LSU turns back UH by rejecting late shot

BATON ROUGE, La. — Aaron Epps scored a career-high 26 points, and Tremont Waters blocked a game-tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds as LSU defeated Houston 80-77 on Wednesday night.

Epps, who also grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, put the Tigers (5-2) ahead by six points on a 3-point play with 57 seconds remaining. Rob Gray pulled the Cougars within three points at 8077 on a 3-pointer less than 10 seconds later.

Following an LSU turnover, UH (8-2) had a chance to tie it, but the 5-11 Waters blocked Corey Davis Jr.’s 3-point attempt with six seconds to play. Devin Davis missed a long 3-point shot at the buzzer for the Cougars.

Gray and Corey Davis Jr. scored 20 points apiece for UH, whose winning streak ended at seven games. Devin Davis had 14 points.

Waters had 17 points and six assists to go along with his first blocked shot of the season for the Tigers, who never trailed during the final 6½ minutes. Skylar Mays had 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds.

TEXAS A&M 113 SAVANNAH ST. 66

Tyler Davis recorded a double-double before halftime, and the No. 9 Aggies put seven players in double figures while rolling over the visiting Tigers.

D.J. Hogg led the balanced scoring for the Aggies (9-1) with 18 points. Davis overpowered the smaller Tigers (3-8) near the basket, finishing with 17 rebounds and 14 points.

A&M produced its highest point total since the 1989-90 season, connecting on a schoolrecord 16 3-pointers in 38 attempts. Hogg made 5 of 9 from 3-point range, while point guard Duane Wilson and reserve T.J. Starks hit four apiece.

TEXAS TECH 82 KENNESAW ST. 53

Keenan Evans scored 16 points and the No. 24 Red Raiders won at Lubbock for their first victory as a ranked team in eight years.

Texas Tech (8-1) was ranked 22nd two weeks ago when it lost to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden and fell out of the Top 25. The Red Raiders returned after handing then-No. 22 Nevada its first loss last week.

VILLANOVA 87 TEMPLE 67

Jalen Brunson had 22 of his career-high 31 points in the No. 1 Wildcats’ dominating first half, and Omari Spellman scored 27 in a rout of the host Owls.

Donte DiVincenzo added 12 points for Villanova (11-0), which won its unprecedented 22nd straight Big 5 game. The Wildcats last lost a contest in the Philadelphia round-robin series to Temple in 2012.

Women

BAYLOR 95, MCNEESE ST. 34

Kristy Wallace scored 20 points, and the No. 6 Lady Bears opened on a 27-3 run to rout the Cowgirls at Waco.

Kalani Brown had 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Didi Richards added 11 points and 12 rebounds for her first career doubledouble with Baylor (9-1).

TEXAS 68 NORTHWESTERN ST. 44

Ariel Atkins had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals in only 21 minutes as the No. 8 Longhorns won at Austin.

The senior guard converted all six of her shots from the field for the Longhorns (8-1). Center Jatarie Whie added 15 points in 19 minutes.

MISSISSIPPI ST. 90 OREGON 79

Teaira McCowan scored a career-high 35 points and had 19 rebounds to help the No. 5 Bulldogs beat the No. 9 Ducks at Starkville, Miss.

The 6-7 McCowan was nearly unstoppable, making 15 of 18 shots from the field. She also blocked five shots.