Johni Broome’s double-double sends No. 2 Auburn to a 91-53 win over Ohio State

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Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) shoots during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Ohio State, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Kathryn Skeean)

ATLANTA (AP) — Johni Broome had 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds to lead No. 2 Auburn to a 91-53 win over Ohio State on Saturday.

Broome, a senior forward, added six assists in the first 20-point, 20-rebound performance of his career. Auburn (9-1) finished with a 49-28 rebounding edge.

Devin Royal scored 14 points to lead Ohio State (6-4), which shot 18 of 51 (35%) from the field. Auburn shot 33 of 72 (46%).

Auburn made five of its first seven 3-point shots, all in the first 10 minutes of the first half and led 49-21 at the break. It is the third game this season in which Auburn has scored 49 or more points in the opening half.

No. 1 TENNESSEE 66, ILLINOIS 64

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jordan Gainey scored on a driving layup as time expired and finished with a career-high 23 points as No. 1 Tennessee extended its season-opening winning streak to 10 games, beating Illinois.

After Illinois tied the game at 64 on the second of two free throws by Kasparas Jakucionis with 5.7 seconds left, Gainey took control. The Vols’ senior guard inbounded the ball to Igor Milicic, got it back and raced three-quarters the length of the court and scored over Jakucionis as time ran out.

Chaz Lanier scored 17 points for Tennessee before fouling out with 3:42 left. Milicic had 14 rebounds and a key steal and dunk with 1:32 remaining that put the Vols up 64-62.

Tennessee has won its first 10 games in a season for the first time in 25 years.

Jakucionis scored 22 points for Illinois (7-3). Tre White had 11 points and Kylan Boswell and Will Riley added 10 apiece.

No. 5 KENTUCKY 93, LOUISVILLE 85

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Lamont Butler returned from a two-game absence to shoot perfect from the field for a career-high 33 points, including six 3-pointers, and No. 5 Kentucky held off rival Louisville for Bluegrass supremacy.

Kentucky (10-1) shot 58%, including 70% before halftime, but needed every basket to stay clear of the Cardinals (6-5). Butler, who made all 10 of his shot attempts, provided a boost with three consecutive 3-pointers coming out of the break and 14 of Kentucky’s first 16 points overall, including a layup for a 59-49 cushion.

Louisville got it to 64-61, but Kentucky mounted several small spurts for double-digit leads that withstood several Cardinal rallies. Otega Oweh added eight key points down the stretch, including a three-point play to make it 89-79 with 43 seconds remaining.

Kentucky won for the 10th time in 12 meetings.

DAYTON 71, No. 6 MARQUETTE 63

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Javon Bennett and Zed Key each scored 15 points as Dayton erased a 13-point deficit in the second and beat No. 6 Marquette.

Down by double-digits at the half, Bennett tied the game with a layup and Key scored from the paint to give Dayton its first lead, 55-53, with 7:02 left.

The Flyers outscored Marquette by 18 in the second half, shooting 55.6%. A 5-0 run in the last 1:15 sealed it for Dayton (9-2).

Nate Santos had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Flyers.

Chase Ross paced Marquette with 19 points and Kam Jones had 18 as the Golden Eagles (9-2) lost for the second time in three games.

The Flyers outrebounded Marquette 38-31 and capitalized on 21 second-chance points, compared with Marquette’s 10.

No. 7 ALABAMA 83, CREIGHTON 75

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 27 points and No. 7 Alabama held off a late comeback try, beating Creighton.

Sears, a senior guard who added six rebounds and four assists, hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final six minutes and shot 8 for 15 from the field. He made 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range and accounted for most of the Crimson Tide’s long distance shooting as the team went 6 for 30 (20%) from beyond the arc.

Freshmen Labaron Philon scored 16 points and Derrion Reid 12 for Alabama (8-2).

Creighton’s Jackson McAndrew scored 13 of his 16 points in the last six minutes, keeping the Bluejays (7-4) withing striking distance for most of the final minutes. Steven Ashworth led Creighton with 20 points and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 18 points and seven rebounds.

No. 18 UCONN 77, No. 8 GONZAGA 71

NEW YORK (AP) — Liam McNeeley scored 26 points for No. 18 UConn, which fended off a series of rallies by No. 8 Gonzaga to earn a win in a Hall of Fame Series matchup at Madison Square Garden.

Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points and Jaylin Stewart added 10 for two-time defending national champion UConn (8-3) for coach Dan Hurley’s 300th win.

Khalif Battle had 21 points, Ryan Nembhard finished with 16 points and Michael Ajayi added 14 points for Gonzaga (7-3), which fell to 2-6 all-time against UConn.

UConn opened the game on a 13-2 run and led 43-40 at the half. Gonzaga tied the game at 55 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Battle and Nembhard before the Huskies scored the next 10 points.

The Bulldogs got within 73-70 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ajayi with 3:25 left, but Nembhard missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer before Alex Karaban hit a layup as the shot clock expired with a minute left.

No. 9 FLORIDA 83, ARIZONA ST. 66

ATLANTA (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. hit five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points as he helped No. 9 Florida to a win over Arizona State.

Alijah Martin had 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Adam Miller led Arizona State (8-2) with 18 points.

The Gators (10-0) set the tone early as they hit four of their 10 total 3-pointers as part of a 12-0 run, to take an 18-8 lead with 14:29 to play in the first half.

The Gators shot 48% from the field (32 of 67) compared to Arizona State’s 37% (23 of 62) shooting performance. The Gators outrebounded the Sun Devils 47-27.

No. 10 KANSAS 75, NC STATE 60

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Zeke Mayo hit five 3s and scored 26 points, Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 10 Kansas bounced back from consecutive losses with a rout of NC State.

Dajuan Harris Jr. added 15 points and six assists for the Jayhawks (8-2), who scored the first 15 points of the game but didn’t have it in hand until midway through the second half, when Dickinson scored eight consecutive points to bury the Wolfpack.

Kansas won its 20th consecutive nonconference home game and avoided its first three-game skid since the 2022-23 season.

Ben Middlebrooks had 14 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield finished with 12 for the Wolfpack (7-4), who have lost their last 13 games to Kansas since winning their first matchup at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 20, 1958.

No. 17 TEXAS A&M 70, No. 11 PURDUE 66

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Zhuric Phelps and Pharrel Payne each scored 16 points Saturday to lead No. 17 Texas A&M past No. 11 Purdue in the first of two games at the Indy Classic.

The Aggies (9-2) have won five straight. Payne had season-high totals in points and rebounds with nine. All-SEC guard Wade Taylor IV finished with 15 points and five assists before an injury forced him to leave with 1:36 to play.

Braden Smith led the Boilermakers (8-3) with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Fletcher Loyer had 12 points as Purdue lost for the second time in three games.

It was a physical contest between two teams who thrive on rebounding with bodies repeatedly hitting the floor and multiple players departing with injuries. Smith left briefly in the first half when his head appeared to hit Payne’s knee, and the refs stopped play for Taylor when he struggled to dribble past midcourt. Taylor did not return.

Texas A&M’s defense swung the game by keeping the Boilermakers scoreless for a stretch of 6:35 in the second half, allowing the Aggies to extend a two-point lead to 62-50.

MEMPHIS 87, No. 16 CLEMSON 82, OT

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Tyrese Hunter had 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 59.3 seconds left in overtime, as Memphis rallied past No. 16 Clemson.

Hunter had seven of Memphis’ 12 3s, including two critical baskets from the behind the arc in the extra period.

Memphis (8-2) trailed 69-63 with 2:22 to go on Ian Schieffelin’s layup. But it finished the second half with a 9-3 run to force the extra period.

Clemson’s Chase Hunter missed a long-distance shot at the end of regulation.

Clemson (8-2) was ahead 78-77 when Hunter struck with the first of his two 3-pointers in overtime. After Clemson moved back in front for a final time, 81-80, Hunter took a pass from PJ Haggerty for an open three.

Colby Rogers added 22 points off four 3-pointers for Memphis.

Viktor Lakhin had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Clemson. Hunter and Schieffelin had 17 points each.

No. 19 MISSISSIPPI 77, SOUTHERN MISS. 46

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Sean Pedulla scored 18 points on six 3-pointers to lead No. 19 Mississippi to a victory over Southern Miss.

Jaylen Murray had 14 points and made four 3s for the Rebels (9-1) in the neutral-site game at Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Davon Barnes added nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 10.

The Golden Eagles (4-6) were led by Denijay Harris, who had 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. But he got little support and Southern Miss shot just 16 of 49 (32.7%).

Pedulla had 15 points and five 3s by halftime to help the Rebels take a 38-28 lead that turned into a rout. Ole Miss outscored Southern Miss 39-18 in the second half.

No. 20 WISCONSIN 83, BUTLER 74

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nolan Winter scored a season-high 20 points and Steven Crowl added a season-best 18 as No. 20 Wisconsin snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Butler in the second game of the Indy Classic.

Winter also had eight rebounds, and Crowl had six. Max Klesmit and John Tonje each scored 11 points for the Badgers (9-3), who won for the first time in four games this month.

Pierre Brooks scored 23 points and Patrick McCaffery had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead Butler (7-4), which lost its third straight.

Wisconsin committed just three turnovers and made 25 of 27 free throws in leading from the start.

No. 22 CINCINNATI 68, XAVIER 65

CINCINNATI (AP) — Simas Lukosius scored 14 points and Aziz Bandaogo added 12 as No. 22 Cincinnati held off crosstown rival Xavier.

Cincinnati (8-1) rallied late to snap a five-game losing streak against the Musketeers (8-3).

Ryan Conwell completed a four-point play to cut Xavier’s deficit to 66-65 with 13.8 seconds left. The Bearcats’ Jizzle James hit two free throws to make it 68-65 with 13 seconds. Xavier’s Zach Freemantle missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Freemantle scored 18 points and Conwell had 17 for the Musketeers.

No. 24 UCLA 57, ARIZONA 54

PHOENIX (AP) — Tyler Bilodeau scored 17 points, Skyy Clark added 15 and No. 24 UCLA rallied from a 13-point deficit midway through the second half to beat Arizona.

UCLA won its eighth straight game, shaking off a poor shooting afternoon. Bilodeau was crucial down the stretch, making 6 of 12 shots on a variety of mid-range and post moves. Clark grabbed an offensive rebound with eight seconds left, was immediately fouled, and then made two free throws to set the final margin.

Arizona’s KJ Lewis missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Arizona opened the second half on a 21-6 run and took a 49-36 lead with 10:49 left after Jaden Bradley made two driving layups on back-to-back possessions. Bradley led the Wildcats with 12 points.

UCLA shot just 2 of 11 from the field and 2 of 6 on free throws over the first 10 minutes of the second half. But the Bruins slowly recovered and Dylan Andrews made a layup with 3:35 left to tie it at 52-all.

No. 25 MISSISSIPPI ST. 66, MCNEESE ST. 63

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — RJ Melendez had a season-high 18 points and Josh Hubbard added 16 to lead No. 25 Mississippi State to a win over McNeese State in a neutral-site game.

Melendez made two free throws with nine seconds remaining in regulation to give Mississippi State (9-1) a 66-61 lead that it held on to.

Joe Charles led McNeese State (5-5) with 19 points while Sincere Parker finished with 16. Javohn Garcia and Brandon Murray each added 10 points for the Cowboys.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. McNeese State initially found more success and took a 24-16 lead after a Charles 3-pointer with 3:42 left in the half. But thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from both Hubbard and Claudell Harris, the Bulldogs closed the half on a 13-5 run and it was tied at 29 at halftime.