Mizzou gets milestone win against Kentucky
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri’s men’s basketball program has shown upward mobility under firstyear coach Cuonzo Martin, and the latest sign came Saturday — the Tigers’ first victory over Kentucky.
Behind 16 points each from Jordan Barnett and Kassius Robertson, the Tigers finally cleared that Big Blue hurdle with a 69-60 victory against the No. 21 Wildcats.
Missouri (15-8, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) had been 0-10 against Kentucky (17-6, 6-4) since the teams first played in 1960.
“It’s definitely a really good win, but that’s maybe how I look at it — it’s just another win,” Barnett said. “We’re going to keep competing and hopefully put together a string of wins. I’m not treating this one any different just because of the name on the front of the jersey.”
Martin said he didn’t realize Missouri had never beaten Kentucky until he was asked about it after the game.
“It’s good for our guys, because there have been some tough years,” he said.
Kentucky won at least a share of the SEC regular-season basketball title the past three years, while Missouri finished last each time. But on Saturday, the Wildcats didn’t look like a typical Kentucky team. They shot just 31.3 percent from the field and finished with only nine assists.
“The biggest thing is we refuse to pass the ball,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said. “I don’t have any answer for that.”
Kentucky, which started five freshmen, had only one player reach double figures in points. Former Hamilton Heights standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15, though he was 5-for-16 from the field.
Missouri got nice contributions from its freshmen big men, Jontay Porter and Jeremiah Tilmon. Porter finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Tilmon added nine points and two blocks.
› No. 11 Auburn 93, Vanderbilt 81 AUBURN, Ala. — Bryce Brown had 25 points, Mustapha Heron 23 and Jared Harper 14 points and as many assists to lead the Tigers (21-2, 9-1) to their fifth straight win.
Auburn, which led 45-35 at halftime, finished 17-for-26 from 3-point range.
Jeff Roberson had 30 points and 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt (8-15, 2-8), which has dropped three straight in league play. › Alabama 68, No. 23 Florida 50
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Collin Sexton scored 17 points, Donta Hall notched his fourth double-double of the season and Alabama rallied from a 10-point deficit to win.
Hall had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Sexton added eight rebounds and six assists for the Crimson Tide (15-8, 6-4 ), who won for just the second time in six road games this season.
KeVaughn Allen scored 16 points to lead the Gators (15-8, 6-4), who lost their third consecutive SEC game. It’s the first time that has happened since the end of coach Mike White’s first season in 2016.
Alabama took over after halftime and outscored Florida 41-17 in the final 20 minutes. The Tide finished with a 43-25 rebounding advantage, outscored the Gators 46-26 in the paint and 29-1 off the bench.
› Mississippi State 72, Georgia 57
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Lamar Peters scored a season-high 20 points, Quinndary Weatherspoon and his brother Nick Weatherspoon added 14 and Aric Holman chipped in 12 for Mississippi State (17-6, 5-5), which has won three straight SEC games.
Georgia (13-9, 5-5) — which got 13 points from Tyree Crump and Yante Maten, plus 12 from Pape Diatta — has lost four of its past five league games.
› LSU 94, Arkansas 86
BATON ROUGE, La. — Tremont Waters had 27 points and a season-high 11 assists for LSU (13-9, 4-6), which never trailed after Daryl Edwards’ 3-pointer put the Tigers ahead 13-12 less than eight minutes into the game. The Razorbacks’ deficit was less than six points on just two occasions after halftime.
Four other Tigers scored in double figures: Aaron Epps (16), Skylar Mays (15), Edwards (14) and Brandon Sampson (13).
Daryl Macon led Arkansas (15-8, 4-6) with 22 points, Jaylen Barford added 15, Anton Beard and Trey Thompson had 11 and Daniel Gafford 10.
› Texas A&M 83, South Carolina 60
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Junior guard Admon Gilder scored 15 points as Texas A&M dominated from the start.
The Aggies (15-8, 4-6) led 49-27 at halftime after shooting 17-for-27 (63 percent) from the field in the first 20 minutes. The Gamecocks (13-10, 4-6) were 8-for-38 (21.1 percent) in the same span.
Justin Minaya scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Gamecocks.
A&M sophomore forward Robert Williams collected five blocks to go with 11 points, and the Aggies’ 11 total blocks were one shy of the team record of 12 set in 2013 against Mississippi State.