Braden Smith leads 2nd-half charge in No. 5 Purdue’s 79-72 comeback victory over Iowa
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Braden Smith scored all 16 of his points in the second half and tied the Big Ten record for assists in conference play, and No. 5 Purdue overcame a nine-point to beat Iowa 79-72 on Wednesday night.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 12 points, Fletcher Loyer had 11 and Oscar Cluff 10 to help the Boilermakers (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) win their eighth straight game. They have won their first six conference games for only the fifth time since 1940.
Smith finished the game with 478 assists in league games — the same number former Michigan State player Cassius Winston had.
Bennett Stirtz had 19 points to lead Iowa (12-5, 2-4). Kael Combs added 16 points as the Hawkeyes lost their third in a row overall, fell to 0-4 against ranked teams this season and extended their losing streak against top-10 opponents to 10 since 2021-22.
NO. 13 ILLINOIS 79, NORTHWESTERN 68
EVANSTON, Ill.(AP) — Keaton Wagler scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, and Illinois beat Northwestern for their season-high sixth consecutive victory.
Tomislav Ivisic added 21 points and seven rebounds as Illinois (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) won at Northwestern for the first time since Jan. 29, 2022. The Illini had dropped their last three games in Evanston.
Jayden Reid led Northwestern with a career-high 28 points, including 20 in the second half. Nick Martinelli had 20 points.
STANFORD 95, NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 90
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Freshman Ebuka Okorie had 36 points and nine assists and Stanford rallied from 12 points down in the second half to beat North Carolina.
Okorie outdueled Tar Heels freshman star Caleb Wilson and helped the Cardinal (14-4, 3-2 ACC) knock off the Tar Heels (14-3, 2-2) for the second straight season as conference opponents. North Carolina had won all 13 meetings between the schools before coach Kyle Smith took over last season in Stanford’s first year in the ACC.
Jeremy Dent-Smith hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:04 to play for his sixth long ball of the night to make it 88-87. After Wilson turned it over at the other end, Ryan Agarwal hit another 3 to but the Cardinal up by four points with 32 seconds to play.
The Cardinal held on from there for their second win over a ranked opponent this month after beating No. 16 Louisville at home on Jan. 2. That matches the most wins against ranked wins in a season for Stanford since the Cardinal had five in 2013-14 in the last season when they made the NCAA Tournament.
Dent-Smith and Agarwal each finished with 20 points as Stanford won despite playing without second-leading scorer Chisom Okpara, who is out with a lower-body injury.
Wilson and Henri Veesaar each scored 26 points for North Carolina.
NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 88, UTAH 74
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — JT Toppin had 31 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth consecutive double-double and Christian Anderson had his own with 26 points and 10 assists as Texas Tech beat Utah.
It was Toppin’s 11th double-double this season, his 30th in 49 games over two seasons with Tech since transferring from New Mexico, and his 42nd overall. The 6-foot-9 junior forward also had seven assists and five blocked shots while making a career-high three 3-pointers.
Donovan Atwell added 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Red Raiders (13-4, 3-1 Big 12), who shot 51.4% overall from the field (36 of 70) while improving to 9-0 at home this season. Anderson had six of their 13 made 3-pointers.
Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry each had 18 points, and Terrence Brown 17 for Utah (8-9, 0-4). The Utes have lost 11 consecutive true road games.
NO. 17 ARKANSAS 108, SOUTH CAROLINA 74
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. had 18 points and 13 assists as Arkansas routed South Carolina.
Meleek Thomas led six Razorbacks in double figures with 21 points off the bench. Reserve forward Malique Ewin scored 18, Trevon Brazile had 13 and D.J. Wagner added 12.
Nick Pringle, who spent last season at South Carolina, set a season high with 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Acuff, a freshman, posted his third double-double and set a career best for assists. He’s scored in double figures in every game for Arkansas (13-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) this season.
Meechie Johnson paced the Gamecocks (10-7, 1-3) with 29 points.
MISSISSIPPI 97, NO. 21 GEORGIA 95, OT
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Patton Pinkins sank a follow-up shot with 1 second remaining in overtime and Mississippi beat Georgia despite Jeremiah Wilkinson’s season-high 32 points for the Bulldogs.
Marcus “Smurf” Millender made one of two free throws for Georgia (14-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) with 10.2 seconds remaining in overtime to tie the game at 95.
Following a miss by AJ Storr, who led Ole Miss (10-7, 2-2) with 27 points, Pinkins grabbed the rebound and sank the winning shot to finish with 18 points.
Kanon Catchings scored 17 points for Georgia, including a 3-pointer for a 94-91 lead.