UNREAL. pic.twitter.com\/rMEBRVZq3A<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kansas Men\u2019s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Then Peterson played just three minutes in the second half before heading to the bench, limited by the return of nagging injuries that have sidelined him for a good portion of his mystifying rookie season.<\/p>\n Kansas survived without him, holding on for a 90-82 win. But a game that started as a coronation ended with more questions. Our CJ Moore was on hand in Lawrence, Kansas, to document a fascinating afternoon.<\/a><\/p>\n And here\u2019s what else you might have missed from a jam-packed Saturday of men\u2019s college hoops.<\/p>\n UCF worthy of two court storms \u2014 and an NCAA Tournament berth<\/p>\n If we\u2019ve learned anything in the transfer portal era, it\u2019s that preseason rankings mean less than ever. Few teams are better proof of that than UCF.<\/p>\n The Knights were picked 14th in the Big 12 before this season, with coach Johnny Dawkins squarely on the hot seat in Orlando. After Saturday\u2019s wire-to-wire 88-80 win over No. 11 Texas Tech, Dawkins\u2019 team is in a prime position to make the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in the last two decades.<\/p>\n UCF (17-4, 6-3 Big 12) has the Red Raiders\u2019 (16-5, 6-2) number, winning the last three meetings between the teams, and now has multiple top-25 wins \u2014 the other being against Kansas to open league play \u2014 for only the third time in program history. (Dawkins\u2019 team also won at Texas A&M early in the nonconference, a win that continues to age well.)<\/p>\n All of which is to say, it\u2019s hard to blame UCF fans for storming the court twice on Saturday.<\/p>\n UCF had to have 2 tries at the court storm \ud83d\ude2d\u26c8\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/wx0UKmmwDs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n So how, despite allowing Texas Tech to shoot 56.4 percent and make 11 3-pointers, did UCF win? By dominating the glass and scoring off extra possessions. UCF out-rebounded Texas Tech 35-23, turning 13 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points. (The Red Raiders, by comparison, only had four offensive rebounds and five second-chance points.) Red Raiders stars JT Toppin and Christian Anderson still got theirs offensively \u2014 combining for 44 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds \u2014 but could do nothing to keep the Knights away from the rim.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t look now, but a UCF team with only two ranked foes in its final nine Big 12 games is right on the fringe of the top four in the best league in America. Just like everyone thought, huh? \u2014 Brendan Marks<\/p>\n \n Mark Pope (right) and Kentucky picked up a much-needed win over John Calipari (left) and Arkansas on Saturday after a blowout loss earlier in the week. (Wesley Hitt \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Kentucky upsets John Calipari\u2019s Arkansas in chippy affair<\/p>\n Their teams don\u2019t seem to share warm feelings for each other, but John Calipari\u2019s Arkansas Razorbacks and Mark Pope\u2019s Kentucky Wildcats share an obvious trait: volatility.<\/p>\n A year after Calipari returned to his old Kentucky home and coached his unranked, struggling team to an upset of the then-ranked Cats, Pope\u2019s unranked, struggling team returned the favor. Kentucky\u2019s 85-77 win at No. 15 Arkansas followed up Tuesday\u2019s 80-55 loss at No. 18 Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n It left Arkansas (16-6, 6-3 SEC) with its first home loss of the season. It left Kentucky (15-7, 6-3) with a collection of results that the description \u201cJekyll and Hyde\u201d doesn\u2019t quite cover. It left Pope 39-19 in his second season with Kentucky, and Calipari 38-20 in his second season with Arkansas.<\/p>\n And it featured six technical fouls and a late flagrant foul on Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile for grabbing Kentucky\u2019s Trent Noah. The teams got into some light shoving a couple of times, but it never escalated past that. Kentucky star Otega Oweh was central in the conflicts and in the upset, scoring 24 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures, and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was Kentucky coming in more desperate than us,\u201d Calipari told reporters after his team got the usual star performance from freshman point guard Darius Acuff Jr. (22 points) and 16 from Brazile, but not enough from others.<\/p>\n The Razorbacks were \u201cout-toughed,\u201d Calipari said, which serves to lower the temperature on Pope and his injury-plagued team. UK would be doing well to make the field of 68. Calipari\u2019s team has the talent to do much more than that, but February is here and consistency is nowhere to be found. \u2014 Joe Rexrode<\/p>\n Arizona and Miami (Ohio) remain unbeaten<\/p>\n There are still two undefeated teams in men\u2019s college basketball: No. 1 Arizona and No. 24 Miami (Ohio).<\/p>\n Arizona defeated rival Arizona State 87-74 on the road in Tempe, while the darling RedHawks defeated Northern Illinois 85-61 at home in Oxford, Ohio. Both teams improved to 22-0, their best starts in school history.<\/p>\n Both games were close in the first half. Arizona State (11-11, 2-7 Big 12) hung tough in front of an energized home crowd, knotting the score at 38 at the half behind 12 of guard Moe Odom\u2019s 15 points. Arizona took over in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and dominating on the glass. The Wildcats outscored ASU 50-20 in the paint, led by a game-high 21 points from Koa Peat and another 17 points and seven boards from fellow freshman Brayden Burries, two of five to score in double figures. Some luminaries were in attendance for Arizona State \u2014 James Harden, Cam Skattebo, Jordyn Tyson, Kenny Dillingham \u2014 and the home team shot a respectable 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from deep. But it wasn\u2019t nearly enough once the Wildcats got cooking in the second half.<\/p>\n Arizona Basketball at its finest. pic.twitter.com\/8ytasEzT5x<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It continued the theme of Arizona punishing teams with its size and athleticism offensively and locking them down on the other end. Saturday\u2019s win was reminiscent of the first game against the Sun Devils earlier this month in Tucson, when Arizona State led by one at the half before the Wildcats surged to a seven-point victory. The Wildcats have won seven in a row and 12 of the last 13 in the rivalry.<\/p>\n Two-thirds of the way through the season, it\u2019s evident that it will require a full, high-level 40-minutes to take down Arizona. No team has managed to do it yet.<\/p>\n Miami (Ohio) trailed by five early in the second half, but finished the game on an outrageous 38-9 run to keep their dream season rolling. Five RedHawks scored in double figures, led by sophomore Brent Byers with a game-high 21 points and senior standout Peter Suder with 19. Miami shot 48 percent from the floor and pulled away on the same night program legend \u2014 and 1990s Chicago Bulls staple \u2014 Ron Harper was honored with an honorary degree.<\/p>\n Congratulations Miami Legend, Ron Harper\u203c\ufe0f#RiseUpRedHawks<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/m1Wsf9UjBW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Miami Athletics (@MiamiRedHawks) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Head coach Travis Steele\u2019s RedHawks are now 10-0 and in first place in the Mid-American Conference, seeking their first MAC regular-season title since 2005 and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. Miami is back in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since 1998-99, when the team reached the Sweet 16 behind senior guard Wally Szczerbiak.<\/p>\n \u2018Zona remains all alone atop the Big 12 standings at 9-0 in league play, but the rest of the schedule will be a slog. After hosting Oklahoma State next Saturday, Arizona goes to Kansas, then has home dates against Texas Tech and BYU before heading to Houston. \u2014 Justin Williams<\/p>\n \n Rashaun Agee (right) posted his 10th double-double of the season Saturday in a win over Georgia. (Tim Warner \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u2018Bucky Ball\u2019 is working \u2014 and leading the SEC<\/p>\n It required a temporary restraining order \u2014 a term increasingly becoming a college sports staple. It survived a season-ending injury to a key player. It\u2019s starting to look like an inevitable success: Bucky McMillan\u2019s quest to make a statement in his first season as Texas A&M\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cBucky Ball,\u201d the former Samford coach\u2019s pressing, frenetic style of play, stands alone in first place in the SEC after a 92-77 win on Saturday at Georgia.<\/p>\n The Aggies (17-4, 7-1 SEC) did not test themselves much in the nonleague portion of the schedule and lost their three biggest games, to SMU, UCF and Oklahoma State. The conference schedule has been much easier to date than it\u2019s about to get. Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt and Arkansas are coming up in the next few weeks. Caveats aside, this team is improving and looking like a strong NCAA Tournament contender, even if it doesn\u2019t end up as a shocking league champion. SEC media picked the Aggies to finish 13th in the preseason poll.<\/p>\n The win at Georgia (16-6, 4-5), a No. 8 seed in the most recent Bracket Watch<\/a>, is the Aggies\u2019 second-best of the season after a win at Auburn. Texas A&M, a No. 10 seed, is inching away from the bubble while Georgia sinks toward it.<\/p>\n USC transfer Rashaun Agee was Saturday\u2019s star with 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Agee needed a temporary restraining order to be eligible for this season, his lawyers successfully arguing that a previous year enrolled in junior college should not count toward his eligibility. They cited Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia\u2019s win in a similar case and said $1.2 million in NIL money was at stake.<\/p>\n Agee leads the Aggies with 13.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, helping make up for the early-season loss of Mackenzie Mgbako (10.4 points, 4.9 rebounds in seven games) to a season-ending foot fracture. Bucky\u2019s ballers moved up to 27th in KenPom with the win, ranking 14th nationally in shortest average possession length (15.3 seconds) and 25th in adjusted tempo. \u2014\u00a0Rexrode<\/p>\n Utah State climbs atop the Mountain West (for now)<\/p>\n San Diego State entered the weekend alone in first place in the Mountain West, and looked poised to stay there after building an 11-point first-half lead at Utah State. But the Aggies \u2014 who have the best advanced metrics in the league, including a top-30 offense \u2014 never folded, using a 12-2 run entering halftime to tie the score at the break. And while the Aztecs again took the lead in the second half courtesy of another 7-0 run, Utah State stormed all the way back to win 71-66, earning a pivotal tiebreaker in MWC play.<\/p>\n The inflection point of the game came with just over five minutes left, when SDSU star Miles Byrd hit his only 3 of the afternoon to tie things at 59. But on the very next possession, Utah State\u2019s MJ Collins \u2014 one of the best, most unheralded transfers in the sport \u2014 responded with his first 3 after missing his first six attempts to give the Aggies a lead they wouldn\u2019t relinquish. Other than Collins, who made another 3 with 2:40 to play that put Utah State up two possessions, the star for Jerrod Calhoun\u2019s team was junior forward Karson Templin, who scored a season-high 18 points.<\/p>\n Utah State (18-3, 9-2 Mountain West) temporarily has the tiebreaker on San Diego State (15-6, 9-2) for first place in the Mountain West, although it\u2019s hard to imagine the rematch in late February \u2014 this time on Montezuma Mesa \u2014 won\u2019t be pivotal in deciding the conference regular-season champion. But for the time being, it\u2019s Utah State\u2019s league to lose. That could be pivotal for SDSU, which entered this week among the last four teams in our projected field<\/a>. \u2014 Marks<\/p>\n Indiana storms back into the field, and more Bracket Watch impact<\/p>\n Michigan had the best week in men\u2019s college basketball, socking away two gigantic wins \u2014 hanging tough to hand Nebraska its first loss, then thumping rival Michigan State for its first win at Breslin Center since 2018.<\/p>\n After that? How about Dusty May\u2019s alma mater?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2259305587.jpg\")
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