Kentucky tops Auburn for SEC title

Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and No. 8 Kentucky used a big run in the first half Saturday before holding off No. 15 Auburn to clinch the SEC regular-season championship with a 73-66 victory in Lexington.

The Wildcats (24-5, 14-2) entered the contest with a two-game lead on the second-Tigers (24-5, 11-5) but had to overcome a 20-11 deficit before responding with the 20-3 spurt over 5: 47 and building an eight-point advantage. Auburn fought back to within three at 53-50 early in the second half, but Kentucky stayed ahead in a foul-plagued half by making 14 free throws down the stretch. That included seven by Quickley, who made all 11 from the line.

TCU 75, No. 2 Baylor 72: Desmond Bane scored 23 points, with eight straight in TCU’s tiebreaking run, as the Horned Frogs upended the Bears in Fort Worth, Texas.

Bane made a long, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:42 left that put the Horned Frogs (16-13, 7-9 Big 12) ahead to stay. After blocking a shot by Jared Butler, Bane then made a turnaround jumper before adding another 3 to make it 63-55with just over threeminutes left. That was part of a bigger 18-1 spurt that Bane had started with another 3-pointer.

Baylor ( 25-3, 14-2) lost for the second time in three games since winning a Big 12-record 23 games in a row. The Bears were the nation’s No. 1 team when they lost a week ago to now-No. 1 Kansas (26-3, 15-1), which is a game ahead of them in the league standings.

PJ Fuller added 21 points for the Horned Frogs. Butler and Freddie Gillespie both had 18 points for Baylor.

No. 1 Kansas 60, (at) Kansas St. 58: Devon Dotson scored 25 points to help top ranked Kansas absorb the loss of center Udoka Azu bu ike for long stretches of the game, and the cold-shooting Jayhawks held on for their 14th straight win.

Azubuike finished with six points and nine rebounds while playing just 20 minutes after hurting his ankle in the opening minutes. David McCormack came off the bench to score nine in his place, helping the Jayhawks (26-3, 15-1) edge closer to clinching at least a share of another Big 12 championship.

Cartier Diarra scored 15 points and Xavier Sneed and Makol Mawien had 13 apiece for the Wildcats (9-20, 2-14), who were held scoreless for nearly 5½ minutes late in the game. That allowed Kansas to score eight straight points and break open a 48-all game.

(At) Clemson 70, No. 6 Florida St. 69: Freshman Al-Amir Dawes took an inbounds pass with only a few seconds left and went on a three-quarter court-length drive that finished with a left handed flip with one second to go, as the Tigers (15-13, 9-9 ACC) rallied past the Seminoles (24-5, 14-4). Dawes finished with 18 points.

Providence 58, (at) No. 12 Villanova 54: The Friars look determined to keep the party going into March, and a 5-for-5 month against ranked teams just might get them into the NCAA Tournament. Luwane Pipkins scored 27 points to lead Providence (17-12, 10-6 Big East) over the Wildcats (22-7, 11-5).

No. 13 Seton Hall 88, (at) Marquette 79: Myles Powell scored 28 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 26 for the Pirates (21-7, 13-3 Big East), wholed by 24 points mid way through the fifinal 20 minutes before Marquette (18-10, 8-8) rallied to get closer. Markus Howard had 37 points for the Golden Eagles.

(At) No. 18 Iowa77, No. 16 Penn St. 68: Luka Garza had 25 points and 17 rebounds as the Hawkeyes (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) pulled away in the second half. Lamar Stevens led Penn State (21-8, 11-7) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma 73, (at) No. 20 West Virginia 62: Kristian Doolittle scored 19 points two days after undergoing surgery for a broken nose, and the Sooners (18-11, 8- 8 Big 12) beat the Mountaineers (19-10, 7-9), who have lost six of seven.

Texas 68, (at) No. 22 Texas Tech 58: Andrew Jones had a career-high 22 points and the Longhorns (18-11, 8- 8 Big 12) scored the game’s last eight points over the final minute, stretching their winning streak to four by beating the Red Raiders (18-11, 9-7).