No. 1 Tennessee beats Florida, extends win streak to 18
KNOXVILLE, TENN. >> Grant Williams scored 16 points as No. 1 Tennessee defeated Florida 73-61 on Saturday to complete a season sweep of the Gators and extend its school-record winning streak to 18 games.
Tennessee (22-1, 10-0 SEC) owns the longest active winning streak of any Division I team. This also marks the biggest winning streak of Rick Barnes’ 32year head coaching career, surpassing the 17-game string that started Texas’ 2009-10 season.
Florida (12-11, 4-6) has lost three straight and four of its last five.
Admiral Schofield scored 14 points, Jordan Bowden had 13 and Jordan Bone added 10 for Tennessee. Noah Locke scored 17, Jalen Hudson had 15 and KeVaughn Allen added 11 for Florida.
NO. 5 KENTUCKY 71, MISSISSIPPI STATE 67 >> PJ Washington scored 23 points, Keldon Johnson added 13 and Kentucky held on to beat Mississippi State.
Kentucky (20-3, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 10 straight games since losing to Alabama in its conference opener on Jan. 5. The Wildcats had to work for this one after an 18-point lead dwindled to one possession with 1:18 left, but the Bulldogs weren’t able to score again.
Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6) led 17-15 midway through the first half, but Tyler Herro nailed a contested 3-pointer to give Kentucky the lead. The Wildcats never trailed again.
Lamar Peters led the Bulldogs with 16 points.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN 61, NO. 19 WISCONSIN 52 >> Jon Teske had 17 points and 12 rebounds, holding his own inside against Ethan Happ, and Charles Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lift Michigan past Wisconsin.
The Big Ten-leading Wolverines (22-2, 11-2) avenged one of their only losses this season despite going 0 for 10 from 3-point range in the second half.
Happ had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, but the Badgers (17-7, 9-4) had their six-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 88, MIAMI 85, OT >> Kenny Williams hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left in overtime to help North Carolina hold off Miami.
Freshman Coby White matched his season high with 33 points for the Tar Heels (19-4, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who survived a wild finish filled with big shots by both teams.
Miami had a final chance to tie it after a timeout, but White poked the ball loose from Chris Lykes, and Williams dove on the floor to recover the ball.
Lykes had his own huge game for the Hurricanes (1013, 2-9), scoring 19 of his 27 points with five 3-pointers after halftime.
NO. 9 MICHIGAN STATE 79, MINNESOTA 55 >> Nick Ward had 22 points and Matt McQuaid scored a season-high 18, leading Michigan State past Minnesota.
The Spartans (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) ended a three-game losing streak, their longest skid in two years.
Minnesota’s Gabe Kalscheur scored 17 points and Daniel Oturu had 12 points. The Golden Gophers (16-8, 6-7) have lost a seasonhigh three games. CLEMSON 59, NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 51 >> Shelton Mitchell scored 22 points with a career-best five 3-pointers and Clemson outlasted Virginia Tech for the Tigers’ fourth straight victory.
The Hokies (18-5, 7-4 ACC) made just one field goal in the final 8:33 in losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
The Tigers (15-8, 5-5) are finally looking like the team that surprised many when it reached the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 last March.
Kerry Blackshear Jr. 17 points to lead Virginia Tech before fouling out in the final minutes.
NO. 13 KANSAS 84, OKLAHOMA STATE 72 >> Dedric Lawson scored 25 points, Ochai Agbaji hit five 3s and had 23 points, and Kansas shrugged off a slow start to beat Oklahoma State.
Devon Dotson added 18 points while Mitch Lightfoot provided a big lift off the bench for the Jayhawks (18-6, 7-4 Big 12), who were playing their first game without starting guard Lagerald Vick. He left the team earlier in the week to deal with personal issues.
Cameron McGriff scored 22 points for Oklahoma State (9-14, 2-8), which played Kansas to a draw in the first half. NO. 22 FLORIDA STATE 80,
NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 75, OT >> Mfiondu Kabengele scored 22 points and Florida State erased a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, then knocked off Louisville.
Terance Mann added 20 points for the Seminoles (185, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who made 11 of 12 free throws in overtime to wrap up their fifth straight win.
Christen Cunningham scored 20 points, including 13 in the first half, for Louisville (17-7, 8-3).
TCU 92, NO. 17 IOWA STATE 83 >> Kendric Davis scored a season-high 22 points, and TCU stunned Iowa State for its first road win over a Top 25 team in 21 years.
Kouat Noi, Desmond Bane and Alex Robinson each had 17 for the Horned Frogs (17-6, 5-5 Big 12). They used a staggering 27-4 first-half run to blow past the beleaguered Cyclones and greatly boost their NCAA Tournament chances.
Marial Shayok scored 24 points and Michael Jacobson had 16 to lead the Cyclones (18-6, 7-4), who saw their winning streak snapped at four games.
NO. 18 TEXAS TECH 66, OKLAHOMA 54 >> Davide Moretti scored 14 points to help Texas Tech roll past Oklahoma.
Jarrett Culver had 13 points and Matt Mooney and Brandone Francis each added 11 for the Red Raiders (19-5, 7-4 Big 12), who stayed within striking range of conference leader Kansas State.
Rashard Odomes scored 14 points and Brady Manek had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma (15-9, 3-8), which lost its fourth straight.
NO. 21 LSU 83, AUBURN 78 >> Tremont Waters had 19 points and 10 assists and LSU overcame a sluggish start to beat Auburn.
Skylar Mays had 20 points for LSU (19-4, 9-1 SEC), which bounced back from its lone conference loss with a pair of league victories heading into its toughest road test yet at fifth-ranked Kentucky.
Jared Harper scored 25 for Auburn (16-7, 5-5), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 23 BUFFALO 90, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 76 >> Jeremy Harris had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Buffalo rallied to beat Central Michigan.
CJ Massinburg scored 18 points and Dontay Caruthers added 16 as Buffalo (20-3, 8-2 Mid-American Conference) won its 22nd game in a row at Alumni Arena.
Shawn Roundtree Jr. scored 26 points to lead the Chippewas (16-7, 5-5). He made 5 of 7 from 3-point range.