San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MIZZOU 3 AT BUZZER BEATS NO. 6 VOLS
Deandre Gholston hit a 3pointer at the buzzer to give Missouri a stunning 86-85 victory over No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday night in Knoxville, Tenn.
With 4.2 seconds left in the game and the Volunteers (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) leading 85-83, Santiago Vescovi missed a free throw. His second attempt was waived off when Tobe Awaka committed a lane violation, setting up a final chance for the Tigers (19-6, 7-5).
Gholston took the inbounds and dribbled up the court before taking an offbalance contested 3-pointer from about 30 feet that swished through the net at the buzzer for the win. He was mobbed by his teammates after hitting the shot.
“I knew Dre wasn’t going to pass,” said Missouri coach Dennis Gates. Gholston hit a game-winning shot earlier in the season against Central Florida.
The end was similar to Tennessee’s Wednesday night loss to Vanderbilt. Vescovi missed a free throw then and a 3-pointer at the buzzer ended the game. The Vols have now lost three of the last four.
“This had a different feel than the other night,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. “We all hurt for (Vescovi). He’s hurting. He’s won a lot of games for us.”
Tennessee came back from a 17-point deficit early in the second half and led the last 7:11 of the game. Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 21 of his 23 points after intermission.
No. 3 Alabama 77, Auburns 69: Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and visiting Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival Auburn (17-8, 7-5 SEC).
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0) remained the only Power 5 team without a league loss. Sears and Griffen helped Alabama overcome an off shooting performance from star Brandon Miller, who had 13 points but missed all seven 3-point attempts.
No. 5 Texas 94, West Virginia 60: Sir’jabri Rice scored 24 points in just 17 minutes in host Texas’ win over West Virginia.
Texas (20-5) remained in first place in the Big 12 at 9-3, while West Virginia (15-10, 4-8) lost for the sixth time in its last seven games against the Longhorns.
No. 7 UCLA 70, Oregon 63: Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 25 points and 12 rebounds and UCLA won in Eugene for the first time since 2019.
UCLA (21-4, 12-2 Pac-12) has won four straight after losing a pair to Arizona and rival USC at the end of January. Those are the Bruins’ only two conference losses.
UCLA sits atop the Pac-12 standings, ahead of No. 4 Arizona, which fell 88-79 at Stanford earlier in the day.
Jermaine Couisnard had 19 points for the Ducks (15-11, 9-6).
No. 8 Virginia 69, Duke 62 (OT): Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift Virginia over visiting Duke (17-8, 8-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) in overtime.
Kihie Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas 13 for the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3), who won despite a 9 for 22 performance from the freethrow line.
No. 9 Kansas 78, Oklahoma 55: Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and Kansas (20-5, 8-4 Big 12) rolled past Oklahoma (12-13, 2-10).
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 with nearly 21 points per game, bounced back from a twopoint outing against Texas on Monday.
No. 10 Marquette 89, Georgetown 75: Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Marquette (20-6, 12-3 Big East) in its win at Georgetown (6-20, 1-14).
Oklahoma State 64, No. 11 Iowa State 56: Johnmichael Wright scored 19 points and Oklahoma State (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) rallied past Iowa State (16-8, 7-5) for its fifth straight win.
The loss was the Cyclones’ fourth in five games.
Texas Tech 71, No. 12 Kansas State 63: De’vion Harmon scored 20 points, including a crucial driving basket in the final minute, as Texas Tech (13-12, 2-10 Big 12) upended visiting Kansas State (19-6, 7-5).
No. 14 Baylor 72, No. 17 TCU 68: Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for Baylor during the stretch when the visiting Bears overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and then held on to beat TCU.
LJ Cryer had 23 points for the Bears (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), who on Jan. 4 at home against TCU (17-8, 6-6) blew a 17point lead in an 88-87 loss. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
No. 15 Saint Mary’s 81, Portland 64: Logan Johnson had 34 points, six rebounds and six assists as Saint Mary’s (22-5, 11-1 WCC) handled Portland (13-15, 5-8) on the road.
No. 16 Gonzaga 88, BYU 81: Julian Strawther scored 26 points, including the goahead 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining as Gonzaga rallied to beat visiting BYU.
Drew Timme had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (21-5, 10-2 WCC).
Spencer Johnson and Fousseyni Traore led the Cougars with 17 points apiece, but BYU (16-12, 6-7) lost for the fifth time in its past seven games.
No. 18 Indiana 62, Michigan 61: Trayce Jacksondavis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Hood-schifino scored 21 points and Indiana (18-7, 9-5 Big Ten) held on for a win at Michigan (14-11, 8-6).
Freshman Jett Howard was short on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, leaving the Wolverines without a point for the final 5:12.
No. 19 Miami 93, Louisville 85: Nijel Pack scored 22 points in Miami’s win over Louisville (3-22, 1-13 ACC).
Five days following its dominant 22-point home win over Duke, Miami (20-5, 11-4) could not shake off the conference’s last-place team until Pack’s 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining made it 82-72. Pack shot 8 of 14, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
St. John’s 73, No. 20 Providence 68: David Jones scored 16 points and AJ Storr added 15 for host St. John’s (15-11, 510 Big East), which beat Providence.
Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4), who had won four of five.
No. 22 North Carolina State 92, Boston College 62: Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead visiting North Carolina State over Boston College (12-14, 6-9 ACC).
Terquavion Smith scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5), giving him 1,000 points for his career.
No. 23 Creighton 56, No. 21 Uconn 53: Trey Alexander scored 17 points to lead Creighton past Uconn after the Huskies had what would have been a tying 3-pointer erased on video review in the final seconds.
Creighton (17-8, 11-3) is a half-game behind Big Eastleading Marquette with its eighth straight win. The Huskies (19-7, 8-7) lost for the first time in four games.
Illinois 69, No. 24 Rutgers 60: Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and host Illinois held Rutgers (16-9, 8-6 Big Ten) scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to rally for the win.
Illinois (17-7, 8-5) trailed 47-41 with 141⁄2 minutes left before Hawkins’ 3-pointer started a 19-0 run.