Jayhawks reeling after loss to Bears
NO. 15 BAYLOR 82, NO.7 KANSAS 74
WACO, Texas — RayJ Dennis and Jayden Nunn shot perfectly in the second half for No. 15 Baylor, and both were right in the middle of a game-turning run to beat seventh-ranked Kansas.
Nunn had consecutive fastbreak layups 25 seconds apart to ignite that deciding spurt, when Dennis had three of his 10 assists, and the Bears opened March with an 82-74 victory on Saturday, handing the Jayhawks consecutive losses for the first time this season.
“Once we got a couple of stops, we were able to push it in transition,” Baylor Coach Scott Drew said.
“As far as the second half, I think we found something as far as like playing fast and playing in transition,” Dennis said. “So that was kind of a focus. Like, if we get stops, let’s run, because we’re tough getting downhill.”
Dennis had 19 points, 14 of those after halftime when making all five of his field goals, primarily runners. Nunn finished with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, hitting all four of his shots in the second half.
Yves Missi added 17 points and fellow freshman Ja’Kobe Walter had 11 for the Bears (21-8, 10-6).
Big 12 scoring leader Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson each had 20 points for the Jayhawks (21-8, 9-7).
NO. 1 HOUSTON 87, OKLAHOMA 85
NORMAN, Okla. — Jamal Shead hit a short follow shot with 0.4 seconds left and No. 1 Houston beat Oklahoma, giving Coach Kelvin Sampson a victory over one of his former schools.
Shead missed a driving layup attempt, but corralled the rebound and put the Cougars back ahead after they blew a 15-point lead. Emanuel Sharp tipped away a desperation pass by Oklahoma’s Milos Uzan as time expired.
L.J. Cryer led Houston (26-3, 13-3) with 23 points, making 5 of 9 three-pointers. J’Wan Roberts added 20 points on 10-of12 shooting, and Shead scored 14 points.
Rivaldo Soares had 16 points for Oklahoma (19-10, 7-9).
NO. 2 PURDUE 80, MICHIGAN STATE 74
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Zach Edey had 32 points and 11 rebounds, Braden Smith added 23 points and nine boards, and No. 2 Purdue beat Michigan State to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship.
Gold confetti fell from the Mackey Arena rafters as Purdue celebrated its conference-best 26th title. With a win in either of their final two games, the Boilermakers (26-3, 15-3) would claim their second consecutive outright regular-season crown.
Michigan State (17-12, 9-9) shot just 39% and has lost three in a row.
NO. 12 CREIGHTON 89, NO. 5 MARQUETTE 75
OMAHA, Neb. — Baylor Scheierman scored 26 points and made three consecutive three-pointers late in the game to lead Creighton to a victory over Marquette.
Scheierman, a candidate for Big East player of the year who was playing his final game at CHI Health Center, also had 16 rebounds.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 19 points and Trey Alexander added 18 points for the Bluejays (22-8, 13-6).
Kam Jones led the Golden Eagles (22-7, 13-5) with 23 points.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 103, OREGON 83
TUCSON, Ariz. — Caleb Love scored 22 points and Arizona closed out the Pac-12 era at McKale Center with a beatdown of Oregon.
Keyed by Love and then Kylan Boswell, Arizona (23-6, 14-4) had a 17-point lead by the midpoint of the first half and didn’t let off the gas. The Wildcats shot 61% overall, went 14 for 25 from three-point range and had 27 assists on 39 made field goals to finish the season 15-1 at home.
Oumar Ballo had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Pelle Larsson had 22 points and fellow senior Keshad Johnson scored 21.
Jermaine Couisnard scored 33 of his 39 points in the second half and Oregon (19-10, 11-7) shot 52% in its final Pac-12 road game.
NO. 8 IOWA STATE 60, UCF 52
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tre King had 15 points and No. 8 Iowa State had a late 11-0 run to beat UCF for its fourth consecutive victory and seventh in eight games.
Milan Momcilovic added 11 points for Iowa State (23-6, 12-4). He hit a basket with 2:20 left to give the Cyclones a threepoint lead.
Jaylin Sellers led UCF (15-13, 6-10) with 13 points. Shemari Allen had 11.
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 79, N.C. STATE 70
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Harrison Ingram scored a season-high 22 points as No. 9 North Carolina rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half and beat North Carolina State.
Elliot Cadeau scored 15 points and RJ Davis, who put up a Smith Center-record 42 points Monday night against Miami, finished with 14 after being held to two in the first half. Armando Bacot added 13 points for North Carolina (23-6, 15-3), which won its fourth consecutive game and maintained its hold on first place in the conference, ahead of Duke.
Jayden Taylor finished with 22 points for N.C. State (17-12, 9-9).
NO. 10 DUKE 73, VIRGINIA 48
DURHAM, N.C. — Kyle Filipowski scored 21 points and No. 10 Duke shot 59% before halftime to build a huge lead on the way to beating Virginia.
Tyrese Proctor added 15 points for the Blue Devils (23-6, 14-4), who stayed near the top of the league race primarily on the strength of a dominant first half. That included the 7-foot Filipowski outscoring Virginia through the opening 15 minutes as Duke rolled to a 25-point lead before halftime and owned the interior by finishing with 44 points in the paint.
Reece Beekman had 18 points and Isaac McKneely added 12 points for the Cavaliers (21-9, 12-7).
NO. 11 AUBURN 78, MISSISSIPPI STATE 63
AUBURN, Ala. — Johni Broome had 17 points, Denver Jones scored 15, and No. 11 Auburn bounced back from a road loss at fourth-ranked Tennessee with a win over Mississippi State.
Auburn (22-7, 11-5) set the tone with its defense, as Mississippi State missed 17 of its first 19 shots. The Tigers never trailed, and they recorded nine blocks and eight steals in the victory.
Mississippi State (19-10, 8-8) cut Auburn’s 17-point halftime lead down to eight with 13:28 remaining. Auburn responded with a 10-3 run of its own to reestablish control of the game.
Josh Hubbard finished with 23 points, including 20 in the second half, for the Bulldogs.
NO. 13 ILLINOIS 91, WISCONSIN 83
MADISON, Wis. — Marcus Domask had 31 points, Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 23 and Illinois continued its recent mastery of Wisconsin by beating the slumping Badgers.
Illinois has won its last six matchups with Wisconsin, which represents the Illini’s longest winning streak in the series since beating the Badgers 16 consecutive times from 1981-89. Wisconsin beat Illinois 15 consecutive times before this stretch.
Illinois (22-7, 13-5) is 1 1/2 games behind No. 2 Purdue in the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin (18-11, 10-8) has lost seven of its last nine.
Wisconsin got 20 points from Tyler Wahl, 16 from Max Klesmit, 15 from Chucky Hepburn and 13 from AJ Storr.
NO. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA 82, NO. 24 FLORIDA 76
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Meechie Johnson scored 25 points including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 43.4 seconds to play as South Carolina rallied for a victory over Florida.
The Gamecocks (24-5, 12-4) trailed 56-46 with 12 minutes to play, but behind Johnson and Collin Murray-Boyles turned things around with a 26-12 surge.
Walter Clayton Jr. had 20 points and Zyon Pullin scored 18 for the Gators (209, 10-6).
NO. 19 WASHINGTON STATE 77, UCLA 65
PULLMAN, Wash. — Jaylen Wells matched a career high with 27 points, including 11 in the final 7 1/2 minutes as Washington State beat UCLA.
The Cougars (23-7, 14-5) rallied for the second time in two days to stay a halfgame behind first-place Arizona in the Pac-12 race.
Myles Rice had 18 points for the Cougars. Dylan Andrews led UCLA (14-15, 9-9) with 21 points.
NO. 25 SOUTH FLORIDA 76, CHARLOTTE 61
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chris Youngblood scored 17 points, Kasean Pryor had 16 points and nine rebounds, and 25th-ranked South Florida beat Charlotte for its 14th consecutive victory.
Selton Miguel chipped in with 13 points for the Bulls (22-5, 15-1). Lu’Cye Patterson had 17 points for Charlotte (17-11, 11-5).