Mountaineers rally to edge Longhorns
NO. 13 WEST VIRGINIA 84, NO. 12 TEXAS 82
AUSTIN, Texas — Bob Huggins didn’t divulge exactly how he lit into his West Virginia team at halftime when it trailed Texas by 10 points.
“You wouldn’t want to print what was said,” the Mountaineers coach said.
The message registered. Sean McNeil and No. 13 West Virginia erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, then withstood a flurry of last-second misses to hold off No. 12 Texas 84-82 on Saturday.
“We were about as bad as we could be in the first half,” Huggins said. “This group will step up and try to meet the challenge.”
McNeil played only two minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls, and scored all 16 of his points after the break. He also committed two turnovers in the final 11 seconds, giving Texas a chance.
With Texas down by two, the Longhorns’ Matt Coleman III missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation with eight seconds left. The Longhorns got the ball back, but Andrew Jones’ three-point attempt rimmed out with four seconds left — he had made a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to beat West Virginia 72-70 on Jan. 9.
Texas had one last try, with three-tenths of a second left, on an inbounds pass after Jones missed. But Jericho Sims missed inside after taking a lob pass from Coleman.
Miles McBride scored 17 for West Virginia (15-6, 8-4 Big 12), which was down 62-43 early in the second half. Taz Sherman, Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Derek Culver scored 14 apiece.
Courtney Ramey scored a career-best 28 points for Texas, including a career-high seven three-point baskets in eight attempts.
Ramey’s consecutive three-pointers gave Texas an 82-81 lead with 2:55 left, but he fouled out 28 seconds later, and the Longhorns didn’t score again. Sherman, trying to induce the fifth foul from Ramey, successfully used a pump fake and made two free throws to give West Virginia a lead it never lost.
Coleman scored 20 for Texas (13-6, 7-5) and had seven assists. Sims added 14.
NO. 1 GONZAGA 106, SAN DIEGO 69
SPOKANE, Wash. — Drew Timme scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, Jalen Suggs added 17 points and Gonzaga won its 26th consecutive game, routing San Diego.
Corey Kispert added 16 points to help Gonzaga (22-0, 13-0 West Coast) get its 14th consecutive victory against San Diego and 49th consecutive win at home.
Josh Parish led San Diego (3-8, 2-5) with 13 points.
NO. 5 ILLINOIS 94, MINNESOTA 63
MINNEAPOLIS — Ayo Dosunmu had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Kofi Cockburn scored 22 points in 24 minutes, and No. 5 Illinois cruised past Minnesota for its seventh consecutive victory.
Trent Frazier added 15 points and six steals to help the Illini (15-5, 12-3) stay in second place in the bruising Big Ten with two weeks to go in league play.
DUKE 66, NO. 7 VIRGINIA 65
DURHAM, N.C. — Freshman Jaemyn Brakefield scored the go-ahead basket on a reverse layup with 1:58 left and Duke came up with a final-possession stop to upset No. 7 Virginia.
Matthew Hurt scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (10-8, 8-6 ACC).
Jay Huff finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers (15-5, 11-3).
NO. 9 OKLAHOMA 66, IOWA STATE 56
AMES, Iowa — Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) scored 20 points to lead Oklahoma past Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-5, 9-4 Big 12) have won three in a row.
Iowa State (2-16, 0-13) trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before rallying to a 46-45 lead on Tre Jackson’s three-pointer with 11:29 remaining. The Sooners responded with a 16-4 run.
Rasir Bolton led Iowa State with 14 points and six assists.
NO. 10 VILLANOVA 68, UCONN 60
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Collin Gillespie scored 20 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Villanova beat UConn.
Justin Moore added 11 points for the Wildcats (14-3, 9-2 Big East).
James Bouknight, in his second game back after missing eight due to elbow surgery, scored 21 points for the Huskies (10-6, 7-6).
NO. 23 KANSAS 67, NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 61
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Christian Braun hit a corner three-pointer with 24 seconds left, David McCormack scored 17 points and Kansas beat Texas Tech.
Ochai Agbaji had 14 points, and Jalen Wilson added 11 for the Jayhawks (177, 11-5 Big 12).
Marcus Santos-Silva and Kevin McCullar each scored 12 points for Texas Tech (14-7, 6-6).
NO. 16 FLORIDA STATE 79, PITTSBURGH 72
PITTSBURGH — Raiquan Gray had 16 points and eight rebounds and Florida State beat Pittsburgh for its third consecutive victory.
Malik Osborne had 12 points and nine rebounds, and RayQuan Evans also scored 12 points for the Seminoles (13-3, 9-2 ACC).
Justin Champagnie had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Pitt (9-9, 5-8).
ARIZONA 81, NO. 17 S. CALIFORNIA 72
LOS ANGELES — James Akinjo scored 20 points and Arizona beat Southern California to end the Pac-12-leading Trojans’ seven-game winning streak.
Jordan Brown had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Azuolas Tubelis added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Wildcats (15-8, 9-8 Pac-12), who gave Coach Sean Miller his 300th victory in program history while avoiding their first threegame skid of the season.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 75, FRESNO STATE 57
FRESNO, Calif. — Jordan Schakel scored 14 points — 12 on three-pointers in the first half — and No. 25 San Diego State beat Fresno State for its eighth consecutive victory.
Matt Mitchell and Terrell Gomez scored 13 apiece for the Aztecs (17-4, 11-3 Mountain West).