The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers are safe. The late Bobby Knight painted his masterpiece with this squad led by Quinn Buckner, Scott May and Kent Benson.
IU beat Michigan 86-68 in the 1976 NCAA Tournament finals at The Spectrum in Philadelphia to finish the season with a 32-0 record. The Hoosiers remain the last college basketball team to go undefeated after Florida handed Tennessee its first loss last night.
The Vols, who came to Gainesville ranked #1 nationally but listed as three-point underdogs, were run out of The O-Dome early and often in a 73-43 loss.
Florida (14-1 straight up, 11-4 against the spread) was led by senior guard Alijah Martin, the transfer from Florida Atlantic who has brought his Final Four experience, physicality and intensity at the defensive end to a team in desperate need of all three components.
Martin had a game-high 18 points to go with six rebounds, two steals and one assist without a turnover. Denzel Aberdeen added 16 points, two boards and one steal, while Alex Condon posted a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, two blocked shots and four assists compared to zero turnovers.
UF dominated the glass with a 55-38 advantage, pulling down 19 offensive rebounds. Rueben Chinyelu had five offensive boards and 15 total.
Todd Golden’s defense was torched this past Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, where Kentucky beat Florida in a 106-100 thriller. UF responded at the defensive end Tuesday night, limiting Tennessee to 12-of-56 shooting (21.4%) from the field and 4-of-29 makes from 3-point range (13.8%).
Florida improved to #5 in KenPom’s rankings, while the Vols fell to #6. The Gators also moved up to #5 in the NET rankings. Tennessee (14-1 SU, 9-5-1 ATS) remained at #3 and still owns a 3-1 record versus Quad-1 opponents.
UF plays at Arkansas on Saturday. Rick Barnes’s team will be in a back-to-back road spot Saturday at Texas.
Georgia (13-2 SU, 8-7 ATS) flipped a 23-19 deficit into a 47-34 halftime lead by going on a 28-11 run before the break vs. Kentucky. Mike White’s team never let the Wildcats get closer than five points in the second half and pulled away for an 82-69 win as a 1.5-point home underdog.
Freshman forward Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot. Blue Cain added 15 points and eight boards for the winners.
In defeat, UK’s Lamont Butler scored a game-high 20 points and had four rebounds, four steals and three assists compared to only one turnover. After draining 7-of-9 treys and scoring a team-best 27 points in UK’s win over UF, Koby Brea made just 2-of-10 field-goal attempts and 2-of-9 from downtown in a six-point effort.
UGA moved up seven slots to #29 in the NET rankings and is now #39 at K-Pom. White’s squad is 2-2 against Quad-1 competition.
Meanwhile, Mark Pope’s club dropped three spots in the NET to #15, but it still has a 5-3 ledger against Quad-1 and Quad-2 foes. The ‘Cats are 3-3 vs. Q1 opponents thanks to wins over Gonzaga, UF and Duke.
Next, UGA hosts Oklahoma on Saturday and Kentucky heads to Starkville to take on red-hot Mississippi St.
Speaking of Chris Jans’s team, he’s got a strong one. Mississippi St. (14-1 SU, 9-6 ATS) won a 76-64 decision at Vanderbilt last night as a 2.5-point road favorite.
RJ Melendez was the catalyst for MSU, producing 19 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. Cameron Matthews stuffed the box score with 16 points, five boards, three assists, three blocked shots and one steal.
Josh Hubbard’s nine points had him in single digits for the first time this year, but he dished out five assists without committing a turnover. Hubbard has a spectacular 49/10 assist-to-turnover ratio for the season.
Mississippi St. improved to 4-0 in Q1 games and was bumped up one spot to #12 in the NET rankings. Vandy fell from #32 to #38.
Auburn (14-1 SU, 10-5 ATS) has won seven games in a row since its lone loss at Duke back on Dec. 4. With that said, Bruce Pearl’s team cost its backers for a third straight game in last night’s 87-82 win at Texas as a 10.5-point road ‘chalk.’
Johni Broome continued to strengthen his case to win the Wooden Award – he’s the -230 favorite at FanDuel – by pacing the Tigers with 20 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and five assists compared to merely one turnover.
Auburn led by 12 points at halftime and 21 with 12:34 remaining, but the Longhorns pulled to within 83-80 with 33 ticks remaining and posted the backdoor cover.
Finally, Missouri covered the number in last night’s 83-67 win over LSU as a seven-point home favorite. Tamar Bates led the Tigers with 20 points, eight rebounds, three steal and two assists compared to zero turnovers.