Tennessee rallies to top Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Grant Williams scored a career-high 41 points and finished off a three-point play with 31.6 seconds left in overtime to put top-ranked Tennessee ahead to stay, and the Volunteers avoided a repeat of their last trip to Memorial Gym freshly minted as the nation’s No. 1 team by holding off Vanderbilt 88-83 on Wednesday night.
Barely.
The Volunteers (17-1, 6-0 SEC) won their 13th consecutive game and first since moving to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the second time in program history. They also have won five of the last six against their in-state rival.
The Commodores (9-9, 0-6) came in hoping to pull off their seventh upset of a No. 1 team in Memorial Gym, a list of victories that includes knocking off Tennessee on Feb. 26, 2008, a day after the Vols took over the top-ranked spot. That squad was ranked in the Top 25, but these Commodores are off to the school’s worst start in SEC play and have only one senior.
Williams went a career-best 23 of 23 at the free throw line. He scored Tennessee’s first 10 points in overtime, and his three-point play came after Saben Lee’s free throw gave Vandy its last lead at 82-81 with 41.5 seconds to go.
Jordan Bone added 14 for the Vols.
Tennessee trailed 76-70 before Williams rallied the Vols in the final 1:22 of regulation. He hit two free throws off a flagrant foul on Clevon Brown with 1:22 left. Williams then scored off an inbounds play to pull the Vols to 76-74, and Admiral Schofield hit a jumper with 38.1 seconds left to tie it at 76.
Williams blocked Lee’s layup, then Aaron Nesmith blocked Jordan Bowden’s layup try for the Vols. After a scramble for the ball, Williams came up with the steal and called timeout with 3.3 seconds to go. Brown blocked Williams’ three-point try, and the Vols couldn’t get another shot off.
NO. 12 MARQUETTE 79, DEPAUL 69
MILWAUKEE — Markus Howard scored 13 of his 23 points in the final six minutes and Sam Hauser added 19 as No. 12 Marquette held off DePaul to remain unbeaten at home.
DePaul, which trailed by 14 in the first half, pulled to 56-52 on Max Strus’ layup with 7:31 remaining. Hauser appeared to counter with a three-pointer as the shot clock wound down, but it was waved off after review.
Howard then scored five consecutive points to trigger an 11-point run. The Golden Eagles (17-3, 6-1 Big East) scored 17 of their final 23 points from the free throw line to improve to 14-0 at the new Fiserv Forum.
Paul Reed had 18 points and Femi Olujobi added 15 for the Blue Demons (11-7, 3-4).
NO. 17 HOUSTON 94, EAST CAROLINA 50
HOUSTON — Armoni Brooks scored 17 points, Corey Davis Jr. added 12 and No. 17 Houston hit 16 three-pointers while beating East Carolina.
Brooks and Davis combined to hit 9 three-pointers while the Cougars (19-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) finished 16 of 24 from behind the arc. Nate Hinton had 13 points, Cedrick Alley scored 12 and Fabian White Jr. had 11.
Houston, which won its fourth consecutive, shot 52 percent from the field while extending its home winning streak to 30 games.
Seth Leday had 12 points and Isaac Fleming added 11 for East Carolina (810, 1-5). Jayden Gardner, who came into the game leading the AAC in scoring with 19.8 points per game, finished with eight points for the Pirates. ECU shot 32 percent and has lost four consecutive.
NO. 25 LSU 92, GEORGIA 82
BATON ROUGE, La. — Tremont Waters scored a season-high 26 points and No. 25 LSU beat Georgia for its eighth consecutive victory.
Waters, who added four assists and four steals with no turnovers in 32 minutes, had a hand in 13 consecutive points by the Tigers late in the game. He scored 10 points and had an assist that led to a three-point play by Kavell Bigby-Williams as LSU extended a seven-point lead to 12 with 45 seconds to play.
Skylar Mays matched his season best for the Tigers (15-3, 5-0 SEC) with 20 points. Naz Reid had 15 and Ja’vonte Smart added 10 for LSU.
Rayshaun Hammonds paced Georgia (9-9, 1-5) with 18 points. Nicolas Claxton had 15, Derek Ogbeide added 14 and Jordan Harris scored 10.
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 3 CONNECTICUT 79, SMU 39
STORRS, Conn. — Napheesa Collier scored 22 points and Katie Lou Samuelson added 21 to lead No. 3 Connecticut to a rout of SMU, the Huskies’ 107th consecutive victory over an American Athletic Conference opponent.
Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) had 12 points and Megan Walker chipped in with 11 for the Huskies (17-1, 6-0). UConn has won every AAC game in both the regular season and conference tournament since the league was formed in 2013.
Alicia Froling had 13 points and Johnasia Cash scored 12 for SMU (712, 1-5), which has lost seven of eight.
UConn put on a clinic in ball sharing, with 26 assists on 31 baskets.