Wildcats heat up to burn Bulldogs
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Oscar Tshiebwe had a career-high 29 points and 17 rebounds, TyTy Washington Jr. added a program-record 17 assists with 17 points, and No. 16 Kentucky shot 63% after halftime to pull away from Georgia for a 92-77 victory in Southeastern Conference play Saturday night.
Both teams were trying to rebound from close losses, intensity reflected in a back-and-forth first half with 10 lead changes. Late baskets by Tshiebwe and Keion Brooks Jr. (14 points) helped the Wildcats (12-3, 2-1) lead 40-37 at halftime before mounting several spurts, including a 13-4 run over four minutes that made it 73-56. They shot 22-for-35 in the second half and finished 40-of-70 (57%).
Kario Oquendo had 22 points, Aaron Cook 17 and Noah Baumann 14 for the Bulldogs (5-10, 0-2), who dropped their fourth consecutive game.
Tshiebwe bounced back from a season-low nine points at No. 21 LSU to have his 11th double-double by the break before topping his previous scoring high of 25 points. The junior forward shot 13-of-21 from the field and helped Kentucky win the battle on the boards, 31-25.
Washington, handling point guard duties for Kentucky in place of the injured Sahvir Wheeler, shot 8-of-13 and broke John Wall’s single-game assists mark set in December 2009 with 25 seconds remaining. Davion Mintz shot 5-for-7 from 3-point range and 7-of10 overall to finish with 19 points off the bench.
› Missouri 92, No. 15 Alabama 86
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kobe Brown scored a career-high 30 points and added 13 rebounds as Missouri won for the first time in three weeks.
The Tigers (7-7, 1-1) had been 0-2 with another game postponed because of COVID-19 issues since their previous victory on Dec. 18. They hadn’t played since Dec. 29.
Jarron Coleman scored 18 points and Dajuan Gordon and Javon Pickett each had 15 for the Tigers. Brown, a junior, posted the seventh double-double of his career.
The Crimson Tide (11-4, 2-2) got within four points with 12 seconds left, but the Tigers held them off despite making only one basket in the final five minutes.
Jahvon Quinerly led Alabama with 19 points, Jaden Shackelford added 17, JD Davison scored 13 and Keon Ellis had 12.
The Tigers had a huge second half, scoring 52 points, shooting 50% from the field and building a lead as big as 18 points.
› South Carolina 72, Vanderbilt 70
NASHVILLE — South Carolina’s James Reese V scored 13 points, teammate Wildens Leveque added 10, and Vanderbilt failed to get up a shot in the final 6.3 seconds as the Gamecocks (10-4, 1-1) pulled out the road win.
Myles Stute, who led the Commodores (9-5, 1-1) with 19 points, made one of two free throws with 12 seconds left. Reese responded with one of two from the foul line with 6.3 seconds to go.
After a timeout, Scotty Pippen Jr. took the ball the length of the court, but as he drove to the basket, he tried to kick out to a teammate as time expired.
Pippen scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, and Jordan Wright had 15 for the Commodores, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
South Carolina, which led 34-32 at halftime, was only 3-for-17 from 3-point range but shot 55% (28-of51) overall and went 13-of-18 from the foul line. Vanderbilt, which shot just 39% despite going 8-of22 behind the arc, made 26 of 36 free throws.
› Texas A&M 86, Arkansas 81
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Quenton Jackson scored 16 points to lead a balanced attack, and Marcus Williams made the clinching free throws with 4.4 seconds left as the Aggies edged the Razorbacks.
Williams’ free throws came after teammate Hassan Diarra, a 55.6% shooter at the foul line, made a pair for an 84-80 lead with 14 seconds left and Davonte Davis intentionally missed a free throw with 5.7 seconds remaining for Arkansas (10-5, 0-3).
Davis made his first free throw, but as he intentionally missed the second, he was called for a lane violation. The Aggies (13-2, 2-0) had to use a timeout to get the ball in, and Williams got behind the defense and then sealed his team’s sixth straight win after gathering in the long pass.
Henry Coleman III scored 14 points for the Aggies, who had a 16-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half. Andre Gordon added 13 points, Tyrece Radford 12, Wade Taylor IV 11 and Williams nine.
JD Notae scored 31 points for the Razorbacks, who have lost five of their past six. Jaylin Williams led Arkansas with 11 rebounds to go with 10 points.