Villanova

While many cite the way in which Villanova (21-6, 9-5) shot the three in their 83-72 win at the Carrier Dome last month, it may have been the foul line that did in Syracuse (22-6, 9-6) on that Saturday afternoon. Jay Wright's team hit 11 of 24 from deep but the Orange were nearly as good, making 10 on 26 attempts. That's where the foul line, and Villanova's ability to get there, made the difference as they knocked down 22 of 24 to Syracuse's 8-for-12 performance.

First place (or at least a share of it) is on the line in Richmond as a red-hot George Mason visits VCU. Jim Larranaga's Patriots have won 11 straight games with just one of those wins being by single digits (won by two at James Madison) and none of the other 10 games were decided by less than 14 points. A 12th straight win would clinch at least a share of the CAA regular season crown for the Patriots, and given their splits with both Hofstra and Old Dominion the top seed in next month's CAA Tournament is the likely reward.

Many fans and pundits alike felt that Ohio State's trip to Madison would be the point where they'd suffer their first loss of the season. But after a first half that didn't do much to separate either team those prospects didn't look good as Thad Matta's group went on a 23-6 run to push their lead out to 15 points with 13:21 left in the game. Thankfully for the Badgers Jordan Taylor and company had other ideas, answering with a 30-8 run of their own and eventually going on to win 71-67 at the Kohl Center.

There's just one game on Saturday matching ranked teams and surprisingly it comes in the SEC, where #11 Kentucky (16-5, 4-3) heads south to take on #23 Florida (17-5, 6-2). And while the SEC East has shown itself to be somewhat wide-open, John Calipari's young Wildcats would be well-served to win this one and avoid falling behind the Gators by two games in the loss column. But Kentucky also has just one road win in conference play (South Carolina) and they'll have their hands full with a talented group of Gators.

The lesson learned this weekend: almost anyone can be had. And that should make for an exciting month of March if results like the ones we saw become the norm. Twelve ranked teams went down on Saturday, but it should be noted that four of the losses came to opponents who were also ranked and eight of the twelve lost on the road. How does one narrow these results down: ask the simple question of which losers may be in some trouble at this point in the season. One such victim has to be Syracuse, who has now dropped four straight and has to play at Connecticut on Wednesday night.

While there are a number of good games on the schedule for Saturday the best matchup may not come until the evening deep in the heart of Texas. Rick Barnes' Longhorns (17-3, 5-0) have been outstanding for much of the season, having won 11 of their last 12 games with the defeat being by one point. But they'll encounter a stiff test in regards to both talent and style as a Missouri (17-3, 3-2) squad that needs a win to remain in the Big 12 title conversation visits the Erwin Events Center. Both squads are solid defensively but they do things in different ways.

With Kansas beginning Saturday's game on a 10-0 run it may have been easy for the casual observer to chalk this one up as the Jayhawks' 70th consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse. But such concessions weren't coming from the visiting Texas Longhorns (16-3, 4-0), who used their defense to erase a 12-point halftime deficit and made some key baskets late to win going away by the final score of 74-63. J'Covan Brown was the hero on this day, providing 23 points off the bench with 17 of those coming in the second half.

First place in the Big 12 in on the line Saturday afternoon with Texas (15-3, 3-0), fresh off of an impressive win over rival Texas A&M, visiting Kansas (18-0, 3-0) with the undefeated Jayhawks looking to keep their 69-game home win streak alive. In order for Texas to pick up the victory they're going to need their frontcourt to play as well as they did against the Aggies if not better because they'll be up against one of the premier frontcourts in America.

While games tend to have their fair share of dueling spurts and runs, few can match what was seen at the Petersen Events Center on Monday night. Pittsburgh sprinted out of the gates, scoring the first 19 points of the game with Nasir Robinson providing nine of his career-high 21 points during that stretch. But the better teams are able to answer and that's exactly what Syracuse did despite playing without leading scorer Kris Joseph (head injury), going on a 17-0 run to close to within two points with 6:03 left in the half.

While there are four games on Monday involving ranked teams it doesn't take much effort to realize which contest gets the main line on the marquee. Syracuse (18-0, 5-0) heads south to take on Pittsburgh (17-1, 5-0) in a matchup of the two 5-0 Big East teams, and the Orange have yet to lose at all this season. But the dynamic of this contest changed some when Syracuse wing Kris Joseph hit his head on the Carrier Dome floor in the first half of Saturday's win over Cincinnati.