Jordan Wright scored LSU’s final four points as the Tigers erased a 16-point second-half deficit and stunned No. 11 South Carolina 64-63 on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, S.C.
After Ta’Lon Cooper put the Gamecocks ahead 63-60 with 29 seconds left, Wright made a layup to cut South Carolina’s lead to 63-62 with 17 seconds to go.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, LSU’s Tyrell Ward forced a turnover on a held ball with 14 seconds left. Wright was then fouled on a drive to the basket and sank two free throws with five seconds remaining to give the Tigers the lead. South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright had one final shot, but his 3-pointer from the left corner was off the mark at the horn.
Ward finished with 16 points and had two steals for LSU (13-12, 5-7 Southeastern Conference). Jordan Wright had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
B.J. Mack totaled 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Gamecocks (21-5, 9-4). Meechie Johnson, South Carolina’s leading scorer entering Saturday, was held scoreless and had four assists.
No. 1 UConn 81, No. 4 Marquette 53
Donovan Clingan scored 17 points as part of a double-double as the Huskies cruised to a victory over the Golden Eagles in Hartford, Conn.
Clingan also snatched 10 rebounds as UConn (24-2, 14-1 Big East) won its 14th consecutive game. Tristen Newton flirted with a triple-double (15 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) for the Huskies, who also got 14 points apiece from Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra.
Kam Jones finished with a team-high 15 points for Marquette (19-6, 10-4). Oso Ighodaro supplied 14 points, but reigning Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek was held to just seven on 2-of-11 shooting.
No. 3 Houston 82, Texas 61
L.J. Cryer drilled six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points while Jamal Shead added 16 points as the Cougars rolled to a home win over the Longhorns.
Houston (22-3, 9-3 Big 12) extended its homecourt winning streak to 19 games while capping the season sweep of Texas (16-9, 5-7). The Cougars did so behind the shooting of their senior starting backcourt, as Cryer and Shead combined to connect on 15 of 24 field-goal attempts.
Dylan Disu paired 16 points with seven rebounds for the Longhorns, who shot 38.6 percent overall and finished with a minus-11 rebounding margin.
No. 5 Arizona 105, Arizona State 60
Jaden Bradley scored a career-high 21 points and Oumar Ballo posted his fifth consecutive double-double as the Wildcats routed the Sun Devils in Tucson, Ariz.
Ballo had 15 points and 11 rebounds as Arizona (20-5, 11-3 Pac-12) won its sixth consecutive game and maintained first place in the conference. Bradley, a sophomore transfer from Alabama, made 8 of 11 shots and surpassed his previous career high of 18 points, set last season against Gonzaga.
Arizona State (13-13, 7-8) had no answer for Arizona’s size and strength down low as the Sun Devils were outscored 52-16 in the paint. Post players Shawn Phillips Jr. and Alonzo Gaffney each fouled out.
No. 6 Kansas 67, No. 25 Oklahoma 57
Hunter Dickinson scored 20 points and added 16 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks past the Sooners in Norman, Okla.
The win snapped a four-game road losing streak for Kansas (20-6, 8-5 Big 12).
Jalon Moore led Oklahoma (18-8, 6-7) with 17 points and eight rebounds while Javian McCollum added 15 points and Milos Uzan had 11.
No. 7 North Carolina 96, Virginia Tech 81
Armando Bacot had 25 points and 12 rebounds as the Tar Heels used relentless offense and rebounding to defeat the Hokies in Chapel Hill, N.C.
RJ Davis added 20 points, Cormac Ryan had 16 and Harrison Ingram posted 12 points and 17 rebounds for North Carolina (20-6, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which reached the 20-win mark for the 64th time in program history.
MJ Collins led Virginia Tech (14-11, 6-8) with 18 points, Mylyjael Poteat had 15 off the bench, former Tar Heel Tyler Nickel produced 14 and Lynn Kidd and Hunter Cattoor each had 11.
No. 8 Tennessee 88, Vanderbilt 53
All five starters scored in double figures as the Volunteers never trailed in a rout of the Commodores in Knoxville, Tenn.
Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler each scored 14 points for Tennessee (19-6, 9-3 SEC), while Josiah-Jordan James added 13 and Santiago Vescovi netted 12. Jonas Aidoo chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 10 points for Vanderbilt (7-18, 2-10), which upset Texas A&M on Tuesday night but couldn’t replicate similar success against a much tougher foe. The Commodores’ top two scorers, Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence, were held to six and eight points, respectively.
No. 9 Duke 76, Florida State 67
Jared McCain quieted a sellout crowd in Tallahassee, Fla., with a sensational shooting performance, scoring 35 points to lead the Blue Devils past the Seminoles.
Jeremy Roach added 17 points, including eight in the final five minutes, as Duke (20-5, 11-3 ACC) won its fourth straight and kept pace with first-place North Carolina in the ACC race.
Jamir Watkins had 15 points and four blocks to pace Florida State (13-12, 7-7), which lost for the fifth time in its past six games, with all of the defeats coming by single digits. Cameron Corhen hit 7 of 10 shots for the Seminoles, scoring 14 points and pulling down nine rebounds.
No. 10 Iowa State 82, Texas Tech 74
Keshon Gilbert poured in 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the Cyclones defeated the Red Raiders in a key Big 12 Conference game in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State (20-5, 9-3 Big 12) built a 14-point lead at the break that it expanded to 58-37 just over 8 1/2 minutes into the second half. Texas Tech pulled within 75-67 on two Robert Jennings free throws with 51 seconds remaining, but the Red Raiders ran out of time.
Curtis Jones added 12 points for the Cyclones. Joe Toussaint’s 16 points led Texas Tech (18-7, 7-5), which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
No. 12 Baylor 94, West Virginia 81
Ja’Kobe Walter scored 23 points and Jayden Nunn added 20 to lead the Bears past the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va.
RayJ Dennis added 18 points and eight assists and Yves Missi tallied 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor for Baylor (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), which won for the fifth time in its past six games.
RaeQuan Battle scored 25 points and Jesse Edwards added 21 points and nine rebounds for West Virginia (8-17, 3-9), which lost its fourth straight game. The Bears won for the ninth time in the past 10 games against the Mountaineers.
No. 22 Kentucky 70, No. 13 Auburn 59
Antonio Reeves scored 22 points to help the Wildcats post a wire-to-wire road victory over the Tigers in SEC play.
Adou Thiero added 14 points and eight rebounds and Rob Dillingham scored 11 points for Kentucky (18-7, 8-4 SEC). Ugonna Onyenso had 11 rebounds and Reed Sheppard had five steals for the Wildcats.
Johni Broome recorded 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots and Chad Baker-Mazara also scored 14 points for Auburn (20-6, 9-4). Denver Jones added 12 points for the Tigers, who fell to 13-1 at home this season.
No. 14 Illinois 85, Maryland 80
Terrence Shannon Jr. totaled 27 points and four blocks and Marcus Domask had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Fighting Illini pulled out a win over the Terrapins in College Park, Md.
Illinois (19-6, 10-4 Big Ten) never led by more than seven points but still secured its fifth win in six games. Coleman Hawkins added 14 points and Justin Harmon scored 10 for the Fighting Illini, who won at Maryland for the second time in program history.
Maryland, playing less than 24 hours after the death of legendary coach Lefty Driesell, got a superhero performance from Jahmir Young. He racked up 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Terrapins (14-12, 6-9).
No. 15 Alabama 100, Texas A&M 75
Mark Sears scored a game-high 23 points and the Crimson Tide riddled the Aggies with 18 3-pointers to stay atop the SEC with a rout in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Rylan Griffen added 17 points for Alabama (18-7, 10-2 SEC), while Latrell Wrightsell Jr. hit for 16 points. The Crimson Tide canned 52.1 percent of their field-goal attempts and earned a 22-4 advantage in fastbreak points.
Tyrece Radford scored 22 points for Texas A&M (15-10, 6-6), which made only 37.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and went 4 of 23 from beyond the 3-point line.
No. 16 Dayton 78, Fordham 70
DaRon Holmes II scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half to lift the Flyers to a victory over the visiting Rams in Atlantic 10 play.
Holmes made 10 of 13 shots from the floor and had 10 rebounds for Dayton (21-4, 11-2 Atlantic 10), which improved to 13-0 at home this season. The Flyers’ Javon Bennett scored all 14 of his points in the first half, while Enoch Cheeks finished with 12 points and Nate Santos added 11.
Japhet Medor and Kyle Rose each scored 17 points for reeling Fordham (10-15, 4-8), which has lost three games in a row and seven of its past nine.
No. 17 Creighton 79, Butler 57
Baylor Scheierman scored 27 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 21 to lead the Bluejays to a victory over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis.
Scheierman also grabbed 10 boards, giving him his sixth straight double-double, the longest such streak at Creighton since 1985. Trey Alexander added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bluejays (19-7, 10-5 Big East).
Jalen Thomas led Butler (16-10, 7-8) with 18 points. Posh Alexander supplied 13 points (all in the first half), and DJ Davis scored 12. Creighton scored 28 of the first 39 points of the second half to establish a 62-46 cushion. The Bulldogs trailed by at least 13 the rest of the way.
Oklahoma State 93, No. 19 BYU 83
Jamyron Keller scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-8 shooting to lead the Cowboys past the Cougars in Stillwater, Okla.
Keller knocked down four 3-pointers to help Oklahoma State (11-14, 3-9 Big 12) earn its first win over a Top 25 opponent this season. Brandon Garrison tallied 21 points, Quion Williams chipped in 15 and Javon Small finished with 14.
Fousseyni Traore led BYU (18-7, 6-6) with 17 points. Trevin Knell added 16 points and Jaxson Robinson had 14 for the Cougars. BYU outscored Oklahoma State 21-5 in second-chance points but shot just 8 of 35 from 3-point range.
Iowa 88, No. 20 Wisconsin 86 (OT)
Tony Perkins made a layup with 1.3 seconds to go in overtime and the Hawkeyes held on for a win over the Badgers in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Iowa City, Iowa.
Owen Freeman scored 20 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field and 8-for-11 shooting from the free-throw line to lead Iowa (15-11, 7-8 Big Ten). Perkins and Payton Sandfort each scored 18 points.
Steven Crowl scored 22 points to lead Wisconsin (17-9, 9-6). AJ Storr finished with 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting, and Chucky Hepburn had 18 points and nine rebounds. The Hawkeyes outscored the Badgers 10-8 in overtime to notch the narrow win.
No. 21 Virginia 49, Wake Forest 47
Reece Beekman scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to lead the Cavaliers to a win over the Demon Deacons in Charlottesville, Va.
Ryan Dunn contributed six points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks for Virginia (20-6, 11-4 ACC). Beekman, the reigning defensive player of the year in the ACC, also played a big role in holding the Demon Deacons’ leading scorer, Hunter Sallis, to 12 points.
Efton Reid notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Wake Forest (16-9, 8-6). The Demon Deacons shot 34.5 percent from the floor and made 5 of 21 (23.8 percent) shots from 3-point range en route to their season-low scoring output.
Southern Illinois 74, No. 23 Indiana State 69
Xavier Johnson drove for the go-ahead layup with 53 seconds left and the Salukis scored the last six points to upset the Sycamores in Carbondale, Ill.
Troy D’Amico added a 1-and-1 with 21.8 seconds remaining and Johnson canned both ends of a 1-and-1 with 7.7 seconds on the clock to seal the outcome. Johnson finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Southern Illinois (17-10, 9-7 Missouri Valley Conference) earned crucial advantages of 14-2 in points off turnovers and 17-7 in fastbreak points.
Robbie Avila pumped in a game-high 30 points for Indiana State (22-5, 13-3), which appears certain to fall out of the Top 25 after its second straight conference loss.
–Field Level Media
