Guy and Jerome help Virginia hold off VCU
No. 4 Virginia 57, VCU 49: Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome combined to score 29 points as host Virginia (9-0) held off Virginia Commonwealth (7-3).
Guy scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, while Jerome put up 11 of his 14 after the break.
Virginia missed 13 of its first 15 shots after the break and VCU, coming off its road upset of Texas on Wednesday, led 37-36 midway through the second half.
Isaac Vann led the Rams with 10 points as VCU played its closest contest with Virginia since its 59-56 victory in 2013. Since then, the Cavaliers have won three straight.
Kihei Clark played with a cast on his injured left wrist but still started the game and logged 33 minutes, scoring nine points and dishing out four assists for Virginia.
No. 15 Virginia Tech 81, South Carolina State 44: Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 19 points to lead host Virginia Tech (8-1) to a victory over South Carolina State (2-9).
Alexander-Walker hit 8 of 11 shots, including three 3-pointers for the Hokies, who survived a cold-shooting start to get their third straight win.
For the first 15 minutes, Virginia Tech looked nothing like one of the best shooting teams in the nation. The Hokies entered the game ranked 10th nationally in field-goal percentage (51.4) and fourth in 3-point field-goal percentage (44.8), but they made just one of their first 10 shots and three of their first 20.
Virginia Tech, though, stayed consistent on defense and made 12 of 15 from the free-throw line until the Hokies could find their shot. They made seven of their final nine in the first half, most of which came on South Carolina State turnovers – they scored 13 points off 10 Bulldog turnovers – and then they buried the Bulldogs under an avalanche of 3-pointers at the start of the second half to pull away.
Virginia Tech opened the final 20 minutes with a 22-4 run in which it hit six 3pointers. The spurt ended with two Ty Outlaw 3-pointers from the wing sandwiched around a give-and-go play between Justin Robinson and Kerry Blackshear Jr. that led to a Blackshear layup. The run pushed the Hokies’ lead to 56-27 and Virginia Tech cruised.
Robinson finished with 16 points and six assists for the Hokies, who shot 62 percent (18 of 29) in the second half and 48.3 percent (28 of 58) for the game. Blackshear added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Women's Top 10
Michigan State 88, No. 3 Oregon 82: Jenna Allen scored 27 points – including a big 3-pointer the final minute – and host Michigan State (8-1) handed No. 3 Oregon (7-1) its first loss of the season. ,
No. 5 Louisville 80, No. 19 Ketucky 75: Asia Durr scored 32 points and made the first of several critical free throws down the stretch for host Louisville (10-0) in its win over rival Kentucky (9-1).
No. 8 Oregon State 82, Santa Clara 31: Destiny Slocum had 12 points with four 3-pointers and added 10 assists and No. 8 host Oregon State (7-1) overpowered Santa Clara (5-3)
No. 9 Tennessee 88, No. 12 Texas 82: Meme Jackson scored a career-best 33 points, Evina Westbrook had 23 and visiting Tennessee(8-0) beat Texas (7-2).
Pac-12 men
Saint Louis 65, Oregon State 61: Javon Bess scored a career-high 24 points and Fred Thatch added 16 points in his first start to help host Saint Louis (7-2) to a 65-61 win over Oregon State (6-2).
Montana State 95, Washington State 90: Harald Frey had 31 points and 10 assists to lead Montana State (3-6) to a win over Washington State (5-3).
Washington 70, Seattle 62: Washington nearly blew a 20-point lead before holding off crosstown rival Seattle.