Baylor claims 9th win in row
Jared Butler scored 18 points, Freddie Gillespie had another double-double and No. 6 Baylor won its ninth game in a row, beating Jackson State 8357 on Monday in the Bears’ last game before Big 12 play.
The Bears (10-1), playing for the first time in 12 days, missed their first six shots. They didn’t score until MaCio Teague had a three-point play after both teams went scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the game.
After Jackson State (310) took its only lead at 8-7 on a 3-pointer by Miles Daniels, Baylor went on a game-deciding 32-6 run in less than seven minutes when the Bears made 11 of 13 field goals and six different players scored at least four points.
Teague finished with 16 points and Davion Mitchell had 10 for the Bears. Gillespie had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season.
Winston sits: As expected, All-American point guard Cassius Winston sat out No. 14 Michigan State’s 95-62 home win over Western Michigan on Sunday with a bone bruise in his left knee.
Winston, who’s averaging 17.6 points and 6.1 assists per game, suffered the injury during practice Friday.
The move appeared to be precautionary. The Spartans (9-3) resume Big Ten play Thursday at home against Illinois.
Williams ties Smith: Brandon Robinson scored a career-high 20 points and Roy Williams tied his mentor on the all-time wins list as North Carolina beat Yale 70-67 on Monday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Justin Pierce added 14 points for the Tar Heels (8-5) in their final nonconference game of the regular season.
Williams picked up his 879th career victory as a head coach, tying Dean Smith for the fourth most in D-I men’s basketball history. Williams worked as an assistant for Smith at North Carolina for 10 seasons from 1978-88.
Azar Swain’s 30-foot 3point attempt misfired at the buzzer for Yale (10-4).
Gonzaga still on top: Gonzaga remained atop The Associated Press poll following a light holiday schedule.
The Zags, who didn’t play last week, received 63 first-place votes from a 65-member media panel in the poll released Monday.
No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Kansas each had one firstplace vote, with Oregon and Ohio State rounding out the top five.
The Buckeyes dropped three spots after losing 67-59 to West Virginia on Sunday. The Mountaineers climbed six places to No. 16.