Florida knocks off No. 2 Auburn
Gators extend home streak in series to 14
Tyree Appleby scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half, Colin Castleton added 19 and Florida rallied to beat No. 2 Auburn 63-62 on Saturday to extend its home dominance in the series.
The Tigers (24-3, 12-2 SEC) lost their second straight on the road and dropped their first game in regulation. They previously lost to UConn and Arkansas in overtime.
Appleby had everything to do with this one, which was Florida’s 14th straight over Auburn in Gainesville. The senior made 6 of 9 shots in the second half, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and was perfect from the free-throw line.
Still, the Tigers had a chance in the final seconds. Wendell Green Jr. got the ball with 7.1 seconds to play and was dribbling at the top of the key when he tried to pass to Walker Kessler down low. The Gators (17-10, 7-7) knocked it away, and the clock ran out.
More Top 25
No. 4 Kentucky 90, No. 25 Alabama 81: Kellan Brooks made seven 3s for a season-high 25 points, Oscar Tshiebwe added 21 points with 14 rebounds and Kentucky rallied twice to top Alabama in Lexington.
Short-handed because of injuries to starting guards TyTy Washington Jr. and Sahvir Wheeler, the Wildcats (22-5, 11-3 SEC) trailed 46-34 with 3½ minutes remaining before halftime before closing with 13 straight points for their first lead. Grady’s 3-pointer capped the run that draw a thunderous roar in Rupp Arena.
The Crimson Tide (17-10, 7-7 SEC) erased a 54-48 deficit early in the second with eight points in a row to go up by two before Kentucky responded with a 20-2 surge over 5:47 to seize control at 74-58.
Keion Brooks Jr. and Jaden Shackelford had 18 points for the Crimson Tide.
No. 7 Baylor 72, TCU 62: Jeremy Sochan matched his season high with 17 points as five players scored in double figures for Baylor, which led throughout in Waco, Texas, despite missing two hurting guards.
Baylor (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) played with only six players, except for a two-minute stretch by a seldomused sophomore in the first half,
while bouncing back from a 10-point loss at No. 11 Texas Tech three nights earlier.
Matthew Mayer added 16 points for the Bears, who led by as many as 21 points with five minutes left.
Emanuel Miller and Micah Peavy had 16 points for Texas Christian (16-8, 5-7).
No. 10 Villanova 74, Georgetown 66: Justin Moore scored 19 points in Philadelphia as the Wildcats (21-6, 14-3 Big East) handed the Hoyas (6-20, 0-15) their 15th straight loss.
No. 11 Texas Tech 61, No. 20 Texas 55: Bryson Williams scored 17 points and Texas Tech held off a late charge by Texas to win in Austin and earn a sweep of the regular-season series in the heated rivalry.
Clarence Nadolny added 14 points for the Red Raiders (21-6, 10-4 Big 12), who led by 10 with just over 3 minutes to play before the Longhorns (19-8, 8-6) got within 56-55 with a 9-0 run.
But Andrew Jones’ long 3-pointer with 1:10 to play was the last Texas field goal and Texas Tech put the game away from the freethrow line.
No. 12 Illinois 79, No. 19 Michigan State 74: Kofi Cockburn scored 27 points, Jacob Grandison had a season-high 24 and the Illini held off the Spartans in East Lansing, Michigan.
Illinois (19-7, 12-4 Big Ten) moved ahead of No. 15 Wisconsin and into a first-place tie with No. 5 Purdue in the conference standings. Tyson Walker scored a season-high 26 points and A.J. Hoggard had 15 for the Spartans (18-9, 9-6), who never led and trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half. MSU has lost four of five.
Cockburn scored in double figures for the 36th straight game, the third-longest such streak in the nation.
No. 23 Arkansas 58, No. 16 Tennessee 48: Arkansas held Tennessee to two field goals in the final eight minutes and used an 11-1 run late in the second half for a win in Fayetteville.
The win was Arkansas’ 11th in 12 games, while the Volunteers’ loss was just their second since Jan. 15.
Jaylin Williams scored 13 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Razorbacks, picking up his fourth straight double-double and his ninth in the last 13 games. JD Notae added 13 points for Arkansas (21-6, 10-4 SEC).
Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee (19-7, 10-4) with 12 points.
Iowa 75, No. 18 Ohio State 62: Keegan Murray scored 24 points and Iowa used a big run early in the second half to knock off Ohio State in Columbus.
Murray made 10 of 17 shots to lead the Hawkeyes (18-8, 8-7 Big Ten).
Iowa trailed by four points with 17:35 left before going on a 17-4 run. The Buckeyes (16-7, 9-5) pulled within six points with 2:40 remaining, but the Hawkeyes scored the final seven points to seal the win.
No. 21 Murray State 62, UT Martin 60: KJ Williams made a three-point play with 10 seconds left and visiting Murray State got past UT Martin for its 16th straight win.
Tevin Brown hit five 3s and scored 18 points for Murray State (26-2, 15-0 Ohio Valley)
No. 24 Connecticut 72, Xavier 61: Former UConn star James Bouknight of the Charlotte Hornets was tossed from his courtside side by a game official in the second half of the Huskies’ victory in Storrs..
Bouknight, who played two seasons for Connecticut and is in his NBA rookie season, was sitting in the front row opposite the Xavier bench when he was asked to leave.
R.J. Cole and Tyler Polley each scored 16 points for UConn (19-7, 10-5 Big East), which has won four of its last five games.
Adam Kunkel’s 15 points paced Xavier (17-9, 7-8).
Service academies
No. 22 Wyoming 75, Air Force 67:
Hunter Maldonado scored 29 points and Graham Ike had 27 to lead Wyoming to a victory over Air Force at home.
Maldonado also had eight assists and seven rebounds, and Ike had 12 rebounds for the Cowboys (22-4, 11-2 Mountain West).
Freshman Lucas Moerman scored a career-high 15 points for AirForce(10-15,3-11).
Holy Cross 55, Navy 50: Gerrale Gates had 24 points and 12 rebounds as Holy Cross narrowly defeated Navy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Bo Montgomery had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Holy Cross (9-18, 7-8 Patriot League).
Tyler Nelson had 15 points for the Midshipmen (18-9, 11-5), whose four-game winning streak came to an end.
American 83, Army 67: Colin Smalls had 17 points to lead five American players in double figures as the Eagles (8-19, 4-11 Patriot League) topped Army in Washington.
Charlie Peterson had 13 points for the Black Knights (13-15, 7-9), whose losing streak stretched to six games.