We're still two weeks out from March (OK, 11 days to be exact, but who's counting?!), but college basketball sure felt a lot like it ramped up to a new level this week, didn't it?
Maybe it's just me but with the Super Bowl in our rearview and the NBA on All-Star break, college basketball ramped from 0 to 100 real quick to embrace its time in the spotlight. Big headlines of the week ranged from a coach firing to a Bracket Preview, jarring results and even a few upsets.
So let's run it back and relive the last seven days as we do each week in this space with a look back at the best the sport had to offer in headlines that may have flickered but didn't quite get the pub they deserved.
Player of the Week: Pitt's Blake Hinson
Pitt extended its winning streak to five games with wins over Virginia and Louisville. The victories were largely due to the scoring splash of senior forward Blake Hinson. Hinson scored 27 and grabbed four boards in an impressive road win over UVA then one-upped his season-best scoring output in ACC play with 41 points in an 81-59 home win over Louisville on Saturday. He singlehandedly matched Louisville on offense in the first half -- Hinson scored 27 and tied the Cards' tally as a team -- before *only* adding after halftime.
Quote of the Week: Pitino goes nuclear
St. John's lost for the eighth time in its last 10 outings on Sunday, and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino used his postgame platform to set a blowtorch to the roster that he recruited -- lambasting the Johnnies for their slow feet and lack of athleticism, among many other complaints.
"We are so unathletic that we can't guard anybody without fouling," said Pitino. "For me, I've always enjoyed the first year, and I'm not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing."
Earlier this season Pitino said he wanted to go into the cold and die of frostbite after St. John's narrowly failed to take down Creighton on the road. But his rant Sunday took the cake as the most dramatic comments of the season.
Finish of the Week:Utah gets the last laugh
One of the best finishes of the season -- and certainly of the week -- went down in Westwood on Sunday as UCLA failed to defend its home-court advantage against visiting Utah.
Utah took a 68-67 lead on UCLA with 20 seconds remaining on a Keba Keita layup before UCLA went down on the other end to retake the 69-68 lead on a Dylan Andrews jumper with seven seconds left. Utah had just enough time to get to the other end to win it, and win it they did on a wild miss-make situation at the horn.
Video of the week: Toilet paper toss
Central Michigan celebrated its second annual Toilet Paper Toss Day as it welcomed rival Western Michigan to town on Saturday. The game started at roughly 7 p.m. ET, which is remarkable given that the event -- the TP Toss, as it were -- was scheduled for 12 minutes prior. Here's the mess it made:
Clutch shot of the Week: Jameer Nelson Jr.
Jameer Nelson Jr. wasn't the only player to hit a game-winner this past week, but how he did it was arguably the most impressive. Nelson lifted TCU past Kansas State 75-72 thanks to a prayer heave at the top of the key beyond the arc just before time expired ... and nailed it. K-State threw up a hail mary at the buzzer and it clanked off the backboard.
It was the only made 3-pointer of the game for Nelson, who finished with nine points and seven assists in the escape.
Best of the rest
Boynton on the state of NIL, recruiting
Oklahoma State is on pace to finish with a losing record in 2023-24 and facing an uncertain future with head coach Mike Boynton, who has reached the NCAA Tournament since 2020-21. And Boynton appeared to acknowledge the chatter about his potential job security in a candid interview with the Tulsa World this week in which he discussed in detail what he sees as issues for the program and where he hopes will improve.
"For everyone who wants me to be fired, that's fine. They can say, 'You're not performing at the expected level.' They are well within their right to say that," he said. "[But] they can hire Billy Donovan or Phil Jackson or the coach at Langston or whoever."
Boynton added that failing to acquire and retain talent has thus far been his biggest challenge.
Oklahoma State got a big home win Saturday over a ranked BYU team but still sits tied for last place in the Big 12 regular season standings with West Virginia. Boynton is wrapping up his seventh season in Stillwater and has not been afraid to call things as he sees it. The comments are of particular interest given his comments suggesting OSU is last or nearly last in total spending in the NIL game, which could lessen its allure as a coaching destination should the Cowboys make a move this offseason.
FDU gets out of a (literal) jam, wins game
Mid-major basketball is a constant gift from the content gods, and LIU was the biggest giver this week. The team welcomed Fairleigh Dickinson for a game on Thursday, but the game did not start on time and was briefly delayed because FDU players were forced to get out of a literal jam. Yes, the elevator that transported them from the locker room to the court got snagged on the way. Firefighters were called to the scene to rescue them.
What an exhausting situation to endure before a game. And as if that wasn't tiring enough, FDU took LIU to overtime before winning a track meet, 84-82, snapping a two-game skid.
Winless teams drop to one
And then there was one.
The list of winless teams in college basketball dropped down from two -- Detroit Mercy and Mississippi Valley State -- to one after Detroit Mercy snuck out a win this week. The Titans took down IUPUI at home on Valentine's Day, 81-66, to improve to 1-26 on the season. They were actually favored in the game, and the win is very likely its last of the season.
MVSU (0-25) lost twice this week by 17 and 23 to Alcorn State and Alabama A&M, respectively. KenPom projects the Delta Devils will be double-digit underdogs in each of their six remaining regular season games. They'd be the first Division I team to go a full season without a win since Grambling State went 0-28 in 2012-13.