Brown nets career high; Tigers top Crimson Tide

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kobe Brown scored a career-high 30 points and added 13 rebounds as Missouri beat No. 15 Alabama 92-86 Saturday for its first win in three weeks.

The Tigers (7-7, 1-1 SEC) had been 0-2 with another game postponed because of covid-19 issues since their last victory on Dec. 18. They hadn’t played since Dec. 29.

“To me, it’s just another win,” Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said. “I’m happy for our players because they put a lot of work in and that can be taxing. I’m in the fight with them so I’m happy for them.”

Jarron Coleman scored 18 points and Dajuan Gordon and Javon Pickett each had 15 for the Tigers. Brown, a junior, had his seventh career double-double.

The Crimson Tide (11-4, 2-2) got within four points with 12 seconds left, but the Tigers held off Alabama despite only making one basket in the final five minutes.

“You have to give Missouri a lot of credit,” Alabama Coach Nate Oats said. “It might have been our worst defensive performance of the season. They played harder than us today. The effort was different between the two teams today it cost us the game. We’ve got to look ourselves in the eyes and play better than we did tonight.”

Jahvon Quinerly led Alabama with 19 points. Jaden Shackelford added 17.

The Tigers had a huge second half scoring 52 points and shooting 50% from the floor.

In other Top 25 games Saturday, Kameron McGusty hit a hanging layup in traffic with 22.8 seconds left and Miami survived a final-play shot for the win to stun No. 2 Duke 76-74. Charlie Moore had 18 points and a career-high seven steals for the Hurricanes (13-3, 5-0 ACC), who won their ninth consecutive game. Miami won at Duke’s famously rowdy Cameron Indoor Stadium with a fearless performance that had them repeatedly beating defenders off the dribble or on backcuts while answering every push by the homestanding Blue Devils (12-2, 2-1). … Anton Watson scored 19 points and Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren scored 18 each as No. 4 Gonzaga routed Pepperdine 117-83. The win extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 60 games.Matt Bradley scored 26 points and San Diego State handed No. 20 Colorado State its first loss of the season 79-49 in a game that wasn’t supposed to be played until March 1. Colorado State had been one of three undefeated teams left in Division I coming into Saturday. Chad Baker-Mazara added 14 points for SDSU, (10-3, 2-0 Mountain West), which outscored the Rams 43-17 in the second half for its largest victory margin ever against a ranked team. The Rams (11-1, 1-1) were supposed to have played at Boise State on Friday night, but was postponed due to covid-19. … Adam Flagler rallied No. 1 Baylor with 18 of his 22 points in the second half, and the Bears extended their national-best winning streak to 21 games by beating TCU 76-64. James Akinjo had 20 points and eight assists for the Bears (15-0, 3-0 Big 12). … Trevion Williams scored 21 points, including the final goahead basket, as No. 3 Purdue held on to beat Penn State 74-67. The 6-11 Williams was 9-of-12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds despite sitting out over eight minutes of the second half after picking up his third foul. … Bryson Williams scored 22 points, Clarence Nadolny had a career-high 17 and No. 25 Texas Tech upended No. 6 Kansas 75-67. The Red Raiders (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) never trailed in the second half. Ochai Agbaji’s three-pointer with 1:12 left cut the Kansas deficit to four points, but Williams made two free thows and Kansas didn’t score again. Agbaji had 24 points with six three-pointers for Kansas (12-2, 1-1). … K.D. Johnson scored 23 points and No. 9 Auburn extended its winning streak to 11 by beating Florida 85-73. Auburn held off a big second-half surge by Florida (9-5, 0-2 SEC), which was led by Colin Castleton’s 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylin Williams netted a season-high 14 points for the Tigers (14-1, 3-0). … Umoja Gibson scored 20 points, and Oklahoma rallied in the second half to defeat No. 11 Iowa State 79-66. Tanner Groves scored 16 points and Elijah Harkless added 13 for the Sooners (12-3, 2-1 Big 12), who took control with a 14-0 run spanning five minutes late in the second half. Oklahoma bounced back from a loss to No. 1 Baylor with a dynamic offensive performance. The Sooners shot 62% from the floor overall and 82% in the second half. It was Oklahoma’s third win over a ranked team this season under Coach Porter Moser. Izaiah Brockington and Tyrese Hunter each scored 20 points for Iowa State (13-2, 1-2). … Josh Carlton had 22 points and 12 rebounds as No. 12 Houston won its sixth in a row, taking a 76-66 victory over Wichita State. Carlton was eight of 12 from the floor and also blocked four shots. Taze Moore scored 17 points, Fabian White Jr. added 15 and Jamal Shead had 10 points and seven assists for the Cougars (14-2, 3-0 AAC). … Keylan Boone came off the bench and scored 17 points, shooting 5 for 7 on three-pointers and sending Oklahoma State past No. 14 Texas 64-51. Bryce Williams contributed 11 points for the Cowboys (8-5, 1-1 Big 12), who had lost two in a row and four of five. … Oscar Tshiebwe had 29 points and 17 rebounds, TyTy Washington Jr. added 17 assists with 17 points, and No. 16 Kentucky shot 63% after halftime to pull away from Georgia for a 92-77 victory. Late baskets by Tshiebwe and Keion Brooks Jr. (14 points) helped the Wildcats (12-3, 2-1 SEC) lead 40-37 at halftime. They made 22 of 35 in the second half and finished 40 of 70 (57%). Kario Oquendo had 22 points for the Bulldogs (5-10, 0-2). … Tari Eason capped a 24-point, 12-rebound performance with a pivotal dunk in transition with 1:21 left, and No. 21 LSU held on to beat No. 18 Tennessee 79-67 for the Tigers’ second-straight triumph over a ranked opponent. Darius Days scored 15 before fouling out in the final minutes and Brandon Murray added 13 points for LSU (14-1, 2-1 SEC), which has won two in a row — including a victory over No. 16 Kentucky on Tuesday night — since its lone loss of the season at Auburn last week. But the victory may have come at considerable cost for the Tigers. Starting guard Xavier Pinson, who had nine points and seven assists, had to be helped to the locker room with an apparent right knee injury after slipping during a stop in the lane late in the second half. Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points for the Volunteers (10-4, 1-2). … Nate Watson had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 16 Providence rally in the second half and beat St. John’s 83-73. It was the 300th career victory for Friars Coach Ed Cooley. He is now 300206 in 11 seasons at Providence and five seasons at Fairfield. Watson had 17 points in the second half for the Friars (14-2, 4-1 Big East). … Collin Gillespie scored a season-high 28 points, and No. 19 Villanova beat DePaul 79-64. Gillespie shot 5 of 9 from the floor and sank all five of his free throws in the second half as the Wildcats (11-4, 4-1 Big East) earned their fourth consecutive win. … Kadary Richmond scored 27 points, including 17 in a row, as No. 24 Seton Hall beat UConn in overtime 90-87. Richmond had only two points in the first half. The Pirates trailed 54-45 with 16:01 left when the sophomore took over with a scoring spree, capped by a three-pointer that put them ahead 62-61 with 11:48 to go. Richmond shot 10 for 13 overall from the floor.