UConn connects from long range
MILWAUKEE — Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer shot a combined 10 of 16 from three-point range and No. 2 UConn defeated No. 8 Marquette 74-67 on Wednesday night, giving the Huskies their first road win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in a decade.
UConn (27-3, 17-2) hadn’t defeated a ranked team in a true road game since 2014. The Huskies beat ranked Memphis teams at the FedEx Forum twice that year, in January and again two months later in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
This marked UConn’s first road win over a top-10 team since a 93-82 triumph at No. 8 Marquette on Feb. 25, 2009.
Karaban scored 23 points while shooting 5 of 9 from beyond the arc to help UConn win for the 17th time in 18 games. Spencer went 5 of 7 on three-point attempts and had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Kam Jones scored 18 and Oso Ighodaro had 16 for Marquette (22-8, 13-6), which played a second consecutive game without 2023 Big East player of the year Tyler Kolek.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 67, UCF 59
ORLANDO, Fla. — L.J. Cryer scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lift No. 1 Houston to a come-from-behind victory over UCF and clinch at least a share of the regular-season Big 12 title in the Cougars’ first season in the conference.
Houston (27-3, 14-3) led by nine points after a Cryer three-pointer with 2:18 to play. UCF (15-14, 6-11) closed to within four with just over a minute to play, and then Cryer hit another clutch shot to pull away for the win.
Shead finished with 16 points and eight assists. J’Wan Roberts had 12 points and seven rebounds. Cryer shot 9 of 17 from the floor, including 5 of 11 on three-pointers.
C.J. Walker led UCF with 15 points. Jaylin Sellers added 12 points.
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 66, NO. 17 SOUTH CAROLINA 69
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dalton Knecht had 26 points as No. 4 Tennessee withstood a late run by No. 17 South Carolina for a victory that wrapped up its first SEC regular-season title since 2018.
The Gamecocks (24-6, 12-5) cut a 14-point second-half deficit to 59-56 on Meechie Johnson’s inside shot with 1:13 to go.
But the Volunteers (24-6, 14-3) hit seven foul shots the rest of the way to hold on and open a two-game cushion in the SEC with one to play.
NO. 6 IOWA STATE 68, NO. 20 BYU 63
AMES, Iowa — Tamin Lipsey scored 19 points and Curtis Jones added 18 to help No. 6 Iowa State finish the season undefeated at home for the first time in 23 years with a win over No. 20 Brigham Young.
The Cyclones (24-6, 13-4) completed their home schedule 18-0 and remained within a game of conference leader Houston heading in the final weekend.
BYU (21-9, 9-8) failed in its bid to knock off a top 10 team for the second time in as many weeks. The Cougars were led by Ricjie Saunders’ 20 points.
NO. 15 KENTUCKY 93, VANDERBILT 77
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Rob Dillingham scored 23 points, including consecutive three-pointers just before halftime, Antonio Reeves added 20 in his home finale and No. 15 Kentucky rode 56% second-half shooting to pull away from Vanderbilt for its fourth victory in a row.
The Wildcats (22-8, 12-6) went back and forth with the Commodores (8-22, 3-14) for much of the first half before taking the lead for good just before the break as Reed Sheppard made the first of Kentucky’s four consecutive three-pointers. Dillingham followed with a pair before Reeves capped the run with another from deep with three seconds remaining for a 45-40 edge.
Dillingham added seven consecutive points midway through the second half to help put Kentucky up 68-55. Another run built a 19-point cushion with 4:04 left and Kentucky went on to complete a season sweep of the Commodores.
Tyrin Lawrence had 23 points for the Commodores, who have dropped five of six.
NO. 22 UTAH STATE 90, SAN JOSE STATE 70
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Darius Brown II scored 21 points on seven three-pointers, Mason Falslev had 20 points and No. 22 Utah State beat San Jose State to clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title.
Great Osobor added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Javon Jackson had 15 points.
The Aggies (25-5, 13-4) can claim their first outright regular-season conference title with a win on Saturday.
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 18 COLORADO 79, OREGON 30
LAS VEGAS — Frida Formann scored 17 points and 18th-ranked Colorado handed Oregon its worst loss of the season, in the opening game of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Quay Miller scored the first four points of the game and the Buffaloes had the last 13 points of the first quarter for a 26-7 lead.
Colorado (22-8), the fifth seed, plays fourth-seeded and 13th-ranked Oregon State in the quarterfinals today.
The Ducks (11-21) shot just 19% (10 of 53), 1 of 13 from three-point range, to run their school-record losing streak to 14.
SUN BELT WOMEN LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 54, ARKANSAS STATE 41
Arkansas State’s season ended with a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday night in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.
Arkansas State star guard Izzy Higginbottom missed her fourth consecutive game with a finger injury and the Red Wolves lost their seventh straight game. Anna Griffin scored a game-high 15 points and collected seven rebounds to lead ASU (13-17). Mailyn Wilkerson finished with nine points off the bench and Crislyn Rose chipped in seven points for the Red Wolves.
Louisiana-Lafayette (16-13) forward Tamera Johnson scored a team-high 14 points and pulled down six rebounds. Brandi Williams finished with 10 points, while Destiny Rice converted 7 of 9 free throws and had nine points for the Ragin’ Cajuns.