A huge late-game run buoyed Memphis as it snapped No. 6 Houston’s 37-game home winning streak with a 69-59 victory Saturday in American Athletic Conference play.
The Tigers (14-8, 8-4) fell behind 53-48 with 5:05 remaining at the culmination of an 11-0 Cougars run. Memphis took over from there, holding Houston (20-4, 9-2) without a point for more than four minutes on a 15-0 run of its own.
Memphis entered Saturday’s matchup shooting just 66 percent from the free-throw line to rank No. 329 in the nation, but the Tigers made seven consecutive free-throw attempts during the decisive run. Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by Landers Nolley II with 20 points.
Taze Moore led the Cougars with 15 points and eight rebounds on Saturday, which marked the Cougars’ first back-to-back losses since 2017. Houston fell 85-83 at SMU on Wednesday.
No. 1 Auburn 75, Texas A&M 58
Walker Kessler recorded a career-best 12 blocked shots and also contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds to help the top-ranked Tigers roll wire-to-wire over the visiting Aggies in Southeastern Conference play.
Kessler became the fifth player in SEC history to record multiple triple-doubles, having blocked 11 shots against LSU earlier this season to record his first. Allen Flanigan scored a game-high 16 points as the Tigers (23-2, 11-1 SEC) won for the 20th time in the past 21 games.
Quenton Jackson scored 11 points for Texas A&M (15-10, 4-8), which lost its eighth consecutive contest immediately following an eight-game winning streak. The Aggies shot a woeful 27.1 percent from the field, including 3 of 22 from 3-point range.
No. 2 Gonzaga 74, No. 22 Saint Mary’s 58
Drew Timme registered 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead the host Bulldogs to a victory over the Gaels in West Coast Conference play at Spokane, Wash.
Andrew Nembhard recorded 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help the Bulldogs (21-2, 10-0 WCC) notch their 14th consecutive victory. Chet Holmgren had 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Julian Strawther also had 11 points as Gonzaga increased the nation’s longest active homecourt winning streak to 66.
Tommy Kuhse scored 16 points and Matthias Tass added 14 for Saint Mary’s (20-6, 8-3). Alex Ducas had 12 points as the Gaels lost for just the second time in the past 10 games.
No. 4 Arizona 92, Washington 68
Bennedict Mathurin had 25 points, and Azuolas Tubelis finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats’ rout of the Huskies in their Pac-12 matchup at Seattle.
The Wildcats (22-2, 12-1 Pac-12) overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to win their sixth straight game. Washington (13-10, 8-5) had its five-game home winning streak snapped.
Former Arizona player Terrell Brown Jr. had 24 of his 29 points in the first half for the Huskies.
No. 5 Kentucky 78, Florida 57
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 27 points and the Wildcats won their sixth straight game, topping the Gators in an SEC clash at Lexington, Ky.
Tshiebwe was 11 of 18 from the floor and also grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds, with three steals and two assists for the Wildcats (21-4, 10-2 SEC). Kellan Grady added 15 points for Kentucky, while Davion Mintz had 11, and TyTy Washington added 10, with a game-high six assists.
Colin Castleton had 18 points and seven rebounds for Florida (16-9, 6-6), which saw its four-game win streak snapped. Castleton was 8 of 12 from the field along with a team-best seven rebounds. Brandon McKissic chipped in nine points for Florida.
No. 7 Duke 72, Boston College 61
Paolo Banchero’s 16 points and 14 rebounds carried the Blue Devils past the Eagles at Chestnut Hill, Mass.
A strong second-half surge repelled Boston College’s upset bid as the Blue Devils, who played for the third time in six days, scored only one point in the last four minutes against the Eagles. Duke (21-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) is tied for first place in the league with Notre Dame.
Wendell Moore Jr. added 14 points and Trevor Keels 13 for Duke. James Karnik led Boston College (9-14, 4-9) with 21 points, and DeMarr Langford Jr. added 16. The Eagles have dropped five of their last six games.
No. 8 Kansas 71, Oklahoma 69
Jalen Wilson scored 22 points to lead the Jayhawks to a win over the Sooners in Lawrence, Kan.
The Sooners had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Jordan Goldwire’s step-back jumper in the final seconds bounced off the front of the rim and Oklahoma (14-11, 4-8 Big 12) couldn’t corral the ball before time expired.
The Jayhawks have won 21 consecutive meetings with the Sooners in Allen Fieldhouse, with Oklahoma’s last win coming in 1993. Kansas (20-4, 9-2) bounced back from a midweek loss at Texas to maintain its spot atop the Big 12 standings.
No. 9 Texas Tech 82, TCU 69
Terrance Shannon Jr. scored 20 points to help the Red Raiders post a victory over the Horned Frogs in Big 12 play at Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders, still stinging from a double-digit road loss at Oklahoma earlier in the week, fell into a big first-half hole and seemed out of sync in the game’s initial 10 minutes. But a late charge leading into halftime and a thoroughly dominant second half propelled Texas Tech (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), which is right on the heels of Big 12 front-runners Kansas and Baylor.
The Red Raiders outscored the Horned Frogs 45-29 in the second half, forcing 13 turnovers and limited TCU to 44 percent shooting (11 of 25). Bryson Williams notched 16 points and the Texas Tech bench came up with 36 points on a day when Kevin McCullar was helped off the court in the first half with an injury and did not return.
No. 10 Baylor 80, No. 20 Texas 63
Adam Flagler scored 20 points, and the Bears’ defense did the rest as they throttled the Longhorns in Big 12 Conference play in Waco, Texas.
Baylor (21-4, 9-3) dominated the game with its oldest rival despite playing without injured leading scorer LJ Cryer, foul trouble for starter Matthew Mayer, and an early first-half injury to key reserve Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua.
Andrew Jones paced Texas (18-7, 7-5) with 11 points. The Longhorns shot just 32.8 percent from the field and were outrebounded 42-32.
No. 11 Providence 76, DePaul 73 (OT)
Jared Bynum scored 25 points and Al Durham scored eight of his 16 points in overtime as the Friars rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit and outlasted the visiting Blue Demons in overtime in a Big East game.
Nate Watson scored 16 points for Providence (21-2, 11-1), which made 19 of 22 free throws and are off to their best start since the 1972-73 Final Four team, which started 24-2.
David Jones had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Terry added 15 points for the Blue Demons (12-11, 3-10), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Nick Ongenda scored 11 points and Brandon Johnson and Courvoisier McCauley each had 10 for the visitors.
No. 21 USC 67, No. 12 UCLA 64
Drew Peterson scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots as the Trojans won their fifth straight game over the crosstown-rival Bruins in Los Angeles.
Peterson shot 9-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, the last of which came on a step-back from the right wing after calling for a clear-out. The isolation play gave USC a six-point lead with 5:15 remaining, and the Trojans maintained a multiple-possession edge for much of the duration.
Tyger Campbell matched Peterson’s game-high 27 points and shot 13-of-14 from the free-throw line. The Bruins went 21-of-26 at the foul line but shot just 19-of-63 from the floor.
Rutgers 73, No. 14 Wisconsin 65
Ron Harper Jr. scored 21 points and Paul Mulcahy added 18 to lead the Scarlet Knights to the upset of the Badgers in a Big Ten matchup at Madison, Wis., giving Rutgers three straight wins over ranked opponents for the first time in program history.
Geo Baker added 16 points and Clifford Omoruyi had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (15-9, 9-5), who beat No. 16 Ohio State on Wednesday and then-No. 13 Michigan State on Feb. 5.
Tyler Wahl had 23 points and Steven Crowl 12 for Wisconsin (19-5, 10-4), which was just 4 of 19 from 3-point range and 9 of 17 from the free-throw line. Leading scorer Johnny Davis, averaging 20.8 points a game, was held to 11 points.
No. 15 Villanova 73, Seton Hall 67
Brandon Slater’s layup with 1:26 left gave the Wildcats the lead for good as they outlasted the visiting Pirates in a back-and-forth Big East clash in Philadelphia.
Slater’s game-winner capped a sequence in which six consecutive baskets resulted in a lead change or tie. Justin Moore and Jermaine Samuels finished with 16 points apiece for Villanova (19-6, 12-3 Big East), which also beat the Pirates by the same score in Newark, N.J., on Jan. 1. Slater, Collin Gillespie and Eric Dixon had 10 points each.
Kadary Richmond and Tray Jackson had 16 points each for Seton Hall (15-8, 6-7). Jackson drained three 3-pointers in the second half, including back-to-back treys that gave the Pirates a 63-62 lead with 3:16 left. Alexis Yetna finished with 15 rebounds.
No. 16 Ohio State 68, Michigan 57
E.J. Liddell scored 28 points as the Buckeyes bounced back from a tough loss on Wednesday to defeat the Wolverines.
Cedric Russell added 12 points for the Buckeyes (15-6, 8-4 Big Ten), who had lost two of three, including a 66-64 defeat to Rutgers.
Eli Brooks scored 17 points and Hunter Dickinson 14 for the Wolverines (13-10, 7-6), who were playing their third game in five days, winning at Penn State on Tuesday and upsetting No. 3 Purdue on Thursday.
No. 17 Michigan State 76, Indiana 61
Malik Hall had 18 points and six rebounds, and the Spartans ended a two-game slide by pulling away from the Hoosiers at East Lansing, Mich.
Tyson Walker tossed in 15 points and A.J. Hoggard supplied 14 points and eight assists for the Spartans (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten), who lost to Rutgers and Wisconsin in their previous two games. Hoggard was ejected with four minutes remaining after picking up two technicals, including a taunting infraction. Julius Marble added six points and nine rebounds as Michigan State’s bench outscored Indiana’s reserves 44-20.
Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 17 points for the Hoosiers (16-8, 7-7). Race Thompson had 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Tamar Bates also scored 13 for Indiana, which has lost three straight. The Hoosiers shot 33.9 percent from the field and were 5 of 21 from 3-point range.
Butler 85, No. 18 Marquette 79
Bryce Golden finished with a career-high 22 points and the host Bulldogs held off a potential late-game comeback as they upset the Golden Eagles in Indianapolis to snap a three-game losing streak.
Despite once trailing by 21 late in the first half, the Golden Eagles battled back and trailed by just four with 4:44 left to play, but the Bulldogs held strong. Golden paced Butler (12-13, 5-9 Big East) on 7-of-12 shooting, and Chuck Harris chipped in 15 points and five assists.
Justin Lewis had a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go along with nine rebounds for Marquette (16-9, 8-6). Tyler Kolek contributed 17 points.
No. 19 Tennessee 73, Vanderbilt 64
Zakai Zeigler scored 16 points as the Volunteers struggled offensively at times but led most of the way en route to a home victory over the Commodores in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Volunteers (18-6, 9-3 SEC) won their fourth straight heading into Tuesday’s rematch with No. 5 Kentucky, which throttled them 107-79 last month in Lexington. Zeigler scored in double figures for the sixth straight game on a night when some of Tennessee’s other key players struggled offensively.
Scotty Pippen Jr. led all scorers with 23 points but did not hit a basket in the final 5:03, while Vanderbilt as a team did not make a field goal over the final 2:51. Myles Stute hit five 3-pointers and added 17 points as the Commodores (13-11, 5-7) shot 40.8 percent and lost their 10th straight to Tennessee.
No. 23 Murray St. 57, Morehead St. 53
Tevin Brown converted a runner with 15.9 seconds left that snapped a late tie as the Racers rallied to knock off the host Eagles in Morehead, Ky.
Trailing 50-42 with 4:24 remaining, the Racers (24-2, 14-0 Ohio Valley Conference) closed on a 15-3 run to stay unbeaten in conference play. Brown had five of the 15 points.
The Eagles (19-8, 11-3) had a chance to tie the game with four seconds remaining, but Ta’Lon Cooper missed an off-balance but wide-open layup. KJ Williams grabbed the rebound for Murray State and made two free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining to seal the outcome.
–Field Level Media
