Dosunmu’s big night not enough for Illini
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri had no answer for Illinois star Ayo Dosunmu.
Luckily for the Tigers, there wasn’t much else from the Fighting Illini to worry about.
Missouri held off a late charge from No. 6 Illinois and overcame 36 points from Dosunmu for an 81-78 victory Saturday night.
Dru Smith had 17 points, Javon Pickett had 14 points and five rebounds and the Tigers held on in the annual “Braggin’ Rights” rivalry game.
Missouri (5-0) led 49-41 at halftime and held on for its third consecutive win in the series. Illinois (4-2) trailed by 13 with nine minutes left but rallied to tie it before the Tigers closed out the upset.
“They’re tough. They’re basketball players,” Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said of his team. “Injuries, tough losses and all of that, we’ve taken our lumps. … I thought our guards did a great job blocking out and being physical.”
Dosunmu set a career high in scoring on 13-of-20 shooting, and Kofi Cockburn had 19 points with 6 rebounds for Illinois. Andre Curbelo added in 14 points off the bench.
“Our lack of energy, our lack of effort, is beyond explanation,” Illinois Coach Brad Underwood said. “Offensively, when one player has 36, we’re not going to win. That’s an imbalance that I don’t like.”
Missouri guard Xavier Pinson ended the Tigers’ seven-minute field goal drought on a spinning floater with 51 seconds left to make it 80-76. Cockburn threw down a dunk on the next possession, but that was waved off and he was given a Flagrant 1 foul after the 7-footer clipped Missouri’s Mitchell Smith (Van Buren).
The Tigers ran down the clock before Kobe Brown airballed a three-pointer. Dosunmu took the ensuing inbounds pass the other way and missed an off-balanced three-pointer that was grabbed by Brown, who missed two free throws. Dosunmu tried to get off another late heave, but couldn’t release in time.
NO. 12 TENNESSEE 65, CINCINNATI 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — John Fulkerson had 15 points and 12 rebounds, helping Tennessee pull away late in the second half to beat Cincinnati.
A three-pointer by David DeJulius put Cincinnati ahead 53-51 with 6:14 left. The 6-9 Fulkerson came back with four foul shots, giving the Vols (2-0) the lead for good.
Jaden Springer added 11 for Tennessee, making five foul shots. The Vols went 25 for 30 from the line while Cincinnati went 4 for 7.
Jeremiah Davenport came off the bench to lead the Bearcats (2-2) with 14 points. DeJulius scored 11 and Tari Eason had 10.
NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 73, NC CENTRAL 67
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Armando Bacot had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 16 North Carolina stopped a two-game slide by holding off North Carolina Central.
Caleb Love and Day’Ron Sharpe scored 12 points apiece for the Tar Heels (4-2), and Andrew Platek finished with 11.
N.C. Central (1-3) scored the final nine points of the game. C.J. Keyser had 19 points for the Eagles, and Justin Whatley finished with 13.
The Tar Heels missed their first 10 three-point attempts before Platek connected from the right wing on consecutive possessions for a 55-42 lead. The reserve guard then added a fastbreak layup.
North Carolina scored the final 10 points of the first half for a 30-28 lead, holding the Eagles scoreless for the last five minutes.
Nicolas Fennell had 11 points for N.C. Central, and foul-plagued Jamir Moultrie finished with 10 points.
The game was added to the schedule in the middle of the week. North Carolina had an opening after a matchup with Elon was shelved when Elon’s program went on a coronavirus-related pause. N.C. Central had played only once since Nov. 26, with three games canceled.
NO. 17 TEXAS TECH 77, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 57
FRISCO, Texas — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 15 points in his return from an ankle injury and No. 17 Texas Tech beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for Coach Chris Beard’s 100th victory with the Red Raiders.
Freshman Micah Peavy and graduate transfer Marcus Santos-Silva scored 12 points apiece for the Red Raiders (6-1), who never trailed after finding themselves behind with eight minutes to go before avoiding a major upset in their previous game against Abilene Christian.
The game at the home of the Dallas Mavericks’ G League team was the second neutral-site meeting in the Dallas area in two weeks for the Red Raiders. They lost to No. 7 Houston 64-53 in a Top 25 matchup in Fort Worth. It was Texas Tech’s final tune-up before its Big 12 opener against No. 5 Kansas on Thursday.
Beard is 100-45 in his fifth season with Texas Tech, which made the school’s first trip to the national championship game in the most recent NCAA Tournament in 2019. Virginia won the title in overtime. Beard, who was an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight for the Red Raiders more than a decade ago, also led them to the Elite Eight in 2018.
Nolan Bertain scored 12 points and Simeon Fryer added 10 for the Islanders (1-5), who lost their fifth in a row since winning their opener against Texas A&M International.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi committed turnovers on its first four possessions and had another seven in a row later in the first half to fuel an 11-0 run for Texas Tech after the Islanders had closed to 16-11. A&M-Corpus Christi finished with 20 turnovers.
The Red Raiders, sixth nationally in scoring defense coming in, also forced two shot-clock violations early in the first half, and they have held opponents under 60 points in all six victories.