Carr, tough defense push No. 6 Texas past Oklahoma St.
No. 6 Texas took a key step toward moving past the Chris Beard era on Saturday.
Beard, who faces a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fiancée, was fired Thursday. Texas said in a letter to his attorney that Beard was “unfit” for the position.
With interim coach Rodney Terry at the helm, the Longhorns focused on basketball. Marcus Carr scored 12 points in Texas’ 56-46 win over Oklahoma State, and Texas (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) improved to 6-1 under Terry.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Terry said. “And I said to them the other day, probably more than any team in the country, this group has really stuck together and persevered through some adversity and some challenges. … They’ve really focused on what they can control and I think just kind of locked in and enjoyed playing with each other and being around each other every day.”
Texas bounced back from Tuesday’s 116-103 loss to Kansas State, despite shooting just 31.5% from the field against Oklahoma State. The Longhorns held the Cowboys to 30.4% shooting.
“We said that we needed to have a gritty team today,” Terry said. “You know, the team that was going to come in and play their hardest today and really try to max out defensively was going to have a chance to win this game today.”
Kalib Boone had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for Oklahoma State (9-6, 1-2), which narrowly lost to now-No. 3 Kansas on Dec. 31 and had a solid win over West Virginia before Saturday’s loss.
Oklahoma State’s Moussa Cisse, the 7-foot-1 forward who leads the Big 12 with 9.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, missed the game with an ankle injury.
“We missed him throughout the overall game, both offense and defense,” guard JohnMichael Wright said.
“He’s a big presence.”
Texas led 32-24 at halftime despite shooting 32.1% before the break. Eight Longhorns scored in the first half, but none posted more than five points. Texas held Oklahoma State to 33.3% shooting and outscored the Cowboys 12-7 from the freethrow line in the first 20 minutes.
No. 4 UConn 69, Creighton 60: Big East preseason player of the year Adama Sanogo scored 26 points and the host Huskies bounced back from their first two losses of the season with a win over the
Blue Jays.
No. 7 Alabama 78, Kentucky 52: Alabama’s star freshman Brandon Miller had 19 points and
AAseven rebounds for the host Crimson Tide, who dominated the Wildcats.
No. 8 Tennessee 85, South Carolina 42: Olivier Nkamhoua scored a seasonhigh 21 points on 10-of-10 shooting as the Volunteers used quick start to blow out the host Gamecocks.
Illinois 79, No. 14 Wisconsin 69: Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins made six threes and scored 20 points to lead the host Illini over the Badgers.
No. 16 Duke 65, Boston College 64: Dariq Whitehead scored 18 points, Kyle Filipowski hit two clutch free throws and and the Blue Devils rebounded from a miserable loss by holding off the host Eagles.
No. 25 Iowa St. 69, No. 17 TCU 67: Gabe Kalscheur scored 15 points, including a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining, to give the Cyclones a narrow upset win over the host Horned Frogs.
No. 18 Xavier 88, Villanova 80: Zach Freemantle scored 29 points, including eight in a row during a crucial stretch late in the second half, to lead the Musketeers over the Wildcats for their ninth straight victory. No. 20 Missouri 85, Vanderbilt 82: Kobe Brown scored 18 points and
AAAAAAgrabbed eight rebounds and DeAndre Gholston scored 17 points in the host Tigers’ win over the Commodores.
STATE SCHOOLS
Florida State 75, Georgia Tech 64: Matthew Cleveland scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and the host Seminoles won their fourth game in the last six beating the Yellow Jackets. Florida State now has won four straight at home against Georgia Tech.
Florida 82, Georgia 75: Riley Kugel threw down a pair of dunks in the final half-minute to put an exclamation point on the host Gators’ win over the Bulldogs in a hard-fought Southeastern Conference battle and spoiling the return of former UF coach Mike White to Gainesville.
AAWOMEN’S TOP 25
No. 13 Maryland 94, Michigan St. 85: Diamond Miller scored 25 points to lead five in double figures and the host Terrapins used a 17-point third quarter run to open up a tight game on the way to beating the Spartans.
No. 16 Iowa 94, No. 14 Michigan 85: Caitlin Clark scored 28 points and center Monika Czinano added 19 points and a career-high eight assists for as the Hawkeyes beat the host Wolverines.
AA