’Cats rip No. 1 Vols
PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 19 and No. 5 Kentucky beat top-ranked Tennessee 86-69 on Saturday night to end the Volunteers’ school-record 19-game winning streak. It was Tennessee’s first loss since Nov. 23 against then-No. 2 Kansas.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 19 and No. 5 Kentucky upset No. 1 Tennessee 86-69 on Saturday night to end the Volunteers’ 19-game winning streak.
The Wildcats used a 25-7 surge over a little more than seven minutes for a 62-38 lead, providing a cushion that withstood the Volunteers’ 13-0 spurt soon after that cut the advantage in half. Kentucky maintained a double-digit lead to win the highly anticipated matchup of top-five schools.
Kentucky (21-4, 10-2) also avoided a second consecutive SEC loss to stay within reach of co-leader Tennessee (23-2, 11-1), which hadn’t lost since Nov. 23 to No. 2 Kansas.
Washington scored Kentucky’s first 7 points and finished 9 of 12 from the field for his seventh 20-point effort in the past eight games. Johnson made 8 of 14 with 3 three-pointers as the Wildcats shot 55 percent.
Tyler Herro had 15 points and 13 rebounds as Kentucky beat Tennessee 39-26 on the glass.
Jordan Bone had 19 points and Admiral Schofield 17 for the Volunteers, who scored the game’s first basket but trailed afterward. Tennessee shot 35 percent in the second half and 41 percent overall.
NO. 19 LSU 83, GEORGIA 79
ATHENS, Ga. — Tremont Waters scored 20 points, Ja’vonte Smart added 19 and No. 19 LSU won its fourth consecutive game by holding off Georgia.
The Tigers (21-4, 11-1 SEC) never trailed after Smart’s three-pointer midway through the second half, but Georgia (1015, 1-11) stayed close and didn’t allow LSU to lead by more than eight the rest of the way.
Nicolas Claxton finished with 17 points and Rayshaun Hammonds had 13 for Georgia.
FLORIDA 71, ALABAMA 53
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Freshman star Andrew Nembhard scored a career-high 21 points without missing a shot and Florida throttled Alabama’s offense.
The Gators (14-11, 6-6 SEC) held the Crimson Tide (15-10, 6-6) without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to start the game and fought off a second-half rally attempt.
Nembhard, whose previous scoring high was 13 points, made all nine field goal attempts, including two three-pointers.
MISSISSIPPI 75, MISSOURI 65
OXFORD, Miss. — Bruce Stevens scored 17 points, KJ Buffen and Breein Tyree each added 14 and Mississippi beat Missouri.
Ole Miss (18-7, 8-4 SEC) won its fourth consecutive game, scoring 32 points off of 25 Missouri turnovers. The Rebels never trailed after the opening minute despite a dominant rebounding effort from Missouri, which owned a 37-21 advantage on the glass.
Missouri (12-12, 3-9) cut the lead to seven with less than three minutes remaining. The Rebels scored on their next three possessions to end the comeback threat.
SOUTH CAROLINA 84, TEXAS A&M 77
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A.J. Lawson had 23 points off six of South Carolina’s program record-tying 16 three-pointers to rally past Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks (13-12, 8-4 SEC) trailed by double digits in the first half and were down 45-35 after Savion Flagg opened the second half for Texas A&M (10-13, 3-9) with a three-pointer. Tre Campbell quickly answered for the Gamecocks to start a 29-15 run over the next 13 minutes to take control.
Chris Silva added 22 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks as South Carolina continued its surprise run in the SEC.
AUBURN 64, VANDERBILT 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jared Harper scored 16 points, and Auburn beat Vanderbilt for the Tigers’ first victory at Memorial Gym since 2000.
Auburn (17-8, 6-6 SEC) survived a first half with their worst shooting performance in nearly a year to snap a ninegame skid to Vanderbilt (9-16, 0-12) along with their two-game skid this season.
Bryce Brown added 14 points for Auburn. Chuma Okeke and Malik Dunbar each had 13 apiece. Aaron Nesmith led Vanderbilt with 24 points and Yanni Wetzell had 10.