Aggies get past Utah Valley
New Mexico State pulls away in closing minutes
EL PASO — After Utah Valley’s Trey Woodbury drained two free throws to tie the score 60-60 with 1:51 to go, New Mexico State answered with a 7-of-8 free throw performance down the stretch and coupled with some well-timed defensive intensity prevailed 67-60 in men’s basketball Saturday night.
The game was played at Eastwood High School, NMSU’s home away from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jabari Rice led the Aggies with a game-best 20 points.
Only road games remain on the rest of the Aggies’ regularseason schedule. Their next stop is Stephenville, Texas, for a twogame WAC swing at league newcomer Tarleton State.
Game 1 is scheduled for Friday night.
No. 1 GONZAGA 106, SAN DIEGO 69: In Spokane, Wash., Drew Timme scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, Jalen Suggs added 17 points and the Bulldogs (22-0, 13-0 West Coast) won their 26th straight game. Corey Kispert added 16 points to help Gonzaga to its 49th consecutive win at home.
Josh Parish led San Diego (3-8, 2-5) with 13 points. It was just the second game for the Toreros since losing to Gonzaga 90-62 on Jan. 28 due to a lengthy pause because of COVID-19 concerns. The Toreros have had 10 games postponed or canceled this season
No. 5 ILLINOIS 94, MINNESOTA 63: In Minneapolis, Ayo Dosunmu had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season, Kofi Cockburn scored 22 points in 24 minutes, and Illinois (15-5, 12-3) cruised to its seventh consecutive victory and stayed in second place in the bruising Big Ten with two weeks to go in league play. The Illini had a 31-8 edge in fast-break points, shot 56% from the floor and forced 18 turnovers by the Gophers (13-10, 6-10).
Freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. led Minnesota with 16 points and six rebounds, with his father, former NBA player Jamal Mashburn, watching in person for the first time.
DUKE 66, No. 7 VIRGINIA 65: In Durham, N.C., freshman Jaemyn Brakefield scored the goahead basket on a reverse layup with 1:58 left and Duke came up with a final-possession stop to upset Virginia.
Matthew Hurt scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (10-8, 8-6 ACC). Virginia is 15-5, 11-3.
No. 8 ALABAMA 82, VANDERBILT 78: In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Jaden Shackelford scored a season-high 27 points and Alabama (18-5, 13-1) beat Vanderbilt (6-12, 2-10) to move within a victory of clinching at least a share of its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title in 19 years.
Jahvon Quinerly made a late 3-pointer and a clinching free throw with 2 seconds left for the Crimson Tide. Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 points for Vanderbilt.
No. 9 OKLAHOMA 66, IOWA STATE 56: In Ames, Iowa, Austin Reaves scored 20 points to lead the Sooners (14-5, 9-4 Big 12) to a wild victory.
Iowa State (2-16, 0-13) trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before rallying to a 46-45 lead on Tre Jackson’s 3-pointer with 11:29 remaining. The Sooners then responded with a 16-4 run to grab the lead for good.
No. 10 VILLANOVA 68, UCONN 60: In Villanova, Pa., Collin Gillespie scored 20 points and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Villanova (14-3, 9-2 Big East) beat UConn. James Bouknight, in his second game back after missing eight due to elbow surgery, scored 21 points for the Huskies (10-6, 7-6).
No. 13 WEST VIRGINIA 84, No. 12 TEXAS 82: In Austin, Texas, Sean McNeil and West Virginia erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, then withstood a flurry of last-second misses to hold off Texas.
McNeil played only two minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls, and scored all 16 of his points after the break. Miles McBride had 17 for West Virginia (15-6, 8-4 Big 12).
Courtney Ramey scored a career-best 28 points for Texas (13-6, 7-5) .
No. 23 KANSAS 67, No. 15 TEXAS TECH 61: In Lawrence, Kan., Christian Braun hit a corner 3 with 24 seconds left, David McCormack scored 17 points and Kansas beat Texas Tech.
Ochai Agbaji had 14 points, and Jalen Wilson added 11 for the (17-7, 11-5 Big 12). Braun and Marcus Garrett each had 10 points.
Marcus Santos-Silva and Kevin McCullar each scored 12 points for Texas Tech (14-7, 6-6).
No. 16 FLORIDA STATE 79, PITTSBURGH 72: In Pittsburgh, Raiquan Gray had 16 points and eight rebounds and Florida State (13-3, 9-2 ACC) beat Pittsburgh for its third straight victory. Justin Champagnie had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Pitt (9-9, 5-8).
ARIZONA 81, No. 17 SOUTHERN CAL 72: In Los Angeles, James Akinjo scored 20 points and Arizona (15-8, 9-8 Pac-12) was better on the boards in ending the Pac12-leading Trojans’ (18-4, 12-3) seven-game winning streak.
Jordan Brown had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Azuolas Tubelis added 16 points and a careerhigh 15 rebounds for the Wildcats (15-8, 9-8 Pac-12), who gave coach Sean Miller his 300th victory in program history while avoiding their first three-game skid of the season.
Evan Mobley scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half for the Trojans (18-4, 12-3).
KENTUCKY 70, No. 19 TENNESSEE 55: In Knoxville, Tenn., Isaiah Jackson scored 16 points and Kentucky matched a season high with its third straight victory, beating Tennessee.
Davion Mintz hit all five of his 3-point shots in the first half and had 15 points for the Wildcats (8-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference). Victor Bailey scored 18 points for the Volunteers (15-6, 8-6).
No. 20 MISSOURI 93, SOUTH CAROLINA 78: In Columbia, S.C., Dru Smith scored 17 points, Mark Smith had 13 and Missouri (14-6, 7-6 SEC) beat South Carolina (5-11, 3-9) to end a three-game losing streak. The Tigers opened a 19-point lead in the first half and stayed comfortably in front the rest of the way.
AJ Lawson had 22 points for South Carolina, which has lost five in a row.
No. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 75, FRESNO STATE 57: In Fresno, Calif., Jordan Schakel scored 14 points — 12 on 3-pointers in the first half — and the Aztecs (174, 11-3 Mountain West) earned their eighth straight victory.
Matt Mitchell and Terrell Gomez scored 13 apiece for the Aztecs (17-4, 11-3 Mountain West), whose average margin of victory in the eight games is 26.4 points.
Deon Stroud scored 17 and Orlando Robinson 16 for Fresno State (9-9, 7-9).
Women
UTAH VALLEY 57, NEW MEXICO STATE 46: In Oren, Utah, Shay Fano’s 16 points and 10 rebounds led the Wolverines (8-5, 6-4 WAC) past the Aggies (5-10, 3-5) and to a split of the two-game series. NMSU had won 65-62 in Friday.
No Aggies scored in double figures in Saturday’s rematch. NMSU led 39-38 heading into the fourth period, but shot only 27 percent from the field in the final 10 minutes.
Up next for NMSU are games this Friday and Saturday vs. Tarleton State at El Paso’s Eastwood High.
No. 1 UCONN 83, XAVIER 32: In Cincinnati, Christyn Williams scored 22 points for the Huskies (18-1, 15-0 Big East), who breezed in their first visit to Xavier (4-7, 1-6). High-scoring Paige Bueckers and Olivia Nelson-Odoba each added 11 points.
UConn led 42-13 at halftime and Bueckers didn’t score after the break. She had seven assists.
No. 9 MARYLAND 94, MINNESOTA 62: In College Park, Md., Ashley Owusu scored 24 points and the Terrapins (16-2, 12-1 Big Ten) stifled Minnesota with its pressure scored 23 points off 13 turnovers. Kadi Sissoko led Minnesota (7-11, 6-10) with 16 points and seven rebounds.
No. 12 SOUTH FLORIDA 78, TULANE 69: In Tampa, Fla., Bethy Mununga scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as South Florida (13-1, 10-0 American Athletic Conference) pulled away from Tulane.
CREIGHTON 83, No. 19 DEPAUL 72: In Chicago, Emma Ronsiek scored 27 points, Temi Carda added 18 and eight assists and Creighton (7-8, 6-5 Big East ) became the first unranked team to beat DePaul (13-5, 10-3) this year.
No. 16 GONZAGA 69, SAN DIEGO 47: In San Diego, Jill Townsend scored 16 points, Kayleigh Truong added 13 and Gonzaga (193, 14-1 West Coast Conference) bounced back after its first loss in more than two months. Steph Gorman had 13 points for the Toreros (12-6, 9-4) and Myah Pace added 11.
No. 19 WEST VIRGINIA 81, TCU 78: In Morgantown, W.Va., Esmery Martinez scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and West Virginia (17-3, 11-3 Big 12) overcame a 38-point performance by Lauren Heard and held on to defeat TCU (8-11, 3-11).
No. 23 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 69, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 60: In Fargo, N.D., Tylee Irwin scored a career-high 31 points to help South Dakota State (19-2, 12-0 Summit League) complete the road sweep of the Bison (14-6, 9-5). Irwin’s boost in production came in the absence of Jackrabbits leading scorer Myah Selland (19.2 ppg) and fellow starter Tori Nelson (9.4). Both players left the game Friday night with apparent knee injuries.
No. 24 NORTHWESTERN 67, WISCONSIN 54: In Evanston, Ill., Sydney Wood and Lindsey Pulliam scored 14 points each and Northwestern (12-5, 10-5 Big Ten) snapped a two-game skid with a win over Wisconsin (5-15, 2-15).
No. 25 MISSOURI STATE 75, BRADLEY 52: In Springfield, Mo., Brice Calip scored 17 points as Missouri State (15-2, 11-0 Missouri Valley Conference) beat Bradley for its 11th straight win.