Mathis has hot hand, carries No. 14 Rutgers past Purdue
Montez Mathis had a career-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half, and No. 14 Rutgers (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) beat Purdue 81-76 at home on Tuesday night without leading scorer Ron Harper Jr.
Harper tweaked his ankle in practice and was scratched an hour before tipoff. He has been among the top players in the conference and small forwards in the nation, shooting 56.4%, including 50% from beyond the arc for 23.4 points per game along with 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Geo Baker, who missed three games after spraining his ankle early in the season- opener, had 19 points six rebounds and four assists for Rutgers, while Jacob Young had 13 points and four assists.
Purdue (7- 4, 2-2 Big Ten) had 42 points in the paint to the Scarlet Knights’ 28.
NO. 2 BAYLOR 93, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 56 >> MaCio Teague scored 20 points on 9- of-13 shooting, preseason AP All- America guard Jared Butler had 17 points, and the Bears (7- 0) remained undefeated.
CLEMSON 77, NO. 18 FLORIDA STATE 67 >> Guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes combined for 24 secondhalf points as the Tigers (7-1, 1-1 ACC) knocked off the visiting Seminoles (52, 1-1).
USC 86, SANTA CLARA 63 >> Evan Mobley had 17 points and seven rebounds, and the Trojans (5-1), playing their first game in nearly three weeks, routed the visiting Broncos (6-2). Tahj Eaddy, a graduate transfer from Santa Clara, added 13 points for the Trojans.
Josip Vrankica nd Christian Carlyle scored 13 points apiece for Santa Clara, which has lost two consecutive games after a 6- 0 start.
AR I ZONA SE LF- IMPOSE S 1-YEAR POSTSEASON BAN >> The Arizona men’s basketball program has selfimposed a one-year postseason ban related to its long-running NCAA rules infractions case.
Arizona was accused of nine counts of misconduct, including five Level I violations, in a Notice of Allegations sent by the NCAA in October. The violations include a lack of institutional control and failure to monitor by the university, and lack of head coach control by coach Sean Miller. COVID CONCERNS:
• COVID-19 issues in Arizona State’s men’s basketball program have led to the postponement of Thursday’s game at Washington State. The schools will work with the Pac-12 to reschedule the game.
Women
NO. 4 UCONN 75, NO. 18 DEPAUL 52 >> Olivia NelsonOdoda had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the host Huskies (6- 0, 5- 0 Big East). Darrione Rogers had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead DePaul (53, 2-1), which averaged better than 88 points over its first seven games.
COVID CONCERNS:
• The Tennessee Lady Vols have paused team activities and postponed their next two games because of a positive COVID-19 test, contact tracing and the quarantining of players.
The Lady Vols (6-1) had been scheduled to play at No. 9 Texas A&M on Thursday and host No. 13 Kentucky on Sunday. Both games now have been postponed.
• SMU has decided not to play the remainder of its 2020-21 season, with players opting out because of health and safety concerns. The team was 0- 6 overall after losing its first two AAC games.