No. 10 Marquette hands Villanova first Big East loss

MILWAUKEE—Markus Howard scored 38 points and No. 10 Marquette hung on at the buzzer, edging No. 14 Villanova, 66-65, Saturday and handing the Wildcats their first Big East Conference loss.

Marquette (20-4, 9-2) led by 15 early in the second half. The Golden Eagles took a 66-63 lead on two free throws by Howard with 53 seconds left, but Phil Booth answered with a floater in the lane that made it a one-point game.

Jermaine Samuels then stripped Howard on the ensuing possession with 14 seconds left. After a timeout, Booth drove but was trapped underneath, and passed the ball back to Samuels, who missed an off-balance jumper from the left side as time ran out.

Booth had 19 points and Eric Paschall 17 for Villanova (19-5, 10-1), which had won 11 straight since a 74-71 loss to Kansas on Dec. 15.

Howard hit 13 of 24 shots, including 5 of 11 on 3s. He made all seven of his free throws.

Marquette bounced back from its first home loss of the season, a 70-69 loss to St. John’s on Tuesday. Sacar Anim added 18 for the Golden Eagles.

Texas Tech 66, Oklahoma 54

NORMAN, Okla.—Davide Moretti scored 14 points to help Texas Tech roll past Oklahoma.

Jarrett Culver had 13 points and Matt Mooney and Brandone Francis each added 11 for the Red Raiders (19-5, 7-4 Big 12), who stayed within striking range of conference leader Kansas State.

Rashard Odomes scored 14 points and Brady Manek had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma (15-9, 3-8), which lost its fourth straight.

TCU 92, Iowa State 83

AMES, Iowa—Kendric Davis scored a season-high 22 points, and TCU stunned Iowa State for its first road win over a Top 25 team in 21 years.

Kouat Noi, Desmond Bane and Alex Robinson each had 17 for the Horned Frogs (17-6, 5-5 Big 12). They used a staggering 27-4 firsthalf run to blow past the beleaguered Cyclones and greatly boost their NCAA Tournament chances.

Marial Shayok scored 24 points and Michael Jacobson had 16 to lead the Cyclones (18-6, 7-4), who saw their winning streak snapped at four games.

Kansas State 70, Baylor 63

WACO, Texas—Kamau Stokes scored 20 points and Big 12-leading Kansas State used a big run late to finally get past undermanned Baylor.

The Wildcats (18-5, 8-2 Big 12) took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Cartier Diarra with just over 6 minutes left, the start of an 11-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Stokes after his defensive rebound. Stokes later sealed the game with four consecutive free throws in the final 31 seconds.

Barry Brown had 13 points and six assists for K-State, which is alone atop the Big 12 standings after No. 17 Iowa State (18-6, 7-4) lost at home to TCU earlier Saturday. Dean Wade had 12 points and Diarra 10.

Baylor (15-8, 6-4), already without two players out for the season with injuries, was missing starting senior guards Makai Mason, its leading scorer, and King McClure. Mason (bruised foot) and McClure (knee) had both played in a loss Wednesday at Texas that snapped the Bears’ six-game winning streak.

A 3-pointer by Brown with 3:20 left wrapped up the 11-0 run by the Wildcats, and was part of a bigger 15-2 spurt.

Devonte Bandoo had 15 points to lead Baylor, including a late 3-pointer and then two free throws to get within 64-61 with 35 seconds left. But Stokes then made four free throws in eight seconds.

Freddie Gillespie and Jared Butler each had 13 points for the Bears.

Tennessee 73, Florida 61

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—Grant Williams scored 16 points as No. 1 Tennessee defeated Florida to complete a season sweep of the Gators and extend its school-record winning streak to 18 games.

Tennessee (22-1, 10-0 SEC) owns the longest active winning streak of any Division I team. This also marks the biggest winning streak of Rick Barnes’ 32-year head coaching career, surpassing the 17-game string that started Texas’ 2009-10 season.

Florida (12-11, 4-6) has lost three straight and four of its last five.

Admiral Schofield scored 14 points, Jordan Bowden had 13 and Jordan Bone added 10 for Tennessee. Noah Locke scored 17, Jalen Hudson had 15 and KeVaughn Allen added 11 for Florida.

Kentucky 71, Mississippi State 67

STARKVILLE, Miss.—PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 13 and Kentucky held on to beat Mississippi State.

Kentucky (20-3, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 10 straight games since losing to Alabama in its conference opener on Jan. 5. The Wildcats had to work for this one after an 18-point lead dwindled to one possession with 1:18 left, but the Bulldogs weren’t able to score again.

Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6) led 17-15 midway through the first half, but Tyler Herro nailed a contested 3-pointer to give Kentucky the lead. The Wildcats never trailed again.

Lamar Peters led the Bulldogs with 16 points.

Kansas 84, Oklahoma State 72

LAWRENCE, Kan.—Dedric Lawson scored 25 points, Ochai Agbaji hit five 3s and had 23 points, and Kansas shrugged off a slow start to beat Oklahoma State.

Devon Dotson added 18 points while Mitch Lightfoot provided a big lift off the bench for the Jayhawks (18-6, 7-4 Big 12), who were playing their first game without starting guard Lagerald Vick. He left the team earlier in the week to deal with personal issues.

Cameron McGriff scored 22 points for Oklahoma State (9-14, 2-8), which played Kansas to a draw in the first half.

Michigan 61, Wisconsin 52

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Jon Teske had 17 points and 12 rebounds, holding his own inside against Ethan Happ, and Charles Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lift Michigan past Wisconsin.

The Big Ten-leading Wolverines (22-2, 11-2) avenged one of their only losses this season despite going 0 for 10 from 3-point range in the second half.

Happ had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, but the Badgers (17-7, 9-4) had their sixgame winning streak snapped.

North Carolina 88, Miami 85 (OT)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Kenny Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left in overtime to help North Carolina hold off Miami.

Freshman Coby White matched his season high with 33 points for the Tar Heels (19-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who survived a wild finish filled with big shots by both teams.

Miami had a final chance to tie it after a timeout, but White poked the ball loose from Chris Lykes, and Williams dove on the floor to recover the ball.

Lykes had his own huge game for the Hurricanes (10-13, 2-9), scoring 19 of his 27 points with five 3-pointers after halftime.

Michigan State 79, Minnesota 55

EAST LANSING, Mich.—Nick Ward had 22 points and Matt McQuaid scored a season-high 18, leading Michigan State past Minnesota.

The Spartans (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) ended a three-game losing streak, their longest skid in two years.

Minnesota’s Gabe Kalscheur scored 17 points and Daniel Oturu had 12 points. The Golden Gophers (16-8, 6-7) have lost a season-high three games.

Clemson 59, Virginia Tech 51

CLEMSON, S.C.—Shelton Mitchell scored 22 points with a career-best five 3-pointers and Clemson outlasted Virginia Tech for the Tigers’ fourth straight victory.

The Hokies (18-5, 7-4 ACC) made just one field goal in the final 8:33 in losing consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Tigers (15-8, 5-5) are finally looking like the team that surprised many when it reached the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 last March.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. 17 points to lead Virginia Tech before fouling out in the final minutes.

Florida State 80, Louisville 75 (OT)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Mfiondu Kabengele scored 22 points and Florida State erased a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, then knocked off Louisville.

Terance Mann added 20 points for the Seminoles (18-5, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who made 11 of 12 free throws in overtime to wrap up their fifth straight win.

Christen Cunningham scored 20 points, including 13 in the first half, for Louisville (17-7, 8-3).

LSU 83, Auburn 78

BATON ROUGE, La.—Tremont Waters had 19 points and 10 assists and LSU overcame a sluggish start to beat Auburn.

Skylar Mays had 20 points for LSU (19-4, 9-1 SEC), which bounced back from its lone conference loss with a pair of league victories heading into its toughest road test yet at fifth-ranked Kentucky.

Jared Harper scored 25 for Auburn (16-7, 5-5), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.

Buffalo 90, Central Michigan 76

AMHERST, N.Y.—Jeremy Harris had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Buffalo rallied to beat Central Michigan.

CJ Massinburg scored 18 points and Dontay Caruthers added 16 as Buffalo (20-3, 8-2 Mid-American Conference) won its 22nd game in a row at Alumni Arena.

Shawn Roundtree Jr. scored 26 points to lead the Chippewas (16-7, 5-5). He made 5 of 7 from 3-point range.