Gamecocks stay hot, top No. 5 Vols
SEC/TOP 25 MEN SOUTH CAROLINA 63, NO. 5 TENNESSEE 59
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Ta’Lon Cooper hit three-pointer with 40 seconds left and scored 18 points, and B.J. Mack added 16 points to lead South Carolina to a 63-59 victory over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night.
Myles Stute scored 13 points for the Gamecocks (18-3, 6-2 SEC), who have beaten the conference’s two highest-ranked teams. They knocked off No. 10 Kentucky on Jan. 23.
“[The players] have a lot of respect,” Gamecocks Coach Lamont Paris said. “They have a lot of believers. They’re a confident group.”
The victory was South Carolina’s first road win over a top-five team since 1997.
“Our group just battled,” Paris said. “We really had success breaking down some action plans: block out and rebound; take care of the ball.”
Dalton Knecht scored 12 points in the final three minutes and finished with 31 points and Santiago Vescovi added 10 points for the Volunteers (15-5, 5-2), who had won four straight games and 11 of their past 12 entering the game.
Tennessee had its lowest point total of the season.
“[South Carolina] scored 63,” Vols Coach Rick Barnes said. “Our goal is to keep our opponent under 69. We were not a very good offensive team.”
Barnes lamented his team missing 10 layups and going 12 of 20 from the line.
“You can’t miss 10 pointblank layups,” Barnes said, “and shoot like we did from the free-throw line and win.”
South Carolina led by three points with 30 seconds left when Stute hit two free throws. Knecht hit a three-pointer with 5 seconds remaining that cut the Tennessee deficit to two points. Stute hit two more free throws with 4 seconds left to seal the win.
“[Stute] respected the moment,” Paris said. “He made the shots.”
Tennessee shot 36.2% (21 for 58) from the field and 23.8% (5 for 21) on three-pointers. South Carolina hit 10 of 29 (34.5%) three-pointers, which was better than their 33.9% (19 for 56) shooting from the field.
South Carolina handled Tennessee’s aggressive defense in the first half and led 30-26 at the break.
Cooper had 10 points and Mack nine for the Gamecocks in the first half. Knecht had 13 points to pace Tennessee, which shot 2 for 11 (18.2%) from long distance.
The Gamecocks had a 2119 rebounding edge and limited Tennessee to 36.4% (12 for 33) shooting to build its lead in the first half.
GEORGIA TECH 74, NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA 73
ATLANTA — Naithan George scored a go-ahead layup with 7.7 seconds remaining and Georgia Tech beat No. 3 North Carolina to end the Tar Heels’ 10-game winning streak.
RJ Davis, who scored a game-high 28 points for North Carolina (17-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), won the race to a loose ball following a missed jumper by George and scored on a layup with 34 seconds remaining for a 73-72 lead.
Following a Georgia Tech timeout, George drove for the go-ahead layup.
Georgia Tech (10-11, 3-7) ended a three-game losing streak.
Kyle Sturdivant led Georgia Tech with 18 points. George had 16 points and Miles Kelly added 15.
NO. 8 KANSAS 83, OKLAHOMA STATE 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Hunter Dickinson and K.J. Adams Jr. each scored 16 points to lead a balanced scoring attack and No. 8 Kansas defeated Oklahoma State.
Kansas (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) also got 12 points from Dajuan Harris Jr. Oklahoma State (9-12, 1-7) was led by John-Michael Wright with 16 points.
NO. 9 MARQUETTE 85, VILLANOVA 80
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Tyler Kolek hit five three-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points to lead Marquette over Villanova for its fifth straight win.
Kolek rallied the Golden Eagles (16-5, 7-3 Big East) after they squandered a 20-point lead. After a 34-10 run gave the Wildcats the lead, Kolek connected on four three-pointers to spark the Golden Eagles.
TJ Bamba and Eric Dixon led Villanova (11-10, 4-6) with 24 points apiece. Dixon hit a late three-pointer that made it 81-78 with 38 seconds left, only for Kolak to seal the win from the freethrow line.
NO. 14 ILLINOIS 87, OHIO STATE 75
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. each had 23 points and Ty Rodgers had 13 as No. 14 Illinois beat Ohio Stat.
Illinois (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) held a 41-34 lead at the break after going 7 of 10 in the final 6:32 of the first half. Ohio State went scoreless in final 2:16 of that span.
The Fighting Illini stretched their lead to 16 points in the second half.
Jamison Battle scored 21 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. had 20 for the Buckeyes (13-8, 3-7).
NO. 25 TCU 85, NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 78
FORT WORTH — Trevian Tennyson scored 23 points, Micah Peavy added 18 against his former team and TCU beat Big 12-leading Texas Tech.
Tennyson made a tiebreaking three-pointer with 17:21 left and the Horned Frogs, who had trailed by 11 points before halftime, were ahead to stay.
JaKobe Coles added 12 points for TCU (16-5, 5-3 Big 12), including four free throws in the final 14 seconds. Emanuel Miller had 11 and Jameer Nelson 10.
Pop Isaacs scored 25 points and had nine assists for Texas Tech (16-4, 5-2), whose only loss its previous 12 games had been to fourth-ranked Houston. Chance McMillan had 19 points with five three-pointers, while Warren Washington had 14 points.
NO. 17 UTAH STATE 82, SAN JOSE STATE 61
LOGAN, Utah — Great Osobor scored 31 points to lead No. 17 Utah State over San Jose State.
Osobor had his third 30-point game of the season to help the Aggies (192, 7-1 Mountain West) win their third straight game.
MJ Amey led San Jose State (8-13, 1-7) with 14 points.
NO. 21 DAYTON 83, GEORGE WASHINGTON 61
DAYTON, Ohio — DaRon Holmes II had 25 points and 12 rebounds as No. 21 Dayton bounced back from its first loss in more two months to rout George Washington.
Nate Santos and Koby Brea each added 17 for the Flyers (16-3, 6-1 Atlantic 10), whose five-point loss to Richmond last Saturday ended a 13-game win streak.
Darren Buchanan Jr. had 13 points and eight rebounds, to lead George Washington (14-7, 3-5), which lost its fourth straight game.
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 73, KANSAS STATE 53
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Jalon Moore scored 23 points, Javian McCollum added 21, and No. 23 Oklahoma pulled away from Kansas State down the stretch to end the Sooners’ two-game slide.
Sam Godwin added 11 points and Rivaldo Soares had 10 for Oklahoma (26-5, 4-4 Big 12), which blew most of a 17-point first-half lead before using a 12-1 run over the closing minutes to win its final scheduled trip to Bramlage Coliseum before joining the SEC.
Tylor Perry led Kansas State with 23 points (14-7, 4-4).
SEC MEN
MISSISSIPPI 86, MISSISSIPPI STATE 82
OXFORD, Miss. — Jaylen Murray scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Mississippi held off Mississippi State to end a three-game losing streak in the series.
Dashawn Davis’ layup pulled Mississippi State to 84-82 with 40 seconds remaining. Murray missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession with 16 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs’ Cameron Matthews missed two free throws with four seconds left. TJ Caldwell then made two free throws from the line to seal it for Ole Miss.
Matthew Murrell added 20 points and Caldwell finished with 18 for Ole Miss (18-3, 5-3 SEC), which has won three consecutive games and is 13-0 at home. Jaemyn Brakefield chipped in with 10 points and six assists.
Josh Hubbard scored 21 points and had seven assists to lead Mississippi State (14-7, 3-5). Matthews added 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 23 WEST VIRGINIA 84, CENTRAL FLORIDA 43
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — JJ Quinerly scored 16 of her 26 points in the first half and No. 23 West Virginia routed Central Florida for its fifth straight win.
Quinerly made 6 of 8 from the floor in the first half and finished 10 for 14 with a pair of 3-pointers. Lauren Fields made three from long range and scored 15 for West Virginia (18-2, 7-2 Big 12).
Kaitlin Peterson scored 13 points to lead Central Florida (10-9, 1-8).