College basketball Saturday slate key results: Tennessee, Baylor and Creighton get key wins, Houston survives

A loaded Saturday of men's college hoops comes to an end. Quite a way to start March!

We'll be back again to follow the action next Saturday and for all the key days of March Madness.

Full Saturday scores and results 

No. 23 Bulldogs pick up a crucial Quad 1 road victory over the No. 17 Gaels. SMC already won the WCC title, so Gonzaga needed this one more as it's firmly on the bubble. That wraps the regular season for both teams. Next up: WCC tournament in Las Vegas, where they could very well meet again.

Gonzaga 66, Saint Mary's 52, 3:34 to play

Zags closing in on a road win they desperately needs for their NCAA tourney resume.

Gonzaga 60, SMU 46, under 9 minutes

Gaels struggling to close the gap against high-powered Zags offense.

Gonzaga 52, Saint Mary's 38, 15:18 to play

Saint Mary's came out of the break with a purpose.

A quick 10-2 run to start the 2nd half to briefly cut the Gonzaga lead to single digits.

But Zags answer with six straight.

Zags in full control on the road at Saint Mary's

Gonzaga 38, Saint Mary's 23, late first half

SMC'a longest active win streak in the nation of 16 games is in major jeopardy here. Zags are red hot.

While all that chaos was going on, Gonzaga has used a 14-0 run to jump in front of Saint Mary's 24-12 in the first 10 minutes

The Boilermakers hold off the Spartans down the stretch to get the win and hoist their second straight Big Ten title. Zach Edey (32), Braden Smith (23) and Fletcher Loyer (15) combined for 70 of Purdue's 80 points.

Final stats

No. 4 Vols rally to earn a huge road win in Tuscaloosa to take sole control of first place in the SEC and, more importantly, boost their hopes of earning a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Zakai Zeigler leads Vols with 18 points.

Jamal Shead's last-gasp winner locks it up for the Cougars in a tough game at Oklahoma.

Houston's Jamal Shead gets his own rebound and makes the game-winner with 0.1 seconds left!

Oklahoma ties it up! The Sooners missed a free throw but ended up with the ball anyways on a deflection and knot things at 85. Just 11.8 seconds for Houston.

Tennessee 77, Alabama 72.

29 seconds to go. Bama ball.

Oklahoma has cut it to 85-82 with just 30 seconds left on the clock and just got the ball back for a chance to tie it up.

Tennessee takes 70-65 lead over Alabama at the under-4 timeout.

Vols initially took the lead on this shot:

If it isn't Zach Edey, it's Braden Smith. The sophomore guard has 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Alabama 62, Tennessee 60, under 7 minutes

Alabama leads the nation in scoring at 91.5 points per game, but defensive-minded Tennessee is keeping the Crimson Tide relatively in check. Looks like a good finish coming in Tuscaloosa.

We've got three tight games coming down to the wire at the moment.

Now it's Michigan State going on the offensive. The Spartans have made it a one-possession game after an 8-0 run.

Alabama leads Tennessee 58-52 and has been in control ever since its 12-0 run to close the 1st half. The crowd came to life after that.

First place in the SEC on the line in this one.

Houston has cooled off a bit (relatively), but it's crashing the boards hard and getting easy putbacks. The Cougars could pull away here quick if the Sooners aren't careful.

Zach Edey is starting to take over. He now has 24 points and 9 rebounds and the Boilermakers have extended their lead to 55-45.

LJ Cryer picked up right where he left off and is now on a heater with consecutive 3-pointers as Houston pulls out to a 56-47 lead to open the second half.

Cougars win a back-and-forth one in Pullman but WSU pulled away in the closing minutes. Jaylen Wells scores 27 to lead WSU, which is now 23-7 and 14-5 in the Pac-12. The magical season continues for the Cougs.

No. 1 Houston is in a fight with Oklahoma in Norman. The Sooners tied it up with three seconds to go in the half before a bizarre sequence where LJ Cryer hit a 3-pointer but the officials never started the clock. After review, it's determined that Cryer made it in allotted time left so the Cougars will have the lead at the break.

Crimson Tide finished the first half on a furious 12-0 run to snag the lead after Vols had controlled the action most of the way. Mark Sears (12 points) and Aaron Estrada (11) lead the way for the Tide.

MSU's Tyson Walker pulls up for a 3 at the buzzer to cut into Purdue's lead at half.

The Boilermakers are finding their footing now. They're on a 19-4 run with a minute left in the first half.

Tennessee led by as many as 11 but Alabama cuts it to 1 with this shot:

Big momentum swings in Pullman.

UCLA leads Washington State 58-55 after erasing an 8-point halftime deficit.

Under 8 minutes to play.

Meanwhile, No. 1 Houston is getting all it can handle from Oklahoma.

Sooners lead 29-28, late 1st half.

Spartans playing inspired so far at Purdue, leading 26-19.

Quick glance at the Top 25 scores in action. No. 2 Purdue on early upset watch vs. MSU

Tennessee off to an early 9-5 lead over Alabama, turning defense to offense:

Another fun finish as FIU's Javaunte Hawkins drills the tough jumper to beat Western Kentucky

Wazzu has turned things around in Pullman, ending the half with a 27-9 run.

FINAL: Duke 73, Virginia 48

This one wasn't close and may impact Virginia's tournament standing. The Hoos are firmly on the bubble with only one game left in the regular season. They'll need to put in some work in the ACC tournament to make it.

The Cougars have settled in a bit in Pullman. They just took the lead for the first time in the game at 32-30 with under 3 minutes left in the first half.

Big win tonight for Iowa, which is a bubble team and desperately needed a quality win.

How many ACC teams will make the tourney this year?

UCLA is off to a fast start in Pullman, taking an 11-2 lead on No. 19 Washington State early.

Things are still not going well for the Hoos. They're now done 25 points with 4 minutes left in the half and have shown no semblance of offense.

FINAL: Iowa State 60, UCF 52

No. 8 Iowa State survives on the road at UCF. The Knights shot an abysmal 1-of-19 from 3-point range as the Cyclones went on an 11-2 run to close things out.

Final stats

FINAL: UNC 79, NC State 70

After trailing at halftime, No. 9 North Carolina outscored NC State 42-25 in the 2nd half to pull away from its in-state rival. Harrison Ingram's 22 points led the way for the ACC-leading Tar Heels.

Final stats

USC's only hope for an NCAA bid is a run through the Pac-12 tournament, but it's nice to see Isaiah Collier healthy and playing like he's capable of playing. He finishes USC's win over Washington with a career-high 31 points.

Yahoo Sports' Krysten Peek caught up with him earlier this week on the challenges he and the Trojans have dealt with this season:

USC star freshman Isaiah Collier's late-season surge continues with a career day vs. Washington.