Wildcats rain 3s on Vols
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Malik Monk had 20 points and a career-high eight rebounds, Derek Willis had 16 points and No. 13 Kentucky made 10 3pointers in the first half to roll past Tennessee 83-58 on Tuesday night.
Seeking to stay atop the Southeastern Conference, the Wildcats avenged last month’s 82-80 road loss to the Volunteers with their best performance in a while. Long-range shooting provided the biggest lift as Kentucky (21-5, 11-2) made 11 3s, its first double-digit effort from behind the arc in a month, as Monk and Willis each made four in the first half.
The Wildcats held Tennessee (14-12, 6-7) to 35 percent shooting and led by as many as 28 points in handing the Volunteers their third loss in four games.
De’Aaron Fox had 13 points and six assists and Bam Adebayo grabbed 12 rebounds in Kentucky’s third straight win.
Admiral Schofield had 17 points and Jordan Bone added 15 for Tennessee.
• No. 15 Florida 114, Auburn 95 — At Auburn, Ala.: Canyon Barry scored a season-high 30 points for Florida.
The Gators (21-5, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) blew past their previous scoring high of 106 points en route to a seventh straight win. They dominated after going into halftime locked in a 50-50 tie, coming out of the locker room on a 133 run and never looking back.
Florida shot 56 percent from the field and made 11 of 19 3point attempts and 37 of 42 free throws.
Anfernee McLemore led Auburn (16-10, 5-8) with 19 points, T.J. Dunans had 13 and Ronnie Johnson 12.
• No. 16 Purdue 74, Rutgers 55 — At West LAfayette, Ind.: Center Isaac Haas had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and power forward Caleb Swanigan added 12 points and 17 rebounds for Purdue.
Purdue (21-5, 10-3 Big Ten) led only 45-39 with just over 12:30 remaining, but from the 11:15 mark until he left the game with 2:20 to play, Haas scored 16 points, and the Boilermakers pulled away for their fourth consecutive victory.
Nigel Johnson scored 23 points to lead Rutgers (13-14, 212), which had no answer for Purdue’s big men.
• No. 25 Notre Dame 84, Boston College 76 — At Boston: Bonzie Colson scored 20 points and Matt Farrell had 19 as Notre Dame overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to send Boston College to its 10th straight loss.
V.J. Beachem had 16 points and Steve Vasturia added 15 for the Fighting Irish (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference). It is coach Mike Brey’s 13th time winning at least 20 games with Notre Dame.
Ky Bowman led Boston College (9-18, 2-12) with 29 points and Mo Jeffers had 12.
BC had sliced it to 78-76 on Bowman’s two free throws with just under a minute to play, but Beachem grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the ensuing possession. He hit both free throws with 24.1 seconds to play.
Women
• Central Florida 66, No. 22 South Florida 62 — At Tampa, Fla.: Aliyah Gregory scored a career-high 34 points and surpassed 1,000 career points, and Central Florida held off No. 22 South Florida on Tuesday night.
The Knights snapped a 19game losing streak against South Florida. It was the first win since 1980 against the Bulls, and the first in Tampa.
UCF led 43-28 and had a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter. The Bulls pulled to 62-60 with 2:23 left, and Gregory converted a 3-point play to make it 65-62.
The Bulls’ Kitija Laksa, who finished with 10 points, missed a deep 3-pointer with 45.4 seconds to go. After a timeout, the Knights ran down the shot clock before Zykira Lewis missed a driving layup, but Fifi Ndour grabbed the offensive board and passed the ball to Gregory to seal it.
Lewis finished with 12 points for Central Florida (169, 6-6 American).
Maria Jespersen had 18 points to lead South Florida (20-5, 9-3).