SI:AM | Recapping the Biggest Night in Men’s Hoops This Season

We’ll be looking back on these games come March.

The scene at Creighton after the Bluejays upset No. 1 Kansas on Wednesday. / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I can’t believe how quickly the Lakers have fallen apart.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏀 Big night in college hoops
💣 Woj’s next chapter
✅ NFL Week 14 picks

An early taste of March

If you’re a college basketball fan, Wednesday night was the biggest treat of the season. There were 10 games involving top-25 men’s teams, including four matchups between ranked teams, two games in which both teams were ranked in the top 10 and two games where ranked teams were knocked off by unranked opponents.

It was the kind of night that you’ll look back on come tournament time when agonizing over your bracket and deciding which teams are for real. Let’s look at a few of the most interesting results.

Creighton Bluejays beat No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, 76–63

This is the headline result, as the preseason No. 1 team suffered its first defeat against a Creighton team that had been struggling after entering the season with Big East title aspirations.

The star player was Creighton’s Pop Isaacs, a junior transfer from Texas Tech, who had a season-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-9 from three. And in a battle of two of the nation’s best centers, the Bluejays’ Ryan Kalkbrenner (17 points, 10 rebounds) got the better of Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson (six points, eight rebounds). 

It was Kansas’s first regular-season loss to an unranked nonconference opponent since losing to the Dayton Flyers on Nov. 26, 2021. Creighton started the season 4–0 against low-major competition before dropping three straight against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, San Diego State Aztecs and Texas A&M Aggies. The Bluejays snapped the losing streak with a win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday and will close out nonconference play with a game this Saturday against the UNLV Rebels and their toughest test yet on Dec. 14 on the road against the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide.

No. 9 Duke Blue Devils defeat No. 2 Auburn Tigers, 84–78

Duke’s star freshman Cooper Flagg stepped up in the toughest game he’s played this season, putting up 22 points and tying a season high with 11 rebounds as the Blue Devils handed the Tigers their first loss of the season.

Flagg, the presumptive No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft, has excelled against top-notch competition this season. In four games against ranked opponents (the Kentucky Wildcats, Arizona Wildcats, Kansas and Auburn), Flagg is averaging 21.3 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 45.6% from the floor.

No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones defeat No. 5 Marquette Golden Eagles, 81–70

Iowa State’s first loss of the season came against Auburn at the Maui Invitational on Johni Broome’s putback with one second remaining, but the Cyclones won their next two in Maui (against Dayton and the Colorado Buffaloes) and now have picked up their first signature win against a previously undefeated Marquette team.

Offense has been the hallmark of Iowa State’s success this season. The Cyclones have scored at least 80 points in every game they’ve played and rank 20th in the nation with 86 points per game.

No. 10 Alabama defeats No. 20 North Carolina Tar Heels, 94–79

Alabama improved to 3–1 against ranked teams with a win in Chapel Hill despite an amazing performance from Tar Heels freshman Ian Jackson. The five-star recruit from the Bronx played a career-high 28 minutes off the bench and scored 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The rest of the UNC offense struggled, though, particularly on the perimeter. The Tar Heels made just five of their 28 three-point attempts.

Alabama’s elite offense was firing on all cylinders, though. The Tide rank eighth nationally with 89.4 points per game and had six players score in double figures, led by star point guard Mark Sears with 20.

No. 25 UConn Huskies defeat No. 15 Baylor Bears, 76–72

UConn really needed a win in this one after a baffling three-game losing streak in Maui. The Huskies did pull out of the skid with a blowout win at home against the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks on Saturday but another loss to a ranked opponent would have been cause for panic.

The Huskies still need to pick up a few more quality wins to prove that they’re a threat to win a third straight national title, and they’ll have the opportunity to do so in their final two nonconference games—on the road against the Texas Longhorns on Sunday and against the No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14.

Mississippi State Bulldogs defeat No. 18 Pittsburgh Panthers, 90–57

A trio of solid wins (on the road against the SMU Mustangs and neutral site victories over the Utah Utes and UNLV) lifted Mississippi State up to No. 25 in the AP poll before a loss this weekend against the Butler Bulldogs knocked it out of the rankings. But after beating Pitt, Mississippi State is now 7–1 and should have no trouble running that record to 10–1 before a showdown against the No. 16 Memphis Tigers on the road on Dec. 21.

Wojnarowski stepped away from ESPN and being on TV after talking with others who had recently been through a career transition. / Chris Marion/NBAE/Getty Images

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Today’s Digital Cover is Chris Mannix’s profile of Adrian Wojnarowski, who shocked the NBA world when he retired from reporting to work for his alma mater’s men’s basketball program.

• Pat Forde isn’t buying Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s complaints about the College Football Playoff rankings.

• Here are our experts’ picks for every NFL game this week.

• Matt Verderame makes the case for why the Bengals should trade Ja’Marr Chase to get back to Super Bowl contention.

• With balloting ongoing, Nick Selbe weighed whether Félix Hernández is worthy of a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

• Bryan Curtis is the guest on the latest SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina.

• Storm star Jewell Loyd has requested a trade amid an investigation into alleged misconduct by the Seattle coaching staff.

• JJ Redick didn’t mince words after the Lakers got blown out by 41 points.

• The Yankees are reportedly targeting Willy Adames if they lose the Juan Soto sweepstakes.

The top five…

… things I saw last night:

5. The lucky bounce that allowed the Predators to score against the Leafs.
4. This terrible defensive possession by the Lakers in their embarrassing loss to the Heat.
3. A nasty pump fake by Sixers rookie Jared McCain.
2. Cooper Flagg’s smooth turnaround mid-range jumper.
1. Brook Lopez’s behind-the-back save, leading to a Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk.