Welcome to “The Daily Scoop”, an article to bring you up to date with the latest news from college basketball and a preview of the day ahead.

Daily Headlines

The A-Sun Tournament delivers three instant classics in one night

In night two of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, the four quarterfinal matchups went down, and three of them went down to the wire. The only game that didn’t was #2 Stetson hosting #8 Queens, as the Stetson Hatters came away with an 83-71 win. Let’s talk about those other three games though.

First off, #10 Jacksonville played at #1 Eastern Kentucky, a night after beating Kennesaw State on the same floor. The Dolphins continued their magic from the opening round, stunning the Colonels’ home crowd and walking away with a 67-65 win. Bryce Workman held his own on the glass against EKU’s Isaiah Cozart, one of the best rebounders in the country, as Workman finished the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end. Robert McCray V scored 24 points for the Dolphins in the upset win, bringing his total for the month of March to 78, after scoring 31 in the opening round against Kennesaw State, and 23 in the regular season finale against FGCU.

The next game to come down to the wire was between #6 North Alabama and #3 Lipscomb. With all A-Sun tournament games played at the home court of the high seed, the UNA Lions traveled to Lipscomb to take on the Bisons, the first game of the tournament for each team. Lions guard KJ Johnson spent three years at Lipscomb earlier in his career, which will set the stage for the finish of this one. North Alabama got off to a hot start on the road, jumping out to a 14-2 lead, and owning an 11-point lead early in the second half. Lipscomb came storming back, and an Owen McCormack three-pointer with three seconds left looked like it would send the game to overtime. That’s when KJ Johnson stepped up, the former Lipscomb guard going the length of the floor in the final three seconds before lofting up a floater just inside the three-point arc that dropped through the net as time expired. The shot gave the Lions a 77-75 win, and Johnson a game-winning shot against his former school, to send his former school out of the tournament.

The third and final exciting finish came between the #5 North Florida Ospreys and the #4 Austin Peay Governors. This game saw North Florida lead the entire second half, before an Austin Peay buzzer-beating layup sent the game to overtime. The Governors would go onto control the overtime period, led in scoring by DeMarcus Sharp, who scored 35 points off the bench. If every night the next five weeks can have half as much action as tonight did, we are in for a special month.

#3 Purdue seals outright Big Ten title with win at #12 Illinois

The Purdue Boilermakers came into Tuesday’s matchup with Illinois knowing a win over the Illini would clinch an outright regular season title with a win. The Boilermakers would do just that, overcoming a six-point halftime deficit to get the job done. Zach Edey continued his quest for back-to-back National Player of the Year awards with a dominant 28 points and eight rebounds, going 13-23 from the field. Marcus Domask led the Illini with 20 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Illini couldn’t make enough shots down the stretch to keep pace with Purdue. Off the back of the regular season title, Purdue will head home to face Wisconsin on Sunday for Senior Day. Illinois faces one final tough test, visiting Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes will have a lot to play for against the Illini, looking for revenge from two weeks ago, and a win that could launch them into the NCAA Tournament field.

Florida’s dynamic backcourt leads the Gators to a win over #16 Alabama

Two of the top 15 offenses in college basketball met in Gainesville on Tuesday night, with the hometown Gators coming out with a 105-87 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama’s Mark Sears continued to prove he’s one of the best guards in the country, scoring 33 points on 10-20 shooting. In comparison to Sears, the Gators may not have a player at his level, but when you combine their three starting guards, they may have the best all-around backcourt in the country. Will Richard led the team with 23 points, Walter Clayton Jr. chipped in 22 points, and Zyon Pullin finished with 19 points. The trio made a living at the free throw line, combining for an unheard of 27-28 from the charity stripe. The Gators finish the season Saturday at Vanderbilt, and if they can avoid a loss, they should find themselves somewhere between the five and seven seed lines in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama has struggled recently, having now lost three of their last four, and will hope to get back on the right track before the SEC Tournament when it hosts Arkansas on Saturday to finish the regular season.

Other Things to Note:

• #7 UNC, #13 Auburn, #14 Kansas all cruise to blowout victories
• Navy and Holy Cross advance to the Patriot League quarterfinals with wins over Loyola (MD) and Army
• Coastal Carolina and Texas State pick up nail-biting wins to advance to the second round of the Sun Belt Championship
• Cleveland State, Milwaukee, and PFW all win as hosts in the Horizon League first round
• Georgia stuns Ole Miss 69-66 to hurt the Rebels’ at-large chances
• Wake Forest suffers brutal home loss to Georgia Tech in the final seconds
• Villanova visits Seton Hall in likely at-large elimination game (6:30 ET, FS1)
• #4 Tennessee visits #17 South Carolina looking for revenge (7:00 ET, ESPN2)
• NEC, OVC, Big South conference tournaments all get underway (NECN, ESPN+, ESPN+)
• #2 UConn visits #8 Marquette in Wednesday’s biggest matchup (8:30 ET, FS1)
• #20 BYU visits #6 Iowa State in yet another AP Top 25 Big 12 matchup (9:00 ET, ESPN2)