Hot shooting carries Bluejays over Butler
OMAHA, Neb. — Maurice Watson Jr. scored 21 points and No. 8 Creighton matched its best start in program history with a 75-64 victory over No. 12 Butler on Wednesday night.
The Bluejays (16-1, 4-2 Big East) rode hot shooting in the first half to build a big lead that Butler (14-3, 3-2) couldn’t overcome with its star Kelan Martin still struggling with his shot.
Watson made 9 of 14 shots and had seven assists but committed a season-high eight turnovers. Khyri Thomas added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Cole Huff and Justin Patton each had 10 points.
• No. 11 North Carolina 93, Wake Forest 87 — At Winston-Salem, N.C.: Justin Jackson hit a huge 3-pointer with 1:03 left and North Carolina did just enough to hold off Wake Forest.
Jackson finished with 19 points for the Tar Heels (15-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Kennedy Meeks added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• No. 14 Louisville 85, Pittsburgh 80 — At Louisville, Ky.: Quentin Snider scored 22 points, including two free throws with 25.3 seconds remaining, and Deng Adel added a free throw 8 seconds later as Louisville survived Jamel Artis’ career-high 43 points.
• Michigan St. 65, No. 24 Minnesota 47 — At East Lansing, Mich.: Miles Bridges scored all 16 of his points in the first half, helping Michigan State build a huge lead.
Women
• No. 3 Maryland 89, Penn State 83 — At College Park, Md.: Brionna Jones tied the Maryland school record with 42 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the third-ranked Terrapins beat Penn State 89-83 Wednesday night.
Jones went 15 for 19 from the field and sank 12 of 14 free throws to match the school’s previous singlegame high, set by Marissa Coleman against Vanderbilt on March 29, 2009.
• No. 2 Baylor 77, TCU 54 — At Waco, Texas: Freshman Lauren Cox made her first seven shots and scored 19 points as Baylor won its 51st consecutive home game, beating TCU.
• No. 14 Miami 82, No. 15 Virginia Tech 75 — At Coral Gables, Fla.: Adrienne Motley scored 18 points, Jessica Thomas had 17 and No. 14 Miami used a 17-7 run in the fourth quarter to hand No. 15 Virginia Tech its first loss of the season 82-75 on Wednesday night.
• Texas Tech 75, No. 18 West Virginia 66 — At Lubbock, Texas: Recee’ Caldwell scored 21 points and Texas Tech had a 17-point lead erased in the fourth quarter but recovered with a 10-2 run to close out a upset win over West Virginia.
• No. 22 Oklahoma 67, Iowa State 56 — At Ames, Iowa: Vionise Pierre-Louis had 18 points and a careerhigh 16 rebounds and No. 22 Oklahoma held off Iowa State.
• No. 25 Kansas State 73, Kansas 60 — At Manhattan, Kan.: Breanna Lewis had her second-consecutive double-double, Karyla Middlebrook finished with 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Kansas State beat Kansas.