Men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball – there’s no shortage of college ball, every night.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in college basketball.
UConn-Notre Dame rivalry sees its biggest beatdown
UConn and Notre Dame are old rivals, as the two used to both be Big East schools and have a history of success against and in spite of the other in conference tourneys and beyond. UConn has the most national championships of any Division I program in men’s or women’s basketball, for one — 2025’s put them one up on UCLA’s men — but Notre Dame has a pair of national championships and nine Final Four appearances to its name, as well.
While Notre Dame is in the ACC now and UConn in the modern Big East, the two still regularly face off to keep that rivalry alive. The Fighting Irish were winners of three-straight matchups between the two, even in the 2024-2025 championship season for the Huskies, but that streak was snapped on Monday: No. 1 UConn took down a Notre Dame team that had just fallen out of the poll, 85-47, the most lopsided victory the two have ever managed in 56 all-time matchups dating back to 1996.
UConn’s defense was relentless, which has been its calling card this season. Notre Dame shot 6% on 3-pointers, going just 1-for-16 from deep. The Irish shot 37% overall, and shutting down junior guard Hannah Hidalgo played a significant role in that. Hidalgo is averaging 25 points per game this season to lead the ACC, and that ranks third in all of Division I women’s basketball as well, behind Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes. UConn held Hidalgo to 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting, and no one was able to step up to replace that missing production. Second-leading scorer for Notre Dame, senior guard Cassandre Prosper, scored 12 on 6-for-15 shooting, below her season average of 16.4 points per game — no one else on the Irish scored more than 6 points, and despite all the misses, no one had more than Prosper’s 7 rebounds, either.
UConn’s long game wasn’t working, either — it shot 6-for-25 from beyond the arc — but the Huskies made up for it by outrebounding Notre Dame, 39 to 24, dominating in the paint 44-24 and converting turnovers into points with far more efficiency than the Fighting Irish: Notre Dame’s 15 turnovers became 20 UConn points, while the Huskies’ dozen turnovers were converted into just 4 points by the Irish.
Sophomore forward Sarah Strong scored her 1,000th-career point on a night where she put up 18 on 8-for-12 shooting, while also pulling down 11 rebounds for a double-double. Strong had 3 assists, steals and blocks a piece, as well, and managed to get to 1,000 career points in the fewest shots — 711 — of any Division I women’s college basketball player ever, per the Ringer.
Notre Dame, which peaked at No. 1 last season and reached the Sweet 16, just fell out of the poll this week for the second time this season, and has not placed higher than its initial No. 15 preseason ranking. It’s difficult not to see the Fighting Irish take a historic beatdown from rival UConn on national television and think about what they might have looked like if fifth-year guard and future high-ranking WNBA draft pick Olivia Miles were still around instead of transferring TCU, but that’s life in this era of college basketball, isn’t it?
Speaking of TCU
Monday also gave us a ranked-ranked matchup between new No. 9 TCU and new No. 12 Ohio State, as part of FOX’s Coretta Scott King Classic. At first, it looked like TCU might be a little too much for the Buckeyes — which has lost two games this year, both against top-5 teams in UConn and UCLA — as the Horned Frogs got out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter, led by the aforementioned Olivia Miles and her 9 first-quarter points. However, Miles didn’t get the kind of help she needed on offense from TCU the rest of the way, with fifth-year combo guard/forward Marta Suarez scoring just 2 points compared to the nearly 17 she’s averaging this season.
The Buckeyes chipped away while continually holding Suarez back, winning each of the next three quarters, until they closed the gap and inevitably won, 71-69. The change in play and results was so stark from the second quarter on that Ohio State even posted highlights from just the last 29 minutes and 16 seconds of the game to social media. Getting right to the good stuff for you, there.
Said good stuff included senior guard Chance Gray sinking half-a-dozen 3-pointers, which tied for the most in D-I on Monday — she finished with a team-high 22 points. Sophomore center Elsa Lemmila was a defensive revelation for the Buckeyes, and a significant part of why Ohio State pulled out the win. TCU is a great defensive team that uses its size to bully opponents, but the 6-foot-6 Lemmilä bullied them right back, racking up 6 blocks — the most in D-I on Monday — and while grabbing 7 rebounds and scoring 17 points, the second-most she’s managed in any game this season. Sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge struggled at first — at one point she was just 2-for-10 from the field — but scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to put and keep Ohio State ahead in the end. A huge W for a Buckeyes team that just seems to keep getting better and better as the season goes on.
Marquette upsets Providence in OT
It took overtime for Marquette to get the job done, but the Golden Eagles managed to upset Providence on Monday in Big East play. When you win by a single point, obviously every basket is a key to victory, but you can’t understate what Nigel James did for Marquette here. The freshman guard exploded for 38 points on 13-for-20 shooting while sinking 8-of-11 free throws, and he wasn’t just firing off shots at every opportunity. James also had a game-high 8 assists, making him responsible in part for at least half of the Golden Eagles’ 105 points. That’s a pretty good showing, freshman or no.
Those 38 points were also the most that anyone in D-I scored on Monday, as well as a career-best and his second 30-point game this month: James also dropped 31 on Villanova on Jan. 10.
Marquette actually led for the most of the game and held a 10-point lead heading into halftime, but faltered late: Providence would take the lead, 77-75, with 7:25 remaining in regulation, and was still up 94-91 with 18 seconds left. Friars’ freshman guard Stefaan Vaaks turned the ball over with just four seconds left on the clock, though, and then senior guard Jaylin Sellers committed a foul on James as he was going for a 3-pointer. Instead, James sank all three shots from the line, and it was a tie game once more.
James would once again rise to the occasion in OT, with a 24-footer, a free throw and finally a layup to tie the game up, 104-104, with 18 seconds remaining.
A Ben Gold steal and free throw later, and Marquette would be up, 105-104, and get its OT upset and conference W.
16 dimes for Ruffin
Jackson State senior guard Daeshun Ruffin had a hell of a game on Monday against Texas Southern, racking up 16 assists in 40 minutes. If that had been all he contributed to the boxscore, that would be a pretty solid game, but Ruffin also scored 22 points, grabbed a couple of rebounds and notched a steal in a 94-89 victory for the Tigers. The Jackson State ones, to be clear — this was a Tigers vs. Tigers affair.
Those 16 dimes were the most in Division I basketball on Monday, men’s or women’s, and were even twice as many assists as the women’s leader, Jaloni Cambridge, had against TCU for Ohio State. Ruffin has averaged 4.9 assists per game for the season, a career-best mark, and those 16 are also the most he’s ever had in a single game, and helped him to this third-consecutive double-double, to boot.
Princeton survives Harvard in OT
Princeton moved up in the poll on Monday to become the No. 20 team in the nation, and then had to face Ivy League rival and bubble team Harvard later in the day. The Crimson nearly upset the Tigers here, with the game tied in the second half and Harvard down by a point as the fourth quarter began. Princeton just couldn’t seem to put Harvard away, however, and with just five seconds left in the game, senior forward Katie Krupa hit a 26-foot 3-pointer to put Harvard ahead, 64-61.
The Tigers had an answer, though: junior guard Ashley Chea hit a 3 of her own as time expired, forcing the game to OT.
Princeton took care of business in overtime for the most part — the Tigers were actually up 81-74 with six seconds left in the game, but Harvard made a couple of free throws and a 3 as time expired to make things appear a bit closer than they actually were in the end, 82-79. Still! The Crimson put a scare into the Tigers, one that at least earned Harvard a bump of a couple spots in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, or NET, to 75th. Princeton remains at the head of the class, as it were, ranking 39th in NET, No. 20 in the poll and in first in the Ivy League at 4-0.
Get to know a mid-major: MAAC
We’re more than halfway through January now, so understandably there is all kinds of attention on which teams will be the top seeds in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament come March — FOX Sports’ Mike Decourcy has been covering bracketology a couple of times a week now. March Madness isn’t just about the best teams, though. It’s also about all those mid-major schools that fill up even more of the bracket, the ones that give us the biggest upsets and surprise appearances and “wait, who?” utterances before a quick Google search.
On Monday, the five teams competing for the top in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) were all in action. Saint Peter’s, which won the MAAC tournament and appeared in March Madness as a No. 15 seed against Tennessee in 2023-2024, took on Iona. Merrimack, which joined the conference in 2024 and lost in last year’s conference semifinals, faced Marist. Quinnipiac, currently the highest-ranked team in the conference in NET, faced Manhattan. And Siena, which has appeared in the MAAC finals nine times but last in 2017, faced Fairfield.
Saint Peter’s would win handily, defeating Iona 77-63 behind a strong performance from its bench, which scored 32 points in 56 minutes, making up for some quiet nights from the field from a couple of starters. The Peacocks are now 8-1 in conference play, their best-ever start putting them in a tie for first with Merrimack, whose Warriors defeated the Red Foxes on the road, 68-55. Merrimack was just 4-7 in non-conference play, but has gone 8-1 in MAAC action thanks in large part to the duo of junior guard Ernest Shelton (15.7 points per game) and freshman guard Kevair Kennedy, who leads the team with 16.5 points per game and has 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per, as well. With the loss, Marist dropped to 6-3.
Siena is now 6-3 after a win against Fairfield, with the Saints topping the Stags, 85-77. Sophomore guard Gavin Doty was the standout, with 24 points on a perfect 9-for-9 from the field, to which he added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. And last, Quinnipiac — also 6-3 — survived Manhattan in overtime, 98-92, finally finding some separation from the Jaspers once regulation ended. Senior guard Asim Jones dropped 30 points on Manhattan, including 8 in overtime.
The top six teams in the MAAC standings get a bye in the conference tournament in March, which as things stand after Monday’s busy schedule is Saint Peter’s and Merrimack at 8-1, then Quinnipiac, Marist and Siena at 6-3, followed by last year’s champion, Mount St. Mary’s, in the sixth spot tied with Iona with both at 4-5. The MAAC is only going to get its automatic bid and that’s all, given none of these teams wow in NET, but the fight for that lone spot looks like it’s going to be entertaining over the next couple of months, at least.
Vanderbilt holds on against Michigan, remains unbeaten
Unbeaten UConn wasn’t the only undefeated team to keep it going on Monday, as No. 5 Vanderbilt took on a significant challenge in No. 7 Michigan, and managed to hang on despite the Wolverines putting up a serious fight in the second half. Michigan outscored Vandy 39-25 in the second half, but the problem is that it was digging its way out of the 47-30 hole it fell into in the first half. Even with Division I women’s basketball’s second-leading scorer, sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, having a tough game with 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting and a 5 turnovers from some questionable passes, Michigan couldn’t quite get all the way going, either, and couldn’t fully take advantage.
Sophomore guard Syla Swords was 4-for-9 from deep — one of those misses being the would-be game-tying last-second shot — to help keep Michigan afloat, and another sophomore guard, Kendall Dudley, was money in her 24 minutes with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Senior guard Brooks Quarles Daniels scored just 7 points, but pulled down 10 rebounds and was a huge part of why Blakes couldn’t get settled. With sophomore guard Olivia Olson failing to connect from 3-point range, though, going 0-for-5 for the day, and another sophomore guard — Michigan has a lot of those —Mila Holloway scoring just 5 points in 23 minutes, the Wolverines couldn’t get over the hump despite a late run.
Vanderbilt is now 19-0, same as UConn, and with a top-10 win under its belt. The Commodores are looking more and more legit every time out, but will face their greatest test of the season on Sunday, after a return to SEC play against Auburn: No. 2 South Carolina awaits.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Read the full article here
