No. 5 Houston holds off No. 8 Iowa State 68-59
Houston guard L.J. Cryer (4) and Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson, front right, scramble for the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Houston, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
HOUSTON (AP) — L.J. Cryer scored 28 points, Milos Uzan added 19 points and No. 5 Houston held on to beat No. 8 Iowa State 68-59 on Saturday.
Cryer and Uzan combined to shoot 18 of 27, including 8 of 12 on 3-pointers. Emanuel Sharp added 11 points for Houston (23-4, 15-1 Big 12), which won its sixth straight.
Milan Momcilovic scored all 16 of his points in the second half to lead a furious rally for the Cyclones (21-6, 11-5). Nate Heise added 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey scored 11.
Trailing by 16 midway through the second half, the Cyclones used an 18-3 run to cut the lead to 48-47 on a 3-pointer by Heise with eight minutes remaining. Houston responded with four straight points to push the lead back to five.
NO. 1 AUBURN 82, GEORGIA 70
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome scored a season-high 31 points and added 14 rebounds as No. 1 Auburn defeated Georgia.
For the second straight game, Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) found itself in a tight contest against an unranked opponent before pulling away in the final minutes.
Broome took over in the second half, including a run of seven straight points for the Tigers. The double-double was his 17th of the season.
Denver Jones added 17 points for the Tigers, while Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly had 11 each.
Asa Newell led the Bulldogs (16-11, 4-10) with 20 points. Silas Demary Jr. added 18.
NO. 2 FLORIDA 79, LSU 65
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Rueben Chinyelu had a career-high 19 points to go with 13 rebounds and No. 2 Florida roared back from an eight-point second-half deficit to beat LSU.
Thomas Haugh scored 16 points, Alijah Martin added 14 and Walter Clayton Jr. 13 for Florida (24-3, 11-3 SEC), which won its sixth straight.
LSU freshman Robert Miller III scored a career-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds and was the big reason the Tigers (14-13, 3-11) looked poised to challenge Florida well into the second half.
Florida raced to a 29-15 lead during the opening 13 minutes. But LSU suddenly found its footing when Curtis Givens III hit a 3, sparking a stunning 22-2 run during the final 6:41 of the half.
Florida surged into the lead for good with a 15-2 run that gave the Gators a 53-48 lead. Chinyelu scored seven points during that spurt, including a put-back as he was fouled.
NO. 3 DUKE 110, ILLINOIS 67
NEW YORK (AP) — Cooper Flagg had 16 points in his Madison Square Garden debut and seven players scored in double figures for No. 3 Duke in a blowout of Illinois.
Isaiah Evans paced the Blue Devils (24-3) with 17 points off the bench, and Kon Knueppel added 15. Duke built a 23-point lead in the first half and was never threatened while setting a season scoring high.
Flagg, the freshman expected to be the top pick in this year’s NBA draft, added seven rebounds and five assists in 23 1/2 minutes. But the Blue Devils didn’t even need his best on this night.
Tre White had 16 points for Illinois (17-11) in a nonconference matchup between programs that lost in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last year. Kasparas Jakucionis scored 14.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 96, NO. 17 KENTUCKY 83
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 30 points and No. 4 Alabama came from behind for a win over No. 17 Kentucky.
Alabama (22-5, 11-3 Southeastern Conference), which had lost its previous two games, got 19 points from Aden Holloway, who made five 3-pointers. Chris Youngblood had 14 points and Clifford Omoruyi had 11.
Koby Brea led Kentucky (18-9, 7-7 SEC) with 20 points while Andrew Carr and Amari Williams each scored 17. Travis Perry added 12 points.
NO. 6 TENNESSEE 77, NO. 7 TEXAS A&M 69
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Chaz Lanier had a season-high 30 points, including 8 3-pointers to lead the Volunteers over the Aggies.
Lanier, a senior transfer from North Florida, went 8 of 13 from beyond the arc and 10 of 18 overall in game that featured 11 lead changes and eight ties.
Jordan Gainey made a 3-pointer with 3:33 to left to give Tennessee (22-5, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) a 63-59 lead. Zakai Zeigler hit a 3 in front of the Vols’ bench on an inbound pass with 21 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
The Aggies (20-7, 9-5) started the game with three consecutive dunks before the Vols finally scored a little more than three minutes into the raucous setting at Reed Arena.
NO. 9 TEXAS TECH 73, WEST VIRGINIA 51
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — JT Toppin scored 22 points, freshman Christian Anderson had a season-high 21 points with five 3-pointers in his first career start to help the Red Raiders beat the Mountaineers.
Toppin and the Red Raiders (21-6, 12-4 Big 12) overcame a slow start, with the 6-foot-9 reigning AP national player of the week making nine of his last 10 shots after missing his first six. Tech fell behind 24-15 when missing 18 of its first 23 shots before ending the first half with a 15-3 run to go ahead to stay.
Amani Hansberry had 14 points and 11 rebounds for West Virginia (16-11, 7-9), his second double-double in a row. Javon Small had 10 points.
OREGON 77, NO. 11 WISCONSIN 73, OT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nate Bittle had 23 points and Jackson Shelstad made a desperation 3 to force overtime that lead to a Ducks win over the Badgers.
Bittle, a 7-foot center, scored six points in overtime to help snap Wisconsin’s five-game winning streak. Shelstad scored 13 points as the Ducks (20-8, 9-8 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to four games.
Bittle played limited minutes in the first half with three fouls.
John Tonje had 22 points for Wisconsin (21-6, 11-5). Steve Crowl scored 12.
The Badgers have only lost two home games this season.
ARKANSAS 92, NO. 15 MISSOURI 85
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Zvonimir Ivisic scored 20 points, Johnell Davis added 18 and Arkansas beat No. 15 Missouri for its third win over a top-15 team this season.
Ivisic and Davis made back-to-back 3-pointers during a second-half run that saw the Razorbacks (16-11, 5-9 Southeastern Conference) turn a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead with less than eight minutes to play.
Missouri (20-7, 9-5) committed 18 turnovers and Arkansas took advantage, scoring 30 points off them. The easy layups off several giveaways contributed to the Razorbacks shooting 55% from the field.
D.J. Wagner added 17 points, Karter Knox had 14 and Adou Thiero 11 for Arkansas.
Missouri also had five players score 10 points or more, led by Mark Mitchell’s 17. Marques Warrick added 16 points, Caleb Grill scored all 13 of his points in the first half, and Tony Perkins and Jacob Crews each had 10.
NO. 18 CLEMSON 79, SMU 69
DALLAS (AP) — Jaeden Zackery had 19 points, including a career-best five 3-pointers before halftime, plus six rebounds, seven assists and five steals to help No. 18 Clemson beat SMU.
Chase Hunter added 17 points and Viktor Lakhin had 16 for the Tigers (22-5, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who are tied for second with Louisville and one-game behind Duke.
Chuck Harris scored 16 points, and Matt Cross and B.J. Edwards had 12 each for the Mustangs (20-7, 11-5).
Clemson ended the first half on a 7-2 run after SMU took its only lead of the game at 30-29, then scored the first nine points of the second half. The Tigers’ largest lead was 18 points.
BYU 96, NO. 19 ARIZONA 95
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Richie Saunders scored 23 points, including two free throws with 3.2 seconds left, to give BYU a win at No. 19 Arizona.
It was the Cougars’ fourth win in a row and second consecutive over a ranked opponent, following a 91-57 victory over No. 23 Kansas on Tuesday.
Saunders was 8 of 10 from the field and hit 3 of 4 3-pointers as BYU (19-8, 10-6 Big 12) shot 55.4% and made 14 of 31 from 3-point range. Egor Demin added 13 points and eight assists for the Cougars.
Arizona (18-9, 12-4) got 27 points from Caleb Love, including two free throws with 13 seconds left to put the Wildcats up 95-94. He was one of five players in double figures for Arizona, which shot 54.2% and was 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
BYU led 47-44 at halftime thanks to 54.5% shooting, with Saunders scoring 14 points. Arizona, which shot 50% in the first half, made its first eight shots out of the break but couldn’t build more than a 2-point lead.
OKLAHOMA 93, NO. 21 MISSISSIPPI STATE 87
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jeremiah Fears had 27 points and a career-high 10 assists, as the Sooners defeated the Bulldogs to snap a five-game losing skid and revive its NCAA Tournament hopes.
Fears, an 18-year-old freshman, made 7 of 12 field goals and 11 of 14 free throws. It was one of his most efficient performances overall and his second-best scoring effort of the season.
Jalon Moore scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and Sam Godwin had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Sooners (17-10, 4-10 Southeastern Conference).
NO. 23 KANSAS 96, OKLAHOMA STATE 64
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and four other Jayhawks scored at least 14 as No. 23 Kansas demolished Oklahoma State.
The Jayhawks (18-9, 9-7 Big 12) used a well-rounded offensive attack and held the Cowboys to almost 30 points below their season average. They started the first half slowly before finally seizing control with a late run. They led by 29 at halftime and stretched it to as many as 39 points in the second half.
Besides Dickinson, Kansas got 15 points from David Coit and Zeke Mayo. Dajuan Harris Jr. had an excellent all-around game with 14 points, five assists and six steals.
Oklahoma State (13-14, 5-11) was led by Bryce Thompson with 21 points.
VANDERBILT 77, NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI 72
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Manon’s 3-pointer with 4:53 left put Vanderbilt ahead to stay as the Commodores beat No. 24 Ole Miss to snap a three-game skid.
The Commodores (18-9, 6-8 Southeastern Conference) led by as much as 19 and 41-33 at halftime before Ole Miss put Vanderbilt at risk of blowing another double-digit lead.
Manon finished with a season-high 16 points. Jason Edwards added 15, Tyler Nickel had 13 and Devin McGlockton 10.
First-year coach Mark Byington has Vanderbilt closer to an NCAA Tournament berth after being picked to finish last in the SEC. The Commodores have three wins over ranked opponents and came into Saturday 10th in the league standings.
NO. 25 LOUISVILLE 89, FLORIDA STATE 81
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Chucky Hepburn made five free throws down the stretch as part of his 29 points, J’Vonne Hadley added 18 points as the Cardinals withstood several second-half rallies to hold off the Seminoles for its fifth consecutive win.
The Cardinals (21-6, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 39-19 late in the first half before the Seminoles closed within six points several times in the second half. Hadley and Terrence Edwards Jr. (16 points) made layups for a double-digit advantage, and Hepburn followed with a basket in the paint and two free throws for a 74-61 cushion.
Hepburn’s fallback 3 with a tick left on the shot clock made it 79-64, but Florida State got within 81-75 on Daquan Davis’ layup with 1:05 left. Hepburn made three free throws, Edwards hit two and Hepburn made two more with 14 seconds left to help Louisville complete a season sweep.
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