Turns out it can get worse if you’re a Purdue fan.
Eight days after Indiana (Indiana!) won the national championship in football, the unranked Hoosiers basketball team hit 12 3-pointers to upset No. 12 Purdue, withstanding a furious late rally from the Boilermakers to hang on for the second-biggest victory this month in Bloomington. Lamar Wilkerson scored 19 points, and Nick Dorn hit four 3s for IU. Tucker DeVries chipped in 9 points and 10 rebounds.
I wonder what Bob Knight would have said after this one. Would there have been more or less F-bombs?
The Hoosiers’ win capped an odd night in college basketball full of almost upsets. Six different ranked teams battled back from double-digit deficits, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and ESPN Research: No. 17 Virginia needed two overtimes to come back from 19 down at Notre Dame, No. 7 Michigan State needed one overtime to come back from 12 down at Rutgers and No. 21 Saint Louis got a buzzer-beater to survive George Washington. Meanwhile, No. 15 Arkansas held Oklahoma scoreless for the final 87 seconds to snatch a road win, while Providence pushed UConn in Storrs before the Huskies prevailed, 87-81.
Whew. And that doesn’t even mention the game of the night (week?): No. 5 Nebraska at No. 3 Michigan where the Wolverines dealt the Cornhuskers their first loss of the season. But take heart, NU fans: If we learned anything Tuesday, it’s that Nebraska really can play with anyone. The Huskers are legit, and if you’re rooting for Big Red, you should feel good about everything that’s to come, including a (likely) top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskers’ loss leaves just two unbeaten in college hoops: No. 1 Arizona and No. 24 Miami (Ohio). The Redhawks kept things interesting again, surviving 86-84 against Massachusetts, but hey, better to win ugly than lose pretty, as the saying goes.
More on Tuesday’s action below.
Spartan survival
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Among the many ranked teams to survive serious tests on Tuesday night, Michigan State may have been the unlikeliest of the bunch. The Spartans trailed Rutgers by double-digits with 10 minutes remaining in the game, and they were down 67-60 with under three minutes remaining. With under 20 seconds left, Tom Izzo’s team still trailed by three.
But the Spartans remained patient, chipping away at the lead despite clearly not having their A game. On their final possession, Izzo put the ball in his star point guard’s hands and let him make a play. Jeremy Fears Jr., the nation’s leader in assist rate and second in assists per game, got into the paint and found an open Divine Ugochukwu for a massive game-tying triple (note the clever flare screen by Jaxon Kohler to help free him):
CLUTCH THREE FOR THE SPARTANS! @MSU_Basketball
Divine Ugochukwu drains it, and we have OT in Piscataway! pic.twitter.com/p4IGO7QVpx
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 28, 2026
On the ensuing final possession of regulation, Rutgers’ Tariq Francis found his way into the lane, but his soft floater somehow rolled off the front of the rim after bouncing around the bucket. That gave the heavily-favored Spartans the momentum they needed to win it in overtime, thanks in large part to a key and-1 from Kohler in the post. Michigan State ultimately prevailed, 88-79, after the extra period.
That was far from an encouraging performance for Michigan State, with Izzo telling reporters that Rutgers “outplayed us for 90 percent of the game.” The Spartans found a way, though, and they remain in the thick of the Big Ten title race as a result. Paired with Michigan squeaking out a win over Nebraska, that trio forms a three-way tie atop the standings at 9-1, with Illinois a half-game back at 8-1.
A showdown looms on Friday in East Lansing, with Michigan coming for a vicious in-state clash. The winner could have a slight edge in the league title race — and perhaps the inside track at a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday. — Jim Root
Sweet dreams after 25-point victory
If you have to sleep at the office, at least you get to do it after a big win.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 100,000 Nashville residents were still without power after a severe winter storm rolled through over the weekend. One of those residents is Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, who’s spent the last few nights on an air mattress in his office on campus. That’s probably not great for his back, but he’s sure to sleep easily after the No. 18 Commodores thumped Kentucky, 80-55.
The power outages in Nashville have been so bad that Vandy head coach Mark Byington has been sleeping at the athletic center
Woke up today and went downstairs to coach his team against Kentucky pic.twitter.com/vFl7pfh7yc
— Nick Bateman (CBB guru) (@nickbateman33) January 28, 2026
Vandy’s victory snapped a five-game win streak for Kentucky and came despite the absence of starting guard Duke Miles, who sat out with an undisclosed injury. — Lindsay Schnell
Robbie to the rescue
No. 21 Saint Louis is one of the darlings of the college basketball world thanks in large part to its bespectacled center, the smooth-shooting Robbie Avila (aka Larry Nerd, aka Cream Abdul-Jabbar). Along with head coach Josh Schertz, Avila has the Billikens at 20-1 and undefeated atop the Atlantic 10 standings.
On Tuesday night, the Billikens needed all 40 minutes — and every bit of Avila’s heroics — to narrowly edge out a talented and feisty George Washington squad. Trailing for most of the game, including by double-digits for extended stretches, SLU briefly took the lead in the second half thanks to a lightning bolt of a 15-0 run. The visiting Revolutionaries punched back, though, and the game was tied with 17 seconds left. SLU banked on its trademark unselfish ball movement to find an open look for its veteran leader, and Avila delivered:
OH MY! Robbie!!!!! @SaintLouisMBB @ESPNAssignDesk #SCTop10#A10MBB Instant Classic pic.twitter.com/BGDBt3RAfX
— Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball (@A10MBB) January 28, 2026
In the feverish aftermath of the dramatic victory, Avila coolly summarized his contribution to the broadcast: “I mean, it’s just what I do. We’ve had many moments in my career where we go to me, and I’ve been known to hit those shots. I’m comfortable with that. (Kellen Thames) trusts me on that — drew two, kick it out and hit the shot.”
For all of Avila’s notoriety in the sport, he has never made it to the NCAA Tournament. In large part due to his own clutch performance, SLU is creeping towards that goal in Schertz’s second season in charge.
Notably, though, much of the country missed the dramatic final minutes. With roughly three minutes left in the game, the ESPN+ feed mysteriously cut out for many subscribers (though, strangely, not all of them). The link vanished from the app on both mobile and TV, leaving many viewers frustrated and scrambling to find the game. Unfortunately, many missed a dagger thrown by one of the sport’s best personalities. — Root
No. 15 Arkansas escapes Oklahoma
Man, this would have been a nice win for Oklahoma and coach Porter Moser, whose seat gets hotter by the day. The Sooners built a 13-point lead midway through the first half and led by four at the break, but Arkansas finished the game on a 6-0 run over the last 61 seconds to come back and steal a victory.
It stings extra when you realize Arkansas hit just two 3s (2-of-17 from long distance, a paltry 12 percent) and Oklahoma hit 10. The Sooners also got throttled in the paint to the tune of 56-30.
All of this adds up to a new athletic director who might soon be looking for a new men’s basketball coach. The SEC isn’t the juggernaut it was last season, but it’s no cake walk, and the Sooners are currently sitting in last place at 1-7 in conference play. – Fast
