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NCAA basketball: Purdue, Marquette among top-ranked teams to get upset this weekend

Five of the top 18 teams have fallen to unranked opponents since Friday.

The Wisconsin Badgers won for the third straight season over Marquette. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

This hasn't been the weekend to be a top-25 ranked team in men's college basketball.

Through Saturday evening, five of the top 18 teams have fallen to unranked opponents, beginning with No. 1 Purdue, who was upset by Northwestern at home for the second straight year. The Wildcats required overtime, coming out on top 92-88 in a wild game that saw 18 lead changes.

Badgers win third straight over Marquette

Speaking of losing against the same opponent in consecutive years, No. 3 Marquette suffered its second loss of the season against Wisconsin, 75-64. It was the Golden Eagles' third straight loss to the Badgers.

There was a court to be stormed, of course, and for good reason. Not only did the unranked Badgers improve to 6-2, the three-game winning streak is the first by either team since Wisconsin's four in a row from 1998-2001.

Junior Max Klesmit led all players with 21 points — all coming in the first half — and the Badgers never trailed in the game. Guard A.J. Storr contributed 13 points, including a pair off this alley-oop with Chucky Hepburn.

Down goes Duke, again

The No. 7 Blue Devils dropped their second straight game and their ACC opener, 72-68, to Georgia Tech.

It was Baye Ndongo's day as the freshman forward finished with 21 points and two memorable slam dunks. The second snapped a 68-68 tie with 42.7 seconds to play.

This was the second straight win for the Yellow Jackets over a ranked opponent after they beat No. 21 Mississippi State in ACC/SEC Challenge. It's the first time they've accomplished that since 2016-17 and the first time they've beaten a top-10 opponent since Feb. 2020.

Instead of "rolling over" after losses to UMass-Lowell and Cincinnati, first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire said his team chose to "roll up their sleeves" instead.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, UMass-Lowell or Duke," Stoudamire said. "We need every single person in our locker room to be successful.”

Takayo Siddle's Rupp Arena double

UNC Wilmington head coach Takayo Siddle knows a thing or two about beating Kentucky at Rupp Arena. He was a junior guard on the 2007-08 Gardner-Webb team that upset the then-No. 20 Wildcats.

Siddle helped the Seahawks in a different way this time around on Saturday, guiding them to an 80-73 upset over No. 12 Kentucky. The Wildcats led for only 4:27 in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Trazarien White led all players with 27 points and 10 rebounds as UNC Wilmington became the first team this season to hold the Wildcats to under 80 points. Kentucky had averaged 94.4 points per game heading into Saturday's matchup.

Dragons slay Wildcats

No. 18 Villanova was the fifth ranked team to go down as it was edged by the Drexel Dragons, 57-55. Amari Williams came up big on both ends of the court, posting 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks.

Williams' layup with 1:27 to play put Drexel up 56-53. Villanova cut the lead to one with 30 seconds to go, and it was Williams who hit a free throw to extend the Dragons' lead to a bucket.

But he wasn't done making an impact. With the Wildcats inbounding the ball in Drexel's end, Williams rejected Justin Moore's attempt to force overtime to seal the victory.