FSU wins 4th in a row with rout at home
Trent Forrest scored a career high 23 points and freshman Devin Vassell added 16 points as No. 11 Florida State overcame a sluggish first half and beat Southeast Missouri 85-68 on Monday night in Tallahassee.
Forrest shot 8 for 12 from the floor, and had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists to help the Seminoles (9-1) win their fourth straight.
Florida State secured its 30th straight non-conference home win. Nebraska is the last non-conference team to defeat the Seminoles, 70-65 on Dec. 1, 2014.
Ledarrius Brewer scored 16 points and Skyler Hogan added 14 points for Southeast Missouri (5-7).
Christ Koumadje added seven rebounds as Florida State outrebounded the undersized Redhawks 46-28.
Southeast Missouri led 47-42 with 14:46 to go but Florida State went on a 12-0 run to take control for good.
The Seminoles shot 50 percent (31 for 62). They were just 1 for 12 on threepointers in the first half before finishing 6 for 24.
Florida State senior forward Phil Cofer played for the first time this season after missing nine games due to a preseason foot injury. Cofer didn’t have a point or rebound in five minutes.
Vanderbilt 81, No. 18 Arizona State 65: Saben Lee scored 14 points to lead five players in double figures and sharp-shooting Vanderbilt (7-2) beat visiting Arizona State (8-2). Vanderbilt snapped an eight-game skid against ranked opponents that dated to an overtime win over Florida in the 2017 Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Commodores also beat Arizona State for the first time in five tries on the Sun Devils’ first visit to Memorial Gym.
The Commodores had a big night from beyond the arc, hitting 6 of 12 from deep in the first half and 12 of 28 for the game.
WOMEN’S TOP 25
No. 15 Syracuse 94, Niagra 45: Miranda Drummond scored 19 points and freshman Emily Engstler added a seasonhigh 16, leading the host Orange (9-2) over the 45 romp over the Purple Eagles (3-7). Syracuse led for all but 10 seconds and had five players scoring in double digits. Tiana Mangakahia finished with eight points and 15 assists.
MEN’S POLL
Kansas didn’t get the chance to hold onto its preseason No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 very long, even as an unbeaten team. The Jayhawks are sticking around this time.
The Jayhawks sat atop Monday’s latest men’s college basketball poll for a second straight week. That didn’t happen earlier this season, when Duke jumped Kansas to take No. 1 in the first regular-season poll after a dominating romp against Kentucky despite the fact the Jayhawks had beaten a top-10 Michigan State team.
The Jayhawks (9-0) spent four weeks at No. 2, including one in which Gonzaga hurdled them for No. 1 after beating the Blue Devils in the Maui Invitational championship game. But Kansas reclaimed the top spot last week after Gonzaga’s loss to Tennessee and stayed there after beating reigning national champion Villanova 74-71 at home.
It marked Kansas’ fifth victory by six or fewer points this year, including an overtime win against now-No. 3 Tennessee on Nov. 23.
“I don’t think we’ve played great, by any stretch,” Kansas coach Bill Self said after the Villanova win. “But we played a lot better today than we’ve been practicing. I’m optimistic, very, leaving out of here knowing there is (another) gear we can get to that hasn’t been apparent on a daily basis.”
Kansas, Duke and Tennessee were 1-2-3 for the second straight week, with the Jayhawks earning 56 of 65 first-place votes to stay firmly in place. The Blue Devils got five firstplace votes to stay at No. 2, while the Volunteers had two.
Michigan and Virginia each claimed one firstplace vote, helping them climb into the top five.
Among that quintet, Tennessee is at its highest spot since reaching No. 1 in February 2008 while Michigan has its highest ranking since February 2013.
The rest of the top 10 featured Nevada at No. 6, followed by Auburn, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Michigan State.
For Auburn, the Tigers have their highest ranking since the 1999-2000 season, when they spent 13 weeks in the top 10 and peaked at No. 2.