Late layup helps No. 1 Auburn survive test by last-place Georgia
Wendell Green Jr. made a tiebreaking layup with four seconds remaining and No. 1 Auburn got past Georgia 74-72 Saturday, extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 19 games.
Auburn (22-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) continued its dominant run through the league. But the Tigers, who won their first nine SEC games by about 12 points per game, were tested in the second half by last-place Georgia (6-17, 1-9).
Following Green’s goahead layup, Georgia’s Aaron Cook missed a long jumper.
K.D. Johnson led Auburn with 20 points. Johnson, who transferred to Auburn following his 2020-21 freshman season at Georgia, was loudly booed during pregame introductions.
Green had 19 for the Tigers.
Auburn led 42-30 at halftime before Georgia recovered with 11 unanswered points early in the second half. Two free throws by Jabri AbdurRahim gave the Bulldogs their first lead at 58-56.
A drive by Cook gave Georgia a 72-70 lead before K.D. Johnson tied the game with a layup.
Kario Oquendo led Georgia with 25 points, including six in an 11-0 run early in the second half that trimmed Auburn’s lead to 48-47. Jaxon Etter’s 3-pointer capped the burst, and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl called a timeout.
Johnson sank a short jumper following the timeout to end the Georgia streak.
Auburn standout freshman Jabari Smith had seven points and six rebounds. Walker Kessler had 10 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
Green, coming off a season-high 23 points in a 100-81 win over Alabama on Tuesday night, had 15 first-half points against Georgia. Despite playing off the bench most of the season, Green led Auburn with his average of 15 points in SEC games before Saturday.
Green threw a pass off the backboard to set up a one-handed jam by Devan Cambridge for a 27-13 lead. The dynamic basket capped a surge where the Tigers made five consecutive shots from the field at a time the Bulldogs were stuck in a 1-for-13 drought.
No. 4. Purdue 82, Michigan 76: Jaden Ivey scored 23 points and Trevion Williams added 19 to lead the host Boilermakers to victory over the Wolverines on Saturday.
Williams came off the bench to hit 7 of 8 shots. Purdue (20-3, 9-3 Big
Ten) held a 44-26 edge on points in the paint and a 32-22 edge in rebounds.
Hunter Dickinson led Michigan (11-9, 5-5) with 28 points, tying his career high.
No. 7 Arizona 72, No. 19 Southern Cal 63: Azuolas Tubelis scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Kerr Kriisa added 13 points and host Arizona rallied in the second half on Saturday.
No. 10 Kansas 83, No. 8 Baylor 59: Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji each scored 18 points as the Jayhawks held on to the top spot in the Big 12 Conference race.
Kansas (19-3, 8-1) led by as many as 34 points late in the game. Baylor (19-4, 7-3) had won nine straight games against Top 10 opponents.
No. 12 Villanova 85, No. 17 UConn 74: Eric Dixon scored a careerhigh 24 points to lead the host Wildcats over the Huskies on Saturday.
Rutgers 84, No. 13
Michigan St. 63: Paul Mulcahy had his firstcareer double-double with 15 points and a careerhigh 12 assists and Ron Harper Jr. added 17 points to key the host Scarlet Knights’ (13-9, 7-5 Big Ten) rout.
No. 14 Texas Tech 60, West Virginia 53: Bryson Williams scored 15 points, Terrence Shannon sparked a second-half comeback and Texas Tech beat host West Virginia 60-53 on Saturday.
Texas Tech (18-5, 7-3 Big 12) won for only the second time in six road games.
No. 18 Illinois 74, Indiana 57: Trent Frazier scored 23 points and Kofi Cockburn added 17 and eight rebounds as the visiting Fighting Illini surged to its fourth straight win.
No. 23 Texas 63, No. 20 Iowa St. 41: Marcus Carr and Andrew Jones each scored 14 points and host Texas used a barrage of 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half to pull away from Iowa State on Saturday.
DePaul 69, No. 21 Xavier 65: Courvoisier McCauley scored 21 points and Jalen Terry had 13 as shorthanded DePaul beat Xavier on Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak.
No. 22. Tennessee 81, South Carolina 57: Zakai Zeigler tied his career high with 18 points, all in the second half, as the visiting Vols won their fifth straight Southeastern Conference game.
TOP 25 WOMEN
No. 16 BYU 62, Gonzaga 50: Paisley Harding scored 22 points and visiting BYU erased a 15point halftime deficit by holding Gonzaga to just 15 second-half points in a victory Saturday afternoon.
No. 18 Oklahoma 101, West Virginia 99 (2 OT):
Madi Williams drove to the hoop and scored with nine seconds left in the second overtime to give Oklahoma its 20th win this season.
No. 22 Florida Gulf Coast 73, Lipscomb 55:
Kerstie Phills finished with 15 points and eight rebounds to power the Eagles to their 14th straight victory with a romp over Lipscomb on Saturday.
Phills sank 5 of 7 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for Gulf Coast (21-1, 10-0 Atlantic Sun Conference), which earned its 28th straight win on the road — tops in the nation.