COLLEGE BASKETBALL / TOP 25 MEN’S ROUNDUP
Brandon Silvers passed for four touchdowns and ran for another, Troy produced five turnovers and the Trojans beat North Texas. Josh Anderson, filling in for injured starter Jordan Chunn, rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns, and Silvers also scored on a short run to help Troy (11-2) win for the 21st time in two seasons. Silvers passed for 306 yards. Two of his TD passes went to Damion Willis, who had 136 yards and two TDs receiving on a New Orleans Bowl-record-tying 11 catches. Mason Fine passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns for North Texas (9-5), but was intercepted twice and fumbled twice. He finished with Mean Green single-season records of 4,052 yards and 31 TDs passing. Conner Manning threw for 276 yards and a touchdown to lead Georgia State to a winning record with the first bowl victory in the school’s eight-year football history in Orlando, Fla. Manning threw a 42-yard touchdown pass pass to Roger Carter, Demarcus Kirk scored on a 26-yard run, and Kyler Neal finished a 16-play drive consuming nine minutes of the fourth quarter with a 1-yard scoring run that put Georgia State (7-5) up 27-10. Mike White had TD passes of 54 and 4 yards to Deon Yelder and finished with 351 yards for Western Kentucky (6-7). Yelder had five receptions for 112 yards. Keion Davis rushed for 141 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run, and Marshall had two other big scoring plays in a 31-28 victory over Colorado State in Albuquerque. Chase Litton threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Thundering Herd (8-5) hold off the Rams (7-6). Tyre Brady had 165 yards receiving and gave the Thundering Herd the lead in the second quarter with a 76-yard touchdown reception. Tyler King added a 90-yard rushing touchdown. The Thundering Herd are 11-2 in bowl games — 5-0 under current head coach Doc Holliday. Nick Stevens threw for 320 yards and ran for two touchdowns for the Rams, but was sacked five times. Lamar Raynard scored on a 1-yard sneak with 38 seconds left and unbeaten North Carolina A&T won its second Celebration Bowl in three years in Atlanta. Cassius Winston scored 19 points, and No. 2 Michigan State went on a 12-2 run late in the second half to hold off Oakland 86-73 on Saturday in Detroit. Kendrick Nunn scored 32 points for the upset-minded Golden Grizzlies, who stayed right with the talented Spartans (10-1) until the final minutes. Michigan State improved to 16-0 against Oakland, but only after the type of test the Spartans can expect again from underdogs down the road. Nick Ward had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Michigan State, which finished with a 45-30 edge on the boards and made enough outside shots to keep Oakland (6-5) at bay. It was tied at 66 before the decisive run by the Spartans.
Freshman Trae Young had 29 points and 10 assists, lifting Oklahoma to the upset road win. The nation’s leading scorer, Young had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first 9 minutes, pushing the Sooners (8-1) to a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman forward Brady Manek scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half for Oklahoma. Darral Willis led the Shockers (8-2) with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Landry Shamet had 17 points.
Dewan Huell scored 15 points and Lonnie Walker IV had 13, helping unbeaten Miami to the road win. The Hurricanes (9-0) ripped off 13 of the game’s first 15 points on their way to a 21-point lead. The scrappy Colonials pulled within seven with 13:53 remaining, but the rally fizzled down the stretch. Playing its first game since Dec. 5, Miami shot 41 percent from the field, including a 5-for-21 day from beyond the arc. Jair Bolden had 13 points for the Colonials (5-6), who shot 18.5 percent (5 for 27) from the field in the first half and finished at 30.2 percent overall.
Kevin Knox scored 21 points, and Kentucky outlasted Virginia Tech 93-86 for its most significant victory this season at home. Kentucky (9-1) made a season-high 11 3-pointers in its seventh straight win. Hamidou Diallo had 20 points for the Wildcats, and Quade Green added 17 points while wearing shaded protective glasses after injuring his eye last week against Monmouth. Ahmed Hill scored 20 points and Justin Robinson had 19 for Virginia Tech (8-2), which entered the game leading the nation in scoring (96.2 points). The Hokies shot 58 percent, but committed 19 turnovers leading to 36 Kentucky points.
Trevon Bluiett’s jumper with 6.3 seconds left completed Xavier’s rally from a 22-point second-half deficit. The Musketeers (10-1) overcame their worst shooting performance of the season, making clutch shots at the end to pull it out. Bluiett missed 11 straight shots and was only 7 of 22 from the field for 18 points, but made the one that mattered. ETSU (6-4) led 51-29 with 14:24 to go, but couldn’t hold off the Musketeers.
Corey Sanders scored eight of his season-high 22 points during Rutgers’ game-ending 17-2 run, leading the Scarlet Knights to their biggest victory since Steve Pikiell became coach last year. Freshman Geo Baker added 17 and Deshawn Freeman had 12 points and 16 rebounds as the Scarlet Knights (10-3) beat a ranked team for the first time since defeating No. 4 Wisconsin in January 2015. Myles Powell had 18 points for the Pirates (92), who had won five in a row. Desi Rodriguez added 15 points and Angel Delgado had 21 rebounds. Seton Hall did not make another field goal after Powell hit a jumper with 6:07 to play for a 63-54 lead.
Nigel Johnson scored 22 points and Devon Hall had a career-high 20, helping Virginia to the victory. Kyle Guy added 19 points for the Cavaliers (9-1), who were playing for the first time since losing 68-61 to No. 11 West Virginia on Dec. 5. The Wildcats (4-4), also playing for the first time in 11 days, got 20 points from Peyton Aldridge and 12 from Oskar Michelsen.
Carsen Edwards scored 18 points, Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas had 15 apiece, and Purdue got its second win in the seven-year history of the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. The Boilermakers (11-2) never trailed on the way to their first win in the series in nearly two decades. Purdue had lost five in a row to Butler since its previous victory over the Bulldogs on Dec. 19, 1998. Kelan Martin had 17 points for the Bulldogs (8-3), who went into the annual classic in Indianapolis with a five-game winning streak. Ryan Cline’s 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in the first period gave Purdue a 35-19 halftime lead.
Juwan Morgan scored 19 of his career-high 34 points in the last 8 1/2 minutes, helping Indiana erase an eight-point deficit and beat Notre Dame in overtime. Indiana coach Archie Miller got his biggest win of his first season with the Hoosiers (6-5) in his first appearance at the Crossroads Classic, an annual doubleheader between the state’s four highest profile teams.