No. 3 Alabama lone team still perfect in conference play
AUBURN, Ala. — Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and No. 3 Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival, beating Auburn, 77-69, on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) 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.
Wendell Green Jr. had 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Auburn, going 7 of 19 from the floor. Jaylin Williams had 14 of his 16 points before the half and KD Johnson added 12. But the Tigers (17-8, 7-5) missed nine straight shots in the final minutes and have dropped five of their last six games.
NO. 8 VIRGINIA 69, DUKE 62, OT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift Virginia over Duke in overtime.
Kihie Clark added 16 points and Ben Vander Plas 13 for the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won despite a 9 for 22 performance from the freethrow line.
Duke (17-8, 8-6) seemed poised to win when Kyle Filipowski drove on the final play of regulation and two defenders contested his shot. The officials initially whistled a foul, but waved it off after a lengthy review. Jeremy Roach led the Blue Devils with 16 points.
Trailing 58-53, Duke got a driving basket from Roach with 1:31 left and a 3-pointer by Jacob Grandison from in front of the Duke bench to tie it with 50 seconds left. Neither team scored again in regulation.
NO. 9 KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA 55
NORMAN, Okla. — Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and Kansas rolled past Oklahoma.
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.
Dajuan Harris scored 16 points and Kevin Mccullar added 13 for the Jayhawks (205, 8-4 Big 12).
Jalen Hill scored 14 points and Otega Oweh added 11 for the Oklahoma (12-13, 2-10). Grant Sherfield, who leads the Sooners with nearly 17 points per game, was held to 10 on 4-for-14 shooting.
NO. 10 MARQUETTE 89, GEORGETOWN 75
WASHINGTON — Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Marquette in its win over Georgetown.
Olivier-maxence Prosper had 11 points and Chase Ross added 10 for Marquette (20-6, 12-3 Big East), which moved into first place in the conference.
Jay Heath scored 18 points to lead last-place Georgetown (6-20, 1-14), which has lost five straight after ending their league record 29-game conference losing streak on Jan. 24.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 72, NO. 17 TCU 68
FORT WORTH, Texas — Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for Baylor during the stretch when the 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 blew a 17-point lead in an 88-87 loss. They have won nine of their last 10 games.
TCU (17-8, 6-6) had a chance to tie or take the lead after a turnover by Flagler with 8.1 seconds left, when surrounded by Damion Baugh and Shahada Wells in front of the Horned Frogs bench. Officials initially gave the ball to Baylor, but reversed that call after an extended review and discussion.
Baugh finished with 16 points and 10 assists. Jakobe Coles had 15 points and Emanuel Miller 10 for the Horned Frogs, who played their fourth game in a row without top scorer Mike Miles Jr. and were also without injured big man Eddie Lampkin Jr.
ST. JOHN’S 73, NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 68
NEW YORK — David Jones scored 16 points and AJ Storr added 15 for St. John’s, which beat Providence.
Joel Soriano had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East); it was his 20th double-double this season — he entered the game second in the nation in that category.
Bryce Hopkins equaled a career best with 29 points for the Friars (18-7, 10-4), who had won four of five.
NO. 22 N.CAROLINA STATE 92, BOSTON COLLEGE 62
BOSTON — Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina State over Boston College.
Terquavion Smith scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), giving him 1,000 points for his career.
N.C. State led for the last 37 minutes of the game to bounce back from a loss to eighth-ranked Virginia on Tuesday.
Quinten Post scored 20 points for Boston College (12-14, 6-9).
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 56, NO. 21 UCONN 53
OMAHA, Neb. — 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 East-leading Marquette with its eighth straight win. The Huskies (19-7, 8-7) lost for the first time in four games.
With the Bluejays up 5249 with about 3 minutes to go, Alexander scored inside to make it a five-point game, but Jordan Hawkins’ second-chance basket pulled the Huskies within three with a minute left.
Alexander missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Uconn another chance with 21 seconds left. Sanogo missed a 3, Hawkins got the rebound and made a shot from the top of the key with 2.7 seconds left.
The basket originally was ruled a 3, which would have tied the game at 54, but officials changed it to a two-pointer when the video review showed Hawkins’ right foot was on the line.
Kalkbrenner was fouled after catching the long inbounds pass and made the free throws for the final margin.
ILLINOIS 69, NO. 24 RUTGERS 60
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and Illinois held Rutgers scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half to rally for the win.
Illinois (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) trailed 47-41 with 14 1/2 minutes left before Hawkins’ 3-pointer started a 19-0 run. Hawkins hit four consecutive shots — including a 3 — and gave the Illini the lead for good at 48-47.
Rutgers (16-9, 8-6) missed 15 straight shots during its drought.
NO. 25 SAN DIEGO STATE 82, UNLV 71
SAN DIEGO — Adam Seiko scored all 18 points on 3-pointers and Matt Bradley added 17 points for San Diego, the Mountain West Conference front-runner that beat UNLV for its third straight win and seventh in eight games.
The Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC) buried the Runnin’ Rebels in a blizzard of 3-pointers and slam dunks, including during a 14-0 run midway through the first half, to sweep the season series and top UNLV the fifth straight time. Keshad Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the game’s first 6 1/2 minutes and Nathan Mensah had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Elijah Harkless scored 24 for UNLV (16-9, 5-8) before fouling out with 2:05 to go. Keshon Gilbert added 19 for the Runnin’ Rebels, who didn’t get their first assist until two minutes into the second half.