Josh Hubbard scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Mississippi State overcame a slow start offensively to beat No. 8 Auburn 64-58 on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play at Starkville, Miss.
Cameron Matthews had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Shaklee Moore added 12 points for the Bulldogs (14-6, 3-4 SEC).
Johni Broome scored 14 points and Jaylin Williams added 10 to lead the Tigers (16-4, 5-2), who lost their second straight game after an 11-game winning streak.
Mississippi State shot 43.9 percent from the field, while Auburn made just 33.9 percent.
No. 3 North Carolina 75, Florida State 68
RJ Davis hit a floater in the lane and made three free throws over the last 45.5 seconds, and the Tar Heels knocked off the host Seminoles in a matchup of Atlantic Coast Conference leaders.
Davis scored a game-high 24 points and freshman Elliot Cadeau added his collegiate high 16 points for the Tar Heels (17-3), who improved to 9-0 in league play for the first time since 2001. Harrison Ingram posted his fourth double-double (13 points, 17 rebounds) in his last five games for the Heels, who won their 10th straight game.
Primo Spears scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Seminoles (12-8, 6-3 ACC), who came into the game in second place in the conference. Jamir Wakins and Darin Green Jr. chipped in with 12 points ea
ch for the ‘Noles and Chandler Jackson added 10 points.
No. 4 Houston 74, Kansas State 52
Jamal Shead and J’Wan Roberts combined for 31 points and the fourth-ranked Cougars turned a stifling, first-half defensive effort into a comfortable victory over the visiting Wildcats.
The Cougars (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) extended their homecourt winning streak to 17 games by opening the first half with an 11-0 run and closing it with a 9-0 surge en route to a 41-21 lead. Houston kept the Wildcats (14-6, 4-3) comfortably at bay throughout the second half.
Shead paired 17 points with three assists while Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds. Damian Dunn chipped in 13 points and four boards for the Cougars, who led by as many as 29. Cam Carter scored a team-high 16 points for Kansas State before fouling out with 4:47 left.
No. 5 Tennessee 75, Vanderbilt 62
Dalton Knecht continued his torrid scoring pace with 32 points as the Volunteers rallied from a halftime deficit to top the Commodores in a Southeastern Conference matchup in Nashville.
Knecht, who earlier this month became the first SEC player since Shaquille O’Neal to score at least 35 points in consecutive games, hit 13 of 21 shots from the field and 3 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line on Saturday. Santiago Vescovi added 12 points for the Volunteers (15-4, 5-1 SEC), while reserve Jordan Gainey and Zakai Zeigler each scored 10 points.
Tyrin Lawrence scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Vanderbilt (5-14, 0-6), while Ezra Manjon chipped in 14 points. But the Commodores didn’t get enough help from elsewhere, making only 36.7 percent of their field-goal attempts and getting outrebounded 38-31.
No. 6 Kentucky 63, Arkansas 57
Antonio Reeves scored 24 points and the Wildcats overcame a frigid first half to register a victory over the Razorbacks in Southeastern Conference play at Fayetteville, Ark.
Reed Sheppard added 14 points and four steals for Kentucky (15-4, 5-2 SEC), which won despite shooting 36.5 percent from the field. Tre Mitchell added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who never led during the game’s first 27 minutes.
Makhi Mitchell had 12 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Razorbacks (10-10, 1-6), who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Tramon Mark added 11 points and eight rebounds and Khalif Battle also scored 11 points.
No. 23 Iowa State 79, No. 7 Kansas 75
Tre King had 21 points and hit an unlikely four of the Cyclones’ season-high 14 3-pointers, as the hosts remained undefeated at home with a Big 12 victory over the Jayhawks in Ames, Iowa.
King, 3-of-16 from beyond the arc entering the game, highlighted a 14-of-30 3-point effort from Iowa State (16-4, 5-2 Big 12), which made nine of 15 in the second half alone to improve to 13-0 at home. Keshon Gilbert, who sank a key late 3, had 16 points for the Cyclones, who have won seven straight at home against ranked opponents.
Hunter Dickinson had 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Kevin McCullar scored 16 for Kansas (16-4, 4-3), which rallied from 12 points down thanks to 6-of-11 3-point shooting in the second half, but fell to 1-3 on the road in the Big 12.
No. 9 Arizona 87, Oregon 78
Caleb Love scored a career-high 36 points as the Wildcats ended a three-game road losing streak by beating the Ducks in Eugene, Ore.
Love, a senior transfer from North Carolina, made 12 of 18 shots from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. He also hit 7 of 8 from the free throw line for the Wildcats (15-5, 6-3 Pac-12), who moved into a tie for the league lead with the Ducks (14-6, 6-3).
Jermaine Couisnard scored 20 points to lead the Ducks. N’Faly Dante had 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
No. 10 Illinois 70, Indiana 62
Terrence Shannon Jr. made six consecutive free throws in the final 63 seconds to break the game’s final tie and lift the Fighting Illini to a Big Ten victory over the Hoosiers in Champaign, Ill.
Marcus Domask paced Illinois (15-5, 6-3 Big Ten) with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Shannon added 12 points and Coleman Hawkins and Luke Goode contributed 11 points apiece.
Malik Reneau scored 21 points before fouling out with 3:02 to go for Indiana (12-8, 4-5), which failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time since Feb. 25, 2010. Xavier Johnson added 14 points while McDonald’s All-American Mackenzie Mgbako posted his collegiate first double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds).
No. 12 Duke 72, Clemson 71
Tyrese Proctor made two free throws with 1 second to play to lift the Blue Devils past the Tigers in a game with a back-and-forth late-game stretch at Durham, N.C.
Jared McCain scored 21 points, Proctor added 18 points and Mark Mitchell chipped in with 13 points for the Blue Devils (15-4, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who stayed within two games in the loss column behind first-place North Carolina. Duke, which had a 10-point lead early in the second half, avoided its second home loss this month.
PJ Hall made two foul shots to put Clemson ahead with 7.4 seconds remaining, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph Girard III had all 13 of his points in the second half and Chase Hunter posted 11 points for Clemson (13-6, 3-5).
No. 20 Texas Tech 85, No. 11 Oklahoma 84
Chance McMillian scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Red Raiders to a win over the Sooners in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds after Joe Toussaint missed the second of two free throws to keep the Red Raiders’ lead at two. But Milos Uzan’s layup bounced off the rim and Pop Isaacs grabbed the rebound and hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left, though Oklahoma’s Rivaldo Soares hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Isaacs finished with 18 points, 13 in the second half, as Texas Tech (16-3, 5-1 Big 12) won for the 11th time in 12 games. Soares led Oklahoma (15-5, 3-4) with a season-high 19 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
No. 14 Marquette 75, Seton Hall 57
Oso Ighodaro racked up 21 points and the Golden Eagles used a strong second half to pick up a victory over the Pirates in a Big East Conference matchup in Milwaukee.
Ighodaro and David Joplin combined for 30 points in the Golden Eagles’ 45-point second half, where the hosts sank 19 of 31 field-goal attempts (61.3 percent). Joplin finished with 20 points for the game as Marquette (15-5, 6-3 Big East) rolled to its fourth straight victory.
Playing without leading scorer Kadary Richmond (general soreness) for the second straight game, the Pirates (13-8, 6-4) got 18 points and eight rebounds from Jaden Bediako. Dre Davis supplied 13 points and snatched nine boards for Seton Hall, which shot just 18.8 percent from beyond the arc (3 of 16) and committed 17 turnovers.
TCU 105, No. 15 Baylor 102 (3OT)
Jameer Nelson Jr.’s putback jumper with 10 seconds to play in triple overtime proved to be the difference as the visiting Horned Frogs recorded a win over the Bears in an epic Big 12 battle in Waco, Texas.
Nelson finished with a season-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting to lead all scorers. Emanuel Miller added 21 points for TCU (15-5, 4-3 Big 12), Micah Peavy had 18, Trevian Tennyson scored 15 and Charles O’Bannon Jr. contributed 11.
Yves Missi led Baylor (14-5, 3-3 Big 12) with a career-high 25 points. RayJ Dennis added 24 points and 10 assists, Walter tallied 15 and Langston Love racked up 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears, who have dropped three straight games.
Richmond 69, No. 16 Dayton 64
Jordan King scored a team-high 17 points to help lead the host Spiders to a victory over the Flyers.
Isaiah Bigelow added 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Spiders (15-5, 7-0 Atlantic 10), who won their 10th consecutive game and their first over a ranked opponent since a win over then-No. 16 Iowa in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Javon Bennett led Dayton (16-3, 6-1) with 18 points. Kobe Elvis added 11 points for the Flyers, who saw their Division I-best 13-game winning streak come to an end. The conference’s leading scorer, DaRon Holmes II, managed just nine points on 2-for-12 shooting from the floor.
No. 17 Creighton 85, DePaul 62
Trey Alexander scored 23 points to go along with seven assists and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Bluejays owned the second half to earn a victory over the Blue Demons at Omaha, Neb.
Steven Ashworth scored 17 points and Baylor Scheierman added 16 as the Bluejays (16-5, 7-3 Big East) improved to 10-1 at home while extending their winning streak to three games overall. Creighton has also won seven of its past eight, with the only loss in that stretch coming last week against No. 1 UConn.
Elijah Fisher scored 12 points while Jeremiah Oden, Jaden Henley and Jalen Terry added nine points apiece for DePaul (3-17, 0-9), which saw its losing streak reach eight games. The Blue Demons fell to 0-8 in true road games and neutral site games combined.
No. 18 Utah State 90, Boise State 84 (OT)
Darius Brown II scored 19 points and the Aggies moved into first place in the Mountain West with an overtime victory over the Bronco at Boise, Idaho.
Ian Martinez and Josh Uduje scored 18 points apiece for the Aggies (18-2, 6-1 MW), who won for the 17th time in their past 18 games. Great Osobor recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Isaac Johnson added 13 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out for Utah State.
Tyson Degenhart scored 24 points and O’Mar Stanley recorded 20 points and nine rebounds before fouling out for the Broncos (14-6, 5-2). Chibuzo Agbo added 15 points and Max Rice had 14 for Boise State.
No. 21 BYU 84, Texas 72
Noah Waterman and Jaxson Robinson scored 17 points each to help the Cougars roll to a win over the Longhorns in a Big 12 Conference clash in Provo, Utah.
The Cougars bounced back from back-to-back losses by shooting a season-best 64 percent from the floor. BYU led by just three at halftime but pushed its lead to double digits three minutes into the second half and decisively pulled away, going up by as many as 17 points with 8:31 left.
Fousseyni Traore added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Cougars (15-5, 3-4 Big 12) while Richie Saunders and Spencer Johnson had 11 points each. Dylan Disu paced the Longhorns (14-6, 3-4) with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Wyoming 79, No. 24 Colorado State 76 (OT)
Akuel Kot scored 11 points in overtime, including a four-point play with 28 seconds left, as the Cowboys put the finishing touches on a thrilling comeback to topple the Rams in a Mountain West matchup in Laramie, Wyo.
Kot, who netted the Cowboys’ first four points in overtime, gave Wyoming a 76-74 edge with his four-point play, then split a pair of free throws with nine seconds left. He hit two more shots from the charity stripe with two seconds left to extend the lead to 79-76, and Wyoming survived when Isaiah Stevens’ shot from midcourt fell short.
Sam Griffin led the Cowboys (11-9, 4-3 Mountain West) with 24 points, Kot finished with 18 and Mason Walters tallied 13. Patrick Cartier topped Colorado State (15-5, 3-4) with 19 points, including five in overtime, and Stevens added 17 points, nine assists and two steals.
–Field Level Media
