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I Slept On It: Maryland Tops Iowa; Oregon Wins At Arizona

On Thursday night, the Terps handed the Hawkeyes their first Big Ten loss, while the Ducks took the mantle of Pac-12 favorites from the Wildcats. However, Oregon has some competition from an old rival.

By ChrisDobbertean
Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

ACC

Syracuse (14-8, 4-5) opened its four-game ACC homestand with an emphatic 81-66 victory over No. 25 Notre Dame (14-6, 5-3), which saw its four-game win streak come to an end. Trevor Cooney, the Fighting Irish's kryptonite, scored 22 for the Orange, while V.J. Beachem led the Irish, who were without point guard Demetrius Jackson due to a hamstring injury, with the same total.

Big Ten

No. 3 Iowa's (16-4, 7-1) perfect Big Ten run ended at No. 8 Maryland (18-3, 7-2), which earned its first Top 50 win of the season, 74-68. The Terps extended their home win streak to 25, thanks to 17 apiece from Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter. Peter Jok's 14 led the visitors, who struggled to make shots, particularly from beyond the arc (5-23). Jarrod Uthoff was held to a season low of nine points.

No. 12 Michigan State (18-4, 5-4) obliterated Northwestern (15-7, 3-6) in Evanston 76-45. Denzel Valentine scored 19 for the Spartans, while the Wildcats didn't even hit 21% of their shots from the field.

Ohio State (14-8, 6-3) allowed an Illinois (10-11, 2-6) comeback in Champaign, but prevailed 68-63 after overtime. It was the sixth straight Buckeye win over the Fighting Illini.

Pac-12

No. 23 Oregon (17-4, 6-2) has really made a case that it is the Pac-12's best. Last night, the Ducks took down No. 18 Arizona (16-5, 4-4) in Tucson 83-75, snapping the Wildcats' 49-game win streak at McKale. Five Ducks hit double figures, led by Dillon Brooks with 24. Arizona actually shot remarkably well, hitting 61% from the field, but 19 turnovers did the Wildcats in.

But the Ducks have company at the top. Washington (14-6, 6-2) completed a season sweep of UCLA (12-9, 3-5) when Andrew Andrews hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left to push the Huskies to an 86-84 win. But it looked like it was going to be far easier for the Huskies at Pauley, as they jumped on the Bruins early, opening up a 51-33 halftime lead. That scoreline would have been met by UCLA in the second half, except for those two Andrews free throws. Six Huskies scored more than 10, led by Noah Dickerson with 15, while Bryce Alford led the hosts with 28.

More expectedly, USC (16-5, 5-3) won its second game of the season over Washington State (9-11, 1-7) 81-71, thanks to 18 from Katin Reinhardt. The Cougars' Ike Iroegbu led all scorers with 21, however.

Oregon State (12-7, 3-5) picked up a devastating 86-68 loss at Arizona State (12-9, 2-6), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

American Athletic

Cincinnati (16-6, 6-3) picked up a vital road win, topping UConn (14-6, 4-3) in Hartford 58-57, thanks to this late Gary Clark (13 points) three-point play.

Atlantic 10

George Washington (15-5, 4-3) picked a pretty bad time to lose for the first time at the Smith Center this season, after 11 wins. The Colonials fell to Richmond (11-8, 3-4), a team on the edge of the bubble, 98-90 after two overtimes.

Elsewhere

And then there were two ... atop the CAA. UNC Wilmington (15-5, 7-2) picked up a 78-73 road win at James Madison (16-6, 6-3) to knock the Dukes from the former three-way tie for the conference lead. Now the Seahawks are alone with Hofstra (15-6, 7-2) who held off Elon (12-10, 3-6) 66-64 in Hempstead.

The Conference USA race is suddenly knotted at the top, as UAB (17-4, 7-1) dropped its first conference game of the season and the nation's longest win streak ended at 14, as the Blazers fell 69-62 at Western Kentucky (11-10, 3-5). Meanwhile, Marshall (11-10, 7-1) took out Middle Tennessee (14-6, 6-2) in Huntington 82-66.

Saturday's MAAC showdown lost a slight bit of importance as Monmouth (16-5, 8-2) was able to win at Quinnipiac (5-13, 2-7) 66-51, but Rider (8-13, 4-6) surprisingly blew out Saint Peter's (8-10, 6-3) 76-45 in Jersey City

Evansville (18-4, 7-2) picked up an 83-78 overtime win at Southern Illinois (18-4, 7-2) to create a tie for second in the MVC.

NEC leader Mount St. Mary's (10-12, 7-2) had little trouble with visiting Robert Morris (6-16, 4-5), who looks unlikely to be a March threat, 70-49.

Wofford (9-12, 5-3) knocked visiting ETSU (13-8, 6-2) out of a first place tie in the SoCon 87-73.

Omaha (14-8, 6-2) no longer sits at the Summit's summit, at not least alone. The Mavericks fell 87-76 at South Dakota State (17-5, 6-2).

In a night of WCC action that saw leader Saint Mary's idle, Gonzaga (16-5, 8-2) took its frustrations out on visiting Santa Clara (7-15, 3-7) and BYU (15-7, 6-3) did the same to Loyola Marymount (10-11, 3-7) in Provo 87-62.

Grand Canyon (19-2, 6-0), which is transitioning from Division II and therefore ineligible for the WAC title, sure looks like that conference's best team. The Antelopes, the first Division I team to 19 wins, handed Cal State Bakersfield (14-7, 4-2) a second straight loss 70-64.

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