College basketball Sunday: Michigan downs MSU for Big Ten lead

It was the barrage from Stauskas and LeVert in the second half that sank the Spartans. In a span of less than three minutes, Michigan turned a one-point deficit into a 12-point lead with all 13 unanswered points scored exclusively by those two. Stauskas started it with a three, and then LeVert hit two free throws. Stauskas hit two threes in a row, and LeVert capped it with a soaring dunk with 7:21 to play to give Michigan a 64-52 lead, its largest lead of the game.

Stauskas finished with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. LeVert finished with 23.

Saturdays in February were made for college basketball.

No. 18 Kentucky 77, LSU 76

Boeheim took to the court immediately, blowing up on the referees. Here’s the blow up that led to Boeheim to getting ejected during the regular season for the first time in his career:

Boeheim continued to argue with the referees after the first technical foul was assessed, leading to a second technical foul and the Orange finishing the game without their head coach on the sideline.

For the second time in three weeks, Syracuse and Duke played a back-and-forth, down-to-the-wire battle. But this time, it was the No. 5 Blue Devils who came out on top with a 66-60 win over the No. 1 Orange.

After a first half in which Syracuse led most of the way, neither team led by more than six points in the second half. And with Duke holding a two-point lead with 24.9 seconds remaining, Syracuse came down the floor with a chance to tie or take the lead.

These two ‘Cuse players are no longer wondering if Jabari Parker has NBA athleticism.

Andrew Wiggins is killing Texas right now, scoring 15 points with four minutes left in the first half. These were his two prettiest.

Reporters beware! This atmosphere might get a little wild.

If the rematch is anything like the original, we’re about to be in for a good one.

The Cardinals deflected the ensuing inbounds pass, allowing time to expire for a 58-57 win.

With the win, Louisville has pulled within a half-game of American Athletic Conference-leading Cincinnati. The Cardinals have four games remaining, while the Bearcats have three.

This man was a high school wide receiver. How did anyone ever cover him?

This is just Russ Smith being Russ Smith. Cincinnati never stood a chance.

It’s going to be like this all day. Enjoy.

Auburn had a chance for one of the biggest upsets of the year. (Well, one of the biggest upsets of the night, considering Syracuse lost to Boston College.) At 4-8 in SEC play, the Tigers had No. 2 Florida on the ropes,

With Auburn down 66-65 and 20 seconds left in the game, Chris Denson drew a foul on Will Yeguete putting him at the line with a chance to take the lead.

Both teams struggled offensively from the beginning. Syracuse didn’t hit its first field goal until over five minutes into the first half and neither team broke double-digits until over 10 minutes into the game. It was an ugly, defensive-minded contest, and the Orange needed a 7-0 run in the final two-plus minutes to take an eight-point lead into halftime.

Things only got better early in the second half for Syracuse, which expanded its lead to 13 points before the Eagles started making their rally. Going on a 17-4 run, Boston College finally went ahead with about seven minutes remaining and kept the game close thereafter.

NOTE: When welcoming a player back from an injury, it’s probably best to not horrify him at the same time. Or to horrify the entire nation.

I don’t care how many wins Jim Boeheim has. His head should not appear connected to a non-Jim Boeheim body. These fans can still redeem themselves, however, if ESPN catches one of them in a nose-picking situation.