NCAA Basketball: Butler, USC add quality wins on Wednesday

On a night of upsets in NCAA basketball, Butler held strong on the road while UCLA dropped their third game of the year, this time to USC.

In the Busting Brackets Daily Wrap-Up, we go through the major games of the day with a few short summaries and articles to keep you up to date on the recent news in the college basketball world. This covers the biggest games of yesterday and today, as well as looking at major news stories from across the nation.

We also go through each game of key importance in our “Games to Watch” section, which includes a Game of the Day and a Bubble Battle.

Here we go:

11 ButlerBulldogs61

For a more in-depth look at this game, Carmine Carcieri has you covered here.

5 BaylorBears65

Texas Tech had a big opportunity to snag a road win but were unable to get the job done in a poor shooting game by both teams. Justin Gray led the Red Raiders with 12 points, and Johnathan Motley had 25 for the Bears. Motley was 15-of-16 from the free-throw line on the night in what was a solid victory for Baylor.

UscTrojans84

Isaac Hamilton was the leading scorer for the Bruins with 15 points, but it was not enough to stop the balanced attack of the Trojans. Four USC starters reached double figures, while Shaqquan Aaron took his game to a whole new level with a 23-point outburst off the bench. Now 18-4 on the season with a win over UCLA on the resume, the odds of USC making the Big Dance look quite good.

Games to Watch on Thursday, January 26th:

No. 24 Xavier Musketeers @ No. 19 Cincinnati Bearcats, 7:00 p.m. ET: Not only a rivalry game but an important game for both the Big East and the American Athletic conferences. Can Xavier start to get things back on track after losing three of their last four?

Virginia Tech Hokies @ No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels, 8:00 p.m. ET: North Carolina is tough to beat on the road, but Buzz Williams and company are going to try to do just that tonight. VT already has wins over Duke and Clemson, let’s see if they add another.

No. 10 Oregon Ducks @ Utah Utes, 10:30 p.m. ET: If Utah wants to find a way into the NCAA tournament, then this could be a stepping stone from which to build upon. Playing at home against a top-10 opponent is the ideal situation for a high-quality win.

Best of Yesterday from Busting Brackets:

Bracketology: Bubble Watch and a mailbag full of questions: Along with our first mailbag of questions, Lukas Harkins is back with his Bubble Watch to see where some teams stand in regards to making the tournament.

NCAA Basketball: Player of the Year power rankings (Edition Nine): Carmine Carcieri brings out another edition of his POY rankings. Who is No. 1 this time?

Houston Basketball: Cougars face tough road if want to compete in March: Houston is off to a solid start to the year, but they need some more work to get into the Big Dance. Andrew Nostvick looks at what they can do to get there.

That ends today’s Daily Wrap-Up. Tune in tomorrow for another edition and have a great day!