Fox comes through for Kentucky
Point guard hits clutch late baskets as stars struggle
Malik Monk, Kentucky’s leading scorer, was struggling and so was star guard Isaiah Briscoe. So when the Wildcats needed some clutch baskets late, coach John Calipari turned to freshman point guard De’Aaron Fox and gave him some simple instructions.
“We just said, ‘Here you go De’Aaron, go and do your thing,’ ” Calipari said.
Fox responded with two clutch baskets on drives to the basket in the final minutes to thwart a final Mississippi State rally and lead the fifth-ranked Wildcats over the Bulldogs 88-81 on Tuesday night in Starkville, Mississippi.
Fox finished with 21 points while Monk had 14. Wenyen Gabriel and Derek Willis both scored 13 points and Briscoe added 12.
“A lot of teams have a go-to person, but we don’t have that right now,” Fox said. “So whoever has the hot hand that game is the one that does it.”
Kentucky (16-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) looked like it would cruise to the win after building a 66-49 lead midway through the second half, but Mississippi State responded with 13 straight points to make things interesting down the stretch.
Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2) was led by freshman Lamar Peters, who scored a career-high 25 points. Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 15 points and Mario Kegler added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Mississippi State shot 32 of 59 (54.2 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs were hurt by 19 turnovers.
Baylor 74, Texas 64: Johnathan Motley set career highs with 32 points and 20 rebounds for the sixth-ranked Bears. Nuni Omot, the junior college transfer playing in only his eighth game, had a seasonhigh 14 points for the Bears (17-1, 5-1 Big 12). Texas (711, 1-5) was led by Jarrett Allen’s 17 points.
Wisconsin 68, Michigan 64: Bronson Koenig scored 16 points, 10 in a key run that turned the game around, and the No. 17 Badgers survived a scare in Madison. Michigan (12-7, 2-4 Big Ten) seemed to have Wisconsin (15-3, 4-1) on the ropes at one point in the second half. The Wolverines went on a 17-2 run that put them up 38-30 then Koenig went to work. Zak Showalter got the run started with a tough putback before Koenig reeled off the next 10 points.
Purdue 91, Illinois 68: Center Isaac Haas had 24 points and six rebounds, and power forward Caleb Swanigan added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the No. 21 Boilermakers. The Boilermakers (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) led by as many as 27. Purdue placed five players in double figures, also getting 14 from freshman guard Carsen Edwards, 11 from forward Vince Edwards — no relation — and 10 from point guard P.J. Thompson.
Maverick Morgan led Illinois (12-7, 2-4) with 15 points.
Women
UConn 98, Tulsa 58: Katie Lou Samuelson scored a career-high 34 points as the top-ranked Huskies won their 92nd consecutive game, including 33 straight on the road. Napheesa Collier had 21 points and 13 rebounds for UConn (17-0, 5-0 American Athletic Conference).