Clemson survives, knocks off No. 3 North Carolina on the road

PJ Hall had 25 points along with the go-ahead putback with 3:14 left as Clemson survived a blown 16-point lead to stun host No. 3 North Carolina, 80-76, on Tuesday night, earning a marquee win for a team battling to improve its NCAA tournament chances.

Joseph Girard III added 21 points for the Tigers (15-7, 56 Atlantic Coast Conference), including a huge 3-pointer at the 2:09 mark to follow Hall’s basket. That was part of a 7-0 spurt that provided just enough as the Tigers never trailed yet had to fight to the final seconds to secure the win against the Tar Heels (185, 10-2).

Other Top 25 men

UConn 71, Butler 61: Donovan Clingan had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead host and top-ranked UConn (21-2, 11-1 Big East) to its 11th win in a row, beating Butler (15-8, 6-6).

Houston 79, Oklahoma State 63: Jamal Shead scored 23 points, and host No. 5 Houston (20-2, 7-3 Big 12) beat Oklahoma State (20-2, 7-3 Big 12). The Cougars played most of the second half without coach Kelvin Sampson, who got two technical fouls and was ejected with 15:08 remaining.

Iowa State 70, Texas 65:

Milan Momcilovic scored 13 points and visiting No. 14 Iowa State held off a furious Texas rally during the final 10 minutes to earn a win. The Cyclones (17-5, 6-3 Big 12) led by 19 points in the second half only to see Texas (15-8, 4-6) claw its way back.

South Carolina 68, Mississippi 65:

Collin Murray-Boyles scored 16 points and host No. 15 South Carolina (20-3, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) beat Mississippi (18-5, 5-5).

Kentucky 109, Vanderbilt 77: Antonio Reeves scored 24 points as 17th-ranked Kentucky ( 16- 6, 6- 4 SEC) routed host Vanderbilt (6-16, 1- 8) to snap a two- game skid.

Dayton 94, Saint Joseph’s 79:

Nate Santos and Kobe Elvis each scored 21 points to lead No. 18 Dayton (19-3, 9-1 Atlantic 10) to a win against host Saint Joseph’s (15-8, 55).

Oklahoma 82, BYU 66:

Javian McCollum scored 20 points, and host Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5 Big 12) beat No. 21 BYU (16-6, 4-5). Oklahoma’s John Hughley added eight points, three rebounds and two assists off the bench.

New Mexico 91, Wyoming 73: Donovan Dent had 19 points and seven assists leading No. 25 New Mexico (19-4, 7-3 Mountain West) to a win against host Wyoming (12-11, 5-5).

District women West Virginia 82, Texas Tech 59:

JJ Quinerly scored 21 points, Kyah Watson scored 19 and host No. 22 West Virginia (20-2, 9-2 Big 12) unloaded on Texas Tech (16-8, 5-6) in the third quarter and rolled to a win. Lauren Fields scored 11 points for the Mountaineers, who won their seventh straight.

Top 25 women Creighton 77, Xavier 46:

Mallory Brake and Lauren Jensen scored 17 points apiece, and visiting No. 21 Creighton ( 19- 3, 10- 2 Big East) cruised to a win against Xavier (1-19, 0-11) for its ninth straight win.

Notes

Southern Mississippi coach Jay Ladner was hospitalized after suffering what the school described as a “heart-related medical emergency.” School officials said Ladner is expected to make a full recovery, but will step away from the team for now.