Michigan wins seventh straight
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Franz Wagner matched his season high with 21 points and Isaiah Livers added 16 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 3 Michigan pull away for a 73-57 victory Saturday at Indiana.
The Wolverines (18-1, 13-1 Big Ten) took another major step toward the league title by winning their seventh straight, improving to 5-0 since resuming play following a COVID-19 pause, and capturing their third straight victory in Bloomington. They’ve won nine straight in the series since their last loss in February 2016.
Aljami Durham led Indiana (12-12, 7-10) with 15 points and Race Thompson finished with 11 points and six rebounds. The Hoosiers have lost three in a row and four of their last five as they fight for an NCAA Tournament spot.
NO. 5 ILLINOIS 74, NO. 23 WISCONSIN 69
MADISON, Wis. — Kofi Cockburn scored 19 points and Illinois topped Wisconsin, completing its first sweep of the regular-season series since 2005.
After Wisconsin trailed by 13 points with less than three minutes left, D’Mitrik Trice nearly brought the Badgers all the way back by scoring 19 points in the final 2:12. Trice’s 3-pointer cut Illinois’ lead to 70-69 with 6.7 seconds left.
After Illinois’ Trent Frazier sank two free throws, Illinois fouled Trevor Anderson with 1.9 seconds left before Wisconsin could attempt a tying 3-pointer. An exchange of words near the Wisconsin bench followed the foul, resulting in offsetting technicals.
Anderson missed the next two free throws, then Jacob Grandison hit a pair of foul shots to account for the final scoring.
Trice finished with 29 points. Micah Potter had 15 points for Wisconsin (16-9, 10-8 Big Ten).
OKLAHOMA STATE 94, NO. 7 OKLAHOMA 90 (OT)
NORMAN, Okla. — Freshman star Cade Cunningham scored 10 of his season-high 40 points in overtime to lead Oklahoma State.
Cunningham’s previous scoring high was 29 points. In his first Bedlam rivalry game, he made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws. He also finished with 11 rebounds three steals and two blocks.
Bryce Williams and Avery Anderson III each scored 15 points for Oklahoma State (16-6, 9-6 Big 12), which won its fourth straight.
De’Vion Harmon matched a career high with 23 points and Austin Reaves had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Oklahoma (15-7, 8-7), which was coming off an upset loss at Kansas State.
The two teams will meet again on Monday at Oklahoma State.
NO. 10 WEST VIRIGNIA 64, KANSAS STATE 43
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sean McNeil scored 16 points and West Virginia used a two big second-half runs to beat Kansas State.
Derek Culver added 11 points for West Virginia (17-6, 10-4 Big 12).
Davion Bradford scored 11 points, and
Mike McGuirl had 10 for Kansas State (7-19, 3-14). The Wildcats were held to their second-lowest points total of the season.
West Virginia scored the first seven points of the second half. Jordan McCabe, who started the game in place of leading scorer Miles McBride, then scored all seven of his points during a 17-0 run that gave the Mountaineers their largest lead, 59-34 with 5:14 remaining.
NORTH CAROLINA 78, NO. 11 FLORIDA STATE 70
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman Walker Kessler scored a season-high 20 points to help North Carolina upset Florida State, earning a needed victory to boost its NCAA Tournament chances while giving coach Roy Williams his 900th career victory.
The 7-foot-1 freshman had 14 of his points after halftime in an huge performance off the bench, providing a gamechanging spark for a team that was down 16 with 21/2 minutes before halftime.
Trailing 41-29 at halftime, the Tar Heels (15-8, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 50% after halftime. But more importantly, they rode Kessler’s production to better production in the paint while cutting down on the turnovers that undercut any offensive flow in the opening half.
By the end, the Tar Heels were knocking down clinching free throws and denying comeback bids from the ACC’s top team just days after a clunker of a performance in a home loss to Marquette.
NO. 18 TEXAS TECH 68, NO. 14 TEXAS 59
LUBBOCK, Texas — Mac McClung had 16 points to lead five Texas Tech players in double figures and the Red Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak.
The game was tied at halftime, but Texas Tech (15-8, 7-7 Big 12) went ahead to stay when six different players scored in a 19-6 run to open the second half. That spurt came over a nearly nine-minute span when the Longhorns got all of their points on free throws while missing 11 shots in a row.
NO. 16 VIRGINIA TECH 84, WAKE FOREST 46
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Keve Aluma scored 23 points, Tyrece Radford had 15 and Virginia Tech pounded Wake Forest.
Virginia Tech recorded its largest margin of victory for an Atlantic Coast Conference game. The previous record for the Hokies was a 94-65 win over Wake Forest in 2011.
NO. 20 ARKANSAS 83, LSU 75
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Justin Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds, helpingArkansas beat Cameron Thomas and LSU.
The Razorbacks (19-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) had four players score in double figures in their sixth straight win. Moses Moody had 18 points on 3-for-14 shooting, and reserve J.D. Notae also scored 18.
Arkansas grabbed control with a 16-2 run in the second half.
AUBURN 77, NO. 25 TENNESSEE 72
AUBURN, Ala. — Allen Flanigan scored a season-high 23 points and had seven rebounds to lead Auburn.
The Tigers (12-13, 6-10 Southeastern Conference) snapped a three-game losing streak even without freshman point guard Sharife Cooper, out for the second straight game with a left ankle injury.