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No. 8 Michigan State clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship Wednesday without stepping on the court. The Spartans can win it outright Thursday with a victory over Iowa in Iowa City. Second-place Michigan took a 71-65 home loss Wednesday night to Maryland to ensure the Spartans (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) will own at least half of their first conference title since 2019-20. A Spartans loss on Thursday would give the Wolverines a chance to share it. The in-state archrivals meet in East Lansing on Sunday in their regular-season finale. Spartans coach Tom Izzo made it clear during his weekly press conference that while winning a regular-season title is an accomplishment, it's not the ultimate prize for a perennial powerhouse seeking its first NCAA Tournament title in 25 years. "There's other goals that we have," Izzo said. "Playing better all the time, so we get more prepared for the tournaments that are coming up, when it's one bad day, one bad half, and now you're out." Earlier this season, Izzo passed the late Bob Knight for most Big Ten head-coaching victories. The conference title (full or partial) is Izzo's 11th, tying him for the all-time record among Big Ten coaches. "It's exciting to be in the position," Izzo said. "I'm not making it a bigger deal or a smaller deal. I'm making it this is why you came here. This is what we do here. We don't hang things of records. We hang things of championships." The Spartans carry a five-game winning streak into Iowa City, with the last four coming against Top 20 opponents. Freshman Jase Richardson led Michigan State in scoring in three of those victories. In a 71-62 win over Wisconsin on Sunday, Jaden Akins provided the spark with 19 points. It was the highest output by the senior guard since Jan. 9. The Spartans go 10 deep, a luxury most national title contenders don't have. "We're nowhere near peaking," Izzo said. However, they are well aware the Hawkeyes (15-14, 6-12) could slow their momentum. "It's Senior Night, they got some good seniors that have been there. Michigan State comes in, and we understand it's a big game," Izzo said. "We understand that there's pressure on them, pressure on us. That's the nature of the beast, so we're excited and ready to go." Iowa, which hasn't played since a 68-57 loss at Northwestern on Friday, got off to a 12-4 start but has since gone 3-10. That slide has some people wondering about Fran McCaffery's job status. McCaffery, in his 15th season as Iowa's head coach, has no plans to leave voluntarily. "I'm fully committed to the program, to the players," he said. "I have no intention of moving on." Senior forward Payton Sandfort says that McCaffery shouldn't be judged by how he acts on the sidelines. Sandfort is the team's active leader in scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) with Owen Freeman (16.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) out for the season after undergoing finger surgery. "He gets a really bad rap because of his antics on TV, but all that is is just caring for us and wanting the best for his players," Sandfort said. "That's what I've noticed throughout the last four years is just how much he really does care about us and wants to protect us." --Field Level Media

Jaemyn Brakefield's tiebreaking putback with 7.5 seconds left capped a massive second-half performance as Ole Miss stunned No. 4 Tennessee 78-76 on Wednesday in Oxford, Miss. After Tennessee's Igor Milicic Jr. converted a four-point play with 40 seconds left to knot it at 76-all, Brakefield, a senior who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, grabbed an offensive rebound and put in the game-winner. Milicic missed a short shot in the lane at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. The Rebels (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Dre Davis, plus 13 points from Malik Dia. Matthew Murrell scored 12 as Ole Miss broke a four-game head-to-head losing streak against Tennessee. Ole Miss won its second game in a row after a three-game skid. The Volunteers (24-6, 11-6) got 17 points from Jordan Gainey and 15 from Chaz Lanier. Felix Okpara had 13 points and seven boards, while Zakai Zeigler totaled eight points and 15 assists. The Rebels shot 45.6 percent from the floor, while the Volunteers made 46.3 percent of their shots. Ole Miss outscored the visitors 46-20 in the paint. Tennessee built its early lead to 21-14 on Darlinstone Dubar's layup, but Dia scored nine points and Davis canned a 3-pointer to make it 29-all with 4:38 left remaining in the first half. Two free throws by Mikeal Brown-Jones allowed Ole Miss to go up 31-30, but an 11-5 run left the Volunteers ahead 41-36 at the break. Tennessee shot 48.3 percent in the half as Lanier scored 13 points and Zeigler had nine assists. Ole Miss hit 44.8 percent from the field and Dia had 12 points prior to the break. Early in the second half, Ole Miss went on an 8-0 run that included hoops from Davis, Jaylen Murray, Sean Pedulla and Murrell to tie it 44-all with 15:43 to go. Brakefield scored 15 of Ole Miss' 17 points in one stretch, and he tied it 66-all on a three-point play with 5:11 remaining. --Field Level Media

Alex Karaban scored 21 points to lead UConn to a 72-66 victory over No. 20 Marquette on Wednesday night in Storrs, Conn. The Huskies (21-9, 13-6 Big East) moved into third place in the Big East thanks to their tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles. Four other players scored in double figures for UConn, with Samson Johnson providing 10 points and 11 rebounds. David Joplin led Marquette (22-8, 13-6) with 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Kam Jones added 21 on 9-for-20 shooting from the floor. Marquette closed out the half on a high note as they went into the break on a 9-0 run to take a 37-33 advantage. The Huskies finished the half missing 7-of-8 attempts. Joplin led Marquette with 14 at the break with Jones adding 10 as Marquette shot 51.7 percent despite going just 2-for-12 from deep. UConn shot 42.4 percent, led by nine from McNeeley. It was tight for much of the second half, but the Huskies found a spark and surged ahead. A 10-0 run put UConn ahead 61-54 going into the under-8-minute media timeout, capped off by a fast-break dunk from Johnson. Marquette slowly clawed their way back. Kam Jones finished two tough layups in the final 1:30 and brought Marquette within one with 46 seconds to go. Jones' efforts went for naught as Karaban stepped up for UConn and hit a deep 3-pointer to put the Huskies up 70-66 with 25 seconds to play. Jones then missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. The Golden Eagles shot 3-for-22 from beyond the arc on the night, with Joplin (3-for-6) being the only one to make any. The Huskies swept the two-game regular-season series for the second consecutive season and won their fifth in a row over Marquette. --Field Level Media

JT Toppin had 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 9 Texas Tech over Colorado 91-75 on Wednesday in Lubbock, Texas, in the Red Raiders' final home game of the season. Texas Tech (23-7, 14-5 Big 12) remains in a second-place tie with No. 24 Arizona in the conference. The Red Raiders have won two straight and five of their past seven games entering the regular-season finale on Saturday at Arizona State. The Buffaloes (11-19, 2-17) have lost three consecutive games and four of their past five. Colorado, which started 0-13 in the conference, ends its season against TCU on Saturday in Boulder, Colo. Toppin was 10 of 17 from the floor, including 2 of 2 from behind the 3-point arc. The Red Raiders were 16 of 33 from deep. Chance McMillian had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. Christian Anderson and Kerwin Walton each had 12 points and combined to shoot 7 of 15 from long range. Texas Tech never trailed and built a 45-33 at halftime. They led by as much as 20 in the second half as Colorado struggled from outside, shooting 3 of 14 from behind the arc. The Red Raiders scored 16 points off 10 Buffaloes turnovers and scored 18 fastbreak points. Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak each scored 12 points to lead Colorado. The Buffaloes shot 52.7 percent overall, but their struggles on 3-pointers and at the free-throw line (14 of 21) helped the Red Raiders hold a steady lead. Reserves Assane Diop and Elijah Malone scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, and combined to go 9 of 11 from the field. RJ Smith was 2 of 4 from deep, but his teammates combined to shoot 1 of 10. McMillian's 3-pointer on a fastbreak gave Texas Tech a 12-2 lead five minutes into the game, and Colorado struggled to recover. The Red Raiders led by double figures throughout the second half. --Field Level Media

Kaitlin Peterson scored 25 of her game-high 35 points in the second half and UCF dismissed BYU from the Big 12 Women's Championship tournament 81-69 on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City, Mo. BYU entered the fourth quarter clinging to a one-point lead but couldn't contain Peterson, who put the game out of reach with 13 points in the final 10 minutes. After the Cougars claimed the lead 56-55 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Peterson took over. She drilled a 3, opened the fourth with a pair of free throws, tacked on another from long distance and prompted a Cougars timeout with a steal and layup that made it a 66-57 advantage with 8:02 to play. The No. 13 seed Knights (12-17, 4-14) advance to play Kansas State on Thursday. The No. 4 seed Wildcats (25-6, 13-5) had a first-round bye. Kansas State beat UCF 97-67 on Feb. 15. Colorado 66, Houston 58 Lior Garzon scored 21 points as the ninth-seeded Buffaloes cruised past the 16th-seeded Cougars in Kansas City, Mo. Jade Masogayo added 14 points for Colorado (19-11), which advances to oppose eighth-seeded Arizona on Thursday. The Buffaloes shot 44.9 percent from the floor but finished with a 48-22 rebounding edge. Laila Blair led Houston (5-25, 1-17) with 15 points. Gigi Cooke had 13, Eylia Love 11 and Leilani Augmon 10 as the Cougars ended the season with 13 consecutive losses. Arizona State 82, Cincinnati 75 Jalyn Brown scored 27 points and the 15th-seeded Sun Devils hung on to defeat the 10th-seeded Bearcats in Kansas City, Mo. The Sun Devils led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter before a 21-5 run by Cincinnati made it a one-possession game with 1:25 left. The Sun Devils (10-21) advanced to the second round where they will face No. 7 seed Iowa State Thursday evening. Cincinnati (15-14) was led by Reagan Jackson with 24 points. Arizona State also got 26 points from Tyi Skinner. Texas Tech 57, Kansas 53 Kilah Freelon scored seven points in the final 5:05, including a key put-back with 26 seconds left, as the 14th-seeded Red Raiders defeated the 11th-seeded Jayhawks in Kansas City, Mo. The Red Raiders (16-16) advanced to the second round, where they will face No. 6 seed Utah in the final game Thursday. They were led by Bailey Maupin with 12 points. Jasmine Shavers and Denae Fritz added 11. Kansas (16-14) was led by Brittany Harshaw with 15 points. S'Mya Nichols, Kansas' leading scorer, left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury and was held to eight points. --Field Level Media --Field Level Media