Northwestern knocks off No. 4 Michigan State

EVANSTON, ILL. » Boo Buie scored a career-high 30 points and Northwestern beat Michigan State for the first time in almost a decade, topping the No. 4 Spartans 79-65 on Sunday night.

Pete Nance added 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in Northwestern’s biggest victory since its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017. Freshman Ty Berry had 12 points in the Big Ten opener for each school, including three of the Wildcats’ 10 3-pointers.

Northwestern (4 -1) stopped a 12-game slide in the series with its first victory over Michigan State since Jan. 14, 2012. It also was the Wildcats’ first win over a top-five team in the AP poll since an 83-65 victory over Magic Johnson and then-No. 4 Michigan State on Jan. 27, 1979.

This year’s Spartans looked rusty in their first game in a week and just their second overall since Dec. 7. They were supposed to play Virginia on Dec. 9, but that game was postponed because of COVID-19 issues with the Cavaliers.

Aaron Henry scored 11 points for Michigan State (6-1, 0-1), and Malik Hall finished with 10 points and nine boards. The Spartans shot just 39% from the field. NO. 6 HOUSTON 88, ALCORN STATE 55 » Quentin Grimes had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Reggie Chaney added 18 points and six rebounds and Houston overcame the absence of several key plays to rout Alcorn State.

Houston (5-0) was limited to nine players because of COVID-19 protocols and injuries. The Cougars played without second-leading scorer Marcus Sasser, preseason American Athletic Conference player of the year Caleb Mills, reserve guards Cameron Tyson and Ryan Elvin and center Caleb Broodo.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and son, assistant coach Kellen Sampson, returned after missing the

Cougars’ last game Dec. 5 due to COVID-19 and contact tracing protocols.

Jamal Shead added 10 points for Houston. The Cougars shot 50% and had a 48-29 rebounding advantage, including 21-10 on the offensive boards. Houston turned that into a 23-8 edge in second-chance points.

Troymain Crosby scored

23 points, and David Pierce III added 16 points for Alcorn State (0-2). The Braves shot 36%, going 5 of 19 on

3-pointers.

NO. 9 CREIGHTON 76, UCONN

74, OT» Christian Bishop scored 19 points and Creighton had a 9-0 run in overtime to beat UConn in the Huskies’ first Big East game since March 2013.

Mitch Ballock added 13 points for the Bluejays (6

2, 2-1), and Marcus Zegarowski had 11 points and eight rebounds.

James Bouknight scored a career-high 40 points for the Huskies (3-1) in their first game in 17 days because of coronavirus-related issues. They spent the last seven seasons in the American Athletic Conference.

NO. 11 TEXAS 77, OKLAHOMA STATE 74 » Freshman Greg Brown had 24 points and

14 rebounds to help Texas beat Oklahoma in the Longhorns’ Big 12 opener.

Brown made four free throws during the final

37 seconds as Texas (7-1) survived a late Oklahoma State rally that included two 3-point baskets by Bryce Williams in the final

11 seconds. Brown made a pair of 3-pointers during a

17-0 Texas run in the second half. He also had three blocks.

Cade Cunningham scored 25 points for Oklahoma State (6-2, 0-2). NO. 19 RUTGERS 91, NO. 13 IL

LINOIS 88 » Ron Harper Jr. scored 28 points, Jacob Young added 24 and Rutgers overcame a doubledigit, first-half deficit to beat Illinois.

Harper was 5 of 8 from

3-point range for Rutgers

(6-0, 2-0 Big Ten).

Ayo Dosunmu had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists for Illinois (5-3, 1-1).