doubters both earned fodder for their respective causes in Kansas‘ 90-82 win over BYU. But outside of The Phog, road warriors stole the spotlight.

Kentucky went on the road and knocked off Arkansas. California upset Miami in Coral Gables. Texas A&M bolstered its case for top dawg in the SEC with a road dub over Georgia. Indiana changed the course of its season by surviving UCLA’s late prayer in Pauley Pavilion. Those are just a few of the dozens of road teams that got the job done.

Let’s dive into the top winners and losers from Saturday’s contests.

Winner: Duke avoids potential trap spot with impressive road win at Virginia Tech

No. 4 Duke side-stepped a potentially perilous road spot with a 72-58 win over Virginia Tech to improve to 20-1 on the season. The Blue Devils had fallen to Virginia Tech three consecutive times in Blacksburg when ranked as a top-five team — but that streak was never in jeopardy of being extended. Duke went wire-to-wire with the win and closed on a 10-2 run to seal the victory. 

Freshman Cameron Boozer was spectacular as usual, especially in the clutch, as Duke remained a perfect 9-0 on the season vs. ACC opponents. He finished with 24 points and five rebounds, and singlehandedly outscored the Hokies 8-2 in the final four minutes of play. — Kyle Boone

Winner: Unanimous No. 1 Arizona stays perfect with win vs. rival Arizona State

No. 1 Arizona moved to 22-0 – its best start to a season in program history – with an 87-74 road win over rival Arizona State in Tucson. The perfect Wildcats were led by 21 points and three boards from star freshman Koa Peat, who had 15 of his 21 in the second half to close out the Sun Devils. The 22nd consecutive win marks the longest winning streak for Arizona since 1914 as it continued to build on a special season under coach Tommy Lloyd. — Boone

Loser: AJ Dybantsa’s star loses some luster vs. Kansas

Seventeen points and one rebound in 34 minutes is no statline to scoff at, even for a lottery talent like AJ Dybantsa — but it paled in comparison to the 18 points, three steals and three rebounds in 20 minutes that Kansas star Darryn Peterson pumped out when No. 14 Kansas downed No. 13 BYU 90-82. 

Dybantsa made a pair of 3-pointers and he certainly looked the part of a potential top-three pick in June’s NBA Draft. But Peterson was the main attraction and the clear best player on the floor inside Allen Fieldhouse. He not only solidified his case as the clear No. 1, but in the process also clearly distanced himself from the next-most-likely No. 1 candidate in Dybantsa. – Boone

Winner: Indiana transforms its resume with win vs. UCLA in 2OT thriller

Entering the week, Indiana’s resume ranked outside of the top-50 nationally in Wins Above Bubble. That has changed massively. Tuesday’s home win over No. 12 Purdue was enormous, and IU built on it by emerging with a 98-97, double-overtime thriller on the road against UCLA. Those two wins earned +1.4 WAB combined, shooting Indiana’s resume into the top-30 range nationally. 

Freshman forward Trent Sisley was the hero in this one, knocking down the game-winning free throw with just 0.3 seconds left in double-overtime after a gorgeous baseline out-of-bounds play put UCLA’s defense in a bind.

It’s a fun finish that looked like a potential nightmare when IU’s 10-point deficit was erased in the final 110 seconds of regulation. UCLA’s Trent Perry continued his magical sophomore surge with the game-tying triple to force overtime, but Indiana was not going to be denied.

Indiana is expected to remain a No. 9 seed in the CBS Sports Bracketology model, but a loss would have bumped the Hoosiers out of the field of 68. Indiana  (15-7, 6-5  Big Ten) looks like a tournament team, which is something that you could not say about this outfit seven days ago. – Isaac Trotter 

Winner: Gonzaga stays hot with win over Saint Mary’s

One of the best rivalries on the West Coast was renewed when Gonzaga faced Saint Mary’s in the final game of a loaded schedule. With Gonzaga set to join the Pac-12 this summer, there will be only one more regular-season matchup after this game. No. 6 Gonzaga stayed hot and came away with a 73-65 win over its WCC foe. Since losing to Michigan in November, Gonzaga has won its last 15 games. The Bulldogs also got a boost with star forward Graham Ike returning to the lineup after a three-game absence. He finished with 30 points. — Cameron Salerno

Winner: UCF celebrates upset of Texas Tech with two court storms

Are you ready for UCF to be an NCAA Tournament team for just the second time in the last two decades? The Knights improved to 17-4 with an impressive 88-80 win over No. 11 Texas Tech behind 21 points and seven dimes from senior point guard Themus Fulks and a 14-point, 10-rebound, double-double from sophomore big man John Bol. UCF has now downed Texas Tech and Kansas at home. Both are trending to be serious feathers in the cap of the resume. 

Oh, and this game featured not one, but two court storms after a premature blitz from the home faithful with 0.2 seconds remaining. – Trotter

Loser: John Calipari’s team lays a stinker vs. his former team

John Calipari’s No. 15 Arkansas Razorbacks, who was favored by 6.5 points over his former team, Kentucky, fell flat at home in an 85-77 loss to the shorthanded Wildcats. Arkansas shot a putrid 3 of 14 from 3-point range, missed 10 of its 26 free-throw attempts and finished with nine missed layups. 

Defensively, it was just as ugly: Arkansas allowed UK, which is without starting point guard Jaland Lowe and starting center Jayden Quaintance because of injuries, to shoot 13 of 21 from the field in the second half. In the final 20 minutes of action, Arkansas did not force a single turnover. Oh, and there were a million technical fouls. The stripes did not cover themselves in glory in this one. – Boone

Winner: Miami (Ohio) keeps perfect record intact with win vs. Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois gave No. 24 Miami (Ohio) a scare for the first 25 minutes, but it was all Redhawks down the home stretch. Brant Byers and Peter Suder combined for 40 points to lead Miami to an 85-61 win to remain undefeated. The Redhawks are now 22-0 and it showed it could win on a night when the treys weren’t dropping. – Trotter

Winner: Texas A&M takes over first in SEC race

Heading into February, there is an unlikely leader at the top of the SEC. That would be Texas A&M. The Aggies improved to 7-1 in SEC play with a 92-77 win over Georgia on the road. Texas A&M opened the game on a 20-0 run to take a 22-2 lead less than seven minutes in. It set the tone for the rest of the game.

USC transfer Rashaun Agee had one of his best performances of the year after going for 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Since losing to Tennessee, the Aggies have won four consecutive games. Texas A&M is the only team in the conference with just one loss. He might not be named National Coach of the Year, but Bucky McMillan deserves a ton of credit for what he’s been able to accomplish thus far in Year 1 of his tenure. – Cameron Salerno

Winner: Utah State sends Logan (and the Mountain West race) into a tizzy

Utah State erased an 11-point, first-half deficit and held off San Diego State 71-66 in front of an electric “White Out” crowd. Karson Templin came off the bench and delivered 18 points and seven boards. MJ Collins and Adlan Elamin also cracked double figures for an Utah State club that is now tied atop the Mountain West standings with the Aztecs. 

The Aggies improved to 18-3 overall and 9-2 in conference play. They out-rebounded one of the elite rebounding teams in the country 46-31. 

San Diego State was a bit short-handed without Elzie Harrington and Magoon Gwath, but it shot just 6 for 24 from downtown and was held to 0.88 points per possession. It was San Diego State’s third-worst offensive showing of the season. – Trotter

Loser: SMU lets golden opportunity slip away in loss at Louisville

SMU splashed five of its first seven triples … and then went ice cold in Saturday’s 88-74 loss to No. 20 Louisville. SMU led by as much as a dozen in the first half, but it unraveled in the second half. SMU missed 15 of its last 18 attempts from downtown. 

After a Jan. 3 victory over North Carolina, SMU has missed out on all four of its opportunities against top-shelf ACC competition. SMU has now lost to Clemson, Duke, Virginia and Louisville in January. The Ponies seem destined to be a frisky No. 8 or No. 9 seed. – Trotter

Loser: Fans miss out on the second half of the Peterson experience 

The most anticipated game on the schedule featured the projected No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks in the 2026 NBA Draft squaring off. It was a prospect matchup that basketball fans truthfully hadn’t seen in quite some time. The first half was electric. Darryn Peterson scored 18 points. Peterson showcased why he will likely go 1.01 this summer. 

However, Peterson didn’t play a majority of the second half due to cramps. Peterson has played in just 11 of Kansas’ 21 games this season, and some of those games have seen the projected top pick play sparingly. It’s truly one of the most bizarre situations I’ve seen in the sport. Regardless, the talent and shotmaking are both undeniable. Peterson is the best prospect in this class, and the winner of the draft lottery in May shouldn’t hesitate to select him. – Salerno

Loser: Creighton suffers bad home loss of the McDermott era

Creighton picked a bad time to catch a dangerous UConn offense that is emerging from hibernation. The second-ranked Huskies handed Creighton an 85-58 whooping. The 27-point home loss is tied for the worst defeat under Greg McDermott era, who took over the Bluejays in 2010. Losing by 24 on Tuesday to last-place Marquette and 27 on Saturday to first-place UConn is one brutal five-day stretch.

Creighton’s hopes for an at-large bid are all but dead before the calendar flipped to February. – Trotter

Loser: Auburn can’t find the range, spoiling Steven Pearl’s return to Rocky Top

Auburn entered Saturday shooting under 30% from 3-point range in SEC play, which ranked 15th. The shooting fortune will flip at some point, but the frustrating trend continued in Saturday’s 77-69 road loss to Tennessee. Auburn shot just 7-for-31 (23%) from beyond the arc, and the starting backcourt tandem of Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton combined to shoot 3 for 18 from 3-point range. What’s extra frustrating is that they were mostly open, uncontested looks that were offline.

Even without starting center Felix Okpara, Tennessee still obliterated Auburn on the glass (46-30), and the dominance on the offensive glass helped the Vols hold the Tigers at arm’s reach for much of the second half. 

It’s a disappointing end to Steven Pearl’s first game as the coach of Auburn back at his alma mater after suiting up for the Vols from 2007-11. — Trotter