Payne lifts Florida to upset of Auburn
Florida 69, No. 4 Auburn 47: Omar Payne had the best game of his college career, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and led host Florida (15-2, 3-2 SEC) to a victory over Auburn (15-2, 3-2) on Saturday.
Payne, a freshman from Kissimmee, was widely considered an afterthought in Florida’s highly touted recruiting class. Against the Tigers, he looked like a future lottery pick. The 6-foot-10 forward dominated in the paint, scoring on tip-ins, putbacks and layups, and creating a mismatch nightmare for Auburn. His three-point play, which came after an offensive rebound, put Florida up by 14 with a little more than 4 minutes to play.
The Gators sent the home crowd into a late frenzy – and to the exits – with a 14-0 run that included 3-pointers by Noah Locke, Keyontae Johnson and Kerry Blackshear Jr. Fans chanted “over-rated” in the closing minutes.
No. 2 Baylor 75, Oklahoma State 68: Jared Butler scored 19 points and had six assists, helping Baylor (15-1, 5-0 Big 12) rally past host Oklahoma State (15-1, 5-0) for the Bears’ 15th straight victory. Oklahoma State has lost five in a row.
Baylor has the secondlongest active streak in the nation and the third longest in school history.
No. 11 Louisville 79, No. 3 Duke 73: Freshman David Johnson had a season-high 19 points, and Louisville topped Duke in a key matchup in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s regular-season title chase.
Malik Williams made two free throws with 16 seconds left and followed immediately with a transition dunk off a turnover, a sequence that all but sealed a grind-it-out win for the Cardinals.
DePaul 79, No. 5 Butler 66: Paul Reed scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, Jalen Coleman-Lands added 20 and host DePaul (13-5, 1-4 Big East) upset Butler (13-5, 1-4).
Coleman-Lands was 3 for 5 from 3-point range and freshman Romeo Weems had 11 points as the Blue Demons knocked off a team ranked in the top five for the first time since beating No. 5 Kansas on Dec. 2, 2006.
No. 1 Gonzaga 92, BYU 69: Killian Tillie scored 22 points nad grabbed 10 rebounds as host Gonzaga (20-1 overall, 6-1 WCC) beat BYU (14-6, 3-2).
No. 6 Kansas 66, Texas 57: Devon Dotson returned from a hip injury to score 21 points, including the final seven of the game for Kansas (14-3, 4-1 Big 12), leading the Jayhawks over host Texas (14-3, 4-1 Big 12).
Dotson made a long 3pointer with 2:49 to play, then closed out the victory with four straight free throws in the final 39 seconds.
No. 7 San Diego State 68, Nevada 55: Yanni Wetzell had 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for host San Diego State, which came out hot in the second half to beat Nevada and remain the nation's only undefeated team.
No. 8 Oregon 64, Washington 61: Payton Pritchard hit his sixth 3pointer of the game with 3.4 seconds left in overtime and Oregon (15-4, 4-2 Pac-12) rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to stun host Washington (12-7, 2-4).
The Ducks avoided being swept on their trip north by rallying from a 48-32 deficit with 10:22 remaining in the second half and handed Washington its third loss in four games.
No. 9 Florida State 83, Miami 79 (OT): Florida State forced 24 turnovers, including three in a row in overtime, as the Seminoles (16-2, 6-1 ACC) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final 4:33 of regulation to earn their ninth consecutive victory by beating host Miami (10-7, 2-5 ACC).
No. 10 Kentucky 73, Arkansas 66: Nick Richards and Kentucky kept their composure after coach John Calipari was ejected, and the Wildcats (13-4, 4-1 SEC) held off host Arkansas (13-4, 4-1 SEC).
Richards had 17 points and nine rebounds, leading a balanced effort for the Wildcats.
Kansas State 84, No. 12 68: Cartier Diarra tied a career high with 25 points, Xavier Sneed added 16, Dujuan Gordon had a career high 15, and host Kansas State (8-9, 1-4 Big 12) held off West Virginia (14-3, 3-2) for their first win in Big 12 play this season.
Kansas State went up by as many as 23, but a 15-0 run by the Mountaineers cut the lead to eight in the second half, thanks in part to seven turnovers in four minutes by the Wildcats.
No. 14 Villanova 61, UConn 55: Jermaine Samuels scored 19 points and made the decisive three-point play that put host Villanova (14-3) ahead for good in a win over Connecticut (10-7).
Houston 65, No. 16 Wichita State 54: Fabian White scored 14 points as Houston (14-4, 4-1 American) used a balanced offense to beat host Wichita State (15-3, 3-2 American).
No. 17 Maryland 57, Purdue 50: Jalen Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Donta Scott scored 13 and host Maryland (14-4, 4-3 Big Ten) held off Purdue (10-8, 3-4) to remain unbeaten at home.
No. 18 Seton Hall 82, St. John’s 79: Myles Powell scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half and Seton Hall (14-4, 6-0 Big East) rallied past host St. John’s (12-7, 1-5), extending its winning streak to eight games.
Penn State 90, No. 21 Ohio State 76: Lamar Stevens scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half and host Penn State (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten) upset Ohio State (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten).
Myreon Jones scored 20 points, Seth Lundy added 12 and Myles Dread had 10 for the Nittany Lions who snapped a threegame losing streak.
No. 23 Texas Tech 72, Iowa State 52: Kyler Edwards had 22 points coming off the highest-scoring game of his career, and host Texas Tech (12-5, 3-2 Big 12) pulled away from Iowa State (8-9, 1-4) in the second half.
No. 24 Illinois 75, Northwestern 71: Trent Frazier scored 16 points, including hitting four 3pointers, to lead host Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) to a win over Northwestern (6-11, 1-6).
No. 25 Creighton 78, Providence 74: Marcus Zegarowski hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left and host Creighton (14-5, 3-3 Big East) came back late to beat Providence (11-8, 4-2).
Women’s Top 10
No. 2 Baylor 91, No. 17 West Virginia 51: Moon Ursin had a career-high 22 points as host Baylor crushed West Virginia.