Williams, Raiders rip No. 6 Jayhawks
LUBBOCK, Texas — Darrion Williams scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-12 shooting, including four of Texas Tech’s 10 three-pointers, and the Red Raiders never trailed in a 79-50 win over sixth-ranked Kansas on Monday night.
Williams, a sophomore transfer from Nevada, also had 11 rebounds. He hit a three-pointer on the first shot of the game by the Red Raiders (18-6, 7-4 Big 12), who were 8 of 12 from long range over the first 13 minutes while jumping ahead 27-14.
It was a frustrating night for Kansas (19-6, 7-5), which played its second game in a row without Big 12 leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr., while guard Dajuan Harris wasn’t at full strength after rolling his left ankle late in a 64-61 home win over 12thranked Baylor two days earlier.
Jayhawks Coach Bill Self was ejected with 5:49 remaining after getting two technical fouls while expressing his displeasure about an offensive foul against Hunter Dickinson.
After Self left the court, Pop Isaacs made all four free throws for a 63-43 lead.
Warren Washington had 11 points for Tech.
Nicolas Timberlake and Johnny Furphy each had 13 points for Kansas. Harris finished with 7 points on 2-of8 shooting, while Dickinson was limited to 5 points while missing 10 of his 12 shots.
McCullar, who averages 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, is in his second season with the Jayhawks. He started 49 of his 78 games while part of two NCAA Tournament teams in his three seasons at Texas Tech from 2019-22.
Texas Tech made its first 3 three-pointers and was up 12-4 on Joe Toussaint’s shot four minutes into the game. Kansas got even with eight consecutive points after a timeout, but that was the game’s only tie. The Red Raiders went ahead to stay on back-to-back three-pointers by Kerwin Walton and Isaacs.
NO. 9 DUKE 77, WAKE FOREST 69
DURHAM, N.C. — Mark Mitchell scored 23 points while star big man Kyle Filipowski posted his first double-double in nearly three weeks as No. 9 Duke fought off Wake Forest.
Filipowski had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (19-5, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who repeatedly answered pushes by the Demon Deacons (16-8, 8-5). But they never could overtake the Blue Devils, who led for the final 17 1/2 minutes.
It was Filipowski’s first double-double since going for 17 points and 15 rebounds against Louisville on Jan. 23.
Wake Forest was chasing its first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since January 1997 during Tim Duncan’s senior season. The Demon Deacons had multiple chances to pull to within a possession in the second half, but Damari Monsanto missed a three-pointer with his team down by five points followed by another one after the Demon Deacons had rebounded his first miss.
Moments later, after Mitchell’s free throw pushed the margin to 75-69, Monsanto missed another three-pointer. Mitchell rebounded the ball and ultimately pushed ahead in transition for a clinching dunk for the final margin.
Hunter Sallis scored 22 points for the Demon Deacons, who got off to a brutal shooting start and had starter Efton Reid III limited by foul trouble.
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 10 SOUTHERN CAL 81, ARIZONA 64
LOS ANGELES — JuJu Watkins scored 32 points and No. 10 Southern California used a dominant third quarter to pull away from Arizona for its fourth consecutive victory.
The freshman finihed with her ninth 30-point game of the season, breaking the school record of eight set by Cherie Nelson in 1988-89.
Southern Cal (18-4, 8-4 Pac-12) moved back into a fourth-place tie with ninthranked UCLA in league play.
Kayla Padilla added 15 points on five three-pointers for the Trojans. Rayah Marshall scored all of her 12 points in the second half and had 10 rebounds.
Esmery Martinez scored 13 points to lead the Wildcats (12-12, 4-8).
Watkins was jut 9 of 23 from the floor, but made all of her 12 free throws. The guard is the nation’s second-leading scorer at 27.5 points per game. She also had 7 rebounds and 4 assists in a game-high 38 minutes.