I Slept On It: Indiana Wins Big Ten; Kentucky Likely Bursts Florida's Bubble

Big Ten

The Indiana Hoosiers (24-6, 14-3) will be the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament, after handing No. 16 Iowa (20-9, 11-6) a fourth straight loss. 81-78 after Anthony Clemmons and Peter Jok each missed open three-point attempts in the dying seconds. The Hawkeyes look likely to be out of the group of 16 protected seeds completely, and they could drop further with a road game at bid-hungry Michigan looming on Saturday.

No. 15 Purdue (23-7, 11-6) cruised to an easy 81-62 win at Nebraska (14-16, 6-11), thanks to 20 points from Vince Edwards. Shavon Shields scored a little more than half of the Huskers' points with 32.

Big East

The third-ranked Villanova Wildcats (26-4, 15-2) will be the top seed at Madison Square Garden next week after easily disposing of DePaul (9-20, 3-14), who they could meet in the first quarterfinal of the Big East Tournament 83-62.

Marquette (19-11, 8-9) survived a visit from Georgetown (14-16, 7-10) 88-87.

SEC

No. 22 Kentucky (22-8, 12-5) moved closer to the SEC regular season crown, while damaging the Florida Gators' (17-13, 8-9) at-large hopes, perhaps fatally, 88-79. The Gators have lost four in a row and a win at Missouri on Saturday won't help their case much. Vanderbilt (19-11, 11-6), on the other hand, is looking safer, following a big 86-69 home win over Kevin Punter-less Tennessee (13-17, 6-11).

LSU (18-12, 11-6) just missed kissing its hopes goodbye, as the Bayou Bengals held off a Missouri (10-20, 3-14) rally to win 80-71. Ben Simmons and company can do themselves a huge favor by winning at Kentucky on Saturday.

No. 20 Texas A&M (23-7, 12-5) got off to a slow start at Auburn (11-18, 5-12), but the Aggies kept pace with Kentucky for the conference crown (and the top seed in Nashville thanks to a win over the Wildcats) with an 81-63 triumph. A&M closes with Vanderbilt in College Station in one of Saturday's more intriguing matchups.

ACC

No. 4 Virginia (23-6, 12-5) held off Clemson (16-13, 9-8) 64-57 in Greenville, a result that all but ends the Tigers' at-large chances. Jaron Blossomgame's 31 wasn't enough for the hosts, while Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers with 18.

Georgia Tech's (17-13, 7-10) bubble membership also expired, as the Yellow Jackets fell short at No. 11 Louisville (23-7, 12-5) 56-53. Adam Smith's game-tying three-point attempt with four seconds left didn't drop for Tech.

No. 17 Duke (22-8, 11-6) prepared for North Carolina's Saturday visit by topping Wake Forest (11-19, 2-16) 79-71. The Demon Deacons will now rest for a week before their Tuesday game at the ACC Tournament in the Nation's Capital.

Big 12

No. 19 Baylor (21-9, 10-7) trailed sixth-ranked Oklahoma (23-6, 11-6) 58-34 with 14:47 left in the second half in Norman, but the Bears' rally fell just short. The Sooners moved into pole position for the three seed in Kansas City with a 73-71 victory. Buddy Hield led Oklahoma with 23, though he struggled from the field in the second half after a red-hot first.

Atlantic 10

Dayton (23-6, 13-4) won another squeaker, this time at Richmond (15-14, 7-10) 85-84. The Flyers last recorded a win by more than three points when they won at George Masonon February 6th.
George Mason Patriots (10-19, 4-12) at George Washington Colonials (21-8, 10-6), 8 p.m. (ASN)

Conference Tournaments

For full information on this year's conference tournaments, visit Conference Tournament Central.

Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals

There were two road winners in the A-Sun, which you could have expected given how wild that conference's season has gone. However, only the sixth-seeded Lipscomb Bisons (12-20, 7-7) had defeated its opponent, three seed Jacksonville (16-16, 8-6) during the regular season. The Bisons ended up beating the Dolphins again 92-89 after overtime, and they earned a home game thanks to seventh-seeded Stetson's (11-21, 4-10) 82-67 win at NJIT (17-14, 8-6), whose introduction to Division I conference tournament action was an unhappy one. Complicating matters is the fact the Hatters are ineligible for the NCAAs.

The top half of the bracket went according to form as No. 8 USC Upstate (10-22, 4-10) was no match for top seed North Florida (22-10, 10-4) who won by a 92-69 score in Jacksonville. The Ospreys will next host fourth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (18-13, 8-6), who knocked off five seed Kennesaw State (11-20, 7-7) 74-64.

The two semifinals are set for Thursday night.

Patriot League Opening Round

There was just one small upset in the two Patriot League openers. Ninth-seeded Holy Cross (11-19, 5-13) moved on to a Thursday quarterfinal at top seed Bucknell Bison with a 72-67 road win over No. 8 Loyola (Md.) (9-21, 8-10). The seventh-seeded Navy Midshipmen (19-13, 9-9) will visit Lehigh Mountain Hawks after topping bottom team Lafayette (6-24, 3-15) 78-70.

Elsewhere

Akron (23-7, 12-5) clinched the MAC regular season title with a 91-76 win over Ohio (19-10, 10-7).

San Diego State (22-8, 15-2) dominated New Mexico (16-14, 9-8) in a manner they were unable to back at Viejas, 83-56.

Saint Mary's (23-4, 15-3 WCC) won its late non-conference home game against Grand Canyon (24-6, 10-3 WAC) 73-64, though the result is unlikely to boost the Gaels' NCAA hopes.

Be sure to follow @ChrisDobbertean on Twitter and to like Blogging the Bracket on Facebook.