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

Loyola-Chicago picks up their first ranked win since 2021 with home win over #21 Dayton

Dayton came into Friday night’s matchup with Loyola-Chicago looking to win its first road game in nearly a month after losses to VCU and George Mason but came up short. This game was close throughout, as no team held a lead of more than seven points. Dayton held a three-point lead going into the second half, but the Ramblers came roaring back with big games from Dez Watson (24 points, 9-13 shooting) and Braden Norris (19 points, 11 assists, four steals). Daron Holmes II finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks, but his team was overmatched by the Ramblers, as an already thin rotation suffered a blow with an injured wrist causing starting point guard Javon Bennett missing the entire second half. The loss drops Dayton to third place in the Atlantic 10, with the Flyers finishing the regular season at Saint Louis and vs VCU.

#22 Utah State moves into first place in the Mountain West with win over Air Force

Danny Sprinkle’s first year in Logan continues to be a successful one, as the Aggies have now won three straight and sit alone at the top of the Mountain West at 12-4. Friday night’s win over Air Force was a comfortable one, as the Aggies’ lead was never less than seven points. Great Osobor had a quiet night offensively for Utah State, scoring just six points, but Ian Martinez had a great game, finishing with 21 points. The Aggies finish up the regular season visiting San Jose State and then hosting New Mexico next Saturday.

Atlantic Sun and Sun Belt wrap up their regular seasons in dramatic fashion

The first two conference tournament brackets of 2024 are now finalized, as the Atlantic Sun and Sun Belt both finished their regular seasons on Friday night. There were a couple of meaningful games that went down to the wire and gave everyone watching a glimpse of what the next month will hold. First, North Alabama held off Central Arkansas 82-78 to knock the Bears out of the A-Sun tournament. That gave Bellarmine a chance to claim the 10th and final seed in the tournament, with the Knights battling it out at Austin Peay. Jacksonville waited patiently, as they knew a Bellarmine loss would put the Dolphins into the tournament. Bellarmine pushed Austin Peay to the brink, but fell short in overtime, losing 90-87 and giving Jacksonville the 10 seed in the A-Sun tournament.

Other Things to Note:

• Appalachian State wins Sun Belt regular season title after dominating Arkansas State
• Marist takes down Fairfield 58-55 in a huge game at the top of the MAAC
• Brown stuns Harvard in overtime 71-68
• Nick Davidson’s 19 points leads Nevada to 74-66 win over Fresno State
• Two of the SEC’s surprises meet as #24 Florida visits #18 South Carolina (12:00 ET, ESPN)
• Villanova visits Providence in bubble clash (12:00 ET, FOX)
• Huge Big 12 battle at Foster Pavilion sees #7 Kansas face #15 Baylor (1:00 ET, ABC)
• #13 Illinois visits the Kohl Center to take on stumbling Wisconsin (1:00 ET, BTN)
• Saturday’s best game pits #5 Marquette vs #12 Creighton in Omaha (2:30 ET, FOX)
• Virginia visits Cameron Indoor to take on #10 Duke (6:00 ET, ESPN)
• #4 Tennessee visits #14 Alabama for first place in the SEC (8:00 ET, ESPN)
• Big game in the Mountain West sees New Mexico face Boise State (8:00 ET, CBSSN)
• #23 Gonzaga visits #17 Saint Mary’s in WCC regular season finale (10:00 ET, ESPN)