ASU continues charge by upsetting Oregon
Alonzo Verge Jr. scored 26 points, Rob Edwards added 24, and Arizona State beat No. 14 Oregon 77-72 on Thursday night for its sixth straight victory.
The Sun Devils ( 188, 9- 4 Pac-12) continued their unexpected charge up the conference standings following a mediocre January. Every team in the Pac-12 has lost at least four league games.
Oregon (20-7, 9-5) bumbled its way through a big chunk of the game, clanking errant 3-pointers and giving up turnovers. But the Ducks used an 11- 0 run to it at 54 with 7:17 left.
Arizona State responded with the next six points, which included a 3-pointer from Edwards, and never trailed again.
Payton Pritchard had 18 points for Oregon but fouled out with about two minutes left. HAWS’ 28 POINTS HELP NO. 23 BYU DOWN SANTA CLARA » TJ Haws went 12 for 12 from the free throw line, scored 28 points and had nine assists to lead No. 23 BYU to an 85-75 win over Santa Clara in Provo, Utah.
Josip Vrankic led the Broncos (18-10, 5- 8 WCC) with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Santa Clara lost its fourth straight.
Yoeli Childs added 22 points and 11 rebounds for BYU (22-7, 11-3) in its seventh consecutive win. STANFORD SNAPS SKID WITH WIN OVER WASHINGTON » Oscar da Silva scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead visiting Stanford past Washington 72- 64. Tyrell Terry added 14 points for the Cardinal (17- 9, 6-7 Pac-12), which snapped a four-game losing streak. The struggles continue for the Huskies (12-15, 2-12), who lost their ninth straight. ARIZONA ROLLS PAST OREGON STATE » Josh Green scored 18 points, and Nico Mannion scored 12 of his 16 in the second half to help No. 24 Arizona defeat Oregon State 89- 63 at home. Arizona won for the sixth time in seven games.
The Wildcats (19-7 overall, 9- 4 in Pac-12) made 10 more free throws than the Beavers (15-11, 5- 9), with help from four technical fouls against Oregon State.
The Beavers lost leading scorer Tres Tinkle to his second technical foul with 13:17 remaining and Arizona up 52- 40.
NO. 18 COLORADO HOLDS OFF USC » McKinley Wright IV had 15 points, including a floater in the lane in the final minutes, to help No. 18 Colorado hold off USC 7066 at home. Colorado (216, 10- 4 Pac-12 Conference) leads the conference by a game. Colorado has never won the Pac-12 regular-season title but took the 2012 conference tournament in coach Tad Boyle’s second season.
Onyeka Okongwu had 21 points,for the Trojans. They lost for the fourth time in six games.
IOWA ROUTS OHIO STATE » Luka Garza scored 24 points, and No. 20 Iowa (19- 8, 10- 6 Big Ten) got strong contributions from its bench in a 85-76 win over No. 25 Ohio State at home. It was Garza’s 12th consecutive game of 20 points or more in Big Ten play, the longest streak for an Iowa player in 49 seasons and the most by any conference player in the last 20 years.
Ohio State (17-9, 7-8) was within nine points on three occasions early in the second half before Iowa went on an 18-8 run to ice the game.
MICHIGAN STATE SHAKES OFF NEBRASKA » Cassius Winston scored 23 points, and Michigan State (189, 10- 6 Big Ten) beat Nebraska 86- 65, handing the Cornhuskers ( 7-19, 2-13) their 11th consecutive loss.
Women
NO. 1 GAMECOCKS WIN 20TH STRAIGHT » Aliyah Boston had 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks as No. 1 South Carolina (261, 13- 0 Southeastern Conference) held off pesky LSU (18-7, 8-5) 63- 48 for its 20th straight victory.