Woeful shooting leaves Texas with road blowout
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Texas head coach Shaka Smart described Providence as a team “with their backs against the wall.
They had a desperation and an edge to them. You could see that.”
Told of Smart’s choice of words, Providence head coach Ed Cooley concurred with the assessment. Cooley needs no reminders about how difficult the sledding has been for the Friars during nonconference play. The Friars have suffered their fair share of head-scratching losses and hit a low point this past Tuesday night in a 32-point loss to Florida.
On Saturday, all the pieces finally clicked. Sparked by 14 points and 12 rebounds from Alpha Diallo, Providence ran past Texas 70-48 to notch an important victory with the start of Big East play right around the corner.
Defensively, the Friars (7-6) answered the bell by holding the Longhorns
(9-2) to 29% shooting in the second half and 32% for the contest. Courtney Ramey led Texas with 12 points.
“Any time you shoot as poorly as we did, that’s the first place to start,” said Smart. “We played too much 1-on-1 today. You’ve got to move the basketball more. (Ramey and Coleman) got some baskets, but they’re guys who also create for their teammates.”
TEXAS A&M 64 OREGON ST. 49
Josh Nebo scored 15 points and A&M used a big second half to rally from an 11-point deficit and beat Oregon Stateat home in College Station.
Quenton Jackson and Savion Flagg added 13 points apiece for Texas A&M (5-5). Tres Tinkle paced the Beavers (9-2) with 21 points.
TEXAS TECH 68 TEXAS-RGV 58
Freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey scored 15 points in his return after missing four games with a hamstring injury, and No. 24 Texas Tech overcame another sluggish start.
The Red Raiders (8-3) extended their nonconference home winning streak to 53 games.
VILLANOVA 56, KANSAS 55
Jermaine Samuels hit a 3-pointer with 20.5 seconds left and No. 18 Villanova (9-2) beat No. 1 Kansas (9-2) in Philadelphia, making the Jayhawks the latest topranked team to fall.
The Jayhawks had moved up one spot to become the fifth team to top the poll this season. It is the first time the AP poll has had five school at No. 1 before New Year’s Day.
GONZAGA 112
EASTERN WASHINGTON 77
Filip Petrusev had 24 points and nine rebounds to help No. 2 Gonzaga (13-1) beat Eastern Washington, clearing a path for the Bulldogs to become the sixth top-ranked team in the nation so far this year.
OHIO ST. 71, KENTUCKY 65
D.J. Carton had 13 points, Kaleb Wesson added 12 before fouling out and No. 5 Ohio State (11-1) outlasted No. 6 Kentucky (8-3) in the CBS Sports Classic.
MEMPHIS 77 JACKSON ST. 49
Precious Achiuwa had 20 points and nine rebounds and DJ Jeffries added 13 points to help No. 11 Memphis (10-1) beat Jackson State.
AUBURN 74, LEHIGH 51
Austin Wiley had 14 points and 15 rebounds for No. 12 Auburn, at 11-0 the only unbeaten Power Five program and one of four undefeated teams in the country.
COLORADO 78, DAYTON 76
D’shawn Schwartz nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, McKinley Wright IV scored a season-high 29 points and Colorado (10-2) beat No. 13 Dayton (9-2) in overtime.
MICHIGAN 86 PRESBYTERIAN 44
Jon Teske scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half and No. 14 Michigan (9-3) cruised past Presbyterian despite losing Isaiah Livers to an apparent injury.
BUTLER 70, PURDUE 61
Bryce Golden scored 14 points and No. 17 Butler
(11-1) used relentless defense to pull away from Purdue. The Bulldogs have won two straight since losing at No. 11 Baylor.
FLORIDA ST. 66, USF 60
No. 19 Florida State (10-2) used smothering defense to overcome a 10-point deficit in the final seven minutes and beat South Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic.
TENNESSEE 75 JACKSONVILLE ST. 53
Jordan Bowden scored 19 points and No. 21 Tennessee (8-3) beat Jacksonville State to give Volunteers coach Rick Barnes his 700th career victory.
Barnes improved his record to 700-367 in 32 years at George Mason (1987-88), Providence (198894), Clemson (1994-98), Texas (1998-2015) and Tennessee (2015-present). He’s the seventh active coach at 700 D-I wins.
WEST VIRGINIA 75 YOUNGSTOWN ST. 64
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 19 points and Derek Culver added 15 for No. 25 West Virginia (10-1).