Let's face it: this weekend was absolutely nuts. Plenty of upsets occurred, including the top 10 suffering. So let's get to it.
-Kansas returned from their thrashing at K. State with a thrashing of their own, dispatching a pesky Colorado team, 89-63. Markieff Morris, who struggled mightily at the Octagon, reasserted himself with an absolutely monster night, posting 26 points and 15 rebounds (both career-highs). 9 of the 10 starters on both teams scored in double digits: a lone player on Colorado scored under 10. Colorado only had five bench points, and Kansas only had eight. Tyshaun Taylor also looked pitiful at the free throw line, going 1-6.
-Texas had their first poor outing of the year, succumbing at Nebraska, 70-67. A couple of shocking stats emerged from the game. Texas was manhandled in the paint, being outscored by Nebraska 38-14. They also shot a hot 56% in the second half to erase a seven point halftime deficit. Jordan Hamilton had 18 points, but was mainly shut down by a tough Nebraska defense that held him to 3-16 shooting, and preventing him from completing a shot inside the arc. J'Covan Brown had the best game for Texas, coming off the bench to notch 18 in 25 minutes of play, coming in for a slumping Dogus Balbay, who didn't score. Tristan Thompson only had one field goal and five points. Nebraska was led by 15 from Brandon Richardson, who hit a number of key free throws down the stretch.
-St. John's domination of top teams in Madison Square continues with a thrilling one point defeat of Pittsburgh, 60-59. The game marked Ashton Gibbs' return to the court, and he shined quite brightly, leading all scorers easily with 26. However, he was the only player for Pittsburgh in double figures. Dwight Hardy paced the Red Storm with 19, and scored the go-ahead layup with 1.2 seconds clinched it. St. John's tight zone defense confounded all the Panthers, save Gibbs, and it appears the Red Storm will return to the land of the ranked. 9-5 in the Big East deserves it.
-History was made in San Diego State's most recent win, a breezy 70-58 win at Air Force. SDSU moved to 27-1, setting the all-time win record for a single season. Malcolm Thomas paced the Aztecs with a double-double, posting 20 and 13.
-Notre Dame's Big East streak was snapped convincingly with a big defeat by the hands of the Mountaineers of West Virginia, 72-58. The recently flamboyant Tim Abromaitis got his mouth shut up with a poor shooting night, going 2-9 from the field and notching only 8 points. Darryl "Truck" Bryant broke his recent slump with 24 points, leading all players. Ben Hansborough led ND with 19 points, and not a single bench point was scored by the Irish.
-The rest of the the top 25 except one team won, but in the Big East and Big 12, wins weren't easy to come by. Villanova and Syracuse defeated DePaul and Rutgers in overtime, respectively. Arizona held off Washington's late surge, and Georgetown struggled against South Florida but pulled out the win. Missouri and Texas A&M were almost defeated by sub-par teams in the Big 12 on the road. NC didn't even score 50, but escaped with a win against Boston College, and Vanderbilt easily dispatched the doormat of the SEC, Auburn. Utah State got a marquee win defeating Saint Mary's in the biggest BracketBuster game of the weekend. Oh, and UK dismantled South Carolina by 31 at home.
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