Chesapeake’s Thomas sparks LSU past Vols
LSU 78,
No. 16 Tennessee 65
BATON ROUGE, La. — Freshman Cam Thomas of Chesapeake scored 25 points, JaVonte Smart added 20 and LSU overcame Tennessee on Saturday.
The Volunteers (14-5,
7-5 Southeastern Conference) trailed for most of the game but were within 50-46 nearly midway through the second half. Tennessee made just six field goals over the final 12 minutes, though, and the Tigers stretched their lead as big as 17.
Thomas missed 10 of 16 field-goal attempts, but the former Oscar Smith High star was 11 of 11 at the freethrow line. Smart knocked down 8 of 13 field-goal tries, and Darius Days had 14 points for LSU (13-6, 8-4).
“We played probably our best game to date,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “We got contributions from everyone. It was a total team effort. This is something we can continue to build off of.”
Jaden Springer led the Vols with 21 points.
No. 19 Creighton 86, No. 5 Villanova 70
OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Zegarowski’s 25 points and five assists led the Bluejays (16-5, 12-4 Big East) past the Wildcats (13-3, 8-2).
No. 22 Loyola (Chicago) 81, Drake 54
DES MOINES, Iowa — A second-half onslaught propelled Loyola of Chicago to a rout of Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake.
Aher Uguak was a catalyst for the Ramblers (18-3, 13-1), scoring eight points in a two-minute span and finishing with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
The Ramblers shot 70.4% (19 of 27) in the final 20 minutes and gained sole possession of first place in the MVC.
Drake (19-2, 10-2) was led by Darnell Brodie’s 12 points.
The Bulldogs shot just 30.4% in the second half (7 of 23) after hitting 48.3 % in the first half. Drake was playing without its leading scorer, ShanQuan Hemphill, who was aver
aging 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds before undergoing surgery for a broken foot sustained last week.
No. 13 Texas 70, TCU 55
AUSTIN, Texas — Andrew Jones scored 19 points to lead the Longhorns to their first home win in nearly a month.
Former Maury High standout Matt Coleman added 15 points and Jericho Sims had 11 points and eight rebounds for Texas, which had lost three of its last four at home, including the last two.
Texas (13-5, 7-4 Big
12) got 13 points from Jones in the first half. R.J. Nembhard scored 15 for Texas Christian (11-8, 4-6).
No. 11 Alabama 115, Georgia 82
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alex Reese opened Alabama’s scoring with a 3-pointer, and Herb Jones followed quickly with another. It was only the beginning of a torrid shooting performance for the Crimson Tide.
Jones scored 17 of his career-high 21 points in the first half as first-place Alabama (17-5, 12-1) posted
the program’s most prolific scoring effort in a Southeastern Conference game.
Freshman Josh Primo scored 19 points, all after the half. Alabama had five players score in double figures and made 18 of 30 3-pointers divvied among eight players.
No. 25 Rutgers 64, Northwestern 50
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ron Harper Jr. had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Myles Johnson controlled the paint with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Rutgers won.
Johnson scored all 12 of his points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. Jacob Young added 13 points for Rutgers (12-7, 8-7 Big Ten).
Anthony Gaines and William & Mary transfer Chase Audige each scored scored 11 points for Northwestern (6-12, 3-11).
LATE FRIDAY
Men
No. 6 Illinois 77, Nebraska 72, OT
LINCOLN, Neb. — Ayo Dosunmu scored the last 10 points in regulation for Illinois and the first five
in overtime, allowing the Fighting Illini (14-5, 10-3 Big Ten) to turn back an upset bid by Nebraska (4-12, 0-9).
Dosunmu, who had
22 of his 31 points after halftime, tied it at 66 with his driving lay-in with 20 seconds left in regulation. Nebraska’s Trey McGowens failed to get a shot off at the buzzer, and Dosunmu opened overtime with a layup and 3-pointer to send Illinois to its fifth consecutive win.
Women
Longwood 94, Charleston Southern 48
FARMVILLE — Ocean Lakes High alumna
Kyla McMakin scored 27 points, including five 3-pointers, and Tra’Dayja Smith tied a school record with 15 assists for the Lancers (10-8, 9-4 Big South).
No. 10 Arizona 60, Washington State 51
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Wildcats had 15 steals. Cate Reese had 17 points and six rebounds and Aari McDonald had 14 points and five rebounds for Arizona (13-2, 11-2 Pac-12).