Gamecocks top No. 6 Wildcats

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Coach Lamont Paris thought about what he would say if told a year ago during his 21-loss first season that his Gamecocks would follow with 16 wins, including a double-digit victory over No. 6 Kentucky.

“I’d probably say, ‘Where are we ranked?’” Paris said before cracking a smile. “I’m just kidding.”

It might not be too long before he finds out after his surprising turnaround season continued with a 79-62 victory over the Wildcats on Tuesday night.

Ta’Lon Cooper tied his career best with 20 points and Jacobi Wright added 14 with four three-pointers as the Gamecocks (16-3, 4-2 SEC) beat their highest-ranked opponent since toppling undefeated No. 1 Kentucky at home 68-62 in 2010.

In that game, South Carolina overcame future NBA AllStars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins for the victory.

In this one, they held the nation’s top scoring team that averaged more than 91 points to its lowest output of the season.

South Carolina players “have a lot of belief, a lot of belief in themselves,” Paris said.

They also have the best defense in the SEC, which kept the highest scoring offense in the game in Kentucky (144, 4-2) in check much of the contest.

“We drove it and we weren’t physical enough to hold our ground,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said.

Fans easily burst through the thin yellow ropes to rush the court and celebrate the latest high point in surprising season. It should cost South Carolina a $100,000 fine from the SEC under league policy, but no one was concerned about that at the moment.

“It’s never happened,” Gamecocks senior forward Josh Gray said. “That was a great experience.”

It’s the third straight loss at South Carolina for the Wildcats (14-4, 4-2) and fourth in their past seven meetings in the series.

It sure didn’t look like the Wildcats would struggle in this one. Kentucky hit five straight shots on the way to a 21-16 lead midway through the first half.

But South Carolina and its SEC-leading defense kicked in after that to close the period on a 17-4 run.

The Wildcats missed nine of their final 10 shots of the half and were held to their lowest scoring half of the season.

Antonio Reeves, Kentucky’s leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, shook off 1-for-7 shooting in the first half with seven points early in the second half, and the Wildcats were within 40-38 with 15:04 to play.

But the Gamecocks took off again on a 22-6 run to open an 18-point lead with less than eight minutes left.

Kentucky could not get within single digits the rest of the way.

NO. 2 PURDUE 99, MICHIGAN 67

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Lance Jones scored a season-high 24 points and Zach Edey added 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 2 Purdue to a rout of Michigan.

Jones, a fifth-year transfer from Southern Illinois, sank 5 of 9 three-point shots for the Boilermakers (18-2, 7-2 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight game. Purdue’s Braden Smith contributed 11 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds.

Jaelin Llewellyn led Michigan (7-12, 2-6) with 16 points. Terrance Williams II and George Washington III each scored 10 points. The Wolverines connected on just 34% of its shots.

The Boilermakers made 14 of 21 3-pointers for 66.7% and shot 52% overall. Purdue freshman Myles Colvin hit all three of his three-point attempts in the second half, finishing with nine points.

TEXAS 75, NO. 11 OKLAHOMA 60

NORMAN, Okla. — Max Abmas scored 22 points to help Texas roll past No. 11 Oklahoma.

Dylan Disu had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Dillon Mitchell added eight points and 13 rebounds for the Longhorns (13-6, 3-3 Big 12), who won sixth straight in the series.

Abmas went 4 of 8 on three-pointers and shot 8 of 14 from the field overall.

Jalon Moore scored 15 points and Otega Oweh added 10 for the Sooners (15-4, 3-3).

NO. 12 DUKE 83, LOUISVILLE 69

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tyrese Proctor scored a career-high 24 points, including 13 after halftime, Mark Mitchell returned from injury to add 20 with 12 rebounds and No. 12 Duke (14-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) outlasted Louisville (6-13, 1-7).

NO. 13 WISCONSIN 61, MINNESOTA 59

MINNEAPOLIS — Tyler Wahl had 16 points and hit two free throws with 5 seconds left to help No. 13 Wisconsin beat Minnesota.

A.J. Storr had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Big Ten-leading Badgers (15-4, 7-1), who beat the Gophers (12-7, 3-5) for the seventh straight time. Max Klesmit scored 11 points.

NO. 16 DAYTON 66, LA SALLE 54

PHILADELPHIA — Daron Holmes II scored 22 points and Javon Bennett and Nate Santos each scored 13 to lead No. 16 Dayton to its 13th straight win.

The Flyers (16-2, 6-0 Atlantic 10) made the biggest upward move this week in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, gaining six places after wins over Saint Louis and Rhode Island.

Andres Marrero led La Salle (10-9, 1-5) with 13 points.

NO. 17 CREIGHTON 85, XAVIER 78

OMAHA, Neb. — Trey Alexander scored a season-high 27 points and Baylor Scheierman had 15 of his 20 in the second half, leading No. 17 Creighton past Xavier.

Scheierman made four of his five three-pointers after halftime, with two of them thwarting Xavier comeback bids. Ryan Kalkbrenner added 16 points for the Bluejays (15-5, 6-3 Big East).

Desmond Claude and Dayvion McKnight had 20 points apiece for the Musketeers (10-9, 4-4).

TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 8 UCONN 85, MARQUETTE 59

MILWAUKEE — Paige Bueckers scored 28 points as No. 8 UConn topped Marquette 13th consecutive victory.

UConn (17-3, 9-0 Big East) endured a scare just over three minutes into the game when Bueckers clutched her surgically repaired left knee after taking a charge. Bueckers missed 19 games in 2021-22 and sat out all of last season due to two separate injuries to that knee.

The 2021 AP national player of the year walked off the floor and missed less than 2 1/2 minutes before returning.

Liza Karlen scored 21 for Marquette (15-4, 4-4).