The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Florida rolls at home, defeats No. 4 Auburn
After starting 15-0, the Tigers drop their second straight game.
Omar Payne had the best game of his young college career, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and led host Florida to a 69-47 victory over No. 4 Auburn on Saturday.
Payne, a freshman, 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 (15-2, 3-2 SEC). His threepoint play, which came after an offensive rebound, put Florida (12-5, 4-1) up by 14 with a little more than 4 minutes to play.
The Tigers have lost two in a row since starting 15-0.
No. 2 Baylor 75, (at) Oklahoma State 68: Trailing by double digits well into the second half, Baylor’s seniors helped lead the rally.
Freddie Gillespie had 17 points, four rebounds and four blocks, and Devonte Bandoo scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to help Baylor rally past Oklahoma State for the Bears’ 14th straight victory. Oklahoma State (9-8, 0-5 Big 12) has lost five in a row.
Baylor (15-1, 5-0) has the second-longest active streak in the nation and the third-longest in school history.
No. 11 Louisville 79, (at) No. 3 Duke 73: Freshman David Johnson had a season-high 19 points, and No. 11 Louisville hung on down the stretch to beat No. 3 Duke in a key matchup in the ACC’s regular-season title chase.
The Cardinals (15-3, 6-1 ACC) claimed the only regular-season meeting between the teams and put themselves in a tie with No. 9 Florida State atop the league standings.
Freshman Cassius Stanley had season highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (15-3, 5-2), who shot just 37% for the game and made only 6 of 25 3-pointers.
(At) DePaul 79, No. 5 Butler 66: Paul Reed scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, Jalen Coleman-Lands added 20 points, and DePaul upset Butler (15-3, 3-2 Big East).
Coleman-Lands was 3 for 5 from 3-point range, and freshman Romeo Weems had 11 points as the Blue Demons (13-5, 1-4) knocked off a team ranked in the top five for the first time since beating No. 5 Kansas on Dec. 2, 2006.
No. 6 Kansas 66, (at) Texas 57: Devon Dotson returned from a hip injury to score 21 points, including the final seven of the game for Kansas, leading the Jayhawks over Texas.
Dotson made a long 3-pointer with 2:49 to play, then closed out the victory with four straight free throws in the final 39 seconds.
Udoka Azubuike scored 17 points and a scoring burst from him early in the second half allowed Kansas (143, 4-1 Big 12) to take the lead.
Jericho Sims scored 20 points for the Longhorns (12-5, 2-3).
No. 8 Oregon 64, (at) Washington 61: Payton Pritchard hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game with 3.4 seconds left in overtime, and Oregon rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to stun Washington.
The Ducks (15-4, 4-2 Pac12) overcame a 48-32 deficit with 10:22 remaining and handed Washington (12-7, 2-4) its third loss in four games.
No. 9 Florida State 83, (at) Miami 79 (OT): Florida State forced 24 turnovers, including three in a row in overtime, and rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final 4:33 of regulation to earn its ninth consecutive victory by beating Miami.
Sophomore Devin Vassell set a career high for the second consecutive game by leading Florida State with 23 points while adding 11 rebounds and five assists. His two free throws with six seconds left sealed the win.
Florida State (16-2, 6-1 ACC) beat Miami (10-7, 2-5) for the fourth time in a row.
No. 10 Kentucky 73, (at) Arkansas 66: Nick Richards and Kentucky kept their composure after coach John Calipari was ejected, holding off Arkansas.
Richards had 17 points and nine rebounds, leading a balanced effort for the Wildcats (13-4, 4-1 SEC). Ashton Hagans had 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Immanuel Quickley finished with 13 points and 10 boards.
Mason Jones scored 19 points for Arkansas (14-3, 3-2), which has dropped nine straight in the series.
(At) Kansas State 84, No. 12 West Virginia 68: Cartier Diarra tied a career high with 25 points, Xavier Sneed added 16, Dujuan Gordon had a career high 15, and Kansas State held off West Virginia for its first win in Big 12 play.
Kansas State (8-9, 1-4 Big 12) went up by as many as 23, but a 15-0 run by the Mountaineers cut the lead to eight in the second half. West Virginia (14-3, 3-2) would get as close as six, but the Wildcats pulled away.
(At) No. 14 Villanova 61, UConn 55: Jermaine Samuels
scored 19 points and made the decisive threepoint play that pushed Villanova ahead for good in a victory over Connecticut (107) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Samuels converted a threepoint play with 2:51 left for a 52-51 lead and then buried a 3 with 31 seconds remaining for a four-point lead that clinched another tight one for the Wildcats (14-3).
Houston 65, (at) No. 16 Wichita State 54: The Cougars (14-4, 4-1 American) built a big lead in the second half behind tough defense and took down the Shockers. Fabian White scored 14 points to lead the Cougars, and DeJon Jarreau had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Wichita State (15-3, 3-2) was held 22 points below its season average.
(At) No. 17 Maryland 57, Purdue 50: Jalen Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Donta Scott scored 13, and Maryland held off Purdue to remain unbeaten at home.
The Terrapins (14-4, 4-3 Big Ten) scored the game’s first nine points, led by 16 at halftime and managed to stay in front after Purdue (10-8, 3-4) closed to 52-47 with 6 minutes left.
No. 18 Seton Hall 82, St. John’s 79: Myles Powell scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half, and Seton Hall rallied past St. John’s, extending its winning streak to eight games.
Quincy McKnight added 20 points and 7-foot-2 Romaro Gill had 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for the Pirates (14-4, 6-0 Big East).
Seton Hall, the only unbeaten team in Big East play, is 6-0 in conference games for the first time since the league’s inception in 1979.
(At) Arizona 75, No. 20 Colorado 54: Dylan Smith and Josh Green both scored 13 points, Nico Mannion and Zeke Nnaji each added 12, and Arizona cruised to a win over Colorado.
Arizona (13-5, 3-2 Pac-12) has won all three of its home conference games. The Wildcats had a double-digit lead for the last 18 minutes of the game, stopping the brief Colorado (14-4, 3-2) rallies with quick baskets.
(At) Penn State 90, No. 21 Ohio State 76: Lamar Stevens scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half, and Penn State upset Ohio State.
Myreon Jones scored 20 points, Seth Lundy added 12 and Myles Dread had 10 for the Nittany Lions (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Duane Washington Jr. had 20 points, The Buckeyes (126, 2-5) lost for the fifth time in six games.
(At) No. 24 Illinois 75, Northwestern 71: Trent Frazier scored 16 points, including hitting four 3-pointers, to lead Illinois to a win over Northwestern.
Illinois (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) had five players in double figures, led by Ayo Dosunmu with 14 points. Robbie Beran led Northwestern (6-11, 1-6) with 17 points.