Wednesday night was featured quite a few key conference clashes, particularly outside of the six major conferences.
There was only one ACC game on the Thursday schedule. No. 8 Duke picked up a relatively easy 70-56 home win over Florida State to keep pace with Maryland and Virginia in the ACC race.
No. 15 Temple is no longer unbeaten in the A-10. The Owls fell at Charlotte, 74-64, and now the 49ers are tied with them and Xavier for the conference lead. St. Louis couldn't stay among the leaders, as they dropped their second league game, 67-62 at George Washington. La Salle got to .500 in the league with an 80-73 win at Fordham. UMass won at St. Joseph's, 87-80.
No. 3 Villanova defeated Notre Dame, 90-72, to stay unbeaten in the Big East. Providence upended No. 19. Connecticut, 81-66, as the Huskies had a bit of a letdown after their big win over Texas on Saturday.
Illinois kept Penn State winless in the Big Ten with a 77-67 victory, while 20th-ranked Ohio State won 65-57 at Iowa to move to 5-3 in the conference.
In the Big 12, No. 6 Texas snapped their two-game losing streak by pulling away from Texas Tech to grab a 95-83 win. Oklahoma State moved to 4-2 with a 76-69 win over Texas A&M. Oklahoma joined the Aggies at .500 by beating Iowa State, 89-84 in Norman. Colorado sent Nebraska to 0-5 in the conference by beating the Huskers, 72-60.
No. 23 New Mexico picked up a big Mountain West win, beating 12th-ranked BYU, 76-72. That's the second loss for the Cougars on the year and their first in the league. It's a setback that cuts their lead over the Lobos and UNLV to a single game in the loss column. Wyoming picked up a 75-69 win over Utah to send the Utes to .500 in the league. Colorado State is also back to even after they beat TCU, 63-57.
No. 21 Vanderbilt remains the only team with a perfect SEC record. The Commodores beat No. 14 Tennessee in Knoxville, 85-76, setting up a big game in Lexington on Saturday. Florida won their fourth straight, beating Georgia, 87-71. LSU still hasn't won a conference game yet, as they struggled at Alabama, falling 57-38.
Outside of the likely multi-bid leagues...
Maine remains atop the America East after picking up a 56-54 win over Boston University. What is going on with Vermont? The Catamounts dropped their third straight, 75-56, at New Hampshire.
ETSU created a three-way tie atop the A-Sun. They beat Campbell, 72-57, to create a logjam between themselves, the Camels, and Jacksonville. Mercer fell to .500 in the conference after they fell to Kennesaw State at home, 71-69.
George Mason ran past Delaware, 77-66. The Patriots sit alone atop the CAA for the day at 9-1, as Drexel knocked off Northeastern, 61-48, to send the Huskies to 8-2. Old Dominion can join GMU Thursday if they beat Georgia State. William & Mary is now three games behind the leaders, as they lost 65-63 at James Madison. Hofstra snapped a five-game losing streak by demolishing UNCW, 93-54; and VCU also grabbed a huge win, pounding Towson, 112-53.
Memphis stays a game behind UAB in C-USA, as they handed Marshall their second straight conference loss by a 75-72 score. UTEP is also a game behind heading into Saturday's big game with the Blazers, after they defeated Tulane, 84-71. SMU won their second conference game, 65-43, over UCF.
Akron moved to 4-2 in the MAC by winning at Western Michigan, 79-70. Ohio is on a bit of mini-roll. The Bobcats won their second straight, 99-84, at then-West co-leader Northern Illinois.
Northern Iowa stands at 9-1 in the MVC after they topped in-state rival Drake, 67-51. Wichita State remains two games behind the Panthers, as they defeated reeling Illinois State, 74-66. Creighton moved to 6-4 with a 73-68 win at Bradley. Missouri State joins the Braves at 5-5, however, after they beat Evansville, 76-66.
Murray State picked up yet another OVC win, as they beat transitional member, SIU Edwardsville, 86-49.
Lafayette has sole possession of first in the Patriot League again, as they beat Army, 77-68, and Bucknell upended previous co-leader Lehigh, 81-76. Don't look now, but American is back at .500 in the league after they topped Navy, 69-59. Also, Colgate defeated Holy Cross, 69-68, to win their second conference game.
Sam Houston State moved to 5-0 in the Southland as they defeated Lamar, 90-63. Texas State moved to 4-2 after a 76-62 home victory over Texas San Antonio. Stephen F. Austin sits atop the East Division at 4-2 thanks to a 66-56 triumph over archrival Northwestern State. Southeastern Louisiana got back to .500 with a 60-53 win over Central Arkansas, so did Nicholls State, 63-61 winners over McNeese State.
Jackson State is now tied atop the SWAC with Texas Southern. The Tigers defeated Alcorn State, who's still winless in the conference, 63-51.
If you don't see your team's score, click any of the score links. You'll find a listing of all of the night's scores on the right side of the page.
For more on Wednesday's action, visit SB Nation and Searching for Billy Edelin.
After the jump I'll take a look at a busy Thursday.
Thursday's TV lineup features key games in the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-10 races.
No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 10 Purdue, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN): The Badgers look to sweep the Boilermakers, but they'll have to do it in West Lafayette. They'll also have to do it without Jon Leuer, though he contributed far more on the boards (10) than on the scoring front (4 points on a 2 for 15 shooting night) in the win in Madison.
Seton Hall at USF, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2): The Pirates can't stumble in Tampa after picking up two decent wins at home.
St. John's at No. 17 Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU): The Panthers look to snap a two-game skid at home.
Duquesne at Xavier, 7 p.m. ET (CBS College): The Musketeers need to win to keep pace with Temple and Charlotte in the A-10 race.
Georgia State at Old Dominion, 7 p.m ET (MASN/CSS/Full Court): The Monarchs look to join George Mason at the top of the CAA.
Stanford at Arizona, 8 p.m. ET (Fox College Sports Pacific): These two are among the five tied for second in the Pac-10.
Mississippi State at Arkansas, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2): The Bulldogs struggled to beat the Razorbacks in Fayetteville.
No. 18 Mississippi at Auburn, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU): The Rebels are looking to win their third straight, while the Tigers just want to get over .500 overall.
UCLA at Oregon, 10:30 p.m. ET (FSN/Comcast Sports Net): With a win the Bruins could tie for the conference lead, depending on what happens in Tempe between leaders Cal and Arizona State.
No. 13 Gonzaga at Santa Clara, 11 p.m. ET (ESPN2): The West Coast Conference leader visits one of the league's bottom feeders.
Other viewing options for tonight include
North Texas at Western Kentucky, 8 p.m. ET (FCS Atlantic)
North Dakota State at Oral Roberts, 8 p.m. ET (FCS Central)
Portland at San Francisco, 11 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
For information about games that will be telecast regionally, like Wake Forest at No. 22 Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech at Virginia, and California at Arizona State, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.