UALR runs past Tulsa at home, 72-62
LITTLE ROCK — Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 16 points as the University of Arkansas Little Rock won its third straight, outpacing Tulsa 72-62 on Saturday.
Johnson was 5 of 12 from the field and four of five from the line for the Trojans (6-2). Lis Shoshi added 15 points and eight rebounds and Oliver Black chipped in nine points off the bench.
Tulsa jumped to a 27-18 lead midway through the first period but an Andre Jones dunk and a Johnson three-pointer contributed to a 13-0 run that put the Trojans on top 31-27 with 4:55 to go before the break. Shoshi hit a three with four seconds left to make it 45-31 at intermission.
Tulsa got as close as 56-52 midway through the second period but UALR soon recovered its double-digit advantage.
Jaleel Wheeler scored a career-best 17 points with four assists and six rebounds for the Golden Hurricane (3-3).
No. 2 Villanova 88 St. Joseph’s 57
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Josh Hart had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double to lead Villanova.
Hart, the preseason Big East player of the year, continued to show why he is among the best players in the nation. Hart hit three threes and made 6 of 10 shots from the field overall.
Top-ranked Kentucky’s loss to UCLA on Saturday means the defending national champion Wildcats should slide into the top spot in the next AP Top 25 poll.
Villanova (8-0) won its 16th-straight Big 5 game against Philly-based teams La Salle, Penn, Drexel, Temple and the Hawks.
Kris Jenkins scored 20 points for the Wildcats.
No. 4 Kansas 89, Stanford 74
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Frank Mason III scored 20 points and Devonte Graham delivered an early three-point barrage and finished with 15 for Kansas.
Josh Jackson and Svi Mykhailiuk added 15 points apiece for the Jayhawks (7-1), who overcame a monster game from the Cardinal’s Reid Travis to win their 44th straight at Allen Fieldhouse.
Travis had a career-best 29 points and nine rebounds for Stanford (6-3), doing most of his damage at the free-throw line. The career 54 percent free-throw shooter was 19 of 22, breaking the school record for makes set by Todd Lichti against UC Santa Barbara during the 1987-88 season.
No. 5 Duke 94, Maine 55
DURHAM, N.C. — Luke Kennard scored a career-best 35 points and freshman Jayson Tatum finished with 10 points in his long-awaited debut for Duke.
Amile Jefferson added a career-high 20 points for the Blue Devils (8-1), who played without a true point guard.
Preseason All-America Grayson Allen and freshman Frank Jackson — their starting backcourt for the past four games — were held out. Allen has been dealing with a lingering toe injury, while Jackson has not had any publicly disclosed injuries.
Even without those two, the Blue Devils had plenty of offensive punch, shooting 60 percent in routing the struggling Black Bears (2-6). Ilker Er scored all 20 of his points in the first half for Maine.
No. 25 West Virginia 66 No. 6 Virginia 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Esa Ahmad hit a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1:28 remaining and No. 25 West Virginia closed the game on an 11-2 run to end Virginia’s 24-game home winning streak.
Jevon Carter led West Virginia (6-1) with 11 points and Nathan Adrian had 10.
Darius Thompson scored 14 points to lead Virginia (7-1), but the Cavaliers never got into any kind of rhythm offensively. West Virginia had a lot of do with that, forcing 14 turnovers and converting them into 18 points. Virginia scored just five points off eight Mountaineers miscues.
Ahmad’s three-pointer was just the fourth of the game for West Virginia in 15 tries, but Tarik Phillip followed a miss by Virginia with an inside basket, making it 60-55, and Virginia ran out of time as the Mountaineers finished it off at the free throw line. They were 16 for 19 from the stripe overall.
No. 9 Baylor 76 No. 7 Xavier 61
WACO, Texas — Manu Lecomte scored 24 points and Baylor took over in the second half.
Johnathan Motley added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bears (8-0), who have beaten three Top 10 teams in the same season for first time.
Xavier (7-1) was up 51-50 when Edmond Sumner, who had 19 points, hit a three-pointer with 11:15 to play. The Musketeers then went almost 9 minutes before making another field goal.
Lecomte, the former Miami transfer, put Baylor ahead to stay with two free throws. By time he made a jumper with 3:36 left, it capped a 21-2 run to put the Bears up 71-53.
Trevon Blueitt, who led the Musketeers with 23 points, made a three-pointer with 2:33 for their first basket since their last lead.
No. 8 Gonzaga 69 No. 16 Arizona 62
LOS ANGELES — Przemek Karnowski scored 18 points and Gonzaga defeated Arizona in the inaugural Hoophall LA doubleheader at Staples Center.
Josh Perkins added 16 points for the Zags (8-0), who beat the Wildcats (6-2) for the first time since 2011 after losing six of the previous seven matchups.
Arizona freshman Rawle Alkins scored 16 points and 7-foot freshman Lauri Markkanen had 14 points and eight rebounds. Dusan Ristic, a fellow 7-footer, added 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Kobi Simmons, who was averaging 13.0 points, shot 1 of 9 and finished with two points.
No. 15 Purdue 90 Morehead State 56
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Freshman guard Carsen Edwards scored 16 points, and Purdue made 11 three-pointers in the first half.
The Boilermakers (6-2), coming off a Wednesday loss at No. 14 Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, used a 15-0 firsthalf run to stretch a 10-9 lead to 25-9, and Purdue continued to pull away.
Dakota Mathias added 14 points, and Caleb Swanigan and P.J. Thompson had 13 each for Purdue.
Miguel Dicent had 11 points for Morehead State (2-5), which played without coach Sean Woods, who has been suspended with pay since Nov. 22, when the university launched an official investigation into Woods’ treatment of players.
No. 17 Wisconsin 90 Oklahoma 70
MADISON, Wis. — Nigel Hayes scored 28 points for Wisconsin.
The Badgers (7-2) trailed Oklahoma (52) the entire first half, but once they found their touch from outside the three-point line, they put the game away.
After hitting just 4 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half, the Badgers connected on 8 of 14 in the second. That included three in their decisive run.
Rashard Odomes put Oklahoma up 58-57 on a 12-footer before Bronson Koenig answered with a 3 that started a 20-3 run.
Koenig, Ethan Happ and D’Mitrik Trice all scored 16 points.
Odomes led Oklahoma with 17 points.
No. 18 Butler 82, UCA 58
INDIANAPOLIS — Kelan Martin finished with 30 points and six rebounds, and Tyler Wideman added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Butler.
The Bulldogs (8-0) scored 24 points off 16 Central Arkansas turnovers. The Bulldogs scored nearly half their points down low, finishing with 32 in the paint. Butler capitalized on 10 offensive rebounds by finishing the game with 16 second-chance points.
The Bulldogs’ largest lead was 25 points with 4:58 left to play. Butler’s offense relied on ball movement as 22 of its 31 field goals came by way of an assist.
Jordan Howard led Central Arkansas (1-7) with 20 points and Derreck Brooks finished with 15.
Providence 63 No. 21 Rhode Island 60
PROVIDENCE, R.I. Jalen Lindsey scored nine of his 13 points in the second half and Providence handed Rhode Island its third loss in four games.
Kyron Cartwright had 19 points and eight assists and Rodney Bullock scored 17 points for the Friars, who beat their crossstate rival for the seventh-straight time. Providence (6-2) trailed 47-40 midway through the second half when Lindsey hit 3-pointer and followed with two free throws during a 7-0 run to tie it.
Hassan Martin had 14 points and 17 rebounds for Rhode Island (5-3).
No. 22 Syracuse 77 North Florida 71
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Andrew White scored a season-high 26 points and Frank Howard had 10 points, a career-high 13 assists and just two turnovers to lead Syracuse.
Freshman Tyus Battle, inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season, had a career-high 19 points, 16 in the second half. Dajuan Coleman had a career-high 15 points, including five down the stretch, and six rebounds for the Orange (5-2) who broke a two-game losing streak.
White, a fifth-year transfer from Nebraska, hit 7 of 13 from beyond the 3-point line. Battle was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Dallas Moore led the Ospreys (3-7) with 30 points, 22 in the second half.