It’s the final Saturday of the men’s college basketball regular season and they saved the best for last.
Alongside ongoing small conference tournaments is a solid slate that’s already delivered early. No. 1 Houston absolutely mauled No. 14 Kansas in a 30-point blowout while locking up the Big 12 title in its first season in the conference. In the SEC, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 4 Tennessee are putting on a show in a back-and-forth battle.
But that all serves as a warmup for the most storied rivalry in the sport later as No. 7 North Carolina visits No. 9 Duke.
As teams battle for higher seeds or try to work their way off the NCAA tournament bubble, the last few games could be critical. Follow along live as Yahoo Sports tracks all the action on a loaded college basketball Saturday.
The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have identical 24-6 records ahead of their rivalry matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium. UNC came out on top in the first meeting between the teams on Feb. 4 as Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram combined for 46 points and 23 rebounds in a 93-84 win. Duke has won eight of its last nine and would claim a share of the ACC regular season title with North Carolina if the Blue Devils win at home on Saturday. With five players averaging double figures, Duke is a well-balanced team that’s likely looking at a No. 2 seed.
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Final: No. 1 Houston 76, No. 14 Kansas 46
The Cougars are running it up now. Houston is up 30-plus despite having locked up the Big 12 regular season title before the game even began.
Dalton Knecht is heating up and the Vols are going to need him to stick around. Kentucky’s freshmen guards have been blistering this half.
Here’s the video of Hunter Dickinson’s injury. He immediately grabs his right shoulder after going up for .
Hunter Dickinson just went straight to the locker room after coming down with an apparent shoulder injury after this play. Not good for Kansas, esp. with McCullar already dinged up. pic.twitter.com/XRKwoq0OBu
Kentucky has its first double-digit lead of the game after a 9-0 run that featured this monster block.
Caitlin Clark’s halftime stats
Reed Sheppard is just showing off now.
We are back in action in Knoxville and the Vols and Wildcats are trading blows.
Interesting little tidbit here. Did you know USF had the longest active men’s winning streak before its loss to Tulsa today?
D-1’s longest active winning streak comes to an end at 15 as South Florida falls at Tulsa.
The new longest active streak is James Madison and Arkansas Little-Rock at 10 wins. pic.twitter.com/1SUKpSUG2Z
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 9, 2024
Caitlin Clark has a points-assists double-double (19 and 11) with plenty of time left in the first half and Iowa is rolling in its Big Ten semifinal game against Michigan.
How the half ended in Knoxville:
Halftime: Kentucky 33, Tennessee 29
It’s a tight one in the SEC! Unsurprisingly, Dalton Knecht leads all scorers with 19 points, but UK has made him earn it. He’s just 5 for 12 from the field in the first half.
Halftime: Houston 40, Kansas 21
The Cougars came out hot and had a 34-9 lead before cooling off late in the half. The Kansas offense looks all out of sorts; Kevin McCullar Jr. is scoreless so far and Hunter Dickinson has missed some early chances at the rim.
Now the Wildcats are going on a little run.
Caitlin Clark is doing Caitlin Clark things already.
The Vols are finding their rhythm and Rocky Top is lit.
The Cougars are cooking. They’re now up 20 while shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. There’s very little going right for the Jayhawks.
