Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Houston shocks No. 7 Wichita State
HOUSTON — Wichita State had not lost backtoback conference games since the 2012-2013 season. The No. 7 Shockers have now dropped consecutive conference games in four days.
Wichita State lost its second consecutive game Saturday, losing to Houston 7359. Houston, which defeated the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 91-65 on Dec. 2, beat a top 10 team for the first time in 22 years.
“I know everybody wants to see us win every game, but we’re going through something right now,” Wichita State forward Markis McDuffie said.
Wichita State ( 15- 4, 5-2 American Athletic Conference) fell to SMU 83-78 on Wednesday. The Shockers shot a season-low 33 percent and committed 18 turnovers in this latest loss.
“We have to work on everything,” Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall said. “We have to work on our ability to score against that pressure. We have to work on rebounding in crowds. We have to work on finishing in a crowd. We had several layups we missed in the first half. We didn’t have very many good performances. I have to coach better. We have to play better.”
Rob Gray scored 24 points on 10- of- 21 shooting from the floor for the Cougars ( 15- 4, 5-2), whose previous victory over a Top 10 team came against No. 3 Memphis, 69- 67 on Jan. 6, 1996. Corey Davis Jr. added 17 points and eight rebounds and Devin Davis had 12 points and seven rebounds.
After being dominated in an 81-63 loss at Wichita State on Jan. 4, Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson said the Cougars knew they had to shut off the Shockers’ threepoint scoring. The Shockers finished 4 of 20 from threepoint range.
Shaquille Morris had 12 points and seven rebounds for Wichita State, which had won 11 consecutive on the road.
NO. 1 VILLANOVA 81, CONNECTICUT 61
HARTFORD, Conn. — Top- ranked Villanova didn’t shoot particularly well against Connecticut, but routed their former Big East rivals thanks to defense and rebounding.
Jalen Brunson scored 23 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 17 points off the bench to lead Villanova (18-1) to a victory, completing their nonconference schedule at 13-0.
Jalen Adams scored 19 points and Christian Vital had 15 points for UConn (10-9), which has now lost five games this season by at least 20 points, including a 102-67 loss to Arkansas on Nov. 26 in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.
OKLAHOMA STATE 83, NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 81, OT
STILLWATER, Okla. — Trae Young scored 48 points, but he missed a deep three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime as No. 4 Oklahoma fell to Oklahoma State.
Young, who leads the nation in scoring, had 34 points after halftime for Oklahoma (14-4, 4-3 Big 12 Conference). He matched the fifth- highest scoring effort in Sooners’ history after also missing a three-point try at the end of regulation.
None of Young’s teammates scored more than eight points.
Jeffrey Carroll had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Kendall Smith added 20 points for Oklahoma State (13-6, 3-4). Smith’s three-pointer with eight seconds left in regulation tied it at 73-73.
IOWA STATE 70, NO. 8 TEXAS TECH 52
AMES, Iowa — Freshman Cameron Lard scored 18 points and Iowa State cruised past No. 8 Texas Tech on Saturday, its first victory over a ranked opponent this season and its biggest victory over a Top 10 team in terms of margin of victory.