Northwestern cruises
EVANSTON, Ill. — Chase Audige scored 24 points and Northwestern beat Minnesota 81-61 on Saturday for the Wildcats’ third straight win.
Their 15th win matched last season’s total for the Wildcats (15-5, 6-3) and moved them into a tie for second place in the Big Ten with Rutgers.
Audige shot 9 of 14 with three 3-pointers. Albany native Boo Buie had 21 points with eight assists. Robbie Beran added 14 points.
Jason Battle scored 20 points to lead the Golden Gophers (7-13, 1-9), who have lost five straight. Ta’Lon Cooper added 12 points. Minnesota was without leading scorer and rebounder Dawson Garcia for the second straight game. Garcia has a bone bruise in his right foot. Pharrel Payne returned from concussion protocol and started after missing Wednesday’s loss to Indiana.
Oklahoma 93, Alabama 69: Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama. Jalen Hill added a careerhigh 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Houston 75, Cincinnati 69: Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and No. 3 Houston rallied from an 11-point second -half deficit to defeat Cincinnati. Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field.
Tennessee 82, Texas 71: Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead No. 4 Tennessee over No. 10 Texas.
Kansas State 64, Florida 50:
Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the No. 5 Wildcats beat Florida.
Arizona 95, Washington 72:
Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 6 Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away.
Mississippi State 81, TCU 74 (OT):
Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory over No. 11 TCU. Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs’ bench.
Missouri 78, Iowa State 61: Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D’Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri upset No. 12 Iowa State. Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Creighton 84, Xavier 67: Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton’s four other starters finished in doublefigures and the Bluejays toppled No. 13 Xavier for their fourth straight Big East win. Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
West Virginia 80, Auburn 77: Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from No. 15 Auburn to beat the Tigers. The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month and now head into the teeth of the Big 12 schedule that will determine an NCAA Tournament berth. Marquette 89, DePaul 69: David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had a double-double and No. 16 Marquette defeated DePaul.
Baylor 67, Arkansas 64: Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and No. 17 Baylor beat Arkansas. Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left. Hofstra 85, College of Charleston
81: Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended No. 18 College of Charleston’s 20-game win streak. The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11. Pittsburgh 71, Miami 68: Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past No. 20 Miami. The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume. Florida Atlantic 70, Western Kentucky 63: Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and No. 21 Florida Atlantic defeated Western Kentucky to remain undefeated at home. The victory extended FAU’s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation’s longest. The Owls’ 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11.
Clemson 82, Florida State 81:
Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help No. 24 Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Women
Iowa 80, Nebraska 76: Caitlin Clark had 33 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 10 Iowa held off Nebraska. It was the 10th double-double of the season for Clark, who came into the game second in the nation in scoring at 26.8 points per game. She just missed a tripledouble, finishing with nine assists.
Gonzaga 67, Pepperdine 49:
Brynn Maxwell, the nation’s leading 3-point shooter, made six straight behind the arc and scored a seasonhigh 26 points to lead No. 17 Gonzaga to a win over Pepperdine, the Bulldogs’ 13th straight victory. Maxwell, who has made a 3 in every game this season after transferring from Utah, had just five points in the first half when Gonzaga trailed 28-26.
Iowa State 86, Oklahoma 78:
Ashley Joens scored 32 points to lead No. 18 Iowa State to a win over No. 14 Oklahoma, overshadowing the Sooners’ Taylor Robertson becoming the Division I leader in 3-pointers. Robertson’s first basket of the game, at 4:18 of the first quarter, moved her past Kelsey Mitchell, who had 497 3s when she finished at Ohio State in 2018. Taylor had 500 3s by the end of the first quarter and finished 6-of-8 behind the arc and scored 25 points. Robertson set the record in 137 games; two fewer than Mitchell. Robertson’s last game without a 3 came on Feb. 9, 2021 against Iowa State. Middle Tennessee St. 67, Florida
International 41: Savannah Wheeler scored 18 points and No. 24 Middle Tennessee State ran its winning streak to 16 games.