Cooper, Mack lead way as South Carolina surprises No. 5 Tennessee
Ta’lon Cooper hit a critical 3-pointer with 40 seconds left and scored 18 points, and B.J. Mack added 16 points to lead South Carolina to a 63-59 victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night.
Myles Stute scored 13 points for the Gamecocks (18-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference), who have beaten the conference’s two highest-ranked teams. They knocked off No. 10 Kentucky on Jan. 23.
Dalton Knecht scored 12 points in the final three minutes and finished with 31 points, and Santiago Vescovi added 10 points for the Volunteers (15-5, 5-2), who had won four straight games and 11 of their last 12 entering the game.
South Carolina led by three points with 30 seconds left when Stute hit two free throws. Knecht hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds remaining that cut the Tennessee deficit to two points. Stute hit two more free throws with 4 seconds left to seal the win.
GEORGIA TECH 74, NORTH CAROLINA 73
Naithan George scored a go-ahead layup with 7.7 seconds remaining and Georgia Tech beat No. 3 North Carolina to end the Tar Heels’ 10-game winning streak.
RJ Davis, who scored a game-high 28 points for North Carolina (17-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), won the race to a loose ball following a missed jumper by George and scored on a layup with 34 seconds remaining for a 73-72 lead.
Following a Georgia
NO.
3
Tech timeout, George drove for the go-ahead layup.
Georgia Tech (10-11, 3-7) ended a three-game losing streak.
NO. 9 MARQUETTE VILLANOVA 80
Tyler Kolek hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points to lead No. 9 Marquette to its fifth straight win, this time over Villanova.
Kolek rallied the Golden Eagles (16-5, 7-3 Big East) after they squandered a 20-point lead. With the Wildcats on fumes after a 34-10 run gave them the lead, Kolek connected on four 3s that sparked the Golden Eagles
85,
NO. 14 ILLINOIS
STATE 75
Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. each had 23 points and Ty Rodgers had 13 as No. 14 Illinois beat Ohio State.
Illinois (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) held a 41-34 lead at the break after going 7-of-10 in the final 6:32 of the first half. Ohio State went scoreless in final 2:16 of that span.
The Fighting Illini stretched their lead to 16 points in the second half.
Rodgers posted the second double-double of his career adding 10 rebounds.
87, OHIO
NO. 25 TCU 85, NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 78
Trevian Tennyson scored 23 points, Micah Peavy added 18 against his former team and 25th-ranked TCU beat Big 12-leading and No. 15 Texas Tech.
Tennyson made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 17:21 left and the Horned Frogs, who had trailed by 11 points before halftime, were ahead to stay. They led 63-51 when the twotime transfer guard from nearby Arlington made another lone-range shot to cap a 10-0 run.
NO. 21 DAYTON 83, GEORGE WASHINGTON 61
Daron Holmes II had 25 points and 12 rebounds as No. 21 Dayton bounced back from its first loss in over two months to rout George Washington.
Nate Santos and Koby Brea each added 17 for the Flyers (16-3, 6-1 Atlantic 10), whose five-point loss to Richmond last Saturday ended a 13-game win streak and dropped them five spots in the AP Top 25.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 73, KANSAS STATE 53
Jalon Moore scored 23 points, Javian Mccollum added 21, and No. 23 Oklahoma pulled away from Kansas State down the stretch for a victory that ended the Sooners’ twogame slide.
Sam Godwin added
11 points and Rivaldo Soares had 10 for Oklahoma (265, 4-4 Big 12), which blew most of a 17-point first-half lead before using a 12-1 run over the closing minutes to win its final scheduled trip to Bramlage Coliseum.
Women
NO. 23 WEST VIRGINIA 84, UCF 43
JJ Quinerly scored 16 of her 26 points in the first half and No. 23 West Virginia routed UCF for its fifth straight win.
Quinerly, who entered as the fourth-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference, made 6 of 8 from the floor in the first half and finished 10-for-14 shooting overall with a pair of 3-pointers. Lauren Fields made three from long range and scored 15 for West Virginia (18-2, 7-2 Big 12). Jordan Harrison chipped in with 10 points and Kyah Watson grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points, three assists, three steals and a block.