Toppin, No. 6 Dayton defeat Rhode Island
No. 6 Dayton 81, Rhode Island 67: Obi Toppin scored 22 points and led an opening 17-point spurt Tuesday night as No. 6 Dayton surged to an 81-67 victory over Rhode Island, dominating a match-up of the Toppin brothers and the Atlantic 10’s top teams.
Both teams brought double-digit winning streaks into a chippy game that included seven technical fouls. Dayton (22-2, 11-0) got the better of it in every way, winning its 13th in a row.
Toppin had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Jalen Crutcher scored 21 points,.
Fatts Russell had 19 points for Rhode Island (18-6, 10-2.
No. 9 Maryland 72, Nebraska 70: Jalen Smith had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Eric Ayala scored 16 and Maryland edged Nebraska and remain alone atop the Big Ten.
After the Terrapins (20-4, 10-3) let a 14-point lead dwindle to 71-70, Smith blocked a shot in the waning seconds and made a free throw on the other end to clinch it.
Haanif Cheatham scored 20 for Nebraska (7-17, 2-11).
No. 12 Kentucky 78, Vanderbilt 64: Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points, and Kentucky rallied from itsr biggest halftime deficit of the season.
With the win, Kentucky (19-5, 9-2) keeps a piece of the lead atop the Southeastern Conference standings with Auburn and LSU. Kentucky trailed by as much as 14 in the first half and were down 36-27 at halftime.
Vanderbilt (9-15, 1-10) was looking to make Kentucky the second straight ranked team to come into Memorial Gym and lose within the past week after the Commodores upset then-No. 18 LSU.
Saben Lee led Vanderbilt with 20 points.
No. 13 Penn State 88, Purdue 76: Mike Watkins matched his season high with 19 points, and Seth Lundy added a career-high 18 Tuesday to help No. 13 Penn State rout Purdue 88-76.
The Nittany Lions (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) made a season-high 14 3-pointers for their seventh consecutive victory.
Trevion Williams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Purdue (14-11, 7-7), .
Michigan State 70, No. 22 Illinois 69: Star guard Ayo Dosunmu crumbled to the floor clutching his left knee as Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman threw down a huge dunk at the buzzer that lifted the Spartans over Illinois.
The severity of Dosunmu’s injury wasn’t immediately made available. The Illini’s leading scorer had 17 points Tuesday and is averaging 15.8 per game.
Rocket Watts led the Spartans (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) with 21 points.
No. 25 LSU 82, Missouri 78: Darius Days scored seven of his 20 points in the final five minutes as LSU rallied to beat Missouri.
LSU (18-6, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed by eight points midway through the second half before taking the lead for good at 72-69 on Days’ 3pointer with 4:43 remaining. Missouri (11-13, 3-8) stayed close over the final minutes.
With LSU leading 76-73, Days made a short shot following an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left.