Ohio State fails to find offense in fourth straight defeat

BLOOMINGTON, IND. — Devonte Green scored 19 points Saturday and Rob Phinisee added 13 in his first start of the season to help Indiana hold off No. 11 Ohio State 66-54 and send the Buckeyes to their fourth straight loss.

The Hoosiers (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten) won their second straight. Andre Wesson scored 15 points to lead Ohio State (11-5, 1-4) and Kaleb Wesson finished with 11.

But it was a mighty struggle for two teams trying to break out of offensive funks.

Indiana missed eight straight shots late in the first half to give away what had been a nine-point lead, and the Buckeyes opened the second half by missing their first shots as a 34-31 halftime lead vanished.

Yet amid all scoring droughts, all the missed free throws and the sometimes sloppy play, Indiana still found a way to scrape together a late, game-changing 12-0 run. Green’s free throws gave Indiana a 53-45 lead with 7:57 to play and Ohio State never seriously challenged again, with Green continuing to score.

No. 14 Kentucky 76, Alabama 67: Immanuel Quickley scored the game’s final five points and finished with 19, Ashton Hagans had 15 with a big 3 late and No. 14 Kentucky topped Alabama 76-67 on Saturday for its 1,000th Southeastern Conference victory.

The Wildcats (12-3, 3-0 SEC) led by 15 early in the second half before a cold stretch allowed the Crimson Tide to climb within 63-60 with just over five minutes remaining. Quickley nailed a 3 from the right corner with 4:33 left before Hagans followed from near the top of the arc at 2:20 for a 69-62 edge that helped offset John Petty Jr.’s 3 that cut the deficit to four.

Quickley then made 3 with a minute for a 74-67 lead before adding two three throws 24 seconds later as Kentucky beat the Crimson Tide for the 12th time in 13 meetings despite shooting just 32% after intermission. The Wildcats are 1,000-281 overall in SEC play.

Nick Richards had 13 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season. Tyrese Maxey added 13 points for the Wildcats.

Herbert Jones had 18 points and Petty 16 for the Crimson Tide (8-7, 1-2), which sought to follow up their 21-point rout of Mississippi State. Alabama entered the game as the SEC’s top scoring offense (84.4 points) and had scored at least 90 points in five consecutive contests.

■No. 4 Baylor 67, No. 3 Kansas 55: Jared Butler scored 22 points, MaCio Teague added 16 and Baylor earned its first win in 18 tries on the hallowed hardwood of Allen Fieldhouse.

Freddie Gillespie added 13 points for the Bears (13-1, 3-0 Big 12), who snapped a whole slew of ignominious streaks with their victory in Lawrence: They beat a topfive team on the road for the first time in 22 attempts, won their fifth consecutive game against a ranked team for the first time in school history and, perhaps most importantly, beat Kansas (12-3, 2-1) in their personal house of horrors for the first time since the building opened in 1966.

Isaiah Moss scored 15 points and Marcus Garrett had 11 for the Jayhawks, who lost leading scorer Devon Dotson to an injury for a long stretch midway through the game and could never solve the Bears’ league-best defense.

■No. 5 Auburn 82, Georgia 60: Samir Doughty had 17 points and Auburn shot 53% to preserve its perfect record.

The Tigers (15-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) surged with a 40-13 run after falling behind early to the Bulldogs (10-5, 0-2), a stretch that extended into the second half.

Auburn got hot and the Bulldogs, who shot 38 percent, cooled down.

Anfernee McLemore and freshman Allen Flanigan both scored 12 points for the Tigers. It was a careerhigh for Flanigan. Doughty added six rebounds and four assists.

■No. 16 Villanova 80, Georgetown 66: Saddiq Bey gave the Wildcats and coach Jay Wright a glimpse of just how effective he can be from long range.

Bey hit eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to lead Villanova.

Bey found them against the undermanned Hoyas. Bey, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, hadn’t been much of a 3-pointer shooter this season for the Wildcats (123, 3-1). He’d made only 21 and four of those came in a nonconference game against Ohio.

■Cincinnati 68, Central Florida 54: Tre Scott recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds to lift Cincinnati.

Keith Williams had 16 points and six rebounds for Cincinnati (10-6, 3-1 American Athletic Conference). Chris Vogt added 13 points and Jarron Cumberland had six assists.

The Bearcats have won three of their last four and have outscored opponents by 44 points in the second half of the last two games.