Monday Look Back: Deacons survive ACC teams' road demons in Virginia

AUSTIN -- If you spent all weekend worrying about Dwight Freeney's ankle, don't even worry about it.

I've got everything you need to know about college basketball right here.

I write the Monday Look Back for you.

Best game of the weekend: It wasn't a great game, per se, but it was as close as it was huge for Wake Forest. Despite the ACC being a league where everybody seems to struggle notching respectable road wins, the Demon Deacons got out of Virginia with a 64-61 overtime victory that moved them into a tie for second in the win column of the ACC standings. They're 16-5 overall, 6-3 in the ACC and one game back of Duke. Problem is, they don't get Duke again in the regular season. But the good news is that four of Wake Forest's final seven games are at home, and only three are against teams currently in the top half of the league standings.

Worst game of the weekend: And Villanova thought traveling to our nation's capital was difficult in a snowstorm. Ha! It was nothing compared to trying to stop Georgetown from scoring. "That was not one of our better performances," Jay Wright said after his Wildcats lost 103-90 at Georgetown. Villanova was down double-digits not even 13 minutes post tipoff and trailed by 19 at the half. The loss was the Wildcats' first in the Big East, and now they're tied in the loss column with Syracuse atop the league standings heading into Monday night's game against West Virginia.

Win to brag about: There's nothing overly great about beating Memphis or even winning at Memphis this season because Josh Pastner wasn't fortunate enough to inherit a typical Memphis team. But don't tell that to Mark Few. The Gonzaga coach entered Saturday's game with an 0-4 career record against Memphis and an 0-3 record at FedExForum. So to him, a win is a win is a win, and rightfully so. "I didn't think I'd ever get one here," Few said with a smile after his Zags beat Memphis 66-58 behind a 19-point effort from Matt Bouldin. The victory pushed Gonzaga to 19-4 and up to No. 16 in the Top 25 (and one). Next up is Thursday's tilt against St. Mary's. First place in the WCC is at stake.

Loss to hide from: I brushed aside the first two losses (to Kansas State and Connecticut) as merely road losses to good teams, and discounted the third loss (to Baylor) as just one of those days. But now I'm running out of excuses for Texas and its losing ways, and Rick Barnes is running out of explanations. No way should these Longhorns have four losses already, and they sure as heck shouldn't be losing to an Oklahoma team with previous losses to VCU, San Diego, Houston, Texas Tech and Nebraska. But that's precisely what happened Saturday. Tommy Mason-Griffin got 24 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Sooners to an 80-71 win that dropped Texas to 19-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big 12. I still contend Texas is talented enough to win the national title, but talent isn't worth much if it can't come together and figure out a way to beat unranked teams. So count me among the confused even though it won't surprise me in the least if Texas rebounds by beating top-ranked Kansas on Monday night here at the Erwin Center.

Player who deserves improper benefits: I've been down with John Wall for National Player of the Year since well before the season started, and I'm still not moving off that prediction. I'm stubborn like that. But what I will do is acknowledge that Ohio State's Evan Turner has been making this race closer than I anticipated, and he made it more difficult for me to hold strong by finishing with 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Sunday's 68-58 win over Iowa. Impressive stuff. And it's looking more and more like Turner might be the first player to ever suffer a broken back and win National Player of the Year in the same season.

Player who does not deserve improper benefits: A.J. Ogilvy isn't the same player he was two years ago, but he still averages 13.5 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field. Against Georgia, though, the Vanderbilt junior was just 2 of 8 from the field for six points. Granted, that's not why the Commodores lost 72-58 on Saturday, but it clearly didn't help.

Why I'm smarter than you think: I pick an unranked team (in this case UNLV) to beat a ranked team (in this case BYU) in every Friday Look Ahead, and, as usual, I nailed that sucker good this weekend. Lon Kruger's Rebels jumped to a 29-point lead in the first half and cruised to an 88-74 win. Now they're tied with BYU and New Mexico atop the Mountain West Conference standings, and now I'm back to being a genius as we enter the stretch run of the regular season.

Evan Turner continues to put up numbers too good to ignore. (AP)

Why I'm dumber than I think: I also picked the Colts 34-24 because I think Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Then I watched the Saints beat the Colts by two touchdowns primarily because Manning threw a pick-six in the fourth. Unreal. But did you hear about UNLV?

Three things you should know before you gow

1. Michigan State point guard Kalin Lucas watched Saturday's 78-73 loss at Illinois from the bench with a sprained ankle suffered in last week's loss at Wisconsin. It's possible the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year will play Tuesday against Purdue, though he's still labeled as questionable.

2. Tennessee forward Brian Williams, one of four Vols arrested on New Year's Day, was reinstated to the team Saturday before the 79-53 win over South Carolina. He dressed but did not play.

3. Derrick Caracter scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Saturday to lead UTEP to a 73-59 win over Tulsa. The Miners are now 17-5 overall, 8-1 in Conference USA and atop the league standings heading into Wednesday's game at SMU. UAB, Tulsa and Memphis are all tied for second in the loss column with two league losses apiece.

On tap: On Monday night, Kansas is at Texas. On Tuesday night, Purdue is at Michigan State. On Wednesday night, Duke is at North Carolina. On Thursday night, St. Mary's is at Gonzaga.

Final thought: Let me tell you my schedule for the next three nights.

• Monday night: Kansas at Texas
• Tuesday night: Purdue at Michigan State
• Wednesday night: Duke at North Carolina

How good is that?

After tonight's game in Austin, I'll fly to Michigan State for Tuesday night's game between the Boilermakers and Spartans. Then I'll fly to North Carolina on Wednesday for this season's first meeting between the Blue Devils and UNC. That's three games in three days featuring five top 15 teams. Not bad. But it was even better when I booked it because it was on pace to be three games featuring six top 10 schools -- all of which were at the time projected to be either first or second in their leagues.

Texas and North Carolina kind of screwed it up.

But it's still a great trip.

So if you see me in the airport and hear me complaining about this trip sometime Tuesday or Wednesday, remind me that I have a pretty cool job that allows me to do pretty cool things. And then offer me a cup of coffee. Because even people with cool jobs get tired bouncing around the country.