No. 5 Kentucky holds off late Mississippi State rally
STARKVILLE, Miss. — De’Aaron Fox scored 21 points, Malik Monk added 14 and No. 5 Kentucky beat Mississippi State 88-81 on Tuesday night.
Kentucky (16-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) looked like it would cruise to the win after building a 66-49 lead midway through the second half, but Mississippi State responded with 13 straight points to make things interesting down the stretch.
In the end, the Wildcats were too potent offensively. Fox, a 6-foot-3 freshman, had two impressive drives for baskets in the final minutes to thwart a final Mississippi State rally.
• No. 6 Baylor 74, Texas 64 — At Waco, Texas: Johnathan Motley set career highs with 32 points and 20 rebounds for Baylor, which went ahead to stay with a big run before halftime.
Nuni Omot, the junior college transfer playing in only his eighth game, had a season-high 14 points. He scored seven in the half-ending 16-4 run that put the Bears (17-1, 5-1 Big 12) up for the first time.
• No. 17 Wisconsin 68, Michigan 64 — At Madison, Wis.: Bronson Koenig scored 16 points, 10 in a key run that turned the game around, for Wisconsin.
Michigan (12-7, 2-4 Big Ten) seemed to have Wisconsin (15-3, 4-1) on the ropes at one point in the second half. Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ went to the bench with his third foul early and could largely only watch as the Wolverines went on a 172 run that put them up 38-30.
• No. 21 Purdue 91, Illinois 68 — At West Lafayette, ind.: Center Isaac Haas had 24 points and six rebounds, and power forward Caleb Swanigan added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue.
Women
• No. 1 UConn 98, Tulsa 58 — At Tulsa, Okla.: Katie Lou Samuelson scored a career-high 34 points to help No. 1 UConn beat Tulsa 98-58 on Tuesday night for the Huskies’ 92nd consecutive victory.
Napheesa Collier had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Gabby Williams added 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Huskies (17-0, 5-0 American Athletic Conference), who also won their 33rd straight road game.
• No. 12 Texas 86, No. 20 Oklahoma 68 — At Austin, Texas: Joyner Holmes scored 20 points with 10 rebounds, and Ariel Atkins poured in 19 points before fouling out and Texas defeated Oklahoma in a Big 12 Conference showdown.
• No. 23 South Florida 79, Memphis 49 — At Tampa, Fla.: Maria Jespersen tied her career-high with 26 points, on 11-of-18 shooting, Ariadna Pujol had a double-double and coach Jose Fernandez earned his 300th career win as South Florida cruised to a victory over Memphis.