Unbeaten Baylor women finish soft part of schedule with rout
No. 24 Houston men rally past LSU; Boise State, SDSU win
WACO, Texas — Baylor can focus on the big names and long break now that most of the overmatched nonconference foes are out of the way.
Kalani Brown scored 21 points, Juicy Landrum added 14 and the Lady Bears prepped for No. 11 Stanford by rolling to a 96-58 victory over Morehead State on Wednesday.
Third-ranked Baylor (8-0) travels to face the Cardinal on Saturday before a 15-day break. After the Lady Bears host Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Dec. 31, top-ranked UConn will be at Waco on Jan. 3.
“It’s good for our young players to get that type of competition and atmosphere so nobody is a deer in the headlights come tournament time,” Brown said. “Stanford is going to want to play us harder. I know they’re going to be ready to play.”
Brown had 12 points in the first quarter to help Baylor build a 32-16 lead on the way to its 26th straight home victory and 43rd win in a row at the Ferrell Center against nonconference opponents. The Lady Bears are 299-22 in nonconference home games since coach Kim Mulkey’s debut in 2000-01.
It was Baylor’s first game since a 25-point win over No. 25 South Carolina on Dec. 2.
Miranda Crockett and Crystal Simmons-Cozar scored 14 points apiece for Morehead State (7-3), which absorbed its second loss of at least 30 points to a Top 25 opponent. The other was an 87-57 loss to No. 18 Kentucky. No. 7 OREGON 87, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 79: In Brookings, S.D., Satou Sabally scored a seasonhigh 27 points and had six rebounds, and Oregon used a big second half to beat South Dakota State.
Sabrina Ionescu had 26 points and eight rebounds to help the Ducks (8-1) avoid losing their second straight game. The then-No. 3 Ducks lost at Michigan State on Sunday. No. 13 MINNESOTA 84, COPPIN STATE 52: In Minneapolis, Kenisha Bell scored 20 points, Destiny Pitts made four 3-pointers and had 14 points and Minnesota improved to 10-0. Coppin State (0-8) has lost 17 straight.
Men
No. 11 TEXAS TECH 79, NORTHWESTERN
STATE 44: In Lubbock, Texas, Jarrett Culver scored 15 points, Tariq Owens had 14 points and eight rebounds as Texas Tech ran out to a 43-point halftime lead in a victory over Northwestern State (2-8).
The Red Raiders (9-0) matched their best start since 2008-09. All of the wins have been by double digits, and they had a 10-point lead less than five minutes into this rout. No. 24 HOUSTON 82, LSU 76: In Houston, Galen Robinson Jr. scored 18 points and Armoni Brooks added 13 as Houston overcame a 15-point deficit in to beat LSU.
Houston (9-0) extend its home winning streak to 22 games. BOISE STATE 67, ALABAMA STATE 57: In Boise, Idaho, Justinian Jessup scored 16 points, Alex Hobbs 15 and Boise State beat Alabama State. RJ Williams added 12 points and Zach Haney 11 for the Broncos (4-5). SAN DIEGO STATE 99, CAL STATE-DOMINGUEZ HILLS 46: In San Diego, Matt Mitchell scored 20 points to lead the Aztecs (6-4), who went on a 23-0 run in the first half to pull away.