Buckeyes rout rusty Spartans in Big Ten

No. 13 Ohio State caught visiting Michigan State (8-6, 2-6 Big Ten) in the midst of an uncommon skid and beat the Spartans for the first time in its past five tries.

The Spartans had 20 days off because of COVID-19 issues and then lost to Rutgers by 30 points Thursday night. The shooting went cold again Sunday, and the Buckeyes cruised to a 79-62 rout.

E.J. Liddell had 20 points and eight rebounds and Justice Sueing added 17 to lead the Buckeyes (14-4, 8-4).

Houston

Marcus Sasser scored 19 points and No. 6 Houston (151, 10-1 American Athletic) beat visiting SMU (9-4, 5-4) , 70-48, for its eighth win in a row. Sasser bounced back to make five of his last 10 shots.

Duquesne

The Duquesne women’s basketball team continued its pause of team activities. As a result, Sunday’s game against Saint Louis at La Roche University was postponed. The Dukes next scheduled game is Feb. 7 at St. Bonaventure.

Penn State

The Penn State (6-7, 3-6 Big Ten) women out-scored Purdue, 64-44, in the final 25 minutes to grab a big 80-70 road win against the Boilermakers (6-8, 3-7) at Mackey Arena. Senior Johnasia Cash had another monster effort with a career-best 28 points in addition to 12 rebounds.

Connecticut

Christyn Williams scored a career-high 29 points and Paige Bueckers added 22 points and personal-best 10 assists as visiting No. 3 Connecticut (11-1, 9-0 Big East) bounced back from a rare loss to beat No. 17 DePaul (94, 6-2), 100-67.

South Carolina

Zia Cooke had 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter as No. 4 South Carolina (14-1, 90) won its 18th game in a row against visiting Alabama (12-4, 5-4) and 28th in a row against SEC opponents with an 87-63 victory.