By DYLAN LUTEY
Anarchy in college basketball resumed on Saturday.
Five Top-25 teams went down to unranked teams, including No. 2 Houston for the second straight game and No. 6 Kentucky.
It marked just the third time in history that five of the top six teams in the nation lost in a five-day span. All told, 15 ranked teams have lost in the last week.
The day started with No. 19 San Diego State (14-3, 3-1) getting blown out, 88-70, by New Mexico (14-3, 2-2). The Lobos announced an attendance of 15,347 people which is the largest crowd at The Pit since 2009. Head coach Richard Pitino started his press conference by acknowledging the fans’ support.
“The 15,347, can’t thank you enough,” he said. “We have recruits watching in the building. Our players are going to talk about these types of moments for the rest of their lives. I had times on the bench where I was like don’t start crying cause it’s so special; that’s what I truly felt. It’s a special special building; it is the most underrated fanbase in college basketball. We were able to do it on the biggest stage versus a terrific program.”
Then, No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 2-1) fell to Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2) in overtime by a score of 97-92. The Aggies pulled off the major upset behind a combined 59 points from Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford. Both players were very happy with the performance and the direction that the team is moving in.
“We should look at every game as an opportunity,” Taylor IV said postgame. “This was a step in the right direction tonight. Tonight we showed how resilient we are.”
“We talked about it this morning,” Radford also commented. “Nobody that’s here has beat Kentucky before. Today was another stepping stone.”
It was also the return for forward Solomon Washington who hadn’t played since Dec. 30 due to a concussion. He made an immediate impact, finishing with 7 points and 9 rebounds. His coach had high praise for him after the game. “I thought Solomon Washington was the player of the game,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “When you sit out for a significant amount of time, you miss a lot of reps. Boots was Boots for sure. He is a strong athlete with size who can guard whoever you want to guard. His energy was tremendous.” Later in the afternoon, No. 25 Texas (12-4, 1-2) was defeated 76-73 by West Virginia (6-10, 1-2). The Mountaineers had lost 3 straight before Saturday, so it was a much needed win for them. “We needed that win for sure,” senior guard Kerr Kriisa said. “We really mentally needed that win to show ourselves and the people of West Virginia. We showed what we can do. This should be the expectation of West Virginia basketball with the talent we have.” No. 8 Arizona (12-4, 3-2) lost 73-70 against Washington State (12-5, 3-3). Myles Rice, who hit the dagger with 23 seconds left in the game to put the Cougars up 4, talked about the confidence that the win gave him and the team. “It proves we can compete with anyone in the country,” he said. Whether it’s on the road, at home, [or] at a neutral site we got the guys in the locker room and the coaches in the locker room as well to go out there and do what we need to do and our fan support is 100%.” Finally, No. 2 Houston (14-2, 1-2) lost their second consecutive game, going down to TCU (13-3, 2-1). Emmanuel Miller put the Horned Frogs up 68-67 with a layup, which was assisted by teammate Avery Anderson III, near the end of the game. It is the Cougars’ second loss in their early Big 12 career. “Avery did a great job of seeing me backdoor,” Miller told reporters. “Before then we had the discipline to just have patience. A lot of teams could have rushed a shot, rushed a quick shot, hoping to get a quick bucket. But we had the patience. We waited for the defense to make a mistake and I back-cutted at the right time.” It was the second top-10 win for the Horned Frogs who beat No. 9 Oklahoma 80-71 on Wednesday. It could have been a third straight if it wasn’t for a narrow 83-81 loss to Kansas on Jan. 6. Follow Dylan on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookFive of the top 6 teams in College Hoops lost in a 5-day span
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 14, 2024
15 ranked teams in all lost this week pic.twitter.com/8fzACFXLBE
