The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dixon, Villanova upset No. 19 Creighton
Eric Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, Cam Whitmore added 17 and Villanova defeated No. 19 Creighton 79-67 on Saturday.
Dixon also set a career high with six 3-pointers for host Villanova (15-14, 9-9 Big East), which has won five of six.
Arthur Kaluma scored 19 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 for Creighton (1811, 12-6). The Bluejays have lost three of four following an eight-game winning streak.
The Wildcats have been the standard bearer for the Big East since the conference’s realignment in 2013, but they took some lumps for much of this season without Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, who unexpectedly retired after last season. Now, first-year head coach Kyle Neptune has the Wildcats playing the kind of basketball that led them to seven of the last nine conference regular-season titles, five Big East Tournament titles over that span and national championships in 2016 and 2018.
The Wildcats have been playing better since the return of Justin Moore from injury. The senior guard had eight points and eight assists in his ninth game back after tearing his Achilles tendon.
Villanova improved to 5-4 since Moore returned to the lineup on Jan. 29 against Providence. The 6-foot-4 senior guard was projected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick in last spring’s NBA draft before tearing his right Achilles tendon in the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament semifinal victory over Houston. No. 18 UConn 95, St. John’s 86 (at New York):
Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds, and No. 18 UConn beat St. John’s.
Andre Jackson Jr. had 15 points, Joey Calcaterra also
scored 15 to lead a strong effort by Connecticut’s bench and the resurgent Huskies (22-7, 11-7 Big East) avenged an 11-point loss to St. John’s at home last month.
UConn won for the sixth time in seven games, closing in on a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
AJ Storr had 20 points and Posh Alexander added 18 for the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12), who had won three of four.
David Jones scored 15 off the bench — all in the second half — and Joel Soriano marked Senior Day with 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 22nd double-double this season, most in Division I.
There was plenty of jawing between the Big East rivals before a split crowd at Madison Square Garden in a game that included four technical fouls. Oklahoma 61, (at) No. 23 Iowa State 50: Jacob Groves led Oklahoma with 16 points as the Sooners knocked off No. 23 Iowa State.
The Sooners (14-15, 4-12
Big 12) had lost nine of their previous 11 games but erased an early 11-point deficit and seized control with a 17-2 run in the second half.
Groves made 4 of 5 from the 3-point line. Tanner Groves added 9 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) shot just 31%. Gabe Kalscheur led Iowa State with 12 points.
Both teams came into Saturday in a slump.
Oklahoma entered having lost six of its past seven games and having lost its last six road games. Iowa State has now lost five of its last six while trying to secure an NCAA Tournament berth.
No. 24 TCU 83, (at) Texas Tech 82: JaKobe Coles made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, and No. 24 TCU held on for a victory over Texas Tech despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes.
After De’Vion Harmon’s steal and layup put the Red Raiders in front by one with 12 seconds remaining, Coles
caught a pass from Emanuel Miller in the lane and was fouled by Fardaws Aimaq going up for the shot. The Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) weren’t in the bonus.
Harmon’s desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded wasn’t close, ending a four-game winning streak Texas Tech (16-13, 5-11), which is trying to stay in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth despite an 0-8 start in Big 12 play.
Mike Miles Jr. scored 24 points for the Horned Frogs, who had lost five of six and were coming off a loss to No. 3 Kansas at home. Miller had 14 points and 12 rebounds for TCU, while Xavier Cork scored 10 points despite foul trouble.
TCU managed to stay ranked through its extended slump, and is 2-5 in February. The Frogs have been ranked in 12 consecutive polls, but that school-record streak could be in jeopardy when the new AP Top 25 comes out Monday.