Racers take charge with outside shots
TOP 25 MEN MURRAY STATE 88, NO. 24 TEXAS A&M 79
CONWAY, S.C. — JaCobi Wood scored 23 points and Murray State took down No. 24 Texas A&M 88-79 on Thursday in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
The Racers (2-1) will take on UMass in the semifinals while Texas A&M (2-1) faces Colorado today.
The victory was the first for Murray State over a ranked team in a decade. The Aggies made their first appearance this week in The Associated Press Top 25 since Jan. 1, 2017.
Wood led a foursome of transfers for the Racers. Kenny White Jr. (Tennessee Tech) scored 18 points, Jamari Smith (Queens of North Carolina) had 17 and Rob Perry (Stetson) had 12. Wood transferred from Belmont.
Steve Prohm, in his second stint as Murray State’s coach — the first coming 2011-15 before leaving for Iowa State — was pleased with the performance of the Racers’ reconstructed roster.
“It’s a terrific win,” Prohm said. “We’re trying to set the foundation. This program has been so good for so long, but we do have brand-new guys. We do have some pieces to make a good puzzle at the end of the day if we build our foundation the right way.”
Tyrece Radford scored 19 points to lead Texas A&M, going over 1,000 for his career. Wade Taylor IV added 16, Manny Obaseki scored 12 and Julius Marble had 11.
NO. 4 KENTUCKY 106, S.C. STATE 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. — CJ Fredrick scored 17 points to lead Kentucky to a win over South Carolina State.
The Wildcats (3-1) easily bounced back from an 86-77 double-overtime loss to unranked Michigan State two nights earlier in the Champions Classic.
Chris Livingston scored 13 points, while Lance Ware and Cason Wallace had 12 points each.
NO. 10 CREIGHTON 80, UC RIVERSIDE 51
OMAHA, Neb. — Baylor Scheierman scored 17 points and the 10th-ranked Bluejays pulled away from UC Riverside.
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Arthur Kaluma and Trey Alexander had 12 points apiece for the Bluejays (4-0). Wil Tattersall had 11 points to lead the Highlanders (1-2).
NO. 14 ARIZONA 104, UTAH TECH 77
TUCSON, Ariz. — Kerr Kriisa scored a career-high 24 points as Arizona (3-0) steamrolled Utah Tech (1-3).
Azuolas Tubelis and Cedric Henderson Jr. each had 20 points for the Wildcats and Oumar Ballo added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Utah Tech (1-3) got 13 points from Noa Gonsalves.
NO. 15 TCU 95, LOUISIANA-MONROE 60
FORT WORTH — Emanuel Miller had 16 points and JaKobe Coles scored 15, helping TCU (3-1) overwhelm Louisiana-Monroe (2-2) in an Emerald Coast Classic matchup.
ARIZONA STATE 87, NO. 20 MICHIGAN 62
NEW YORK — Desmond Cambridge Jr. scored 20 points and Arizona State (4-1) never trailed in blowing out No. 20 Michigan (3-1) to win the Legends Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Hunter Dickinson scored 14 points and Jett Howard had 12 for Michigan.
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 85, CLEMSON 31
CLEMSON, S.C. — Zia Cooke scored 15 points and Aliyah Boston added 12 points and six rebounds in No. 1 South Carolina’s (3-0) victory over Clemson (3-1).
KANSAS STATE 84, NO. 4 IOWA 83
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Gabby Gregory scored 24 points and hit a go-ahead free throw with 4 seconds left as Kansas State (3-0) rallied to beat No. 4 Iowa (3-1).
NO. 8 OHIO ST. 86, OHIO 56
ATHENS, Ohio — Jacy Sheldon scored 16 points, Taylor Mikesell added 14 and No. 8 Ohio State rolled to a win over Ohio.
NO. 12 INDIANA 96, BOWLING GREEN 61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sara Scalia scored 17 points and No. 12 Indiana beat Bowling Green.
NO. 24 VILLANOVA 67, PENN 41
PHILADELPHIA — Maddy Siegrist scored 18 of her 22 points in the first half and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead No. 24 Villanova to a win over Penn.