No. 13 Arizona beats USC, extends Pac-12 lead
Rawle Alkins scored 20 points, Deandre Ayton added 18 and No. 13 Arizona expanded its Pac-12 lead with an 81-67 victory over USC on Saturday night in Tucson.
Dusan Ristic added 16 points, and Allonzo Trier had 13 for the Wildcats (20-6, 10-3 Pac-12).
Chimezie Metu scored 18 points, and Jordan McLaughlin added 16 for the Trojans (17-9, 8-5), who lost their third in a row. Nick Rakocevic scored 12 points, but fouled out with 4:37 to go.
Arizona, beaten Thursday night by UCLA in the Wildcats’ first home loss of the season, defeated USC in Tucson for the eighth straight time. Coupled with UCLA’s loss at Arizona State earlier Saturday, Arizona extended its Pac-12 lead to two games over the second-place Trojans and Bruins with five more to play.
Oregon State 97, Washington 94: Stephen Thompson Jr. hit a three-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in the second overtime as the host Beavers (13-11, 5-7 Pac-12) stormed back to beat the Huskies (17-8, 7-5). Thompson finished with 22 points, four three-pointers, six assists and six steals, while Tres Tinkle added 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for OSU, which trailed by 13 points with about eight minutes left in regulation. Drew Eubanks added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Noah Dickerson bullied his way down low to 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Jaylen Nowell added 23 points for Washington, which lost both games of its Oregon road trip.
Arizona State 88, UCLA 79: Shannon Evans II scored 23 points, Tra Holder added 22 and the host Sun Devils (19-6, 7-6) achieved their first Pac-12 weekend sweep in three seasons under coach Bobby Hurley. Arizona State knocked off USC to start the week and revved up its big-run game against the Bruins (17-8, 8-5), using an 18-4 first-half spurt to build an eight-point halftime lead. Kodi Justice added 17 points as Arizona State’s senior guard trio accounted for 62 points. Aaron Holiday had 20 points to lead UCLA.
MORE TOP 25
#1 Villanova 86, Butler 75: Donte DiVincenzo scored a career-high 30 points, Jalen Brunson had 27 and the Wildcats (23-2, 10-2 Big East) bounced back from their second loss of the season. Omari Spellman added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Villanova, which avoided losing consecutive games for the first time since March 2013. The injury-depleted Wildcats were coming off a surprising home loss to lastplace St. John’s three days earlier. Kelan Martin scored 30 and Kamara Baldwin had 25 for the Bulldogs (17-9, 7-6), who handed Villanova its first loss of the season on Dec. 30.
Virginia Tech 61, #2 Virginia
60: Kerry Blackshear Jr. scored on a putback with 5.8 seconds left and the visiting Hokies (18-7, 7-5 ACC) handed the Cavaliers (23-12, 12-1) their first conference loss and an opportunity to climb to No. 1. Blackshear rebounded a missed layup by Justin Robinson and banked it in as he was being fouled. He missed the free throw, but Ty Jerome’s 28-foot attempt at the other end missed badly and the Hokies had a marquee victory. Robinson led the Hokies with 20 points and seven assists. Devon Hall had 16 points for Virginia, but the 93.3 percent free throw shooter missed twice from the line in the final 31 seconds.
#4 Michigan St. 68, #3
Purdue 65: Miles Bridges made a tiebreaking threepointer with 2.7 seconds left and finished with 20 points, helping the host Spartans (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) win their eighth straight, improving their chances of contending for a conference championship and earning a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers (23-4, 12-2) have lost two straight after winning a school-record 19 games in a row.
#5 Xavier 72, Creighton 71: Quentin Goodin made two free throws with three-tenths of a second left for the the Big East-leading Musketeers (23-2, 11-2) in Omaha, Neb. Marcus Foster had 20 of his 29 points in the second half for Creighton (18-7, 8-5).
#7 Texas Tech 66, Kansas
St. 47: Keenan Evans scored 19 points and the visiting Red Raiders (21-4, 9-3 Big 12) took sole possession of the Big 12 lead. In the second half, the Wildcats (17-8, 6-6) had more turnovers (11) than made baskets (five) and ended up shooting just 29 percent on the night.
#8 Auburn 78, Georgia 61: Jared Harper scored 24 points and the visiting Tigers (22-3, 10-2 SEC) survived without top scorer Bryce Brown, who was held out with a right shoulder injury suffered in the first half of the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday night. Harper also had a game-high seven assists. Yante Maten led the Bulldogs (13-11, 4-8) with 20 points.
Baylor 80, #10 Kansas 64: Manu Lecomte scored eight straight points for the host Bears after the Big 12 coleader Jayhawks had pulled within a basket, and the senior guard finished with 18 overall. Kansas (19-6, 8-4 Big 12) trailed 30-20 at halftime after having more turnovers (nine) than made field goals (seven). The Jayhawks were down by as many as 13 points after that but got within 58-56 with 7:14 left after consecutive jumpers by Lagerald Vick. Lecomte then made a jumper for Baylor (15-10, 5-7) with 6:50 left and Kansas couldn’t come back. Devonte Graham had 14 of his 23 points after halftime for Kansas, while Malik Newman finished with 20.
#14 Ohio St. 82, Iowa 64: Keita Bates-Diop had 14 points and eight rebounds, and the host Buckeyes (21-5, 13-1 Big Ten) gained sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. Kaleb Wesson added 18 points and C.J. Jackson scored 14 for Ohio State, which was 9 for 20 from three-point range. Leading scorer Tyler Cook had just eight points for the Hawkeyes (12-15, 3-11).
Alabama 78, #15 Tennessee
50: Donta Hall had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Collin Sexton scored 16 points to lead the host Crimson Tide (16-10, 7-5 SEC), who thoroughly dominated the Volunteers (18-6, 8-4) around the basket and cashed in on a number of fast-break chances. Tennessee had only one scorer in double digits. Grant Williams scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half.
Iowa St. 88, #17 Oklahoma
80: Iowa State freshman Lindell Wigginton upstaged Trae Young by scoring 26 points, and the Cyclones (13-11, 4-8 Big 12) sent the Sooners (16-8, 6-6) their sixth straight road loss. Fellow rookie Cam Lard had 19 points with 17 rebounds for the Cyclones. Iowa State built and then blew a 17-point lead, but Donovan Jackson’s three with 1:55 left put it ahead 80-77. Wigginton then beat the shot clock with a long three, and Jackson hit a pair of free throws to clinch the win. Young had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma St. 88, #19 W.
Virginia 85: Kendall Smith and Cameron McGriff each scored 20 points and the Cowboys (15-10, 5-7 Big 12) beat another ranked team on the road. Oklahoma State, which won at then-No. 7 Kansas last weekend, trailed by eight points with 13½ minutes left. Jevon Carter had a career-high 33 points for the Mountaineers (18-7, 7-5), who have lost six of nine.
#21 North Carolina 97, N.C.
State 89: Luke Maye scored 27 of his career-high 33 points after halftime for the visiting Tar Heels (19-7, 8-5 ACC). Maye also had 17 rebounds and spent most of the second half as a one-man show, then got plenty of help as the Tar Heels closed out the Wolfpack (16-9, 6-6). Torin Dorn scored 21 points to lead North Carolina State.
#22 Wichita St. 95, UConn
74: Landry Shamet scored 16 points in just 23 minutes for the host Shockers (19-5, 9-3 American Athletic), who had 17 assists and just two turnovers while building a 55-33 halftime lead and were never threatened after that. Jalen Adams and Christian Vital each had 22 points for UConn (12-13, 5-7).
#23 Nevada 83, San Diego
St. 58: Jordan Caroline scored 26 points and Lindsay Drew just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the host Wolf Pack (21-5, 10-2 Mountain West). Kendall Stephens added 21 points for Nevada.
Texas A&M 85, #24 Kentucky 74: Freshman point guard T.J. Starks scored 17 points as the Aggies (17-8, 6-6 SEC) sent John Calipari to a three-game losing streak for the first time since taking over the Kentucky program before the 2009-2010 season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Wildcats (17-8, 6-6) with 19 points.
Boston College 72, #25
Miami 70: Ky Bowman stole a rebound under the basket, drew a foul and hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left as the host Eagles (15-10, 5-7 ACC) scored the last nine points of the game to rally for a victory over the Hurricanes (18-6, 7-5).
WOMEN
#1 UConn 124, Wichita St.
43: In Hartford, Conn., Napheesa Collier scored 26 points and Katie Lou Samuelson added 22 to lead the Huskies (24-0, 12-0 American Athletic) to their second-most lopsided win in school history. The 124 points were two shy of the program record, which was set against Providence in 1998.
#3 Baylor 83, #24 TCU 63: Kalani Brown scored 23 points, Lauren Cox had another double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) and the host Bears (23-1, 13-0 Big 12) won their 20th game in a row.
#6 Texas 76, Kansas St. 54: Brooke McCarty scored 13 of her 17 points in the pivotal third quarter, including 10 points in a 1:49 span for the host Longhorns (20-4, 11-2 Big 12).