San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
No. 2 Tennessee tops No. 25 Auburn
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Josiah-Jordan James scored 15 points to lead No. 2 Tennessee to a
46-43 over No. 25 Auburn on Saturday in a game in which every point was difficult and nothing flowed.
The Volunteers (19-4, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) shot just 27 percent from the field and 9.5 percent from the 3-point line. They were recovering from a Wednesday loss to Florida in which they shot 28 percent.
The Tigers (17-6, 7-3) were led by Johni Broome with 11 points and K.D. Johnson off the bench with 10 points. LSU managed only 24 percent from the field and 11 percent from the 3-point line.
Jaylin Williams made two free throws with 2:47 to play cut Tennessee’s lead to 40-38. Santiago Vescovi hit his first 3pointer of the game and got a four-point play out of it for a 44-38 lead. A 3-pointer by Wendell Green Jr. cut the advantage to 44-41 with 30 seconds left.
A turnover on the inbounds play gave Auburn the ball with 23 seconds to play. Broome got a tip-in to make it a one-point game, and Zakai Zeigler made two free throws.
Green’s last-second 3-point to tie clanked out.
Auburn scored eight straight points to start the game. Tennessee followed with a six-point run and an eight-point spurt early in the second half. Those were the longest runs of the game.
VIRGINIA TECH 74 NO. 6 VIRGINIA 68
Sean Pedulla scored 22 points, and the host Hokies snapped the Cavaliers’ seven-game winning streak.
Pedulla hit 6 of 13 from the floor as the Hokies (14-10, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) posted their biggest win of the season. He added 8 of 9 from the free-throw line as Virginia Tech never trailed.
Justin Mutts added 17 points for the Hokies, who shot 50 percent from the floor for the fourth straight game.
Jayden Gardner’s 20 points led Virginia (17-4, 9-3), which saw its usually stingy defense struggle.
NO. 13 IOWA STATE 68 NO. 8 KANSAS 53
Jaren Holmes led No. 15 Iowa State with 15 points in the host Cyclones’ victory over the Jayhawks.
Osun Osunniyi added 13 for the Cyclones (16-6, 7-3 Big 12), who stayed within at least a game of front-running Texas in the conference standings.
Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4) with 26 points for his sixth straight with at least 20.
The Cyclones led for all but 1:14 of the game, building a 34-16 scoring edge in the paint.
NO. 14 MARQUETTE 60 BUTLER 52
Tyler Kolek had 13 points and eight assists in the host Golden Eagles’ victory over the Bulldogs for their fifth consecutive victory.
Marquette (19-5, 11-2 Big East) began the day tied for first place in the conference standings with No. 16 Xavier.
Jayden Taylor scored 19 points and Simas Lukosius added 15 for Butler (11-13, 3-10).
NO. 23 MIAMI 78
NO. 20 CLEMSON 74
Nijel Pack scored 20 points and Isaiah Wong 15 as the visiting Hurricanes used a second-half burst to hold off the Tigers.
Wong and Pack each hit 3-pointers right after halftime for the Hurricanes (18-5, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a 21-9 run to open a 56-44 lead with 11:10 to play.
The Tigers the deficit to 76-74 on Alex Hemenway’s 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds to play. Pack was fouled on the inbounds and calmly made two foul shots to finish off the victory.
Clemson (18-6, 10-3) lost its second straight game after opening ACC play 10-1.
The Hurricanes stepped up their offense after halftime. Pack had 14 of his points in the final half while Wong had 11 points over the final 20 minutes. Miami hit six of its nine 3-pointers in that period.
Wooga Poplar added 14 points for Miami while Jordan Miller had 12.
PJ Hall had 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half for the Tigers. Hunter Tyson added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Miami came in with the ACC’s third highest scoring offense while Clemson was third in the league in defense.
NO. 24 UCONN 68 GEORGETOWN 62
Adama Sanogo and Tristen Newton each scored 15 and Alex Karaban knocked down two late 3-pointers to give the visiting Huskies a win over the last-place Hoyas.
Despite leading for most of the game, the heavily favored Huskies (18-6, 7-6 Big East) needed a late 8-1 run to earn the season sweep over the Hoyas. UConn has won two straight and three of four.
Brandon Murray’s three-point play with
4:42 left put the Hoyas on top at 61-60 for their first lead since 16:16 in the first half. Murray scored 14 of his game-high 21 points after halftime for the Hoyas (6-18, 1-12), who have lost six straight games to UConn.