By DYLAN LUTEY
One day after No. 1 Purdue and No. 4 UConn went down, the string of upsets in college basketball continued.
As of Saturday evening, six Top 25 teams have lost this week, likely ensuring that the top of the AP Poll will look much different come Monday, with Arizona expected to be the new No. 1.
Ranked College Basketball teams to lose this weekend:
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) December 2, 2023
– No. 1 Purdue
– No. 3 Marquette
– No. 4 UConn
– No. 7 Duke
– No. 12 Kentucky
– No. 18 Villanova pic.twitter.com/YiN8bLkH82
Here’s a recap of what has happened so far:
Friday: 92 Northwestern, No. 1 Purdue 88
Northwestern (6-1) has now beaten Purdue (7-1) in back-to-back years at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Last season the Wildcats defeated the Boilermakers 64-58. Before that victory they hadn’t beaten a No. 1 team in program history; now they have done it twice. This year it took overtime for a winner to be decided. Boo Buie who is the Wildcats’ leading scorer (20.3 PPG) led the team with 31 points and 9 assists. He commented on his team’s play in an interview with Andy Katz after the game.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Buie said. “We came out here and gave everything we had and we were able to come away with the win.”
On the losing side, Zach Edey went for 35 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. With the Boilermakers’ loss and Arizona’s 82-55 win on Saturday against Colgate, it is likely that there will be a new No. 1 team.
Friday: No. 5 Kansas 69, No. 4 UConn 65
This was a game between the last two NCAA champions and certainly isn’t the same type of upset as the others. For more on this thriller, read Adam Zagoria’s story on NJ.com.
The environment in Allen Fieldhouse right now is a hard one to beat
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 2, 2023
(via @AdamZagoria)pic.twitter.com/zr68UoNCLU
Saturday: 75 Wisconsin, No. 3 Marquette 64
This is the third straight year Wisconsin (6-2) has defeated Marquette (6-2). Max Klesmit, who is averaging just 6.9 PPG this season, led the Badgers with 21 points. This is the second top 25 win for the Badgers who beat No. 24 Virginia on the road 65-41 on Nov. 20. Since head coach Greg Gard took over in 2015, the Badgers have now beaten an AP Top 5 team seven times.
Saturday: 72 Georgia Tech, No. 7 Duke 68
This win comes 4 days after Georgia Tech (4-2) took down No. 21 Mississippi State who was undefeated going into the game. This is the first time that the Yellow Jackets have beaten ranked teams in back-to-back games since 2017. Baye Ndongo led the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and 5 rebounds. For Duke (5-3), they finish the week 0-2 after losing to Arkansas on Wednesday. The Blue Devils will certainly fall in Monday’s updated top 25 rankings.
Saturday: 57 Drexel, No. 18 Villanova 55
With the loss, Villanova (6-3) finishes 0-3 in Big 5 play with losses to UPenn, St. Joe’s (Wednesday), and now Drexel. Amari Williams led the Dragons with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the stunning upset.
“Very special for the Drexel community and so many people who have played in the past and never had this opportunity to shine,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said (via Aaron Bracy on X). “I think this day is awesome for Philadelphia basketball. I thought these guys made a memory for themselves.”
The Wildcats were entering the week coming off a 79-63 win against Memphis in the Battle for Atlantis title game which put them in the top 25; now they will most likely fall back out.
Saturday: 80 UNCW, No. 12 Kentucky 73
It was an improbable victory for N.C. Wilmington (6-2) and head coach Takayo Siddle who is familiar with going into Rupp Arena and shocking the world. Siddle who was a junior guard on the 2007-08 Garner Webb team who beat Kentucky 84-68 in a stunning upset. Trazarien White led the charge with 27 points and 10 rebounds and commented on the game in a post-game interview.
“I think this is probably one of our better games of the year and we came out with the W,” White said on SEC Network. “This is a great moment. I’ve watched Kentucky all my life, they’ve always been a top team in the country…So just to play against Calipari is an honor, so I’m blessed.”
After starting the week on a good note by beating No. 8 Miami 95-73 on Tuesday, Kentucky (6-2) ends the week on a bad note with their loss to the Seahawks. The loss also overshadowed the debut of five-star forward Aaron Bradshaw who was returning from a foot injury. The 7-1 freshman scored 3 points in 13 minutes of action.
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