Spartans top No. 4 Purdue; Izzo ties Knight
Tom Izzo was choked up as he walked off the court, and the emotional display had nothing to do with matching Bob Knight’s record for the most wins by a men’s basketball coach at a Big Ten school.
Tyson Walker made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3 seconds left, helping host Michigan State beat No. 4 Purdue 68-65 on Saturday and triggering tears from its Hall of
Fame coach.
“We needed to win a game, and we needed to win a game the way we won,” Izzo said.
The slumping Spartans (19-9, 10-7) had lost three straight and five of six. The dramatic victory over the Boilermakers was win No. 662 for Izzo, equaling Knight’s total with the Hoosiers from 1972 to 2000.
Izzo took over Michigan State’s program in 1995 and, after struggling early, he won the national championship in 2000 during one of eight Final Four appearances. He chose to stay at the school after having chances to coach elsewhere in college and the NBA.
“He could’ve went a lot of places, and he didn’t,” Purdue coach Matt Painter. “A lot people around here forget his first two seasons, but they stuck by him and he took off from there.”
The Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) had won three straight and nine of 10 overall.
“I still think they’re the best team in the league, but we earned the win,” Izzo said.
Purdue’s Zach Edey scored a career-high 25 points. Jaden Ivey had 16 points, and Trevion Williams added 11 points.
Michigan State’s Gabe Brown had 13 points. Julius Marble scored 12 while Max Christie and A.J. Hoggard each finished with 11 points.
MEN’S TOP 25
No. 17 Tennessee 67, No. 3 Auburn 62: Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points and Zakai Zeigler had 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead Tennessee over Auburn on Saturday.
Kennedy Chandler had 13 and Josiah-Jordan
James added 10 for the Volunteers (21-7, 12-4 Southeastern Conference), who improved their record at home to 15-0 this season.
The Tigers (25-4, 13-3) were led by Jabari Smith with 27 points. K.D. Johnson had 18 points as Auburn lost on the road for the third straight time.
Tennessee led by 10 with 2 minutes left in the game, but Auburn chipped away at the lead. Smith had a four-point play with 58 seconds left to cut the difference to three, then Zeigler hit a running jumper to push the lead back to five, 65-60.
Tennessee had a fourminute scoreless stretch in the first half when Auburn turned a six-point deficit into a seven-point lead. In the second half, the Vols’ 17-2 run covered more than five minutes and put Tennessee up 45-41.
No. 18 Arkansas 75, No. 6 Kentucky 73: JD Notae scored 30 points and Jaylin Williams had 4 of his 16 points in the final 1:22 as host Arkansas took down Kentucky on Saturday in a matchup of teams peaking late in the season.
Notae finished with eight assists, finding Williams for a jump shot to give the Razorbacks a 73-70 advantage with 1:22 to go that the Wildcats could not overcome. Williams finished with his sixth consecutive doubledouble, grabbing 12 rebounds.
Arkansas (23-6, 12-4 SEC) has won 13 of its past 14 games, including over then-No. 1 Auburn, to move into a two-way tie with Kentucky (23-6, 12-4 SEC) for second place in the Southeastern Conference standings with just two more games to play.
No. 12 UCLA 94, Oregon State 55: Tyger Campbell scored a gamehigh 20 points to lead UCLA to victory Saturday at Oregon State.
The Bruins’ junior point guard was 8 of 10 from the field, made four 3pointers, and had five assists.
Despite the absence of leading scorer Johnny Juzang (ankle injury), the Bruins (21-6, 13-5 Pac-12) had plenty of firepower. Jaime Jacquez Jr. scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half, Julies Bernard had 16 points, and Cody Riley scored 13.
Oregon State (3-24, 1-16 Pac-12) has lost 14 games in a row since beating Utah on Dec. 30.
Beavers guard Dashawn Davis, who scored a career-high 31 points in Thursday’s double-overtime loss to No. 16 USC, managed just six points against the Bruins.
No. 20 Texas 82,
West Virginia 81: Timmy Allen scored 15 of his season-high 26 points over the final 10 minutes as visiting Texas edged West Virginia on Saturday.
Marcus Carr had 15 points for the Longhorns (21-8, 10-6 Big 12), and Jase Febres scored a season-high 14.