Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Crimson Tide, Miller put beatdown on Wildcats
NO. 7 ALABAMA 78, KENTUCKY 52
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s star freshman Brandon Miller had 19 points and seven rebounds in front of NBA scouts and a capacity crowd for the No. 7 Crimson Tide, who dominated Kentucky 78-52 on Saturday.
Alabama ( 13-2, 3- 0) had its largest margin of victory over Kentucky in the series’ 150- game history. Meanwhile, the Wildcats (10-5, 1-2) matched their lowest-scoring SEC game under Coach John Calipari.
“I can’t say enough about our guys — how hard they played on defense, how locked in to the scouting report they were,” Alabama Coach Nate Oats said.
Alabama football Coach Nick Saban was in attendance and saw a defensive performance that would make him proud. The Crimson Tide held Kentucky to just 29% shooting. Jahvon Quinerly had one of his best games since returning from an ACL injury in November, scoring 12 points, while guard Mark Sears locked in with 13 second- half points and finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals.
“It’s definitely one of his best defensive performances,” Miller said of Sears. “I feel like he’s even better than what he did tonight. And I feel like it’s just up from here on out.”
Alabama pushed the lead as high as 31 points, and Oats liked the way his team was able to maintain that energy all the way to the end.
WASHINGTON STATE 74, NO. 5 ARIZONA 61
TUCSON, Ariz. — Mouhamed Gueye had 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Washington State ended Arizona’s 28game home winning streak.
The Cougars (7-10, 2-4) shut down Arizona’s once-potent offense, creating a rare subdued atmosphere inside McKale Center. Washington State built an 18-point lead midway through the second half, withstood Arizona’s late run and shot 12 of 28 from three-point range to end what had been the nation’s third-longest active winning streak.
The Wildcats (14-2, 3-2) struggled offensively for the third consecutive game, shooting 32% and 4 for 25 from the three-point arc.
NO. 6 TEXAS 56, OKLAHOMA STATE 46
STILLWATER, Okla. — Marcus Carr scored 12 points to help No. 6 Texas defeat Oklahoma State in the Longhorns’ first game since coach Chris Beard was fired.
Texas (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) improved to 6-1 under interim coach Rodney Terry.
Kalib Boone had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma State (9-6, 1-2).
NO. 8 TENNESSEE 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 42
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Olivier Nkamhoua scored a season-high 21 points on 10of-10 shooting and Tennessee started 3-0 in the SEC for the first time in four seasons.
Jonas Aidoo had 15 points, while Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James added 12 apiece for the Vols (13-2).
Meechie Johnson had 19 points for South Carolina (7-8, 0-2).
NO. 11 VIRGINIA 73, SYRACUSE 66
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Armaan Franklin scored 16 points and Virginia held on after squandering most of a 23- point, second- half lead, giving Coach Tony Bennett the most victories in Cavaliers history.
Bennett, in his 14th season, improved to 327-120 as Virginia’s coach, breaking a tie with Terry Holland for the most wins in program history. Holland was 326-173 in 16 seasons.
Reece Beekman added 13 points and seven assists for the Cavaliers (11-3, 3-2).
Joe Girard III scored 19 points and Judah Mintz had 18 for the Orange (10-6, 3-2).
NO. 25 IOWA STATE 69, NO. 17 TCU 67
FORT WORTH — Gabe Kalscheur scored 15 points, including a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining, to give Iowa State a narrow win over TCU.
Mike Miles led TCU (13-2, 2-1) with 18 points, including 2 of 3 free throws with 23 seconds to give the Horned Frogs a one-point lead with 23 seconds left.
Iowa State (12-2, 3-0) had three players with 10 points: Tamin Lipsey, Jaren Holmes and Robert Jones.
NO. 20 MISSOURI 85, VANDERBILT 82
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Kobe Brown scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds and DeAndre Gholston also scored 18 points in Missouri’s win over Vanderbilt.
D’Moi Hodge also scored 17 points and Noah Carter scored 16 for Missouri (13-2, 2-1). Liam Robbins led the Commodores (8-7, 1-1) with 16 points.
In other Top 25 games on Saturday, freshman Gradey Dick scored 16 points, Jalen Wilson had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 3 Kansas rode a hot start to 76-62 victory over West Virginia. Kansas (14-1, 3-0) has won eight in a row. … Big East preseason player of the year Adama Sanogo scored 26 points and No. 4 UConn bounced back from its first two losses of the season with a 69-60 win over Creighton. UConn’s big man hit 10 of 20 shotsand pulled down nine rebounds. Jordan Hawkins added 17 points for the Huskies (15-2, 4-2). Arthur Kaluma had 14 points to lead Creighton (9-7, 3-2). … Drew Timme and Nolan Hickman scored 20 points each and No. 9 Gonzaga beat Santa Clara 81-76. Julian Strawther had 18 points and Ben Gregg grabbed eight rebounds to help the Bulldogs (14-3, 3-0) get their 25th consecutive win against the Broncos. Gonzaga has won 48 of the last 50 meetings. Keshawn Justice scored 22 points and Brandin Podziemski added 17 points and seven rebounds for Santa Clara (14-5, 2-2). … Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins made six three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead Illinois over visiting No. 14 Wisconsin 79-69. Chucky Hepburn scored 22 points and Steven Crowl added 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the first loss for the Badgers (11-3, 3-1) since Nov. 29. Freshman Jayden Epps added 15 off the bench for the Illini (10-5, 1-3). … Dariq Whitehead scored 18 points, Kyle Filipowski hit two clutch free throws and and No. 16 Duke held off host Boston College 65-64. Filipowski finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils (12-4, 3-2). Quinten Post led the Eagles (8-8, 2-3) with 16 points and six boards. … Zach Freemantle scored 29 points, including eight in a row during a crucial stretch late in the second half, to lead No. 18 Xavier over Villanova 88-80. Souley Boum added 22 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists for the Musketeers (13-3, 5-0). Cam Whitmore scored 26 points for Villanova (8-8, 2-3). … Ismael Massoud hit a three-pointer with 31 seconds left in overtime and Kansas State extended its winning streak to eight games with a 9795 victory over No. 19 Baylor. Markquis Nowell had 32 points for the Wildcats (14-1, 3-0), and his 14th assist of the game was on the go-ahead three-pointer by Massoud. Baylor then called timeout and appeared to be trying to set up a game-ending shot before Adam Flagler, who had 23 points, was surrounded by three defenders when he lost the ball out of bounds with 6.1 seconds left. … EJ Harkless scored 25 points, including 21 in the second half to spark UNLV to defeat No. 21 New Mexico 84-77. The Rebels (12-3, 1-2) picked up 14 points from Keyshon Gilbert. Morris Udeze scored 22 to lead the Lobos (14-2, 2-2). … Ben Burnham came off the bench to score 13 points as No. 23 College of Charleston
(16-1, 4-0) defeated Delaware 75-64 and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 15 games.