Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Michigan State takes control late
AUSTIN, Texas — Adreian Payne scored a career-high 32 points and No. 5 Michigan State dominated the final 11 minutes of a 92-78 victory over Texas on Saturday.
The Spartans (10-1) led for only 56 seconds in the first half as Texas (10-2) controlled the game early.
Michigan State used a 9-2 run to take a 52-50 lead about halfway through the second half. Following two quick buckets by Jonathan Holmes, six Spartans scored during a 14-2 run that put away the game.
Payne made two free throws during that run and went 10 of 13 from the field and 11 of 12 from the freethrow line. Gary Harris, who missed three recent games because of an ankle injury, scored 19 points while Travis Trice, battling a foot blister, contributed 13 points and was 3 of 4 from three-point range.
Cameron Ridley scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half for Texas, which was coming off an 86-83 victory at No. 14 North Carolina.
Isaiah Taylor had 16 points for Texas while Javan Felix and Holmes each had 11.
NO. 3 OHIO ST. 64, NOTRE DAME 61
NEW YORK — Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored seven of his nine points in the final 33 seconds as No. 3 Ohio State (120) rallied from an eight-point deficit with 1:54 to play to beat Notre Dame in the BlackRock Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.
NO. 6 LOUISVILLE 85, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 56
MIAMI — Russ Smith scored 18 points, Wayne Blackshear added 13 and No. 6 Louisville won its sixth consecutive, easing past Florida International in Miami.
Smith had 12 points in the first half for the Cardinals (11-1), who never trailed and were rarely threatened, outside of a couple of brief early stretches.
Tymell Murphy scored 16 points and former Louisville player Rakeen Buckles added 13 for Florida International (8-5).
NO. 8 VILLANOVA 88, RIDER 67
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Freshman Josh Hart came off the bench to score 19 points and No. 8 Villanova (11-0) stayed perfect with a victory over Rider.
JayVaughn Pinkston added 14 points for Villanova.
Anthony Myles had 22 points for Rider. Jimmie Taylor added 15 points for Rider (5-5) and Daniel Stewart scored 13.
NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 97, DAVIDSON 85, OT
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Marcus Paige scored 11 of his 17 points in overtime to help No. 14 North Carolina hold off Davidson.
Paige missed his first six shots and didn’t score until the 8:17 mark of the second half, but took over late to help the Tar Heels (8-3).
J.P. Tokoto posted career highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead North Carolina, which needed two free throws from Paige with 29.3 seconds left to force the extra session.
Brian Sullivan had career highs of 33 points and seven three-pointers for the Wildcats (4-8).
NO. 15 MEMPHIS 77, SE MISSOURI ST. 65
MEMPHIS — Shaq Goodwin scored 20 points, Joe Jackson added 16 and No. 15 Memphis pulled away for a victory over Southeast Missouri State at the FedEx Forum.
Goodwin made 10 of 12 shots and had eight rebounds for Memphis (8-2).
Geron Johnson finished with 10 points for the Tigers. Tyler Stone led the Redhawks (7-4) with 23 points.
NO. 18 KANSAS 86, GEORGETOWN 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tarik Black came off the bench to score 17 points, Joel Embiid had 17 and No. 18 Kansas bludgeoned Georgetown in the Hoyas’ first visit to Allen Fieldhouse.
Andrew Wiggins added 12 points and Naadir Tharpe had 10 for the Jayhawks (8-3).
The Hoyas (7-3) tried to use the kind of muscle that has suited them so well in the rough-and-tumble Big East, but all they did was get into debilitating foul trouble.
Markel Starks scored 19 points and D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 12 to lead the Hoyas. Josh Smith scored just five before fouling out.
KANSAS ST. 72, NO. 21 GONZAGA 62
WICHITA, Kan. — Thomas Gipson scored eight of his 14 points in the game’s decisive minutes and freshman Marcus Foster also had 14 points as Kansas State outlasted No. 21 Gonzaga at Intrust Bank Arena.
Wesley Iwundu scored 13 points for the Wildcats (8-3) while Shane Southwell had 11.
Kevin Pangos had 14 points for Gonzaga (10-2) while reserve Drew Barham added 13 and David Stockton and Przemek Karnowski scored 10 each.
The Bulldogs entered the game averaging 87.5 points and had not scored fewer than 68 this season.
FLORIDA ST. 60, NO. 22 MASSACHUSETTS 55
SUNRISE, Fla. — Florida State scored the game’s final six points Saturday, including two free throws by Ian Miller with 1:06 left that put the Seminoles ahead, and they handed No. 22 Massachusetts its first defeat of the season.
Aaron Thomas scored 18 points for Florida State and was voted the game’s most valuable player. His two free throws with 2 seconds left sealed the victory.
Florida State (8-3) beat a ranked team for the second time this season. UMass (10-1) had been off to its best start since 1995.
NO. 24 SAN DIEGO ST. 65, MCNEESE ST. 36
SAN DIEGO — Winston Shepard returned from a one-game suspension to score seven consecutive points during a 13-0 run midway through the second half that helped No. 24 San Diego State pull away from visiting McNeese State.
Shepard finished with 14 points while Josh Davis had 12 points and 17 rebounds for SDSU (9-1), which won its eighth consecutive game. Aqeel Quinn had 12 points and Matt Shrigley 11.
Ledrick Eackles scored 13 points for McNeese State (2-9).