No. 21 Louisiana State downs No. 16 Kentucky
BATON ROUGE, La. — Tari Eason capped his 13-point performance with a dunk following a Kentucky turnover with 13 seconds left, and
No. 21 Louisiana State held off the 16th-ranked Wildcats 65-50 on Tuesday night.
Xavier Pinson added 11 points for LSU (13-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), capped by a flamboyant dunk in the final seconds after Kentucky’s 15th and final turnover, setting off a wild celebration inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Brandon Murray added 10 points for the Tigers in a tight contest that saw neither team lead by more than nine points.
Darius Day’s third 3 of the game and Eason’s inside basket put LSU ahead 61-52 with 2:35 to go, but Kentucky (11-3, 1-1) nearly rallied all the way back.
Davion Mintz’s 3 and driving layup through cluster of converging players in the paint capped an 8-0 run that made it 61-60 with 27 seconds to go.
LSU then turned the ball over on a long inbound attempt, but Mintz gave it right back. Pinson’s third steal led to Eason’s slam to begin the Tigers’ finishing flourish.
Mintz, who played 28 minutes after an injury to starting point guard and assist leader Sahvir Wheeler, led the Wildcats with 16 points. Jacob Toppin added 14 points Kellan Grady scored 13, while center Oscar Tshiebwe had 13 rebounds.
■ No. 1 Baylor 84, Oklahoma
74: At Waco, Texas, James Akinjo matched his career high with 27 points for the Bears (14-0, 2-0 Big 12), who held the Sooners (11-3, 1-1) to 25 percent shooting from 3-point range.
■ No. 2 Duke 69, Georgia Tech 67: At Durham, N.C., Paolo Banchero had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (12-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who held the Yellow Jackets (6-7, 0-3) to 33 percent shooting.
■ No. 6 Kansas 74, Oklahoma State 63: At Stillwater, Okla.,
David Mccormack had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the Jayhawks (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) overcame a scoreless streak of more than 9 1/2 minutes. The Cowboys (75. 0-1) shot 23 percent from 3-point range.
■ No. 9 Auburn 81, South Carolina 66: At Columbia, S.C., Wendell Green Jr. scored a seasonhigh 22 points as the Tigers (13-1,
2-0 Southeastern Conference). Erik Stevenson tied his season high with 25 points for the Gamecocks (9-4, 0-1).
■ No. 14 Texas 70, Kansas State 57: At Manhattan, Kan., Marcus
Carr scored 19 points, Timmy Allen had 17 for the Longhorns (12-2,
2-0 Big 12), who have won six in a row. The Wildcats (8-5, 0-2) were missing seven players and coach Bruce Weber because of COVID-19 protocols.
■ Marquette 88, No. 16 Providence 56: At Milwaukee, Justin Lewis had a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (9-6, 1-3 Big East), who ended its four-game skid by scoring 20 straight points late in the first half.
■ No. 20 Colorado State 67,
Air Force 59: At Fort Collins, Colo., Isaiah Stevens scored 15 points for the Rams (11-0, 1-0 MW), who have won 11 in a row to match the secondlongest winning streak in school history. The Falcons (8-5, 1-1) finished 10 of 21 from 3-point range.
■ No. 24 Seton Hall 71, Butler
56: At Indianapolis, Jared Rhoden scored 17 points, Alexis Yetna had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates (10-3, 1-2 Big East), who outrebounded the Bulldogs (8-5, 1-1) 36-25.
WOMEN
■ Nebraska 79, No. 8 Michigan 58: At Lincoln, Neb., Freshman Alexis Markowski scored a season-high 20 points in her first start for the Cornhuskers (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten), who beat a top-10 opponent for the first time in seven years. Emily Kiser led the Wolverines (12-2, 3-1) with 13 points.