SEC upset

Cierra Porter made a three-pointer with 41 seconds left — her only basket of the game — to seal Missouri’s 75-67 upset victory over No. 5 Mississippi State on Thursday night.

TOP 25/SEC WOMEN

MISSOURI 75, NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI STATE 67

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Sophie Cunningham scored 24 points, Amber Smith added 16 and Missouri upset No. 5 Mississippi State 75-67 on Thursday night.

The game remained tight until the final minute when Cierra Porter made a three-pointer with 41 seconds left — her first points of the game — to give Missouri a sixpoint advantage.

Missouri (19-7, 8-4 SEC) trailed for much of the night, but pulled ahead 55-54 on Akira Levy’s layup at the third-quarter buzzer. The Tigers pushed their advantage 60-56 early in the fourth quarter and never trailed again, fending off multiple Mississippi State rallies.

Missouri shot 55 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers.

Mississippi State (22-2, 101) had its 12-game winning streak snapped. The Bulldogs also had won 26 consecutive regular-season SEC games dating to last season.

Anriel Howard led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Teaira McCowan added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Mississippi State needed Andra Espinoza-Hunter’s midrange jumper at the buzzer to take a 35-34 halftime lead. Howard led the Bulldogs with 11 points before the break. Cunningham had 13.

Missouri’s Cunningham passed 2,000 points for her career with a three-pointer during the second quarter. The 6-foot-1 guard has been a consistent scorer throughout her career, scoring 448 points as a freshman, 541 as a sophomore and 574 as a junior. She has 452 points this season.

In other top 25 women’s games Thursday, Kaila Charles scored 22 points, Blair Watson added 17 and No. 7 Maryland (23-2, 12-2) used a big third quarter to roar past Nebraska 89-63 for its eighth consecutive victory. Nicea Eiely scored 18 points for the Cornhuskers (11-14, 6-8). … Destanni Henderson scored 14 points and No. 11 South Carolina pulled away from Georgia 65-57. Doniyah Cliney scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half for the Gamecocks (18-6, 10-1). Taja Cole scored 19 points for Georgia (1410, 5-6). … Zykera Rice scored 15 points and Jessie Loera added 13 and No. 13 Gonzaga (23-2, 12-1 West Coast) rolled over San Diego 71-44 for its seventh consecutive victory. Leticia Soares scored 10 points for San Diego (8-17, 1-13). … Megan Gustafson had 27 points and 17 rebounds to become the Big Ten Conference’s career double-double leader with 78, helping No. 14 Iowa beat Illinois 8866. Kathleen Doyle added 12 points for the Hawkeyes (20-5, 11-3). Alex Wittinger scored 15 points for Illinois (10-15, 2-12). … Kobi Thornton was 8 of 11 from the field and scored 19 points for Clemson as they beat No. 21 Florida State. Danielle Edwards had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3 of 3 from three-point range, for Clemson (16-9, 7-5 ACC). Nicki Ekhomu led Florida State (20-5, 8-4) with 27 points. … Kayla Wells scored 16 points, N’dea Jones had 15 rebounds and No. 22 Texas A&M beat LSU for its eighth victory in nine games. Chennedy Carter added 15 points for Texas A&M (19-5, 8-3 SEC). Khayla Pointer led LSU (14-9, 5-6) with 21 points. … Adreana Miller scored 14 points and Carly Santoro added 12 to help Ohio State beat No. 23 Rutgers. The Buckeyes (11-12, 7-7 Big Ten) closed the first quarter on a 17-1 run and led 23-6 at the end of the period. Stasha Carey and Arella Guirantes each had nine for Rutgers (17-7, 9-4). … Marsha Howard scored 28 points and Wisconsin (12-13, 3-10 Big Ten) beat No. 24 Michigan State 79-62 for its first victory over a ranked opponent in six years. Shay Colley had 24 points and nine rebounds for Michigan State (17-7, 7-6).

TOP 25 MEN

NO. 9 HOUSTON 71, CONNECTICUT 63

HARTFORD, Conn. — DeJon Jarreau had 18 points and seven assists to help No. 9 Houston beat Connecticut for its ninth consecutive victory.

Armoni Brooks added 12 points for the Cougars (24-1, 11-1 American Athletic Conference). They opened the second half with a 17-4 run to take control.

Christian Vital had 15 points for Connecticut (13-12, 4-8). The Huskies have lost three consecutive since a knee injury took out scoring leader Jalen Adams.

The Huskies failed to capitalize on 21 Houston fouls, going 14 of 25 from the line.