PERFECTION
Wichita St. still unbeaten headed into tourney season
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State will carry its pursuit of perfection into the Missouri Valley tournament.
Cleanthony Early scored 19 points, Ron Baker added 13 and the second-ranked Shockers rolled to a 68-45 victory over Missouri State on Saturday, easily putting away a team that had given them fits this season.
Relying on the same stubborn defense that carried it on last year’s improbable March run, Wichita State (31-0, 18-0) became the first team since Saint Joseph’s in 2004 to enter its league tournament unbeaten. The Shockers will have a first-round bye in St. Louis next week.
Missouri State (19-11, 9-9) had them in trouble when they met Jan. 11 in Springfield, Mo., but the Bears blew a 19-point second-half lead and ultimately lost 72-69 in overtime.
They never came close to making it a game Saturday, trailing by doubledigits in the opening minutes. ——— No. 1 Florida 79,
LSU 61 GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dorian Finney-Smith scored 16 points, and top-ranked Florida used a season-high 13 3-pointers to extend its schoolrecord winning streak to 21 games. ——— No. 12 Virginia 76, No. 4 Syracuse 56 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Malcolm Brogdon scored eight of his 19 points during a decisive second-half run and No. 12 Virginia clinched the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. ——— No. 21 Memphis 72, No. 7 Louisville 66 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the Tigers swept the season series from the Cardinals.
No. 21 Memphis (22-7, 11-5 American Athletic Conference) trailed 6557 with 4:45 left when Michael Dixon Jr. scored six straight, jumpstarting the Tigers who scored 15 of the final 16 points.
No. 7 Louisville (24-5, 13-3) went cold after taking its biggest lead.
The Cardinals didn’t score again until Chris Jones hit a free throw with 40.3 seconds to go.
Montrezl Harrell scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Russ Smith scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half. Luke Hancock had 11.
Dixon finished with 18, and Geron Johnson scored 15 points.
Austin Nichols added 14, and Crawford finished with 12 points, going 4 for 5 from beyond the arc. ———
Xavier 75, No. 9 Creighton 69 CINCINNATI — Justin Martin had 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds on Saturday, and Xavier led most of the way in front of the largest crowd in the 14-year history of the Musketeers’ arena. ———
UConn 51, No. 11 Cincinnati 45 HARTFORD, Conn. — Shabazz Napier scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead UConn. ———
Illinois 53, No. 18 Mich. St. 46 EAST LANSING, Mich. — Tracy Abrams scored 12 points, leading Illinois past slumping Michigan State. ——— No. 19 UNC 60,
Va. Tech 56 BLACKSBURG, Va. — James Michael McAdoo scored 15 points to lead No. 19 North Carolina to its 11th straight victory.
McAdoo hit 6 of 9 from the floor for the Tar Heels (22-7, 12-4), who started Atlantic Coast Conference play 1-4 and have not lost since.
The Tar Heels haven’t won this many games in a row since opening the 2008-09 season with 13 straight victories.