Ware, freshmen spark State to rout of Hogs
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Gavin Ware scored 21 points, freshman Quinn da ry Weatherspoon added 16 and Mississippi State easily beat Arkansas 78-46 on Tuesday night.
Arkansas took a 10 -9 lead early in the first half, but Mississippi State (1013, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) scored the next 11 points and continued to pull away. The Bulldogs led 42-20 at halftime.
The loss snapped the Razorbacks’ five-game winning streak in the series. Arkansas (12-12, 5-6) started with a cold shooting touch and never recovered, making just 16 of 72 (22. 2 percent) attempts from the field.
The 6-foot-9 Ware had an efficient night for Mississippi State, shooting 6 of 9 from the field, 9 of 9 on free throws and grabbing 10 rebounds. Three Bulldogs — Ware, Weatherspoon and Travis Daniels — had 10 rebounds.
Arkansas was led by 11 points from Jimmy Whitt.
The Bulldogs were boosted by three freshmen, including Weatherspoon, who shot 5 of 8 from the field. Malik Newman added six points and Aric Holman had five points, four assists and six rebounds.
Mississippi State shot 27 of 51 from the field (52.9 percent) and had a 50-39 rebounding advantage.
GATORS TOP REBELS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, leading five Florida players in double figures, and the Gators beat Ole Miss 77-72.
Florida (16-8, 7-4 SEC) finished a sweep of two games against the Rebels (15-9, 5-6) and improved to 12-1 at home.
Florida’s Kasey Hill scored with 1:19 remaining and KeVaughn Allen followed with a deep 3-pointer that put the game out of reach.
The Rebels trailed by 10 in the second half, but closed to 67-66 after Stefan Moody scored eight consecutive points. Moody had a chance to tie the score but missed a free throw. He fouled out a couple of minutes later, after getting called for a charge with 1:09 to play.
Moody finished with 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Tomasz Gielo led the Rebels with 20 points.
Ole Miss forward Sebastian Saiz, who missed the last six games after eye surgery, played with dark, protective glasses, a nd had four points and five rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench in the first half. But he did little after the break.
VOLS ROUT AUBURN
KNOXVILLE — Robert Hubbs III scored 20 points and Devon Baulkman added 14 to end slumps as Tennessee defeated Auburn 71-45 on Tuesday to give the Tigers their sixth consecutive loss.
Hubbs had totaled 12 points and had shot 4 of 17 from the floor in the three previous games. Baulkman had scored a total of 12 points and had shot a combined 5 of 25 over his last five games.
Auburn (9-14,3-8) scored its fewest points of the season and shot a season-low 23.7 percent against a Tennessee (1212, 5-6) team that came in allowing an SEC-high 78.2 points per game in conference games.
The Tigers were playing a second straight game without leading scorer Kareem Canty, who is indefinitely suspended.
Tigers coach Br uce Pearl is 1-2 against his former school since taking over Auburn’s program last season.
Bryce Brown scored 18 points for Auburn.
SEC
No. 22 Kentuck y 82 , Georgia 48 at Lexington, Ky.: Jamal Murray scored 24 points, Tyler Ulis added 14 and Kentucky held the Bulldogs to a season-low 22-percent shooting.
Murray shot 8 of 14 from the field, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, for the Wildcats (18-6, 8-3), who shot 52 percent.
Yante Maten’s 16 points led the Bulldogs (13-9, 6-5).
AAC
Cincinnati 69, UCF 51 at Orlando, Fla.: Kevin Johnson scored 13 points, Whitehaven alum Octavius Ellis had 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds and Cincinnati’s balanced attack beat the Knights.
Cincinnati (18-7, 8- 4) went on a 13-0 run, highlighted by a putback dunk by Coreontae DeBerry, to take a 60-40 lead as UCF (11-11, 5-6) went scoreless for nearly six minutes.
TOP 25
No. 1 Villanova 86, DePaul 59 at Rosemont, Ill.: Josh Hart scored 18 points and Villanova cruised past the Blue Demons.
Kris Jenkins made three 3 -pointers and f inished with 13 points as the Wildcats (21-3, 11-1 Big East) rolled to their 13th win in their last 14 games.
Eli Cain scored 15 points for DePaul (8-16, 2-10).
No. 2 Maryland 93, Bowie State 62 at College Park, Md.: Maryland got 16 points from Rasheed Sulaimon and cruised past the Division 2 Bulldogs for its school-record 27th consecutive home victory. Miles Jackson had 13 points for the Bulldogs (13-10).
Creighton 70, No. 5 Xavier 56 at Omaha, Neb.: Maurice Watson scored a careerhigh 32 points and Creighton won after a fast start.
The Bluejays (16 -9, 7-5 Big East) used an early 16-0 run to take a 17-point lead 9 minutes in, then held off the Musketeers (21-3, 9-3) after they pulled within five with 6 minutes left.
The Musketeers shot a season-worst 30 percent from the field, including 1 of 21 from 3-point range.
No. 6 Kansas 75, No. 10 West Virginia 65 at Lawrence, Kan.: Perry Ellis had 21 points, Landen Lucas pulled down a careerhigh 16 rebounds and Kansas beat West Virginia to forge a three-way tie atop the Big 12.
Frank Mason III added 14 points for the Jayhawks (20-4, 8-3), who are tied with the Mountaineers (19-5, 8-3) and No. 3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3). All three teams have seven games remaining.
No. 7 Virginia 67, Virginia Tech 49 at Charlottesville, Va.: Anthony Gill scored 16 points and Virginia beat the Hokies for its seventh straight win. Isaiah Wilkins added a careerbest 14 points for the Cavaliers (20-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who avenged a 70- 68 loss to the Hokies in Blacksburg on Jan. 4.
No. 18 Purdue 82, No. 8 Michigan State 81 (OT) at West Lafayette, Ind.: Raphael Davis made one of two free throws with 4.6 seconds left in overtime to give Purdue an upset over the Spartans. The Boilermakers (20-5, 8-4 Big Ten) won despite blowing an 18-point second-half lead against Michigan State (20-7, 7-5).
No. 9 North Carolina 68, Boston College 65 at Boston: Playing most of the second half without coach Roy Williams, who left the bench after complaining of vertigo, North Carolina (20-4, 9-2 ACC) rallied to beat the Eagles behind 20 points from Justin Jackson. Tar Heels spokesman Steve Kirschner said Williams, 65, who has suffered from vertigo in the past, felt dizzy and returned to the locker room but was OK.
No. 12 Miami 65, Pittsburgh 63 at Coral Gables, Fla.: Guard Angel Rodriguez scored on an offensive rebound with 1.4 seconds left to lift Miami past the Panthers. That was the only offensive rebound for the 5-11 Rodriguez, who had 17 points and eight assists for the Hurricanes (19-4, 8-3 ACC).
No. 19 Day ton 76 , Duquesne 74 at Dayton, Ohio: Scoochie Smith hit a 3-pointer that put Dayton ahead to stay as the Flyers overcame a late 12-point deficit. The Flyers (20-3, 10-1 Atlantic 10) got their eighth straight win by going on a closing 19-5 run.
No. 25 Wichita State 74, Drake 48 at Des Moines, Iowa: Ron Baker and Shaq Morris had 11 points each and Wichita State (185, 1 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference) pounded the Bulldogs for its 12th win in 13 games. Reed Timmer scored 20 points for Drake (6-19, 1-12).