Commodores celebrate Challenge win
NASHVILLE — The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team gave itself something to celebrate in what has been a very trying season.
Riley LaChance’s 3-pointer with 1:17 left put the Commodores ahead to stay in an 81-78 victory against TCU on Saturday afternoon in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, their second win in three games.
Vanderbilt (8-13) improved to 2-3 while representing the Southeastern Conference in the showdown between the Power Five leagues, and the win came with coach Bryce Drew starting his 11th different lineup this season. This one featured seniors LaChance and Jeff Roberson with a trio of freshmen as they to make up for the loss of senior Matthew Fisher-Davis (injured shoulder), who’s out for the season.
“We’re trying to get better, we’re trying to build a program, we’re trying to be the best we can and win games this year,” Drew said. “There was a great celebration in the locker room afterward because we’ve been working hard and we’ve been wanting to play well. And it’s nice now two straight home games we feel we played well.”
Vanderbilt had a nine-point lead during the first half and went into the break up 43-40.
LaChance finished with 24 points, Roberson added 20 and freshman Saben Lee had 11 in what Roberson said is a confidence-building win.
The Horned Frogs (15-6) came in off an upset of No. 7 West Virginia, but now they have lost five of seven overall.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon noted his team shot 56 percent and outrebounded the Commodores by 15. It wasn’t enough.
“It’s hard to lose a game when you do those two things, but we found a way,” Dixon said.
Kenrich Williams led five Horned Frogs in double figures with 17 points. Vladimir Brodziansky added 15, Alex Robinson 13, Desmond Bane 12 and Kouat Noi 11.
No. 19 Auburn 95, LSU 70
AUBURN, Ala. — Mustapha Heron had 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting with eight rebounds, DeSean Murray had 18 points and eight rebounds and Bryce Brown scored 15 points as Auburn (19-2, 6-1 SEC) cruised.
Duop Reath was a force inside for LSU (12-8, 3-5) and finished with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Randy Onwuasor added 14 points.
Auburn put a quick end to its recent trend of slow starts with an 18-2 run early in the first half as Heron scored 16 points in five minutes to begin the game. Auburn hit 11 3-pointers in the opening half and led by 19 after 20 minutes.
Kentucky 83,
No. 7 West Virginia 76
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Freshman forward Kevin Knox scored 19 of his season-high 34 points in the second half as Kentucky overcame a 17-point deficit to win.
Hamidou Diallo added 13 points for the Wildcats (16-5), who made all 18 of their free throws after halftime.
Knox offset a strong performance from Jevon Carter, who finished with 26 points for West Virginia (16-5). James “Beetle” Bolden added 17 points and Sagaba Konate had 13 points and seven blocked shots for the Mountaineers, who blew a double-digit lead in the second half for the third time in five games.
Alabama 80, No. 12 Oklahoma 73
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama freshman Collin Sexton scored 18 points and Herbert Jones added 14 to lead the Crimson Tide to an upset in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Alabama (14-7) did a terrific defensive job on Oklahoma freshman sensation Trae Young, who scored just 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. It was only the second time this season Young — who came into the game leading the nation with an average of better than 30 points per game — was held to fewer than 20 points.
Khadeem Lattin led the Sooners (15-5) with 18 points, while Rashard Odomes added 15.
No. 5 Kansas 79, Texas A&M 68
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Svi Mykhailiuk poured in 24 points and Malik Newman added 15 as the Jayhawks built a big lead early and sustained it most of the way for their fourth straight win in the Big 12-SEC Challenge and 10th in a row over the Aggies.
Lagerald Vick added 10 points and Udoka Azubuike had a couple of rim-rattling dunks for Kansas (17-4). Tyler Davis had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Texas A&M (13-8), while Robert Williams added 11 points, nine boards and four blocks for the Aggies, who began the season 11-1.
No. 14 Texas Tech 70, South Carolina 63
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Keenan Evans scored 31 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:12 left and a three-point play with 46 seconds left that secured the win for the Red Raiders (17-4).
The Gamecocks (13-8) were looking to rally past a ranked opponent for the third time in four games and were up 58-53 on Felipe Haase’s 3 with 6:21 to go. That’s when Evans scored eight of the Red Raiders’ next nine points.
Chris Silva led South Carolina with 16 points before fouling out in the final minute.
No. 20 Florida 81, Baylor 60
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Chris Chiozza scored 20 points and Jalen Hudson added 17 as the Gators (15-6) went 14-for-25 from 3-point range to bounce back from a midweek loss to South Carolina.
Hudson was 4-for-6 from behind the arc, while Chiozza was 4-for-7 and had six assists and six rebounds.
Terry Maston led Baylor (129) with 14 points, Mark Vital added 11 and Manu Lecomte finished with 10 after getting into foul trouble in the first half.
Arkansas 66, Oklahoma State 65
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Daniel Gafford’s tip-in with 16.2 seconds remaining put Arkansas up by one, and the Razorbacks held on in the closing seconds to win for the fourth time in five games.
Daryl Macon scored 22 points off the bench to lead the Razorbacks (15-6), who didn’t take their first lead until midway through the second half. Lindy Waters scored 17 points to lead the Cowboys (13-8), while Brandon Averette and Mitchell Solomon added 10 points apiece.
Texas 85, Ole Miss 72
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas freshman Mohamed Bamba scored a season-best 25 points to go with 15 rebounds and four blocks as the Longhorns rolled.
Dylan Osetkowski added 17 points, Kerwin Roach II scored 16 and Jase Febres 12 for Texas (14-7). Deandre Burnett led Mississippi (11-10) with 21 points, and Dominik Olejniczak scored a season-high 16.
Mississippi State 74, Missouri 62
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range, to go with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block as he led the Bulldogs (146, 2-5 SEC) to the victory.
Abdul Ado and Nick Weatherspoon each added 12 points and Tyson Carter had 10 for Mississippi State.
For Missouri (13-7, 3-4), Kassius Robertson had 20 points and Cullen VanLeer 10.
The game was tied at 31 at halftime.