College basketball winners and losers: Melvin Council rescues Kansas vs. NC State, Nebraska stays undefeated

During the final minutes of regulation of Kansas' game vs. NC State on Saturday, Jayhawks star Darryn Peterson -- the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft -- checked out of the game twice. Peterson, who returned last weekend against Missouri after missing his team's previous seven games due to a hamstring injury, appeared to reaggravate the injury.

"I think he was getting tight," Kansas coach Bill Self said postgame. "I haven't talked to the doctor yet or the trainer, but he said he needed to come out."

Even without Peterson down the stretch, Kansas walked away with a dramatic 77-76 overtime upset win over NC State on Saturday, in one of the best games of the 2025-26 season thus far. The hero for Kansas was Melvin Council Jr., who scored a career-high 36 points and knocked down nine 3-pointers.

One of the biggest questions coming into the season for the Jayhawks was how they would perform in the non-Peterson minutes. Without Peterson in the lineup, Kansas went 5-2, with the lone losses coming against Duke and UConn. Council provided the exact spark Kansas needed to pull off a win.

College basketball rankings: No. 5 UConn moves to 10-1, finishes nonconference slate with win over Texas

Gary Parrish

Depending on how serious the injury is, Kansas could have to weather the storm once again without its star freshman.

In the Big Ten, one of the stories of the college basketball season is brewing. Nebraska improved to 11-0 for the first time in program history after recording an 83-80 upset win over No. 13 Illinois. Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence knocked down a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining to give No. 23 Nebraska its first ranked win of the season.

Here are the biggest winners and losers of Saturday's college basketball slate.

Winner: Council has his moment for Kansas

Last season, Council connected on just 29.9% of his 3-pointers on just under four attempts per game. Coming into the weekend, the Kansas guard was shooting 18.5% from beyond the arc -- the worst percentage of his college career thus far. However, that didn't matter against NC State. With Peterson out, Council took over down the stretch and helped Kansas pull off the upset over NC State. Every time Kansas needed a bucket, Council was the guy. The Jayhawks are going to need that kind of production if Peterson misses extended time. -- Cameron Salerno

Loser: Divine intervention kills Penn State

Michigan State guard Divine Ugochukwu scored a career-high 23 points to help rally the No. 9 Spartans back from a 9-point deficit to beat Penn State 76-72. The sophomore Miami transfer scored 18 in the second half alone, including five in the final minute. Ugochukwu drilled all four of his 3-point attempts in the second half, including two that gave Michigan State the lead. Without Divine's intervention, the Spartans may have ended up on the wrong side of an upset. -- David Cobb

Winner: Rick Pitino takes down former team

Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino led his No. 22 St. John's Red Storm to a 91-64 win over his former team, the Iona Gaels, inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Pitino led Iona from 2021-2023 before leaving for the St. John's gig in the Big East, and while he didn't exactly call off the dogs in the blowout, he was gracious in victory postgame speaking of his former employer.

"Iona's got a really good team," Pitino said, noting the school helped "rejuvenate" his coaching career.. "Iona's such a special place with great tradition. I owe them so much. We're going to play this game every year that I'm the coach." 

The win was a tune-up for the Johnnies as they begin conference play at home Tuesday vs. DePaul. -- Kyle Boone

Loser: Florida State falls to UMass

Year 1 of the Luke Loucks era at his alma mater got off to a fantastic start. FSU began the season by winning five of its first six games, with the lone loss coming against reigning national champion Florida by two points. Since defeating Cal State Bakersfield last month, FSU has lost four consecutive games, including a 103-95 loss to UMass. The Seminoles were a double-digit favorite over the Minutemen. With ACC play beginning at the end of the month against North Carolina, the Seminoles have some stuff to clean up. -- Salerno

Loser: Creighton's freefall continues

Losing star center Ryan Kalkbrenner after five seasons was always going to require Creighton to recalibrate. But life in the post-Kalkbrenner era is proving even more difficult than expected, as Saturday's 83-76 home loss to Kansas State dropped the Bluejays to 5-5. Creighton nearly erased a 20-point deficit behind a strong second half performance from junior forward Isaac Traudt, who scored 15 of his team-high 18 points after the break. But a late 6-0 run from the Wildcats ensured that Creighton's miserable start to the season continued. The Bluejays need to find some solutions fast if they are going to keep their streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances alive.  -- Cobb

Winner: Arkansas gets payback over Texas Tech

One of the biggest collapses of the 2025 NCAA Tournament featured Arkansas squandering a 16-point lead to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16. The Red Raiders went on to win in dramatic fashion, which saw Year 1 of the John Calipari era at Arkansas end sourly. Just over eight months later, Arkansas got revenge with a 93-86 win over Texas Tech behind a monster performance from veteran big man Trevon Brazile. Arkansas now has ranked wins on the season over Louisville and Texas Tech. -- Salerno

Loser: Providence on wrong side of thriller

If Saturday's clash between Butler and Providence was any indication, life in the Big East is going to be rugged. In the first league battle of the season, the Bulldogs outlasted the Friars 113-110 in double overtime. The game featured a whopping 30 lead changes, and neither squad ever led by more than eight. In the end, Butler's Finley Bizjack scored 12 of his 26 points after regulation to lead the Bulldogs through a frenzied finish. Jason Edwards and Jaylin Sellers combined to score 58 for Providence in a crushing defeat to begin league play. -- Cobb

Winner: Louisville goes nuts vs. Memphis

No. 11 Louisville took mercy on Memphis in the second half of a 99-73 win by slowing down the barrage of 3-pointers that it used to build an insurmountable lead. Over a span of less than five minutes late in the half, the Cards drilled seven in a row from beyond the arc to extend an 8-point lead to 20. By the end of the first half, Louisville was 12 of 22 from deep and on pace to shatter the school record of 22 made 3-pointers. But the Cards attempted just five 3-pointers over the final 11 minutes to finish 18 of 35. It marked just the third time in program history and first time since 2008-09 that Louisville hit 18 or more 3-pointers in a game while shooting better than 50% from beyond the arc. The variety in contributors stood out, as six different Louisville players made at least two apiece. Among them was reserve big Kasean Pryor. Though he entered just 1 of 7 from deep on the season, Pryor hit three triples in a span of just over two minutes late in the first half. Even pass attempts were going in for the Cardinals, who improved to 9-1 ahead of Tuesday's trip to Tennessee. -- Cobb

Winner: Lawrence is the hero in Nebraska's historic win

One of the best endings of the day in college basketball came in Champaign, Illinois, when No. 23 Nebraska used a game-winning 3-pointer by Lawrence to stay unbeaten. Lawrence's shot with 0.2 seconds remaining gave his team an 83-80 win over No. 13 Illinois. The Cornhuskers are now 11-0 for the first time in program history and 2-0 against Big Ten competition. The win over the Fighting Illini was Nebraska's first victory over a ranked opponent thus far.  -- Salerno

Winner: Florida shakes off skid vs. George Washington

The defending national champion Florida Gators snapped a two-game losing skid with a confidence-boosting 80-70 win over George Washington in Sunrise, Florida. Florida had lost three of its last four games and was 5-4 entering the day, but against the Revolutionaries they largely controlled the game throughout.

That was due in part to a second-half shooting showcase in which Florida shot 66.7% from the field and built a lead by as many as 20 points. Transfer guard Xaivian Lee led all scorers with 24 points in that effort, and forward Alex Condon led the team with seven assists and nine rebounds. -- Boone

Winner: Oscar Cluff posts perfect shooting day in Purdue win

Purdue center Oscar Cluff took 13 shots in the Boilermakers' 79-59 home win over Marquette – nine from the field and four from the charity stripe – and finished the game with zero misses. Yes: Zero. 

His bonkers final stat line: 9 of 9 shooting from the field, 4 of 4 from the free throw line, 11 rebounds, two steals, two blocks. He led all scorers with 22 points.

If that feels historic that's because it is. It tied for the most points in Purdue history on 100% shooting efficiency with Caleb Swanigan, who also had 22 points in a 2016 game vs. NJIT. Even more incredible is he did all that damage playing just 23 total minutes – fourth-most on his own team in the win. -- Boone

Winner: Basketball Bedlam goes to the Sooners

Conference realignment ended the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State football series. Thankfully, the basketball programs are carrying the torch on, though the Sooners are the only ones enjoying it as of late. Oklahoma locked up its fourth straight victory in the rivalry series by racing past the Cowboys for an 85-76 win behind a barrage of 13 made 3-pointers. Xzayvier Brown led the way with 21 points as the Sooners picked up their third win over a high-major opponent. At 7-3, Oklahoma is a long way from last year's 13-0 start. -- Cobb