Aggies hold on late to beat No. 2 Tide
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Wade Taylor scored 28 pointsm and No. 24 Texas A&M beat No. 2 Alabama 67-61 Saturday, making its late free throws after Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller fouled out.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Crimson Tide (26-5, 16-2 Southeastern Conference). Alabama played the last two minutes minus Miller, who fouled out after scoring a team-leading 19 points.
The Aggies (23-8, 15-3) led by two with two minutes left when Miller fouled out chasing down a loose ball. Dexter Dennis made both free throws to make it 61-57.
A basket by Jahvon Quinerly cut the lead to two again with a minute to go, but Taylor made two free throws to make it 63-59 with 30 seconds remaining.
NO. 9 TEXAS 75, NO. 3 KANSAS 59
In Austin, Texas, Sir’Jabari Rice scored 23 points and a smothering defensive effort carried the Longhorns to a win over Kansas that earned Texas a second-place finish in the Big 12.
Kansas, which had already secured the league championship, had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
Texas entered the day in a three-way tie for second, but the win and losses by Kansas State and Baylor left the Longhorns alone in the spot.
NO. 4 UCLA 81, NO. 8 ARIZONA 73
In Los Angeles, Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and UCLA beat Arizona to complete a 17-0 record at home in the teams’ regular-season finale.
Tyger Campbell added 21 points and David Singleton had 17, making a season-best five 3-pointers for the Bruins (27-4, 18-2 Pac-12), who went undefeated at home for the first time since 2006-07. They’ve won 25 in a row at Pauley Pavilion in the nation’s longest active home winning streak.
Ažuolas Tubelis (25-6, 14-6) scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half for the Wildcats and had 10 rebounds before fouling out in the closing seconds.
NO. 6 MARQUETTE 96, ST. JOHN’S 94
In Milwaukee, Kam Jones scored 23 points, and Marquette earned its sixth consecutive victory.
St. John’s erased nearly all of a 10-point deficit in the final 21 seconds of regulation and had a chance to tie the game before O’Mar Stanley missed the second of two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining. Jones got the rebound and hit one of two free throws to complete the scoring in the regular-season finale for each school.
Marquette (25-6, 17-3) already had clinched its first Big East outright championship Tuesday by winning 72-56 at Butler.
IOWA STATE 73, NO. 7 BAYLOR 58
In Waco, Texas, Jaren Holmes had 16 points and Iowa State ended a four-game losing streak.
Iowa State built as much as a 14-point lead before halftime. Tre King finished with 13 points and Gabe Kalscheur had 12.
Adam Flagler had 20 points for Baylor (22-9, 11-7), and LJ Cryer added 13 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 89, NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 81
In Morgantown, W.Va., Erik Stevenson scored 27 points, Kedrian Johnson added 23 and West Virginia gave its NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost.
Emmitt Matthews added 20 points and Tre Mitchell scored 14 for West Virginia (1813, 7-11 Big 12), which has won three of four heading into the conference tournament.
Before a sellout crowd, West Virginia rallied from 10 points down to take a 39-37 halftime lead and never trailed after that, shooting 58% (15 of 26) from the floor in the second half.
AUBURN 79, NO. 12 TENNESSEE 70
In Auburn, Ala., Wendell Green
Jr. scored 24 points, and the Tigers strengthened their bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers (20-11, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) had lost eight of their last 11 games. They rebounded from an overtime loss at No. 2 Alabama with their biggest win of the season.
Playing their first full game without SEC assist leader Zakai Zeigler, out for the season with a torn left ACL, the Volunteers (23-8, 12-6) lost their fifth straight road game.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA 75, LOUISVILLE 60
In Charlottesville, Va., Jayden Gardner and Armaan Franklin scored 16 points apiece, and Virginia clinched a share of the regular-season title in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Virginia (23-6, 15-5) will be the No. 2 seed for the ACC Tournament. It lost to top-seeded Miami in their only meeting this season.
NO. 14 CONNECTICUT 71, VILLANOVA 59
In Philadelphia, Jordan Hawkins scored 24 points and Alex Karaban had 16 to lead streaking Connecticut past Villanova.
The Huskies (24-7, 13-7 Big East) head into the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden winners of five straight and eight of nine. The Huskies stretched the lead to 15 points in the second half and remained alive for a topthree seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
NO. 16 MIAMI 78, NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 76
In Coral Gables, Fla., Wooga Poplar made a career-best six 3-pointers for 18 points, and Miami captured the No. 1 seed for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Miami (24-6, 15-5) shares the regular-season title with Virginia, which clinched its half of the crown with a 75-60 win over Louisville earlier Saturday. It’s Miami’s first No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament since 2013.
Jordan Miller scored 17 points for the Hurricanes, and Norchad Omier had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Blake Hinson had 24 points for Pitt (2110, 14-6), which would have been the No. 1 seed with a win.
NO. 18 SAN DIEGO STATE 67, WYOMING 50
In San Diego, Jaedon LeDee scored 21 points and Adam Seiko 14 for San Diego State, which celebrated the outright regular-season Mountain West Conference title with a victory against Wyoming.
Matt Bradley added 11 points for the Aztecs (24-6, 15-3 MWC), who clinched the conference championship at halftime, thanks to Boise State’s 86-73 loss at Utah State. It’s the third regular-season title in Brian Dutcher’s six seasons as coach.
SDSU heads to Las Vegas as the No. 1 seed in pursuit of its seventh MWC tournament title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Jeremiah Oden scored 17 and Xavier DuSell had 16 for last-place Wyoming (9-21, 4-14).
NO. 19 XAVIER 78, BUTLER 66
In Cincinnati, Colby Jones scored 20 points, Adam Kunkel had 18 and Xavier avenged an earlier loss to Butler.
Xavier (23-8, 15-5 Big East) played its ninth straight game without leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Zach Freemantle, who is out with an injured foot. The Musketeers were also without guards KyKy Tandy and Kam Craft.
SETON HALL 82, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 58
In Providence, R.I., Dre Davis scored 24 points to lead Seton Hall to the road win.
Femi Odukale had 19 points while KC Ndefo scored 15 for the Pirates (17-14, 10-10 Big East), who had dropped three in a row. Al-Amir Dawes finished with 11 points.
Seton Hall shot 63% from the field. The Pirates made 10 3-pointers and led by as many as 32 points.
OKLAHOMA 74, NO. 22 TCU 60
In Norman, Okla., Tanner Groves scored a season-high 23 points, and Oklahoma rode a hot start all the way to the victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Grant Sherfield added 20 points and Milos Uzan had 12 for Oklahoma (15-16, 5-13 Big 12), which made its first six shots. Groves also grabbed 10 rebounds.
NO. 23 KENTUCKY 88, ARKANSAS 79
In Fayetteville, Ark., Antonio Reeves scored a career-high 37 points, and Kentucky handed Arkansas its third straight loss.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (21-10, 12-6 Southeastern Conference). Jacob Toppin scored 21 points.
Kentucky shot 54% from the field in its fifth win in six games. It also held Arkansas to 36% shooting.