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If you haven't paid much attention to Jim Larranaga's George Mason Patriots it's about time you did. The Patriots made quite the statement on Tuesday night, going on the road to whip VCU 71-51 to wrap up at least a share of the CAA regular season title. A win in either of their last two conference games clinches the league outright, and this group is well on their way to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008. Ryan Pearson led five players in double figures with 18 points and eight rebounds, and George Mason assisted on 17 of their 23 made baskets.

The Syracuse Orange made their way to Hartford knowing that head coach Jim Boeheim had never lost five consecutive games at any point in his illustrious career. But if that wasn't a heavy burden for this group to bear they had to deal with silly rumors of possible point-shaving (something that began as a message board joke became a "story" that some media outlets thought credible for a short period) Tuesday night. But the Orange took care of business, especially on the defensive end, as they beat the Huskies 66-58 to end their skid and get back on the right track.

Has the torch been passed in the West Coast Conference? While this is an unfair question overall when taking into consideration Gonzaga's decade of dominance, it certainly isn't in regards to this season. Mickey McConnell capped an outstanding performance with a tough shot with ten seconds remaining to give Saint Mary's the 73-71 victory in Spokane, dropping the Bulldogs to 3-3 in WCC play. McConnell finished with 27 points, six assists and four rebounds while backcourt partner Matthew Dellavedova added 15 points and five assists in their first victory at Gonzaga since 1995.

With Kansas beginning Saturday's game on a 10-0 run it may have been easy for the casual observer to chalk this one up as the Jayhawks' 70th consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse. But such concessions weren't coming from the visiting Texas Longhorns (16-3, 4-0), who used their defense to erase a 12-point halftime deficit and made some key baskets late to win going away by the final score of 74-63. J'Covan Brown was the hero on this day, providing 23 points off the bench with 17 of those coming in the second half.

First place in the Big 12 in on the line Saturday afternoon with Texas (15-3, 3-0), fresh off of an impressive win over rival Texas A&M, visiting Kansas (18-0, 3-0) with the undefeated Jayhawks looking to keep their 69-game home win streak alive. In order for Texas to pick up the victory they're going to need their frontcourt to play as well as they did against the Aggies if not better because they'll be up against one of the premier frontcourts in America.

Up by as many as 18 points in the second half, Anthony Grant's Alabama Crimson Tide looked to be in good shape after an Andrew Steele gave them a 59-43 lead with 11:31 remaining at Coleman Coliseum. But from that point the Crimson Tide struggled mightily in the face of mounting Kentucky defensive pressure as John Calipari's team finally answered his halftime challenge to "man up". Kentucky held Alabama without a field goal for more than eight minutes before a JaMychal Green tip-in made the score 64-61 with 3:04 remaining.

While some may use a pair of comeback overtime victories as proof that Tom Izzo's Michigan State (12-5, 4-1) Spartans are back on the right track, the true test of such recovery comes on the road. That's what lies in front of the Spartans as they face an Illinois (13-5, 3-2) squad that's dropped back-to-back games on the road and needs a win to avoid falling three games behind Ohio State in the loss column.

Down nine after a pair of Jordan Taylor free throws with 2:37 remaining, Michigan State was in danger of picking up their second ACC loss of the young campaign is someone didn't step up and make some plays. You look to your seniors for leadership and that's exactly what Kalin Lucas and Draymond Green provided down the stretch, and a Korie Lucious three with 48 seconds remaining capped a 9-0 run that got the game into overtime.

Another day, another matchup between ranked teams in the Big East as #17 Louisville (13-2, 2-0) heads northeast to take on #7 Villanova (14-1, 3-0). The question some have in regards to Rick Pitino's team is who have they beaten of consequence on the road, and with a 2-0 mark in such games a win in Philadelphia would go a long way in cementing them as a factor in the Big East race. The Cardinals want to play fast and they want to force you to play with discomfort, which more often than not results in turnovers and transition scoring opportunities for Louisville.

Tuesday's marquee matchup takes place in the Big Ten with Michigan State (10-5) looking to rebound from their loss on Saturday at Penn State. The opponent is none other than Wisconsin (12-3), whose methodical style both limits mistakes on their end and frustrates opponents on the other. That has to be a concern for Tom Izzo's team as while they've improved of late in regards to taking care of the basketball the Spartans still average 15.1 turnovers per contest.