NCAABB

In addition to dropping in the polls, Kansas (10-5, 4-4 Big 12) sits just .500 in a conference race that still features an undefeated leader in No. 2 Baylor. The Jayhawks will try to regain some footing Thursday against TCU (9-5, 2-4) at Lawrence, Kan. "I'm going to give everybody a chance to play with everybody and then we'll kind of see where we need to go," Kansas coach Bill Self said.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) -- Jake LaRavia had 20 points as Indiana State defeated Southern Illinois 71-59 on Tuesday.

Despite two more COVID-19 cases in his Michigan State basketball program, Tom Izzo thinks the Spartans will return able to action Thursday at Rutgers.

Washington State and Colorado run it back Wednesday after playing in Pullman Saturday. The game this week is a reschedule of an early season postponement between the two teams. WSU is seeking to snap a five-game losing streak.

Marquette will look for a regular-season sweep of host Providence when the teams meet Wednesday night in a Big East Conference showdown. The Golden Eagles (8-7, 4-5) won 79-69 in the teams' first meeting Jan. 12 in Milwaukee. Dawson Garcia led Marquette with 20 points, and Koby McEwen contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Dan Wetzel, Pete Thamel and Pat Forde from Sports Illustrated are your guides to offseason nirvana.The trio begins with 600 million reasons why March Madness is happening in 2021. Will teams skip the conference tournaments? Duke is currently on the outside of the NCAA tournament but Coach K was the talk of basketball this week after a spout with a student reporter. Did Krzyzewski need to issue an apology? The guys also have the latest from the UT coaching search and two People’s Court cases on the docket. 

Kansas State has landed a fifth in former USC and Illinois tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe. Imatorbhebhe was a highly sought-after recruit from the state of Georgia that signed with Florida before enrolling in Los Angeles with the Trojans. It was actually Clay Helton's first season as the head coach when Imatorbhebhe caught 17 balls and 4 touchdowns during his freshman year.

Meet new the new Wildcats that transferred to K-State and are enrolled for the spring semester

No. 6 Houston is strengthening its case for a very high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tulane is just trying to get back on the court. The two American Athletic Conference rivals meet Thursday night in New Orleans.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- One of South Carolina's most experienced forwards in Alanzo Frink will miss the rest of the men's basketball season due to medical reasons.

Top-ranked Gonzaga is picking up steam and looks for its 20th straight win dating back to last season when it visits San Diego in West Coast Conference play on Thursday night. The Bulldogs (15-0, 6-0 WCC) have won nine games this season by 20 or more points, including eight of their past 11. It figures to add to that rout total against the Toreros (2-6, 1-3), who typically don't fare well against Gonzaga.

The UCF Knights, losers of five straight games and winless this calendar year, must be thrilled to see three letters up next on their schedule. The Knights have defeated the East Carolina Pirates nine straight times. ECU hasn't defeated UCF since March of 2015.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Khalif Battle had a career-high 22 points plus 11 rebounds as Temple defeated Tulsa 76-67 on Tuesday.

A little over three weeks ago, St. John's and DePaul were set to oppose each other, but shortly before the opening tip an apparent positive COVID-19 test was revealed, and the game was postponed. Both schools have experienced their share of disruptions but are set to square off Wednesday night in Chicago when the Red Storm visit the Blue Demons for a Big East contest. The Red Storm have played better defensively since a 97-79 loss at Creighton on Jan. 9, allowing 69 points per game in its last four.

Neither the Colorado Buffaloes nor the Washington State Cougars have to dust off any film to get ready for their game in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday night. The Buffaloes (12-4, 6-3 Pac-12) will likely enjoy viewing the game more than the Cougars. Colorado rallied from 18 down, overcame a brief absence of leading scorer McKinley Wright IV and avoided a sweep of a two-game road trip through the Pacific Northwest with a comeback victory.

Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman has signed a three-year contract extension, the league announced Tuesday. Ackerman was appointed the conference's fifth commissioner in June 2013. ''It's been a tremendous honor to lead the Big East over the past seven-plus years, and I'm very proud of the work done by our institutions during that time to sustain the conference's leadership position on the national college sports landscape,'' Ackerman said in a statement.

Wednesday night's Southeastern Conference game between Ole Miss and Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., features two teams that have used different styles to compile two-game winning streaks. The Razorbacks (12-4, 4-4 SEC) have gotten it done with big offense during their streak, scoring 75 points against Auburn and 92 against Vanderbilt. In Saturday's romp against the Commodores, the Hogs shot 57.1 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point distance.

Two teams fighting to stay clear of the Southeastern Conference basement clash Wednesday night when Georgia takes on South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Both the Bulldogs (9-5, 2-5 SEC) and the Gamecocks (3-5, 1-3) are coming off disappointing losses that left them among the bottom four teams in league play along with Texas A&M (2-5) and Vanderbilt (0-5). The Gators opened the second half with a 16-3 run and led by 17 with less than six minutes left before the Bulldogs reduced their deficit to single digits in the final minute.

After a 3-0 sweep to yesterday's College Basketball card, Vaughn Dalzell has one bet locked in today with two leans/live betting spots. (Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

The Gators (8-4, 5-3 SEC) followed a 75-49 home upset of then-No. 6 Tennessee on Jan. 19 with a 92-84 win at Georgia on Saturday. Tre Mann scored a career-high 24 points to lead five Florida players in double figures. In addition to playing at a quicker tempo, the Gators have improved their interior play -- starting with their 91-72 rout of Vanderbilt (4-7, 0-5) in Nashville on Dec. 30.

Wake Forest (4-6, 1-6 ACC) finally produced a league victory under first-year coach Steve Forbes on Saturday. After a string of games with close second halves went in the wrong direction for the Demon Deacons, they figured out the finishing touch to defeat visiting Pittsburgh 76-75. "They're just a resilient bunch of guys," Forbes said.

Virginia Tech has indefinitely suspended starting guard Tyrece Radford from all men's basketball team activities.

It has not been a great year to be one of the blue blood programs of college basketball. In this week’s AP Top 25, you will not see Duke, Kentucky, or North Carolina in the updated rankings. The Tar Heels, however, appear to be bouncing back in recent weeks.

Notes and discussion for this press conference can be found here. ***Subscribe to K-StateOnline by clicking here***Talk K-State football and basketball in the largest, most active K-State message board community anywhere, The Foundation.

Managing Editor Keenan Cummings provides his thoughts and observations from the 88-87 West Virginia win over Texas Tech.

Scotty Pippen Jr. gets a personalized critique after each game from people who know him and basketball very well. Yes, Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse and his assistants detail the sophomore guard's performance. Then there's the postgame calls from dad, six-time NBA champ Scottie Pippen who was voted one of the league's 50 greatest players.

A pair of the nation's most surprising teams and biggest rivals will square off when No. 5 Texas returns to the court for the first time in 10 days to host rising No. 24 Oklahoma on Tuesday in Big 12 Conference action in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns (11-2, 5-1 Big 12) have not played since Jan. 16, when their shorthanded squad -- down to eight scholarship players because of COVID-19 -- overwhelmed Kansas State 82-67 at home. Starter Greg Brown and key reserves Brock Cunningham and Kai Jones were held out of the game and quarantined.

Miles McBride and No. 11 West Virginia got hot near the end, spoiling a family reunion for Mac McClung. McBride made a go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left and finished with a season-high 24 points, helping West Virginia rally for a wild 88-87 victory over No. 10 Texas Tech on Monday night. ''I knew it was good,'' McBride said of his winning shot.

No. 2 Baylor looks to extend its winning streak to 15 games when the Bears host struggling Kansas State on Wednesday night in Waco, Texas. Baylor pounded Kansas State 100-69 in its Big 12 season opener in Manhattan, Kan., in December. Baylor (14-0, 7-0) is one of six Big 12 teams ranked in the latest AP poll, including three in the top 10.

Florida State have recaptured the form that led to an Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship a year ago. The Seminoles (9-2, 5-1 ACC) have rolled to four consecutive conference victories. No. 16 Florida State soared back into the AP Top 25 after falling out during its recent two-week hiatus caused by COVID-19.

No. 20 Virginia Tech endured a loss on the court Saturday at Syracuse and another one off it early Sunday morning. The Hokies will be without starting guard Tyrece Radford for their Wednesday night visit to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Notre Dame. Radford averages 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds, both second on the team, and leads the team in minutes per game at 31.1.

The busier Penn State is, the better the Nittany Lions seem to play. The Wednesday contest with the Buckeyes (12-4, 6-4) replaces a game that was postponed on Jan. 6 due to COVID-19 issues with the Nittany Lions. Penn State interim coach Jim Ferry said the team's busy schedule, which also included a 75-67 win over Rutgers on Thursday, did not allow time for self-pity after the Nittany Lions started 0-5 in league play.

No. 17 Creighton enjoyed its best shooting performance of the season in a rout of Seton Hall earlier this month. Having regained their shooting form after a rough two-game stretch, the Bluejays look for another strong effort against the Pirates on Wednesday night in a Big East contest at Newark, N.J. Creighton (11-4, 7-3 Big East) shot a blistering 59.6 percent from the field and went 13 of 24 from 3-point range in an 89-53 home win against Seton Hall on Jan. 6.

Lon Kruger has seen his Oklahoma team play its way to the program's first ranking in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll in two years. The 24th-ranked Sooners face two top-10 opponents this week as part of the AP Top 25 schedule. First up is Tuesday's trip to fifth-ranked Texas, which comes as Longhorns coach Shaka Smart announced he is in isolation after a positive COVID-19 test.

Arizona dominated early in its rematch with rival Arizona State, turning missed shots and mistakes into easy baskets while building a massive lead. The Wildcats weren't quite as good in the second half, committing sloppy turnovers and letting off the gas as the Sun Devils whittled away at their lead. Terrell Brown Jr. scored 18 points, Azoulas Tubelis had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona dominated Arizona State early before holding on for an 80-67 victory on Monday night.

Kenny Strawbridge recorded 16 points and 14 rebounds, the last of both coming at the buzzer as he plucked a blocked shot out of the air and laid it in to give Alabama State to a 66-64 win over Southern on Monday night. After Jayden Saddler's layup pulled Southern into a tie with five seconds left, LaTrell Tate dribbled the ball up court, blowing past Damiree Burns and pulling up for a 3-pointer. Burns recovered to get a hand on Saddler's shot.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Bryce Hamilton had 14 points, eight assists and five steals as UNLV narrowly defeated Utah State 59-56 on Monday night.

Gonzaga and Baylor have remained firmly atop The Associated Press men's college basketball poll all season while everyone else keeps rotating in and out of the top 10 beneath them as potential challengers. This week, that includes Alabama for the first time in 14 years. While the Bulldogs and Bears earned all 64 first-place votes in Monday's latest Top 25 poll, the Crimson Tide had the week's biggest jump by climbing nine spots to No. 9.

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Konstantin Dotsenko had 25 points on 5-of-6 3-point shooting and Tarleton State easily defeated Division III Howard Payne 113-53 on Monday night.

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Freshmen Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Rondel Walker had career games in the absence of star classmate Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State pulled away from short-handed Iowa State for an 81-60 win on Monday night.

Facing a one-point deficit in the game’s final seconds, it was Miles McBride who came up big for the Mountaineers.The

With SMU head coach Tim Jankovich unavailable last Saturday at UCF out of an abundance of caution, Mustangs assistants John Cooper and Yaphett King took the opportunity to practice what the coaching staff preaches. Cooper and King served as co-coaches in the Mustangs' 78-65 victory over the Knights, a win that allowed SMU to keep pace in the chase for second place in the American Athletic Conference.

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- Marquise Kennedy came off the bench to score 18 points to carry Loyola of Chicago to a 65-58 win over Bradley on Monday night.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) -- Tyreke Key had 23 points, including four free throws in the last 21 seconds, and Indiana State narrowly defeated Southern Illinois 69-66 on Monday night.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) -- Nate Heise and Trae Berhow posted 18 points apiece and Northern Iowa topped Division III Coe 70-60 on Monday night.

Sam Hauser had the hot hand early, and Jay Huff and Trey Murphy III joined in later. No. 8 Virginia showed off its long-range shooting in an impressive show against Syracuse's vaunted zone defense. Hauser hit seven of Virginia's 14 3-pointers, and the No. 8 Cavaliers cruised to an 81-58 victory against the Orange on Monday night.

Sam Hauser is a unique scorer in college basketball, but against Syracuse, he lived exclusively from behind the 3-point arc.

Tulsa was originally scheduled to play at Temple on March 2. As a result, the Golden Hurricane and Owls will instead play on Tuesday in Philadelphia, enabling both to avoid long layoffs as well as giving them both a chance to wash out the taste of a lopsided loss to No. 6 Houston. Temple (3-4, 2-4 AAC) took a 68-51 beating at the Cougars' hands Saturday in Philly, while Tulsa (8-5, 5-3) absorbed an 86-59 blowout in Houston on Wednesday night.

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) -- Jeremiah Gambrell Jr. had a career-high 23 points as Prairie View beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-56 on Monday night.

Mike Krzyzewski was criticized for snapping at Jake Piazza following Duke's loss on Saturday. The legendary coach called the student to apologize.