Tyler Kolek scored a season-high 28 points and Kam Jones added 17 as No. 8 Marquette bounced back from an in-state-rivalry loss to rout No. 12 Texas 86-65 in a Big East-Big 12 Battle game on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Marquette (7-2) was coming off a 75-64 loss at Wisconsin on Saturday. Texas (6-2) had won two straight after an 81-71 defeat against No. 5 UConn.
Marquette, which shot 7 of 29 from beyond the arc in the loss to Wisconsin, hit a season-high 14 3-pointers on 30 attempts against the Longhorns. Jones was 5 of 8 and Kolek 4 of 9 from long range. Kolek made 11 of 16 field-goal attempts, dished out six assists and had eight rebounds to pace the Golden Eagles to a 37-30 advantage on the boards.
Max Abmas had 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting for Texas, and Chendall Weaver added 10 points. The Longhorns were 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
No. 3 Houston 75, Rice 39
LJ Cryer scored 15 points in 24 minutes of court time, but defense made the real difference as the Cougars routed the visiting Owls in a battle of Houston rivals.
Houston (9-0) led by 16 points at halftime, by 30 midway through the second half and waltzed to the finish. Houston was atop the NCAA’s initial NET rankings released Monday and played to its ranking, holding Rice to just 28.9 percent shooting from the floor and to just one field goal over the game’s final seven minutes.
Alem Huseinovic led Rice (3-6) with 10 points. No other player had more than seven for the Owls, whose two-game winning streak came to an end.
No. 13 Colorado State 90, Denver 80
Patrick Cartier finished with 19 points and the host Rams canned 72 percent of their second-half shots to rally for a nonconference win over the Pioneers in Fort Collins, Colo.
Isaiah Stevens added 18 points and nine assists for the Rams (9-0), who also got 15 points and seven assists from Nique Clifford. Joel Scott contributed 11 points and seven rebounds as Colorado State sank 60.4 percent for the night, crafting a 24-8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tommy Bruner starred in defeat for the Pioneers (6-4), pumping in a game-high 28 points and adding eight assists. DeAndre Craig added 16 points, but Denver lost despite hitting 50.9 percent from the field, including 10 of 21 (47.6 percent) from the 3-point arc.
No. 15 Miami 97, Long Island 49
Norchad Omier posted his fourth double-double of the season to lead five double-digit scorers as the Hurricanes crushed the Sharks in Coral Gables, Fla.
Omier led all scorers with 17 points and matched his season high in rebounds with 13, giving him 26 boards in his past two games combined. Matthew Cleveland added 15 points, Wooga Poplar 14, Nijel Pack 13 and freshman Kyshawn George a collegiate-high 13 for the Hurricanes (7-1).
Tai Strickland, the son of Long Island coach Rod Strickland, and Andre Washington led the Sharks (1-7) with 14 points each. Eric Acker added 13 points, and Strickland grabbed nine rebounds.
No. 21 Texas A&M 89, DePaul 64
Jace Carter scored 14 points and Henry Coleman III collected 13 points and nine rebounds to lift the Aggies over the visiting Blue Demons in College Station, Texas.
Carter sank four 3-pointers after going 4-for-23 from beyond the arc prior to the game. Wade Taylor IV also drained four 3-pointers and finished with 13 points to help the Aggies (7-2) rebound from a campaign-low 47-point output in a loss to Virginia on Nov. 29.
DePaul’s Chico Carter Jr. scored 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor — including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Da’Sean Nelson added 13 points for the Blue Demons (1-7), who lost their fifth straight game.
No. 24 Clemson 72, South Carolina 67
Chauncey Wiggins gave the Tigers a big boost of offense with 15 points and Clemson overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to remain undefeated by topping the visiting Gamecocks.
PJ Hall supplied 14 points, Joe Girard III had 12 points, Ian Schieffelin supplied 12 points and 12 rebounds and Chase Hunter notched 10 points for Clemson (8-0), which continued its best start in seven years.
Meechie Johnson poured in 26 points to go with a game-high four assists and Stephen Clark and B.J. Mack each had 10 points for South Carolina (7-1). The Gamecocks were in their first true road game of the season.
–Field Level Media
