#1 Oklahoma and #2 North Carolina Both Lose

Proving once again that there are a lot of excellent NCAA basketball teams but no dominant ones, both #1 Oklahoma and #2 North Carolina took it on the chin on February 6th. Oklahoma lost 80-69 at Kansas State while North Carolina lost 80-76 at Notre Dame. It was North Carolina’s second straight loss.

Kansas State came into its game with a 13-9 overall record but just 2-7 in the Big 12. Oklahoma was 19-2, 7-2 in the Big 12. But the Wildcats put up a six point lead at halftime, and pulled away in the second half to win behind a 22 point and seven rebound performance by Wesley Iwundu. The Wildcat bench contributed 32 points.

It was a different type of game in South Bend, with North Carolina holding a nine point half time lead over Notre Dame at 39-30. But the Fighting Irish stormed back with a 50 point second half to overtake the Tar Heels. Notre Dame improved to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC, just a game and a half behind front running Louisville and North Carolina (both 8-2 in conference play and 19-4 overall).