Villanova, Kansas, and Kentucky All Lose in Evening of Big College Basketball Upsets

Three top five college basketball teams were in action on January 24th, and all three went down to defeat. Those who only follow college basketball in March during the tournament to fill out the brackets in the office pool miss out on nights like this.

In a Big East Conference showdown in Milwaukee, the Marquette Golden Eagles took on #1 Villanova. The Wildcats had a 39-24 halftime lead, and at one time led by 17. But Marquette came back, and had a 19-4 run to close out the game. Golden Eagles guard Katin Reinhardt hit a pair of free throws with 11.7 seconds left that turned out to be the game winning points. Villanova could not score at the end and Marquette won 74-72, avenging a loss to the Wildcats earlier this season. Marquette improved to 14-6 overall, 5-3 in the Big East. In a conference packed with good teams, Marquette is worth keeping an eye on. The Golden Eagles upset #7 Creighton last week and may be rounding into form. Villanova is now 19-2, 7-2 in the Big East.

In Morgantown, West Virginia, #18 West Virginia hosted the #2 Kansas Jayhawks in a Big 12 Conference matchup. The Mountaineers had been ranked #7 but lost their last two games to Oklahoma and Kansas State. Sophomore forward Esa Ahmad scored a career high 27 points to lead the Mountaineers to a convincing 85-69 victory over the Wildcats. Kansas is now 18-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big 12 while West Virginia improved to 16-4, 5-2 in the conference.

Finally, Tennessee hosted #4 Kentucky in Knoxville. The Volunteers got off to a 39-34 halftime lead and held on to beat the Wildcats 82-80. It was the second year in a row that Tennessee beat Kentucky in Knoxville. The Volunteers evened their SEC record at 4-4 and are 11-9 overall, while Kentucky suffered its first conference loss and is 17-3 overall, 7-1 in the SEC.