Tigers top ’Cats

Kavell Bigby-Williams’s tip-in at the buzzer lifted No. 19 LSU to a 73-71 victory over No. 5 Kentucky on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky. Skylar Mays drove the length of the court after two LSU free throws. His shot missed, but Bigby-Williams scored to give the Tigers their first victory over the Wildcats since 2009.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A tip-in at the buzzer by Kavell Bigby-Williams helped No. 19 LSU finish off its biggest comeback of the season and finally beat Kentucky.

The Tigers have won six games on the road this season after Tuesday night’s 73-71 victory over the No. 5 Wildcats. They’ve survived several close calls. LSU has won three overtime games in the SEC and the last three games have been decided by less than five points.

“It’s high up there,” LSU Coach Will Wade said of his team’s impressive victories this season. “To come on the road and beat a top five team like this in this type of environment is phenomenal for us. We knew we had a good team and we wanted to prove it to ourselves in this type of environment, we were able to do that tonight.”

This time it took a play at the buzzer for the Tigers to win their 13th game in the last 14 tries.

“We were obviously fortunate at the end,” Wade said. “The ball goes off the rim and we make a play at the end. It was overall a good win.”

With the game tied after Keldon Johnson made two free throws with 6 seconds left, Skylar Mays drove the length of the court. His shot missed but Bigby-Williams got the offensive rebound and scored to give the Tigers their first win over the Wildcats since 2009. It was just the sixth time ever that LSU (204, 10-1 SEC has beaten Kentucky (20-4, 10-2).

A video replay showed potential goaltending by Bigby-Williams, but officials determined the basket was good before the buzzer and reviewed whether or not the basket was scored before time expired as opposed to potential offensive goaltending.

“I think the only thing that’s reviewable is the clock,” Wade said. “I don’t think the actual play is reviewable. The play stands, but I think the clock is what’s reviewable. I didn’t see [the replay] so I don’t know.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari was disappointed in the call and said it was comparable to a shot clock violation that wasn’t called against Wisconsin in a 71-64 loss to Badgers in the 2015 Final Four.

“They said it was not reviewable and then they changed the rule to say, why would you want to lose a game on a shot clock violation and it’s easy to go check?” He said. “Well, this one easy to go check, too. Just go check it. Why would you not —why would that not be reviewable? So we’re like Wilt Chamberlain — we change rules. I don’t know.”

LSU outscored Kentucky 41-31 in the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit.

Tremont Waters led the Tigers with 15 points, followed by Naz Reid and Emmitt Williams with 12 each.

PJ Washington led Kentucky with 20 points, followed by Keldon Johnson with 16 and Tyler Herro with 12.

NO. 11 MICHIGAN STATE 67, NO. 20 WISCONSIN 59

MADISON, Wis. — Cassius Winston scored 23 points to help No. 11 Michigan State beat 20th-ranked Wisconsin.

In doing so, the Michigan State (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) star outdueled Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, who scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Wisconsin (17-7, 9-4) staggered at home, going more than five minutes without a point as the Spartans put the game away at the free-throw line.

NO. 24 MARYLAND 70, NO. 12 PURDUE 56

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Jalen Smith scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, and No. 24 Maryland used a strong defensive performance to beat 12th-ranked Purdue, ending the Boilermakers’ eight-game winning streak.

Down by eight at halftime, the Terrapins (19-6, 10-4 Big Ten) took the lead for the first time with 10 minutes left before pulling away. The comeback was fueled by Smith, Eric Alaya and fellow freshman Aaron Wiggins.

Maryland outscored Purdue 40-18 in the second half, limiting the Boilermakers to 1-for-16 shooting from beyond the arc.

Ayala scored 15, Anthony Cowan Jr. added 12 and Fernando Bruno had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Terrapins.

Carsen Edwards scored 24 points for Purdue (17-7, 10-3).

NO. 25 BUFFALO 76, AKRON 70

AKRON, Ohio — CJ Massinburg scored 21 points, Dontay Caruthers added 15 and No. 25 Buffalo turned up its defensive intensity in the second half and held on to beat Akron, dropping the Zips to 0-31 against ranked teams.

The Bulls (21-3, 9-2 Mid-American Conference) were held to one of the lowest point totals this season, but the defending conference champions were able to do enough against the Zips (14-10, 6-5), ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense.

Loren Cristian Jackson scored 20 and Tyler Cheese 16 for the Zips, who kept fighting and closed within 73-70 on Daniel Utomi’s three-pointer with 16.3 seconds left.

Massinburg made a free throw but missed the second. However, Caruthers alertly grabbed the offensive rebound and dropped a layup for the final bucket.

SEC TEXAS A&M 73, GEORGIA 56

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — TJ Starks had 19 points and Jay Jay Chandler added 18 to help Texas A&M over struggling Georgia.

It’s the fifth consecutive loss overall for Georgia (10-14, 1-10 SEC) and the team’s ninth consecutive conference defeat.

The Aggies (10-13, 3-8), who won at Missouri on Saturday to snap a threegame skid, got their first home SEC victory by downing the Bulldogs and won consecutive games for the first time since December.

Georgia was led by Claxton, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Harris added 10 points.

Mekowulu had 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Aggies.