No. 3 UConn survives Georgetown 64-62 for 14th consecutive victory
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tarris Reed Jr. had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and third-ranked UConn held off Georgetown 64-62 on Saturday for its 14th consecutive victory.
Silas Demary Jr. scored 12 points and Braylon Mullins added 11 for the Huskies (18-1, 8-0 Big East), who improved to 11-0 against the Hoyas since rejoining the Big East. The 11 consecutive victories match UConn’s longest winning streak ever against Georgetown.
Vince Iwuchukwu had 12 points and 14 rebounds and KJ Lewis added 12 points for the Hoyas (9-9, 1-6), who have lost five in a row.
Lewis pulled Georgetown within 63-60 with 32.7 seconds left, and the Huskies’ Solo Ball then missed two free throws. But Lewis was short with a 3-pointer on the Hoyas’ next trip, and Mullins made 1 of 2 foul shots to bump UConn’s lead to four.
Iwuchukwu dunked with 1.9 seconds to go, but UConn inbounded the ball to run out the clock.
CINCINNATI 79, NO. 2 IOWA ST. 70
CINCINNATI (AP) — Day Day Thomas scored 19 points to lead Cincinnati to a win over Iowa State, which has lost two straight after winning its first 16 games.
Milan Momcilovic scored a career-high 34 points, hitting eight 3-pointers, for the Cyclones (16-2, 3-2 Big 12) who were looking to rebound after an 84-63 loss to Kansas on Tuesday.
But a desperate Cincinnati team made things difficult, forcing 12 turnovers leading to 20 points. Iowa State trailed by as many as 26 points against Kansas and 17 on Saturday.
Jizzle James scored 15 points and Sencire Harris and Jalen Celestine each scored 12 for Cincinnati (10-8, 2-3) which has won two straight games after starting 0-3 in the league.
NO. 19 FLORIDA 98, NO. 10 VANDERBILT 94
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rueben Chinyelu scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and Florida beat Vanderbilt.
Chinyelu was 5 for 5 from the field and 6 for 6 from the line in the second half as Florida (13-5, 4-1 SEC) overcame a one-point halftime deficit with a 54-49 scoring edge in the second half. Xaivian Lee had 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers.
Tyler Tanner scored 20 points and Duke Miles added 15 before fouling out late in the second for Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2), which lost its second straight game after opening the season with 16 consecutive wins. The Commodores lost 80-64 at Texas on Wednesday.
The Gators dominated the Commodores on the boards, finishing with a 40-26 rebounding edge, including 13-6 on the offensive end. The teams’ shooting was close as Florida shot 52% (32 of 61) from the field and Vanderbilt was 51% (33 of 65) from the floor.
NO. 13 ILLINOIS 77, MINNESOTA 67
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Zvonimir Ivisic scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds off the bench and Keaton Wagler had 17 points to lead Illinois to a victory over Minnesota.
David Mirkovic had 12 points, all in the second half, and Tomislav Ivisic scored 10 for the Illini (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten), who won their seventh straight.
It was the 10th consecutive game that Wagler scored in double figures. He’s had at least 16 points in nine of those games.
Andrej Stojakovic scored seven points for Illinois, which gave him 1,000 for his career. He played at Stanford and California before joining the Illini this year.
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored 22 points and had eight rebounds for the Gophers (10-8, 3-4), who have lost three straight after a five-game winning streak.
NO. 16 VIRGINIA 72, SMU 68
DALLAS (AP) — Malik Thomas had a game-high 23 points and a career-best 11 rebounds and Thijs De Ridder added 17 points, including seven of Virginia’s eight points in the final 2½ minutes, as the Cavaliers hung on to beat SMU in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
Virginia (16-2, 5-1 ACC) has won five consecutive games. SMU (13-5, 2-3 ACC) lost for the first time in 12 games at Moody Coliseum this season.
De Ridder’s two free throws with 1:07 left gave Virginia a 70-68 lead. After the Cavs’ Dallin Hall missed a 3-pointer late in the shot clock with 14 seconds left, De Ridder grabbed the rebound and was fouled. De Ridder hit two more foul shots, putting Virginia ahead 72-68.
SMU’s Boopie Miller missed a right-corner 3-pointer in the closing seconds, and De Ridder grabbed the rebound.
Jarin Pierre Jr. scored 16 points to lead the Mustangs. B.J. Edwards added 13 and Miller, the team’s leading scorer averaging 20.8 per game, scored a season-low 12.
NO. 18 ALABAMA 83, OKLAHOMA 81
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Labaron Philon scored 23 points, Aiden Sherrell added 21 and Alabama beat Oklahoma.
Oklahoma inbounded the ball with 4.1 seconds left and went for the win, but Nijel Pack missed a long 3-pointer and the Sooners couldn’t get a shot off after corralling the offensive rebound.
Alabama (13-5, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) won despite making only 15 of 26 free throws.
Xzayvier Brown scored 21 points and Derrion Reid added 16 for Oklahoma (11-7, 1-3). The Sooners, who sought their first win over a ranked team this season, dropped their fourth straight. They were coming off a 96-79 home loss to No. 19 Florida on Tuesday and needed a quality win to boost their NCAA Tournament resume.
NO. 22 CLEMSON 69, MIAMI (FL) 59
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Carter Welling scored a season-high 18 points and Jestin Porter added 11 as Clemson won its ninth straight and remained perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a victory over Miami.
The Tigers (16-3, 6-0 ACC) are one of two undefeated teams in league play after ending the Hurricanes’ (15-3, 4-1) 10-game win streak.
Clemson did it on defense, holding Miami to its lowest point total this season. The Tigers had a season-high 11 steals and held the Hurricanes’ Malik Reneau, who came in averaging 20.4 points, to just 11. Reneau played only 21 minutes before fouling out with 7:05 remaining.
Clemson came out ready for the early showdown, taking an 8-0 lead with two 3s from Welling. When Miami scratched back to 15-12, the Tigers and Welling took off on a 16-6 surge to open a 10-point lead.
GRAND CANYON 84, NO. 23 UTAH ST. 74
PHOENIX (AP) — Makaih Williams scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, Brian Moore Jr. added 20 points and Grand Canyon knocked off Utah State.
The Antelopes (11-6, 4-2 Mountain West Conference) shot 51% from the floor and turned back Utah State’s late charge to set off a court storming with their third win in five all-time games against AP Top 25 opponents.
Grand Canyon’s Nana Owusu-Anane finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and 7-foot-2 center Dennis Evans blocked six shots while altering several others.
The Aggies (15-2, 6-2) got off to a shaky start and trailed for most of the game to see their eight-game winning streak end. Mason Falslev had 25 points to lead Utah State, which shot 36% from the floor and 7 of 28 from 3.
KENTUCKY 80, NO. 24 TENNESSEE 78
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Denzel Aberdeen scored 22 points, 18 in the second half, and Kentucky rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit to knock off Tennessee.
Trailing 80-78 with 2.6 seconds left, Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie went to the free throw line for one shot. He intentionally missed, and teammate Jaylen Carey got the rebound in a scrum. His attempt to tie the game at the buzzer was stuffed by several Wildcats players.
After the buzzer, pushing and shoving in front of the Tennessee bench ensued. Players from both teams were quickly separated.
BUTLER 77, NO. 25 SETON HALL 66
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Finley Bizjack scored 25 points and Butler snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Seton Hall.
Bizjack was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and 7 of 7 from the line.
Azavier Robinson added 14 points and Michael Ajayi scored 13, the 17th time this season he has scored in double figures for Butler (11-7, 2-5 Big East).
AJ Staton-McCray led Seton Hall (14-4, 4-3) with 17 points. Mike Williams and freshman Najai Hines chipped in with 11 points each. Hines also pulled down 16 rebounds.
The Pirates closed to 63-57 with 4:02 to play, but Ajayi and Drayton Jones, who scored 11 points, each scored two from the free throw line to put the Bulldogs up 67-57.