New No. 1 Houston rolls to victory behind a 3-point barrage
Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Tramon Mark added 16 points and No. 1 Houston routed visiting Norfolk State 100-52 in the Cougars' first game as the topranked team in nearly 40 years Tuesday night.
Houston, which was playing as the No. 1 team for the first time since March 14, 1983, donned its 1980s throwback uniforms.
Sasser finished 7 of 12 on 3-pointers, rebounding nicely after making only one of 10 from behind the arc in Houston's win over Kent State on Saturday.
Houston (7-0) was 17 of 33 on 3-pointers, including going 10 of 18 in the first half against Norfolk State.
Jamal Shead finished with 12 points and 11 assists, and Ja'Vier Francis had 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Cougars, who built a 54-20 halftime lead.
Houstons shot 58% for the game, including 63% in the first half. Houston forced 16 turnovers, which it turned into 30 points.
Kris Bankston scored 14 points for Norfolk State (53), which shot 35%, including 1 of 18 on 3-pointers. NO. 24 SAN DIEGO ST. 72, UC IRVINE 69 » Micah Parrish hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2.4 seconds left to give the Aztecs a comefrom-behind win over the visiting Anteaters.
Nathan Mensah scored 18 points to lead San Diego State (5-2), which came into the game looking to rebound after consecutive defeats to Arizona and Arkansas at the Maui Invitational.
DJ Davis scored 28 points to lead UC Irvine (62), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
It was a tight game throughout. The Aztecs maintained a small advantage throughout the first half and led 32-30 at the break.
Matt Bradley had 14 points for San Diego State and the crucial assist to Parrish for the game-winner. MARQUETTE 96, NO. 6 BAYLOR 70 » Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 24 points and the host Golden Eagles rolled past the Bears in the Big 12-Big East Battle.
Marquette (6-2) raced to a 51-25 halftime lead thanks to a 24-0 edge in points off turnovers. Baylor (5-2) already had a season-high 16 turnovers by halftime and finished with 20.
This was the highestranked team Marquette has beaten under secondyear coach Shaka Smart. Marquette is 7-6 against AP Top 25 teams under Smart.
Kam Jones had 20 points and David Joplin added 19 as Marquette shot 58.3% overall to win its third straight. The Golden Eagles shot 12 of 25 from 3-point range.
LJ Cryer scored 19 points for Baylor.
NO. 3 VIRGINIA 70, MICHIGAN 68 » Jayden Gardner made a go-ahead jumper with 39.9 seconds left and blocked Jett Howard's 3-point shot just before the buzzer, allowing the Cavaliers to hold on and beat the host Wolverines in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Virginia (6-0) trailed by 11 points at halftime, rallied to go ahead with 7:25 left and built a five-point lead that didn't last.
Michigan (5-2) went up 66-65 at the 1:42 mark when Hunter Dickinson made one of two free throws.
Reece Beekman, who finished with 18 points, stole the ball from Michigan's Jaelin Llewellyn with 16 seconds remaining and made one of two free throws.
Virginia's Armaan Franklin missed two free throws with 5.7 seconds left, giving Michigan a chance to extend or win the game. Howard took a contested shot beyond the 3-point arc on the right wing, near his father, coach Juwan Howard, and Gardner came up with the block against the freshman guard.
Kihei Clark scored 16 points for the Cavaliers.
Dickinson tallied 23 points for Michigan.
NO. 16 ILLINOIS 73, SYRACUSE 44 » Coleman Hawkins had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and the host Fighting Illini thumped the Orange in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Neither team shot well, but Illinois (6-1) hit 6 of its 15 3-point tries in the second half to send Syracuse (3-4) to its third straight loss.
Terrence Shannon Jr. had 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting for the Illini. All of his makes were 3s.
Jesse Edwards had nine points and 17 rebounds to lead Syracuse.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 60, BELLARMINE 41 » Antonio Reeves scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats over the visiting Knights.
Jacob Toppin added 12 points for Kentucky (5-2).
Bellarmine, which beat Louisville 67-66 in its season opener on Nov. 9, wasn't intimidated in its first meeting with the Wildcats and controlled the tempo until Kentucky wore down the Knights in the final 14 minutes.
Trailing 32-28 with 15 minutes left, Kentucky used a 23-3 run to pull away.
The Knights (2-6) shot 30.4% from the floor and scored 20 points in the second half after tallying 21 in the opening half.
NO. 22 MARYLAND 79, LOUISVILLE 54 » Donta Scott scored 18 points and the Terrapins made five consecutive 3s to open the second half and run away with a road win over the Cardinals.
Maryland (7-0) led throughout, including 3726 at halftime, before Don Carey sank the first of two from long range during the 15-6 surge that featured two 3s from Scott and one from Hakim Hart.
The Terps shot 50% overall while posting its seventh consecutive doubledigit win under new coach Kevin Willard.
El Ellis scored 15 points for the Cardinals (0-7), who shot 34% against their third ranked opponent in four games.