Villanova defeated UConn and other wild college basketball matchups from the week

The GIST: The women’s and men’s basketball schedules are in full conference play mode, delivering must-see matchups night after night. Why let March have all the fun? There’s plenty to go mad about right now.

🐅 No. 6 LSU women survive No. 16 Tennessee in narrow 89–87 victory: The Volunteers had their pesky full-court defense on display, but LSU endured the pressure to remain unbeaten — thanks to a clutch, acrobatic last-second shot from junior guard Kailyn Gilbert. She finished with 22 points, while teammate Flau’jae Johnson added 20 to secure the W. Phew.

👣 No. 19 UNC women top No. 14 Duke in low-scoring affair: It took overtime, but North Carolina defeated their rival Blue Devils 53–46 last night in a game that had just 32 total points at the half. With 47 combined turnovers, it wasn’t pretty, but the Tar Heels came out on top in the end. Better to win ugly than lose pretty…right?

🐱 Villanova men stun No. 9 UConn: Nova capitalized on UConn missing its third-best scorer, Liam McNeely, who’ll be out for “weeks” with an ankle injury. The Wildcats pulled off the 68–66 upset on Wednesday, led by senior forward Eric Dixon, who lived up to his reputation as the nation’s leading scorer with 23 points.

🤠 No. 10 Texas A&M holds off No. 17 Oklahoma: Despite Oklahoma’s red-hot shooting performance (including 14 made three-pointers), the Aggies escaped with an 80–78 win on Wednesday, largely thanks to Zhuric Phelps. The senior guard dropped a career-high 34 points, capped off by the game-winning three. Ice in his veins.