Numbers 1, 2, and 5 Fall in College Basketball

Some top of the rankings teams lost in midweek college basketball action on December 3rd.

We’ll begin at the top in Omaha, where unranked Creighton hosted #1 ranked Kansas. The Bluejays, who are very good at home no matter who the opposition is, took a 41-31 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Jayhawks came back to trail by just one point in the second half before Creighton slammed the door, winning 76-63. Pop Isaacs led the Bluejays with 27 points while Ryan Kalkbrenner had a double double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Creighton improved to 6-3 on the season, while Kansas is 7-1.

In Durham, North Carolina, #9 Duke hosted #2 Auburn in one of the ACC/SEC Challenge matchups. Auburn took a 13-2 lead in the first half, but the Blue Devils, like the Bluejays, are tough to beat at home. Cooper Flagg scored 22 points had grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Duke to an 84-78 win over the Tigers. Johni Broome led Auburn with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Auburn is 7-1 and Duke improved to 6-2.

Fifth ranked Marquette traveled to nearby Iowa to take on #6 Iowa State. Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points and Joshua Jefferson added 15 with 12 rebounds as the Cyclones pulled off a mild upset over the Golden Eagles by a score of  81-70. Marquette drops to 8-1 on the season, while Iowa State improved to 6-1.

There were two other upsets of ranked teams. #25 UCONN ,which has struggled a bit this year, beat #15 Baylor 76-72 and unranked Mississippi State improved to 7-1 after destroying #18 Pittsburgh 90-57.