College Basketball Takeaways: Darryn Peterson Shines, Arizona Remains Unbeaten

From a Darryn Peterson-AJ Dybantsa showdown in Lawrence, Kansas to major upset wins for the UCF Knights and Kentucky Wildcats to the Arizona Wildcats remaining unbeaten, there were plenty of storylines on a buys college basketball Saturday. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the action.

NBA prospects shine in Kansas-BYU clash

The showdown between potential top draft picks Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa was rightfully the top storyline entering the game—and the moment was seized by Peterson, who poured in 18 first-half points to help Kansas to a 20-point lead while Dybantsa surprisingly went without a bucket until halftime was less than eight minutes away.

Darryn Peterson was HOOPIN’ in the first half vs. No. 13 BYU 😦

🔥 18 PTS
🔥 6-7 FG
🔥 3 STL pic.twitter.com/nQ3GvkHFpP
— ESPN (@espn) January 31, 2026

Peterson, despite battling cramps and sitting for much of the second half, may have settled many draft debates with his stellar outing in the Jayhawks’ win. But he wasn’t the only prospect who boosted his stock in Allen Fieldhouse.

BYU’s Richie Saunders, he of the tater tot lore, was one of the best players on the floor, scoring a team-high 33 points and draining six triples to help keep the Cougars in the game while racking up 10 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Meanwhile, Jayhawks freshman Bryson Tiller played the best game of his young collegiate career, draining 8 of 13 shots from the field for a team-high 21 points while grabbing seven rebounds.

Peterson stole the show, but there was a lot of talent out on the floor.

Wildcats, RedHawks hold serve to remain college basketball’s lone unbeaten teams

No. 1 Arizona and No. 24 Miami (OH) entered Saturday as the last two undefeated teams in college basketball and the two programs kept their records unblemished with victories over Arizona State and Northern Illinois, respectively.

The Sun Devils kept things relatively competitive against the Wildcats, but, after tying the game at the half, never recovered as Arizona rode hot second-half shooting to the win. Meanwhile, the RedHawks found themselves down by 10 points midway through the first half, its normally-potent shooting scuffling against the Huskies. But the RedHawks found another gear defensively, forcing 17 turnovers to help pull away for the 24-point win.

Both programs made history en route to identical 22-0 records. The Wildcats set a school record with 22 straight victories to start the season while the RedHawks surpassed the 2001-02 Kent State Golden Flashes for the longest winning streak in the MAC.

UCF scores second top 25 win by stunning Texas Tech

One of the biggest surprises of the season has been the Knights of UCF, who on Saturday secured its biggest win of the season, an 88-80 home victory over the 11th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders.

UCF TAKES DOWN NO. 11 TEXAS TECH‼️

It's the Knights second top 25 win of the season 👏 pic.twitter.com/Dgex9CcRoq
— ESPN (@espn) January 31, 2026

It’s the second Top-25 win of the season for UCF, which also owns a road victory over Texas A&M. Sitting at 17-4 (6-3 in the Big 12), Johnny Dawkins’s Knights might just be able to dream of its first tournament appearance since 2018-19.

Texas, Indiana, USC stay on right side of the bubble after living dangerously

The Longhorns, Hoosiers and Trojans entered play Saturday sitting as three of the "Last Four In" teams, per ESPN's Joe Lunardi, needing victories to stay on the right side of the bubble.

Boy, did they all choose to do things the hard way.

Texas was down by 14 points to Oklahoma halfway through the first half but dominated in the paint and rode red-hot shooting in the second half to secure a much-needed victory and stay in the tournament discussion—for now.

The Trojans led virtually all game and took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime against Rutgers. But after leading by 11 with a minute-and-a-half remaining, USC nearly saw its lead evaporate, as the Scarlet Knights cut the deficit to three points and had the ball with seconds remaining before the Trojans came up with a steal to seal the win.

Indiana gave its own fans a scare in a game against UCLA where the win probability percentage map resembled a gut-wrenching roller coaster ride. Alas, up 10 with under two minutes to go, it seemed like the Hoosiers could breathe easy. Then all hell broke loose. UCLA whipped out the full-court press and furiously mounted a comeback to send the game to not one, but two overtimes, where the Hoosiers ultimately narrowly prevailed.

These teams still have work to do, but Saturday was a continued step in the right direction, when it easily could have gone the other way.

Texas A&M continues SEC dominance, but a gauntlet awaits

With a convincing Quad I win over Georgia, the Aggies not only added to its NCAA Tournament case, but also continued its dominance of the SEC. After the 92-77 victory over the Bulldogs, Texas A&M owns the best intraconference record at 7-1, ahead of Top-25 programs Arkansas, Florida and Vanderbilt. The Aggies seem destined for a Top-25 ranking.

That’s the good news. The bad news? Texas A&M faces the third-toughest remaining schedule in terms of the strength of schedule metric, a gauntlet that will put them face-to-face with the SEC’s best, including tilts against Top-25 opponents in Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt and Arkansas.

We’ll soon find out if the Aggies’ case to be the SEC’s best holds water.

Kentucky keeps on riding roller coaster with a huge upset win over Arkansas

Will the real Kentucky Wildcats please stand up, please stand up? It’s been impossible to tell which Kentucky team will show up on any given night. This is a program that was hammered by Top-25 teams in Michigan State and Gonzaga, proceeded to handle another Top-25 team in St. John’s with ease, was beaten decisively by ranked Alabama, pulled out a narrow win over Tennessee—ranked at the time—followed that up by getting dismantled by ranked Vanderbilt, then defeated a ranked team in Arkansas on the road on Saturday.

It’s enough to make one’s head spin. And yet, through all the ups and downs, the Wildcats are tied with Arkansas and Vanderbilt with a 6-3 record in the SEC and now boast four Quad I wins. Things are looking up for Mark Pope and company … I think.