(AP)Ben McLemore scored 36 points in a win over West Virginia on Saturday breaking Danny Manning's single-game freshman scoring record at Kansas and possibly nailing down a few national Freshman of the Year awards.

McLemore was amazingly efficient in writing his name in the record books making 12 of his 15 field goal attempts, including five of six 3-pointers. He broke Manning's old record of 35 points exactly 28 years to the day from when it was set March 2, 1985 against Oklahoma State.

He had been in a bit of a slump in his previous three games, scoring a combined 28 points in those outings and making nine of 28 shots.

Kansas State kept pace with Kansas atop the Big 12 Conference thanks to a cold-blooded, game-winning 3-pointer in the final second from Rodney McGruder.

McGruder scored 18 points in the 64-61 win over Baylor but only got the chance to register the final three when the Bears failed to execute a long inbound pass designed to give it a chance at a game-winning shot with 1 second remaining. The Bears threw the ball out of bounds, the first of two key mistakes made in that final second.

(AP)

It was tough to decide which was less believable Saturday afternoon. Ole Miss losing to Mississippi State 73-67 or the Rebels doing so with a player in uniform named Bryce Drew.

We'll have to go with the Drew angle considering no team in the SEC has proven to be immune from surprising losses this season. Plus, this is just too bizarre a coincidence, like a kid named Tyus Edney donning a uniform for Missouri. Think that would ever happen? Well, we're suddenly not ready to rule anything out.

Here is the refresher. Bryce Drew played for Valparaiso University in 1998 when it met Ole Miss in the NCAA tournament. It was a No. 4 seed vs. a No. 13. With 2.5 seconds remaining and down by two, Valpo inbounded the ball and Drew drilled a 3-pointer for the win and one of the most memorable NCAA tournament moments in history.

(USA Today Sports Images)Syracuse lost its third straight and second consecutive home game after falling 58-52 to Louisville on Saturday and there seem to be plenty of theories bouncing around about what is ailing the Orange.

Is it poor guard play or ineffective centers? Maybe its just one of the toughest Big East Conference schedules catching up with them or option D; all of the above. Regardless, coach Jim Boeheim is searching for answers with the regular season's final week looming and tournament time to follow.

Guards Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche combined to make just five of 21 shots (1-for-7 behind the arc) against the Cardinals , who seem to be trending in the opposite direction down the stretch this season. Syracuse's starting back court has scored just 58 combined points in the losing streak while committing too many turnovers and failing to get to the foul line.

Doug McDermott scored a career-high 41 points on Saturday (AP)

When Doug McDermott walked off the floor at the CenturyLink Center for perhaps the last time in a Bluejays jersey Saturday afternoon, the Creighton star received a hug from his dad, fist bumps from his teammates and a loud ovation from the crowd.

Needless to say, he deserved all of it and more.

[Also: VCU flusters Butler with its swarming defense]

In a winner-take-all regular season finale pitting the Missouri Valley Conference's co-leaders, McDermott scored a season high 41 points to propel Creighton to a convincing 91-80 victory over Wichita State. The Bluejays avenged a previous loss to the Shockers, clinched their first Valley regular season title in 12 years and all but guaranteed they'll be one of the 68 teams who hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

If the most impressive part of McDermott's game has always been his ability to dominate a game without dominating the ball, then that was once again on display Saturday. Aided by Wichita State's unusual inattentiveness defensively, McDermott freed himself for layups or jump shots by running off a series of screens designed to give him space.

McDermott's ruthlessly efficient 15 of 18 shooting was a product of how many open looks his teammates got him with their physical screens, yet he wasn't the only torrid-shooting player in a white jersey. Creighton shot an almost unfathomable 70.2 percent from the field because some of the less well-known Bluejays also got in the act.

Ethan Wragge, Austin Chatman and Grant Gibbs sparked Creighton during the game's key stretch, combining for all their team's points during a 14-2 spurt that extended the Bluejays' second-half lead to 69-54. Wragge knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to open the run, Chatman knocked down one of his own and added a layup and Gibbs ended it with the toughest shot of all, an off-balance fallaway 3-pointer.

Ben Howland joined in a beer pong game outside Pauley Pavilion (photo by the Daily Bruin)

Some coaches bring pizza and sodas or donuts and coffee to students camping out for floor seats to a big game. UCLA coach Ben Howland went a step further on the eve of Saturday's matchup with Arizona, briefly joining in a beer pong game Friday night outside Pauley Pavilion. Credit the Daily Bruin's Ryan Menezes and Chris Nguyen for snapping the photo of the weekend, and credit Howland too for taking the time to mingle with the students and have a little fun. Howland has a reputation for sometimes being uptight and difficult to connect with, especially as a season nears its crescendo, so UCLA players and fans alike surely enjoyed seeing him cut loose a little bit too. Of course, it's a shame Bill Walton wasn't on hand to lend his thoughts. Howland's most relentless critic no doubt would have called him out for leaning too far over the table or calling for too many re-racks.

Juvonte Reddic struggles for a rebound with Roosevelt Jones (AP)

VCU forces more turnovers per game than any team in the nation, but the Rams are very susceptible defensively against a team that takes care of the ball. Butler boasts one of the Atlantic 10's most efficient offenses, but the Bulldogs lack a great ball-handling point guard and can sometimes be turnover-prone.

[Also: Notre Dame reaches out publicly to Catholic 7]

Pit those two teams against one-another, and it didn't require an advanced degree in Xs and Os to identify the key to Saturday's game, nor did it take one to determine which team fared better in the matchup.

In the first and likely last meeting between the teams as Atlantic 10 foes, VCU routed Butler 84-52 because the Rams' trademark swarming pressure defense left the Bulldogs bewildered and befuddled. At times they struggled to get the ball across mid-court or get into a set offensively, committing 13 first-half turnovers and surrendering 24 first-half points off them en route to 45-21 halftime deficit.

The experiment of converting Rotnei Clarke from shooting guard to point guard has produced sporadic results, but Butler needs a better passer and ball handler against an opponent who pressures the ball as well as VCU. Nothing coach Brad Stevens tried to do to compensate helped much either, whether it was playing Alex Barlow more minutes or having Roosevelt Jones help bring the ball up court.

VCU grabbed 16 steals and forced 20 turnovers for the game, fueling a high-octane offense led by 20 points from Troy Daniels. Butler got a combined 27 points from forwards Khyle Marshall and Roosevelt Jones, but it wasn't nearly enough to offset the Bulldogs' woes taking care of the ball.

Miami's Reggie Johnson celebrates with fans after a victory over Duke earlier this season (AP)

Thanks to a handful of key conference rematches, this weekend's slate is as good as any we've seen this season. Here's a look at the can't-miss games:

1. Miami (23-4, 14-1) at Duke (24-4, 11-4), Saturday 6 p.m. EST

Storyline: Even though Duke's loss to Virginia on Thursday night guaranteed Miami a share of the ACC title and all but eliminated the Blue Devils from contention, that doesn't mean Saturday's showdown between the ACC's two best teams has lost all its luster. Duke still has plenty to play for after the beatdown Miami delivered the last time the two teams met. Not only did the Hurricanes roll to a 90-63 rout, they also mocked a Duke tradition by slapping the floor on defense late in the second half. Predicted winner: Duke

2. Michigan State (22-6, 11-4) at Michigan (23-5, 10-5), Sunday 4 p.m. EST

Storyline: Just when it seemed either Michigan or Michigan State might eclipse Indiana in the Big Ten and secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, both have gone into mini-tailspins. The Wolverines have struggled defensively during a stretch in which they've lost three of six, most notably Wednesday's 84-78 shocker at last-place Penn State. The Spartans have dropped two in a row against Indiana and Ohio State, respectable losses made slightly more alarming by the poor play of point guard Keith Appling. Sunday's winner begins building momentum for the NCAA tournament, while the loser falls deeper into an ill-timed slump. Predicted winner: Michigan State