San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Obaseki’s career-high 25 points help Texas A&M rout Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Manny Obaseki continued to give Texas A&M a late-season burst, scoring a career-high 25 points to lead the Aggies to their third straight win, 86-60 over Mississippi in a regular-season finale on Saturday.
Obaseki has started the last three games, his first starts since the 2022 NIT Championship game, and has responded with double-figure scoring each time. On Saturday he was 9-of-14 with four 3-pointers. He came in averaging 4.9 points per game.
Tyrece Radford added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies (18-13, 9-9 SEC). Wade Taylor IV had 19 points and seven assists and Solomon Washington 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies, who shot 50%, making half of their 26 3-point shots after averaging 27% this season from the arc, worst in the SEC.
They outrebounded the Rebels 50-21, including 18-5 on the offensive boards, bettering their nation-leading average of 17.3.
Jaylen Murray scored 21 points, Matthew Murrell 11 and Jaemyn Brakefield 10 for the Rebels (20-11, 7-11).
KANSAS STATE 65 NO. 6 IOWA STATE 58
Arthur Kaluma scored 23 points and Cam Carter added 21 as the Wildcats gave their NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost by topping the visiting Cyclones.
David N’Guessan added 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds on senior day for Kansas State (18-13, 8-10 Big 12), which blew most of a 17-point, second-half lead before holding on for its third win over a top-10 team this season.
Kansas State also beat No. 4 Kansas and No. 9 Baylor at home, where it went 15-3 this season.
Curtis Jones had 16 points and Keshon Gilbert and Tamin Lipsey 13 apiece for Iowa State (24-7, 13-5), which couldn’t replicate its rally from 14 down to beat BYU earlier in the week and had its four-game winning streak snapped.
The Cyclones’ loss also meant No. 1 Houston won the outright Big 12 regular-season title in its first season in the conference.
NO. 10 CREIGHTON 69 VILLANOVA 67
Trey Alexander hit a fadeaway jumper with 0.2 seconds left and finished with 17 points to give the Bluejays a win over the host Wildcats.
Baylor Scheierman scored 11 of his 18 points in a dominating first half. Ryan Kalkbrenner added 14 points for Creighton (23-8, 14-6 Big East), which clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament. The victory also avenged a 68-66 overtime loss to Villanova on Dec. 20, giving Creighton a victory over every conference team this season.
Eric Dixon scored 25 points and Justin Moore had 17 points for Villanova (17-14, 10-10), which lost a game that it needed to better its chances at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Wildcats likely will need a deep run in the conference tournament to avoid missing March Madness for the second straight season in both years under coach Kyle Neptune.
NO. 16 ALABAMA 92 ARKANSAS 88 (OT)
Mark Sears scored 22 points and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. had 20, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 22 seconds to go to force overtime, as the Crimson Tide rallied to beat the visiting Razorbacks.
Sam Walters scored seven of his 10 points in overtime, including a go-ahead 3-pointer, for Alabama (21-10, 13-5 Southeastern Conference), which never led in regulation and secured a double bye in the SEC Tournament next week with the win.
Khalif Battle led Arkansas (15-16, 6-12) with 22 points and Makhi Mitchell scored 18. Tramon Mark scored 13 and Travon Brazille had 12.
It was the first start for Wrightsell since Feb. 17. He sustained a head injury in practice and missed three straight games.
Wrightsell’s return was a welcome sight for a Crimson Tide team that struggled from the 3-point line in his absence. Wrightsell led Alabama, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
NO. 17 SOUTH CAROLINA 93 MISSISSIPPI STATE 89 (OT)
B.J. Mack had 25 points and Collin Murray-Boyles added 19 to lead the Gamecocks to a close win against the host Bulldogs.
Mack had seven points in overtime for South Carolina (25-6, 13-5 SEC), which improved to 2-0 this season in overtime games. Meechie Johnson had 16 points for the Gamecocks.
Freshman Josh Hubbard had 28 points for Mississippi State (19-12, 8-10), which dropped its fourth straight game.
Cameron Matthews had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Mississippi State. Dashawn Davis added 16 points and Tolu Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.