Men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball – there’s no shortage of college ball, every night.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in college basketball.
UCLA upsets ranked Purdue, shakes up Big Ten
It’s difficult to overstate how competitive the Big Ten is this season. Through Jan. 20’s games, the first five teams in the conference standings are all ranked, from No. 3 Michigan to No. 11 Illinois. Undefeated No. 7 Nebraska is atop the Big Ten at 7-0, which is also how things stood before Tuesday’s games, but the Big Ten teams in action last night shook things up.
Michigan won against Indiana, moving to 7-1 and second place in the Big Ten. No. 10 Michigan State also picked up a victory, downing Oregon 68-52, and it’s also 7-1. Illinois wasn’t in action on Tuesday, but did win last time out to move to 6-1. Now in second alongside the Wolverines and Spartans is No. 4 Purdue, which was tied for first with Nebraska before yesterday’s game as the Boilermakers were also 7-0 in conference play… and then an upset by UCLA changed that.
This one was a relatively tight affair from start to finish, with the game tied at the half and then decided by a single bucket in the end. Purdue did lead for the majority of the game, however, and with 7:24 to go in the first half had built up a 12-point cushion, but the Bruins clawed back in a hurry by outscoring the Boilermakers 17-7 before the break.
Purdue then grabbed a 6-point lead with just 1:56 remaining in the game, on a layup by senior forward Trey Kauffman-Renn — those would be the Boilermakers’ final points. Kauffman-Renn would foul, helping set UCLA up for a 3-pointer by senior guard Donovan Dent, then senior guard Braden Smith turned the ball over on a bad pass, leading to an Eric Dailey layup. With 1:05 to go, UCLA was now down by a single point. The next bucket would come with 8 seconds to go, out of the hands of senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, and then the Bruins’ defense would keep Purdue from scoring in those final ticks of the clock.
So how does this matter for Purdue, outside of being pushed out of a tie for first and picking up an L? The first four teams in the Big Ten standings get a double-bye in the conference tournament in March, while teams 5-9 receive a single bye. Getting to skip two matchups instead of one is huge when you consider the competition, i.e. a slate of teams that can beat any of these other teams on a given night, ranked or otherwise. If you’ll recall, Michigan already lost to Wisconsin, and this is a section about Purdue losing to UCLA — those two teams are, respectively, sixth and tied for seventh in the Big Ten at the moment.
Purdue, as of now, is still a top-4 team in the conference thanks to having just the one loss, but the Boilermakers have Illinois next up on the schedule, undefeated Nebraska in mid-February, Michigan a week later, Michigan State a little after that, and Ohio State and Wisconsin — both top-40 teams by the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, just as UCLA now is — in March. There is a lot of season left, and a lot of opportunities to lose in a conference where the top teams can’t afford to do that very often if they want to stay at the top.
Arkansas routed Vanderbilt
It sure feels like a long time ago now that No. 15 Vanderbilt’s men’s team was undefeated, but no. That was the case less than two weeks ago. It’s just that, since a win over LSU to bring them to 16-0, the Commodores have lost to Texas (80-64), now-ranked Florida (98-94) and now No. 20 Arkansas. The Razorbacks put a hurting on the Commodores, downing them 93-68 in Arkansas.
Six different Arkansas players scored at least 10 points, and the team as a whole shot a whopping 58% while sinking 9-of-22 3-pointers. The Razorbacks outrebounded Vandy, 39-27, had 25 assists to 7 turnovers and blocked 4 shots for good measure. Arkansas dominated in the paint, scoring 50 points there compared to Vanderbilt’s 22, and though the Commodores turned the ball over just 10 times, Arkansas made them pay by converting those into 16 points. Just a brutal game for Vanderbilt.
Arkansas improved to 4-2 in a crowded SEC, while Vanderbilt fell into a three-way tie for 7th, at 3-3, well out of the range of the tournament byes granted to the top four teams. There is a lot of conference season left and all, but it’s just been stunning to see Vandy go from undefeated overall and in the SEC to suddenly mixing it up in the back-half of the standings in the course of 10 days.
A 42-point game for Cater
Are either Memphis or Wichita State in danger of making it to March Madness? The two are a combined 2-11 in conference play, so no, probably not. You don’t need to be lining up fornationally televised games to be worth noting, though, especially not when one of the players drops 42 points. That’s what Wichita State senior guard Abby Cater did to Memphis’ defense on Tuesday, when she scored 42 of the Shockers’ 66 points — yes, 42 of 66, or, 64% of their total.
Of Wichita State’s 61 shots, Cater took 29 of them and shot 52%. She was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, a perfect 8-for-8 from the line and pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds with 2 steals and blocks each, too. Her 42 points not only lead the game — and by a lot — but also Division I basketball, men’s or women’s, on Tuesday. It was also a program record for Wichita State, and completely out of nowhere for Cater, who had managed single-digit results in four of her five 2026 games to this point.
Just a monster performance over 37 minutes, and it gave the Shockers the 66-59 win over the Tigers.
NC State upset Clemson in OT
No. 20 Clemson made it to the poll for the first time last Monday, and then this week moved up a couple of spots to its current place. The Tigers might be heading backward again, however, as they lost at home in overtime to NC State.
Senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin led all scorers with 22 points, pushing the Wolfpack ahead of Clemson, 80-76. NC State led for most of the game, but Clemson came back in time to go ahead with 1:12 left on a layup from senior forward RJ Godfrey, and then NC State’s own senior forward Darrion Williams tied it back up for the Wolfpack with a pair of free throws to force OT.
There, NC State took control again, going ahead for good with 2:40 left on a 3-pointer by Williams to make it 74-72. While it’s maybe not likely that this gets NC State into the poll, given it has 6 losses — no team in the poll has more than 5 at present, and the Wolfpack received a lone vote in the most recent iteration — it’s worth pointing out that Clemson and NC State are now back-to-back in NET, in 27th and 28th.
Rice wins 11th in a row
Rice had an iffy start to the season in non-conference play, as it fell to South Dakota State to open the year and was just 5-3 before December. The Owls haven’t lost since the calendar turned over then, though, and are now 16-3 on the season — and a perfect 6-0 in American Conference play.
Rice defeated Tulsa on Tuesday, 78-66, which kept the two from ending up tied for second in the conference after East Carolina also picked up a W to move to 6-1. Senior guard Dominque Ennis led the way with a game- and career-high 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting, but she got plenty of help: all five starters scored at least 11 points, and two of them — sophomore guard Aniah Alexis and junior guard Hailey Adams — logged double-doubles thanks to 10 and 15 rebounds, respectively.
Rice ranks 64th in NET, with its defense — the Owls are 58th in Defensive Rating, allowing 82.36 points per 100 possessions — the key to that. When the offense clicks like it did on Tuesday, though, Rice can be a more dangerous team than that, and it’s why the Owls are a distinct possibility for the tourney in March for the fifth time in their history. Rice will have to keep it up longer than it already has for that to happen, though, and get through its tournament as champion unlike last year, when the Owls lost in the finals to South Florida.
Unbeaten Miami (OH) wins in OT again
Miami (OH) remains undefeated in 2025-2026, thanks to its second-straight overtime victory and its program record ninth-straight road victory, as well. The RedHawks are now 20-0 on the season after beating Kent State in MAC play, 107-101. And before you say, “well, who have they played?” know that Miami (OH)’s coach has already answered that question. Either way, 20-0 is the greatest-ever start for a MAC team, so at the least Miami (OH) is doing better within its conference than any team before it has, and that’s something.
The RedHawks made the poll this week for the first time, coming in at No. 25. While they won’t play a ranked team all season long, as has been noted in our undefeated teams tracker already this season, they do have to contend with Akron (55th in NET) in conference play. And as coach Travis Steele said, “Don’t penalize us for people [who] aren’t willing to play us.”
Just enjoy the ride while it lasts, you know? If Miami (OH) can win the MAC conference and is somehow still unbeaten come March Madness, it’ll get its opportunity to play in the kind of Quad 1-caliber matchup its schedule has lacked to this point.
St. John’s upsets Seton Hall in comeback W
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino picked up the 899th win of his career on Tuesday in a matchup with Seton Hall, and it was only possible thanks to a 15-point comeback. Seton Hall led for 84% of the game, but the Red Storm went on an 8-0 run around the halfway mark of the second half to narrow the gap to 50-45, and then went ahead 55-54 with 4:53 to go on a layup by senior forward Dillon Mitchell, part of an 11-2 stretch that ended with St. John’s up 62-58 and just 19 seconds remaining.
The Pirates would keep pushing, but St. John’s never relinquished the lead over that final 4:53, and would win 65-60. Mitchell would finish with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double in a row, and while St. John’s shot poorly overall — just 36%, and less than half that well from deep — its second half was far better, and the Red Storm held Seton Hall’s own offense in check, too.
Next up, Pitino’s attempt at career win number 900… which very well could come against his own son’s team on Saturday.
Seton Hall’s women beat Providence, though
It wasn’t all bad for Seton Hall on Tuesday, though. The women’s team faced off against Providence at home, and won 73-57. The Pirates had 13 steals and forced 21 turnovers overall, converting those into 20 points, and shot 17-for-20 from the line while hitting 38% of their 3-point attempts. Providence outscored Seton Hall in the second quarter, 16-13, but the Pirates responded after halftime with a dominant 30-point third to end any dreams of an upset.
Seton Hall is ranked 48th in NET, and is going to need to load up on as many strong wins like this one as it can to get the attention of the selection committee should it not come out of the Big East tournament as champion. As is, the Pirates are tied with Villanova (37th in NET) for second in the conference at 8-2, with both suffering a loss to heavy (heavy) favorite UConn, and Seton Hall losing to Villanova in December while the Wildcats’ other conference defeat came against Marquette. There was just the one at-large bid for March Madness in the Big East a year ago — it went to Big East runner-up Creighton — so both Seton Hall and Villanova need to dominate as much as possible in case that turns out to be the case once more.
New jersey, please
Hey, that’s not supposed to happen.
Someone get Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. a new jersey. A more durable one that can withstand the hands of a Hoosier, maybe.
