Jayhawks win clash of Big 12 powers
Hunter Dickinson scored 20 points to lead four Jayhawks in double figures as No. 8 Kansas beat No. 4 Houston 78-65 in front of a frenzied crowd on Saturday in Lawrence.
Kansas (18-4, 6-3 Big 12) got 17 points each from Kevin McCullar and Johnny Furphy, and 10 from KJ Adams. The Cougars had not allowed more than 72 points in a game all season.
Houston (19-3, 6-3) was led by L.J. Cryer with 24 points, while J’Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp scored 11 points each.
Houston came into the game with the nation’s best scoring defense at 52.9 points per game allowed. The Jayhawks hit 53 points with 14:17 left in the second half on a layup by Dickinson.
Kansas extended its 15-point halftime lead to 20 in the second half. Houston cut the lead to 68-58 but could not get closer.
Cam Spencer had 23 points, freshman Stephon Castle scored a seasonbest 21 and UConn (20-2, 10-1 Big East) pulled away from St. John’s (13-9, 5-6) for a victory at Madison Square Garden.
Tristen Newton added 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the defending national champion Huskies, playing without injured forward Alex Karaban, won their 10th straight game.
Daniss Jenkins scored 19 for the scuffling Red Storm.
No. 1 UConn 77, St. John’s 64: No. 9 Marquette 91, Georgetown 57:
Kam Jones scored a careerhigh 31 points, Tyler Kolek had 17 points and eight assists and visiting Marquette (17-5, 8-3 Big East) won its sixth straight game, rolling past Georgetown (8-13, 1-9).
Jones, Marquette’s third-leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, returned after missing Tuesday’s 85-80 win at Villanova with a sore right ankle. He shot 12 for 15 from the field, including 7 for 9 from 3-point distance.
San Diego State 81, No. 17 Utah State 67:
Jaedon LeDee had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead San Diego State (17-5, 6-3) to a home win over Great Osobor and Utah State (19-3, 7-2) to pull the defending Mountain West champion Aztecs within one game of the Aggies.
LeDee scored nine points in the second half of the showdown between the top two scorers and rebounders in the league.
Max Abmas had 19 of his 21 points after halftime, including the last 13 for Texas (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) in a victory at TCU (16-6, 5-4).
Abmas put the Longhorns ahead to stay with a three-point play with 3:25 left that broke a 64-all tie. That layup and free throw started a personal 11-0 run that included two 3-pointers, and he added a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Texas 77, No. 25 TCU 66:
UCF 74, No. 23 Oklahoma 63:
Jaylin Sellers shot 13 for 14 from the line and scored 20 points, Antwann Jones hit three early 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and Central Florida (13-8, 4-5 Big 12) beat Oklahoma (16-6, 4-5) in Orlando to give Knights coach Johnny Dawkins his 300th coaching victory.
Darius Johnson added 14 points and eight assists for UCF, which never trailed and built a 17-point lead in the game.
Late Friday
Butler 99, No. 13 Creighton 98:
Jahmyl Telfort matched his season high with 26 points, DJ Davis added 22 and Butler survived a wild finish in Omaha, Nebraska. The Bulldogs (15-7, 6-5 Big East) won their fourth straight. They shot 62.5% in the second half and went 13 of 22 on 3-pointers for the game.
Baylor Scheierman and Steven Ashworth scored 26 points apiece for the Bluejays (16-6, 7-4), Trey Alexander had 22 and Ryan Kalkbrenner 20.
No. 21 Dayton 76, St. Bonaventure 71:
DaRon Holmes II scored 25 of his 34 points in the second half for the Flyers (18-3, 8-1 Atlantic 10) against the Bonnies (13-8, 4-5) in Ohio. He hit six foul shots in a 9-0 run after St. Bonaventure had tied the game at 54.
Enoch Cheeks added 13 points as Dayton earned its second straight win since a 69-64 loss at Richmond last weekend.