Cougars get their revenge
Houston set to reclaim top spot in poll after payback vs. Temple |
PHILADELPHIA — Jarace Walker scored 23 points, Marcus Sasser had 13 and No. 3 Houston earned retribution against Temple with an 81-65 win on Sunday night.
The Owls failed in their bid for a second upset after they toppled the Cougars from No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll with a 56-55 win last month in Houston.
The Cougars (22-2, 10-1 American Athletic Conference) are now poised to regain the top spot in the AP poll after a dominant second half in Philly. No. 1 Purdue lost to Indiana and No. 2 Tennessee lost to Florida, leaving an opening for Houston to ascend to No. 1 on Monday.
Khalif Battle led Temple (14-10, 8-3) with 24 points.
Temple has traditionally struggled to draw a full house at Liacouras Center, even for games that included city rivals or Top 25 teams or in seasons full of NCAA Tournament promise. The arena was packed Sunday, and Owls students swayed behind the basket from the opening tip. A T-shirt “white out” put some needed school spirit on display.
Temple gave fans plenty of reason to cheer with nine 3pointers in the first half. Battle hit a 3 for a 26-25 lead, Zach Hicks hit one for a three-point lead and Damian Dunn buried one that sent the Owls into halftime ahead 37-33.
Unlike the first game, the Owls couldn’t take it to the wire.
Playing the biggest home game in coach Aaron Mckie’s four seasons, the Owls wilted offensively and didn’t have the defensive chops to slow Houston. The Cougars broke the game open with a 13-0 run to open the second half and never let the Owls make a serious run the rest of the way.
Consider, in the first game, Temple did not make a bucket over the final 7:18 and was 5 of 21 from the field in the second half. Yet the offensive woes were offset by holding Houston to 34% shooting.
When Walker hit a 3 for a 56-48 lead Sunday with 8:47 left, it was good enough for one more point than Houston scored in the first game. They had 25 more in them.
Women
Texas Tech 78, Kansas
State 68: In Lubbock, Bre’amber Scott had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jasmine Shavers added 17 points and seven rebounds as Texas Tech completed a series sweep of Kansas State.
Bryan Gerlich added 16 points and three assists, while Bailey Maupin hit six of eight shots from 3-point range to contribute 16 points.
Texas Tech (16-7, 4-6 Big 12) held Kansas State (14-10, 3-8) to 11 3-pointers made in 50 attempts (22%) over two meetings.
No. 3 LSU 72, Texas A&M 66: In College Station, Angel Reese had 26 points and 22 rebounds to help LSU outlast Texas A&M.
Alexis Morris added 22 points before fouling out late to help LSU (23-0, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) remain undefeated ahead of next week’s showdown with topranked and undefeated South Carolina. It was Reese’s 23rd consecutive double-double.
An 8-0 run by Texas A&M (6-15, 1-10), capped by six consecutive free throws, cut the lead to 66-62 with less than two minutes to go. Reese made two free throws before Kay Kay Green made one of two free throws on the other end to leave LSU up 68-63 with less than a minute left.
Last-tear Poa added two free throws for the Tigers to push it to 70-63 seconds later. LSU forced a turnover and Reese added a basket to make it 72-63 with 17 seconds left.
No. 1 South Carolina 81, No. 5 Uconn 77: In Hartford, Conn., Aliyah Boston scored 23 of her 26 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to help South Carolina beat Uconn.
The Gamecocks (23-0) have won 29 consecutive games since losing to Kentucky in the SEC tournament title game last year. They’ve also won four of the past five meetings with the Huskies, including a victory in the NCAA championship game last season.
Washington 72, No. 2 Stanford 67: In Seattle, Elle Ladine scored 21 points and Dalayah Daniels made two key free throws with 8 seconds left, helping Washington knock off Stanford.
No. 4 Indiana 69, Purdue 46: In West Lafayette, Ind., Sydney Parrish and Mackenzie Holmes each scored 15 points and Indiana won its 10th straight game, pulling away from Purdue in front of a record Boilermakers crowd.
The announced attendance of 14,876 was the largest for a Purdue women’s home game. It marked the first sellout for a women’s matchup at Mackey Arena since 2000 and third in program history.
No. 6 Iowa 95, Penn State 51: In State College, Pa., Caitlin Clark had 23 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa over Penn State.
No. 7 Utah 100, Oregon 92: In Eugene, Ore., Alissa Pili scored a season-high 30 points, and Utah moved into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
No. 8 Maryland 90, No. 10 Ohio State 54: In College Park, Md., Diamond Miller scored 16 of her 29 points in the third quarter, and Maryland earned its most lopsided win over a top-10 opponent.
No. 16 Duke 57, No. 9 Notre Dame 52: In South Bend, Ind., Celeste Taylor scored 14 points in Duke’s come-frombehind victory at Notre Dame.
Louisville 62, No. 11 North Carolina 55: In Louisville, Ky., Chrislyn Carr scored 11 of her 17 points in the third quarter and Louisville ended North Carolina’s eight-game winning streak.
No. 14 UCLA 82, Arizona State 63: In Los Angeles, Charisma Osborne had 23 points, Londynn Jones added 20 off the bench, and UCLA pulled away in the second half to snap a three-game losing skid.
No. 18 Michigan 77, Michigan State 67: In East Lansing, Mich., Leigha Brown scored 19 of her 29 points in the second half and finished two assists shy of a triple-double to lead Michigan over rival Michigan State.
No. 22 Arizona 81, Southern Cal 75 (2 OT): In Los Angeles, Cate Reese scored a career-high 33 points, including four free throws in the last 7.5 seconds of the second overtime, to give Arizona the win over Southern Cal.