Spartans avoid upset against Iowa
Miles Bridges had 25 points and a crucial steal with five seconds left to help No. 4 Michigan State slip past Iowa 96-93 on Tuesday night for its seventh straight win.
Nick Ward added 17 points for the Spartans (233, 11-2 Big Ten), who got a scare from the Hawkeyes in what was supposed to be a tune-up for Saturday’s game against No. 3 Purdue.
“I hope y’all enjoyed the offensive fireworks, because I don’t think either team played any defense,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said of a game in which both teams shot over 50 percent.
After trailing by as much as eight, Bridges hit a pair of free throws to give Michigan State a 92-91 lead with 1:02 left. He then hit two more from the line to make it a 3-point game.
Tyler Cook scored 26 points for Iowa (12-14, 3-10). NO. 10 KANSAS 71, TCU 64 >> Devonte’ Graham scored 24 points and Udoka Azubuike added 16 for the Jayhawks, who slipped past the Horned Frogs.
Foul trouble limited Azubuike to just seven minutes on the court in the first half for Kansas (19-5, 8-3 Big 12), but the rest allowed him to play 18 in the second, and he finished with a gamehigh 11 rebounds.
Kouat Noi led TCU (168, 4-7) with 17 points. Vlad Brodzianksy had 15 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 5 XAVIER 98, BUTLER 93 (OT) >> Trevon Bluiett scored 17 of his 26 points in the final 14 minutes of regulation and overtime to help the Musketeers rally and beat the Bulldogs.
Kerem Kanter added 22 points, including the goahead basket with 2:56 left in overtime that started the decisive 5-0 run for Xavier (22-3, 10-2 Big East), which has won seven in a row.
Kelan Martin had 34 points and Sean McDermott finished with 17 to lead Butler (17-8, 7-5).
NO. 6 CINCINNATI 77, CENTRAL FLORIDA 40 >> Kyle Washington scored 13 points and Gary Clark added 12 for the Bearcats, who beat the Knights for their 15th straight win.
Cincinnati (22-2, 11-0 American Athletic) also extended the nation’s longest active home-court winning streak to 39 games.
UCF (14-9, 5-6) went more than 12 minutes without scoring in the first half. NO. 15 TENNESSEE 61, NO. 24 KENTUCKY 59 >> Lamonte Turner scored 16 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining, to help the Volunteers edge the Wildcats for its sixth consecutive victory.
It was only the fifth win for Tennessee (18-5, 8-3 SEC) at Rupp Arena and first since 2006.
Quade Green and Gilgeous-Alexander each had 15 points for Kentucky (177, 6-5).
NORTHWESTERN 61, NO. 20 MICHIGAN 52 >> Bryant McIntosh tied a season high with 24 points to help the Wildcats upset the Wolverines.
McIntosh scored 14 in the second half to spark Northwestern (15-10, 6-6 Big Ten) to its fourth win in five games.
Moe Wagner led the Wolverines (19-7, 8-5) with 20 points and nine rebounds, but Michigan hit just 5 of 20 shots in the second half while missing 9 of 10 3-pointers.
LANDALE ON WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST >> Jock Landale of Saint Mary’s is one of the top 20 front-runners for the John R. Wooden Award. Landale has led the No. 11 Gaels (23-2) to the highest ranking in school history, and they are riding a school-record 18-game winning streak.
Landale leads the West Coast Conference in points per game (22.8) and rebounds (10.8).