Sooners take upset over No. 9 Kansas
Oklahoma 75, No. 9 Kansas 68: De’vion Harmon scored 22 points and host Oklahoma (9-4, 5-3 Big 12) beat Kansas (10-5, 4-4) on Saturday for its second victory this month over a top-10 opponent.
Oklahoma has won three of its last four games against Kansas in Norman and is 8-1 at home this season at the Lloyd Noble Center. Included in that record is a win over then-no. 9 West Virginia on Jan. 2.
Kansas, which entered the game coming off losses at Oklahoma State and No. 2 Baylor, now has lost three straight games for the first time since February 2013. Marcus Garrett had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks, who were limited to two offensive rebounds. Kansas entered the game leading the Big 12 in rebounding margin but the Sooners outrebounded them 36-26.
Jalen Wilson added 13 points for Kansas.
A 9-2 run by Oklahoma broke open what had been a one-possession game and Austin Reaves’ first basket (after starting with seven misses) put the Sooners ahead 60-54 with 5:53 left.
Kansas pulled within 63-60 when Ochai Agbaji split a pair of free throws with 3:40 left, but Reaves and Umoja Gibson each followed with a driving layup to make it 67-60 and Kansas came no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Reaves, Elijah Harkless, Harmon and Reaves again each hit two free throws in the final 1:36 for the Sooners. Reaves scored 16 points, all in the second half, and made 10 of 11 free throws.
Kansas put Oklahoma in the bonus early in the second half and the Sooners took advantage, making 18 of 22 foul shots after not having a free-throw attempt in the first half. Kansas made 10 of 14 free throws.
No. 2 Baylor 81, Oklahoma State 66: Jared Butler scored 22 points and Baylor (14-0, 7-0) Big 12) rallied from a halftime deficit for a road win over undermanned Oklahoma State (9-4, 3-4).
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham,
the Big 12 Conference’s leading scorer, did not play because of COVID-19 protocols. Key reserve Rondel Walker also sat out, leaving the team with eight players available.
The Cowboys still pushed the Bears, leading in the early minutes of the second half before Baylor took control. The Bears shot 53% after the break.
Mark Vital scored a career-high 19 points and Davion Mitchell had eight points and nine assists for Baylor.
Kalib Boone scored a career-high 21 points and Matthew-alexander Moncrieffe added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma State.
No. 8 Houston 68, Temple 51: Marcus Sasser and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 points and Houston (13-1, 8-1 American Athletic Conference) rolled past host Temple (3-4, 2-4) for its sixth straight win.
The Cougars also beat the Owls on Dec. 22 and completed the season sweep in a rout. Grimes and Sasser hit consecutive early 3s to build a 19-point lead en route to win a hastily scheduled game because of COVID-19 issues.
This game was originally scheduled for Feb. 8, but when Houston’s game with Cincinnati was postponed, Temple and Houston got bumped up to fill the CBS spot. CBS broadcast a game from the Liacouras Center for just the second time in program history – and the Owls were not ready for the spotlight.
The Owls, though, were just grateful to get a chance to hit the court, considering Houston played its 14th game while Temple played only its seventh. So it goes this season, as college basketball tries to navigate schedules upended by the coronavirus pandemic.
No. 11 Creighton 74, No. 23 Uconn 66: Denzel Mahoney scored 20 points and host Creighton (11-4, 7-3 Big East) broke open a close game in the last 10 minutes to beat Connecticut (7-3, 4-3).
The Bluejays, who struggled offensively while losing their previous two games, shot 58% in the second half and avoided their first three-game losing streak since February 2019.
Mahoney made 8 of 14 shots from the field after going 1 for 10 against Providence on Wednesday.
R.J. Cole scored 14 points and freshman Adama Sanogo had a season-high 13 to lead Uconn.
The Huskies played their fourth straight game without scoring leader James Bouknight, who is recovering from elbow surgery. He scored a careerhigh 40 points in the Huskies’ 76-74 overtime loss to Creighton last month in Connecticut.
Syracuse 78, No. 16 Virginia Tech 60: Quincy Guerrier had 20 points, Marek Doelzaj added 18 and Alan Griffin had 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks for his fourth double-double of the season, and host Syracuse (9-4, 3-3 ACC) defeated Virginia Tech (11-3, 5-2).
The Orange, who badly needed a quality win to build its resume for the post-season, held a 40-34 lead at the half but took control in the final 20 minutes.
Virginia Tech closed to 47-44 on a layin by David N’guessan with 13:45 to go, then Syracuse outscored the Hokies 31-9 to build its biggest lead of the game at 7853.
The win snapped a three-game winning streak for the Hokies, who entered the game winners of seven of their last eight.
Nahiem Alleyne led the Hokies with a season-tying high 20 points, 15 on 5of-10 from 3. Tyrece Radford had 10. The Hokies leading scorer, Keve Aluma, had just two.
Maryland 63, No. 17 Minnesota 49: Eric Ayala had 21 points and three steals to help Maryland (9-7, 3-6) deliver another road upset of a ranked Big Ten opponent, a wire-to-wire victory over host Minnesota (11-5, 4-5).
Donta Scott added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Aaron Wiggins had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins, who limited Minnesota big man Liam Robbins to six points on 2-for-6 shooting before the 7-footer fouled out.
Marcus Carr scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Gophers, who lost at home for the first time in 12 games this season. The rest of their starting backcourt, Gabe Kalscheur and Both Gach, combined for two points on 0-for-10 shooting.