No. 1 Auburn overcomes a rough offensive performance to beat Arkansas
Arkansas forward Karter Knox (11) goes to the basket between Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara (10) and forward Johni Broome (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome had 16 points and 13 rebounds and No. 1 Auburn overcame a rough offensive performance to beat Arkansas 67-60 on Wednesday night.
After winning at Alabama on Saturday in a game between the top teams in the poll, Auburn (24-2, 12-1 Southeastern Conference) avoided its second straight home loss.
Chad Baker-Mazara added 15 points for the Tigers, and Chaney Johnson had 14.
Adou Thiero led Arkansas (15-11, 4-9) with 16. Johnell Davis had 14.
The teams combined to hit seven of 43 3-point attempts.
NO 15 MISSOURI 110, NO. 4 ALABAMA 98
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Mark Mitchell scored a career-high 31 points, Caleb Grill had 25 points and matched his career high with 10 rebounds and No. 15 Missouri handed No. 4 Alabama its second straight loss.
Missouri coach Dennis Gates headed off a court-storming celebration by taking the public address microphone and imploring the crowd to stay back. “Please, do not rush the court! Please, do not rush the court!” Gates said to the fans.
Anthony Robinson II added 14 points, and Tamar Bates had 13 to help Missouri (20-6, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) win its third straight and improve to 5-3 against ranked teams.
Mark Sears scored a season-best 35 points for Alabama (21-5, 10-3), coming off a home loss to top-ranked Auburn in a 1-2 matchup. Mouhamed Dioubate added 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
NO. 10 ST. JOHN’S 82, DEPAUL 58
CHICAGO (AP) — Kadary Richmond had 17 points and nine rebounds, Deivon Smith scored 18 and No. 10 St. John’s matched its highest Big East win total in 26 years, beating DePaul.
Sadiku Ibine Ayo scored a career-high 15. Zuby Ejiofor chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds, helping St. John’s win for the 12th time in 13 games.
In their second season under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, the first-place Red Storm (23-4, 14-2) equaled their highest conference win total since the 1998-99 team went 14-4 in league play. They lead No. 16 Marquette and Creighton by 2 1/2 games.
Isaiah Rivera led DePaul with 16 points, but the last-place Blue Demons (11-16, 2-14) lost for the seventh time in eight games.
NO. 17 KENTUCKY 82, VANDERBILT 61
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Otega Oweh scored 20 points and No. 17 Kentucky took advantage of its size to start the second half to pull away for a win over Vanderbilt.
The Wildcats (18-8, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) led 41-40 at the half, but focused on going inside for their first three baskets of the second half and forced the Commodores to take a timeout three minutes in.
Amari Williams added 17 points for the Wildcats.
Devin McGlockton led Vanderbilt (17-9, 5-8) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Commodores only shot 30% from the field in the second half — including 1 for 10 on 3-pointers — after shooting 49% in the first half.