Winners and losers: Iowa State, Vanderbilt go down again; Kentucky rallies

Five Division I basketball teams entered the week without a loss. Heading into Saturday night, that number is now three, with Miami (Ohio), No. 1 Arizona, and No. 8 Nebraska serving as the final three teams standing that have yet to suffer a defeat.

No. 2 Iowa State and No. 10 Vanderbilt also entered this week without a loss, but have since suffered two. Iowa State lost to Kansas earlier this week and suffered a 79-70 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt also suffered its first loss in blowout fashion (80-64) against Texas on the road. 

The Commodores’ second loss came at the hands of reigning national champion Florida, after big man Rueben Chinyelu posted a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) in the upset win. Vanderbilt began the season 16-0, which tied the program record for the best start to the season. Florida is 4-1 in SEC play and at the top of the standings.

Elsewhere, Nebraska improved to 18-0 with a 77-58 win over Northwestern. The Cornhuskers moved up to No. 8 in this week’s AP poll, which tied the highest ranking in program history. After some drama this week, Nebraska is poised to move up once again.

Here are the biggest winners and losers in college basketball from Saturday’s slate.

Loser: Iowa State suffers another ugly loss vs. Cincinnati 

Earlier this week, Iowa State suffered its first loss of the season in blowout fashion against Kansas. Days later, the Cyclones suffered their second loss with a 79-70 setback against Cincinnati on Saturday. The win marked Cincy’s first home win over a No. 1 or No. 2 team since 1967. The Cyclones (No. 2) tied their highest ranking in program history this week after starting the season 16-0, but Iowa State is almost certainly going to drop a few spots in next week’s AP Top 25 poll with UConn is the team most likely to move up to No. 2 on Monday. This was a much-needed win for Cincinnati coach Wes Miller, as his team entered the weekend with a 2-7 record against Quad 1 and 2 opponents. — Cameron Salerno 

Winner: Comeback Cats do it again

Kentucky rallied from a double-digit deficit yet again, as the Wildcats roared back to beat No. 24 Tennessee 80-78 on the road. The Volunteers (12-6, 2-3 SEC) led by 17 late in the first half before an all-systems failure in the second half opened the door for UK (12-6, 3-2). All three of the Wildcats’ SEC wins have come after they trailed by 12+ points. While coach Mark Pope’s club is far from a finished product, it cemented itself on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble for now by picking up an ironclad Quad 1 win over the Volunteers. Now 3-5 in Quad 1, UK is expected to be a No. 9 seed once Saturday’s results have been factored into CBS Sports Bracketology.

Denzel Aberdeen led the way with 18 of his 22 points in the second half, and Mo Dioubate helped change the tide with four offensive rebounds in the second half after the Wildcats were pummeled on the glass early. In the end, UK took its first lead with just 34 seconds remaining on a transition dunk from Otega Oweh and held on from there. Not surprisingly, tensions were high at the end of this rivalry battle. — David Cobb

Loser: Honeymoon phase over for DeVries after Indiana skid continues

The good vibes from Indiana’s 7-0 November are long gone after the Hoosiers got trounced by Iowa, 74-57, in front of the home faithful. Indiana is just 12-6 overall with one win over a top-50 club. One concerning trend for IU continued: Tucker DeVries is non-existent against the best teams. The sharpshooter managed just seven points. He’s shooting just 25% from downtown in Big Ten play. 

It isn’t going to get easier, either. IU has to hit the road to play big, bad Michigan on Tuesday. Coach Darian DeVries is certainly going to be thankful there’s a rather large football game on Monday. — Isaac Trotter

Winner: Iowa bludgeons Indiana

Entering the day, Iowa was the second-highest rated the team in the NET (22nd) without a Quad 1 victory. That changed when the Hawkeyes crushed Indiana 74-57 on the road behind a combined 53 points from guards Tavion Banks and Bennett Stirtz. Banks scored 17 of his career-high 27 in the second half as the duo combined for 23 of the Hawkeyes’ final 25 points. Their barrage was part of a 25-7 game-ending surge that silenced a crowd of 17,222 inside Assembly Hall.

The win is expected to solidify Iowa as a No. 8 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology. An Indiana victory would likely have elevated the Hoosiers to First Four Out territory in the CBS Sports Bracketology model. But they have now dropped three straight and remain in pursuit of their first Quad 1 win as they hit the road to face No. 4 Michigan on Tuesday. — Cobb

Winner: Nebraska keeps its perfect season alive with big road win

Nebraska made a tricky road test vs. Northwestern look like a cakewalk Saturday as it dominated the Wildcats 77-58 in a near wire-to-wire victory to remain undefeated on the season. The Cornhuskers made 11 3-pointers and got a combined 42 points from Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager – who accounted for five and two of those 11 3-pointers, respectively – to extend their program-best start to a season to 18-0. — Kyle Boone

Loser: Seton Hall faceplants after emotional UConn game

Four days removed from an emotionally draining 69-64 loss to Big East bully UConn, Shaheen Holloway’s Seton Hall club looked lethargic and listless in a major letdown spot at home — and paid the price. The Pirates, who were 6.5-point favorites over Butler, trailed the final 27 minutes of game action and fell 77-66 to the Bulldogs as their offense came apart at the seams. They finished with their fourth-lowest field goal percentage in a game this season (35.9%) and also had their fourth-fewest made 3-pointers (4) in the losing effort. — Boone

Loser: North Carolina goes winless out West

No. 14 North Carolina’s furious second-half rally came up short as the Tar Heels fell 84-78 at Cal for their third loss in four games. The defeat capped an 0-2 West Coast swing for UNC (14-4, 2-3 ACC), which lost at Stanford on Wednesday. Cal (14-6, 2-4) led by as much as 20 in the second half as Carolina’s run of porous defense continued with another anemic effort. The Bears hit 14 of 26 attempts from beyond the arc for their most makes from 3-point range since Nov. 21. It marked the fifth straight game in which North Carolina has surrendered 12 or more made 3-pointers. The sudden dearth of perimeter defense marks a concerning twist for the Tar Heels, who gave up 12 3-pointers just once in their first 13 games. — Cobb

Winner: Ohio State makes a statement 

Ohio State picked up a big win over UCLA on Saturday to move to 5-1 against Quad 2 opponents. The Buckeyes’ lone loss in that quadrant came against Pittsburgh earlier this season. The Buckeyes are still winless (0-4) against Quad 1 teams, but will have plenty of opportunities the rest of the way to improve their record. Ohio State entered the weekend “Out” in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology projections, so picking up an 86-74 win over the Bruins should help its cause. — Salerno 

Entering the weekend, NC State’s only losses (0-5) came against Quad 1 opponents. That changed after the Wolfpack suffered a 78-74 loss to Georgia Tech at home as a 15.5-point favorite. Previously, NC State was 12-0 against all other opponents, but the loss to the Yellow Jackets qualifies as a Quad 4 loss. Year 1 of the Will Wade era has been a mixed bag. NC State is now 3-2 against ACC opponents, and with a game against No. 22 Clemson on the road next, things will have to be fixed to start stacking wins. As of Saturday, NC State has eight games against Quad 1 opponents remaining in the regular season. — Salerno

Winner: Miami (Ohio) stays perfect in OT

Peter Suder put on his Superman cape and saved the day – and the dream season alive – for the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks on Saturday. Suder scored a career-high 37 points and delivered the game-winning dagger in overtime to boot to lift his team past Buffalo, 105-102. With just under six seconds remaining he gathered possession from the logo, hit a couple herky-jerky moves and walked into a deeeeeeep 3-pointer in front of his own bench to help seal it. — Boone

Loser: Oklahoma gags away big lead as SEC struggles continue

Oklahoma slid to a 1-4 start in SEC play for a second consecutive season after letting an 11-point second-half lead at home slip away Saturday afternoon vs. No. 18 Alabama. It is tied for the second-worst start to conference play for OU since 1955-56 when the Sooners – then in the Big 7 (!!) – opened league play 0-10 before going on to finish 1-11 (and 4-19 overall). 

OU has made a habit of flailing to the finish – it is the third time in the last four games it has surrendered a second-half lead – but more concerning is that this is all happening in Year Five of the Porter Moser era. His seat is undeniably scorching after this one. The team has made just one NCAA Tournament in his tenure and is now 27-50 in regular-season conference games since his arrival — including an underwhelming 7-16 in SEC regular season play since the Sooners joined the league two years ago. — Boone

Winner: Virginia Tech doesn’t suffer today!

In case you missed it, here’s how Virginia Tech has lost its three games in ACC play.

Crippling, gut-wrenching losses. Saturday was not one of those days. Virginia Tech thoroughly manhandled Notre Dame, 89-76, behind 43 points from the front-line combination of Tobi Lawal and Amani Hansberry. A healthy Lawal is an ultimate game-changer and could tilt the scales back in Virginia Tech’s favor as it chases an automatic bid. — Trotter

Winner: Boyd posts absurd line for Wisconsin

This isn’t your older brother’s Wisconsin Badgers. This team runs, runs and runs some more in transition. It helps to have a point guard like Nick Boyd who erupted for 32 points and nine assists in a ho-hum, 96-87 victory over Rutgers. Boyd’s nine dimes resulted in 22 Wisconsin points, so he created a whopping 54 (!) points in one game. 

The San Diego State transfer’s emergence is fueling the Badgers’ midseason surge. — Trotter

Loser: Prized portal free agents hit rock bottom

North Carolina paid a pretty penny for Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans. He did not start in Saturday’s loss to Cal and played just 10 minutes. Xavier Booker inked a huge contract with UCLA in the spring, too. The big man played just two minutes in UCLA’s loss to Ohio State. The 2025 portal cycle has brought more good than bad this season, but UCLA and UNC have two of the worst contracts on the books right now. Saturday felt like the final straw for both outlooks. — Trotter