No. 8 Tennessee tops No. 5 Florida 64-44 despite missing starters

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chaz Lanier scored 19 points to lead shorthanded No. 8 Tennessee to a 64-44 win over No. 5 Florida on Saturday.

The Volunteers (18-4, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) were playing without starters Zakai Zeigler (knee) and Igor Milicic Jr. (illness).

Jordan Gainey scored 16. Felix Okpara had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Walter Clayton Jr. scored 10 for the Gators (18-3, 5-3) in the first half before injuring his left ankle. He reinjured it in the second half. The Gators shot 6 of 26 in the second half.

Tennessee took the lead at the end of the first half when Cade Phillips and Darlinstone Dubar had back-to-back blocks before Lanier drilled a 3-pointer. Clayton went down with a left ankle injury with 1:07 left.

NO. 1 AUBURN 92, NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI 82

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Johni Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds and No. 1 Auburn extended its winning streak to 13 games with a win over No. 23 Mississippi.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored 18 points, Denver Jones added 16 and Miles Kelly 15 as the Tigers shot 14 for 28 from 3-point distance and 18 for 23 from the line — including six straight in the final minute to remain unbeaten in the Southeastern Conference. Dylan Cardwell had 10 points and 13 rebounds as Auburn (20-1, 8-0) outrebounded Ole Miss 41-30.

Sean Pedulla, helped by 10-for-16 shooting, scored 29 points for Ole Miss (16-6, 5-4), with five rebounds and three steals. Matthew Murrell scored 17 points and Jaemyn Brakefield had 12 points in the first half.

NO. 2 DUKE 87, NORTH CAROLINA 70

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Cooper Flagg had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in his Duke-North Carolina rivalry debut, helping the second-ranked Blue Devils roll past the Tar Heels.

Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel scored 22 points for Duke (19-2, 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which shot 52.8% and made 10 of 20 from 3-point range to win their 15th straight game.

RJ Davis and Drake Powell each scored 12 points to lead the Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5), who fell behind 40-13 and trailed by as many as 32 points.

KANSAS STATE 80, NO. 3 IOWA STATE 61

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Dug McDaniel scored 20 points to lead five Kansas State players in double figures as the Wildcats upset No. 3 Iowa State.

With this win, the Wildcats (10-11, 4-6 Big 12) ended a 15-game road losing streak — 12 of which occurred within the Big 12. Kansas State has now won its last three overall games, also beating then-No. 23 West Virginia and Oklahoma State.

Coleman Hawkins added 17 points and Brendan Hausen had 15 for the Wildcats.

The Cyclones (17-4, 7-3) saw their 29-game home winning streak end.

Tamin Lipsey tied a season-high with 20 points for the Cyclones with Curtis Jones adding 14 and Joshua Jefferson with 13.

NO. 4 ALABAMA 90, GEORGIA 69

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 20 points and No. 4 Alabama won its fifth straight game and for the 14th time in 15 contests, beating Georgia.

Grant Nelson had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, Aiden Sherrell scored 12 points off the bench and Chris Youngblood and Aden Holloway each added 10 points. Clifford Omoruyi finished with 11 rebounds for Alabama (19-3, 8-1 Southeastern Conference).

Asa Newell scored 16 points and RJ Godfrey added 10 for Georgia (15-7, 3-6).

NO. 22 TEXAS TECH 82, NO. 6 HOUSTON 81, OT

HOUSTON (AP) — Chance McMillian had 23 points including two free throws with 16 seconds left in overtime as No. 22 Texas Tech won its sixth straight, beating No. 6 Houston.

Elijah Hawkins scored 17 points and Kerwin Walton added 14 points for Texas Tech (17-4, 8-2 Big 12).

L.J. Cryer scored 22 points, Roberts added 18 points and Milos Uzan had 10 points for Houston (17-4, 9-1), which had won 13 in a row and suffered its first loss at home since Jan. 22, 2023, against Temple, a 33-game streak.

Darrion Williams hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 72 with 30 seconds left in regulation. Houston’s J’Wan Roberts took a shot at the buzzer but it was blocked by Federiko Federiko.

Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland was ejected with 16:10 remaining in the first half with two straight technical fouls after arguing a flagrant 2 call on JT Toppin. Toppin appeared to kick Houston’s Joseph Tugler in the midsection on a jump pass.

After review, Toppin was issued a flagrant 2, and McCasland began arguing the call and had to be held back from the officials several times while he was being escorted off the court.

SOUTHERN CAL 70, NO. 7 MICHIGAN STATE 64

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Desmond Claude scored 19, Wesley Yates III had 15 and Southern California upset No. 7 Michigan State, snapping the Spartans 13-game winning streak.

Chibuzo Agbo added 14 points for the Trojans (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten), who led the entire game. It was their first win against a top 10 team since beating then fifth-ranked Arizona last March.

Michigan State trailed 65-61 and was looking to make it a one possession game, but was called for a shot clock violation with 39.3 seconds remaining.

Off the inbound, USC’s Saint Thomas threw a cross court pass to Yates, who dunked it to put the Trojans up six.

Jeremy Fears Jr. had 12 points and Jaden Akins 11 for the Spartans (18-3, 9-1). The 13-game run was tied for Michigan State’s longest win streak since 2018-19.

NO. 25 UCONN 77, NO. 9 MARQUETTE 69

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Solo Ball scored a career-high 25 points while shooting 7 of 9 from 3-point range as No. 25 UConn never trailed in a victory over No. 9 Marquette.

Ball’s seven 3-pointers matched a career high.

The loss dropped Marquette (18-4, 9-2) a game behind No. 15 St. John’s in the Big East standings. St. John’s edged Providence 68-66 earlier Saturday.

Alex Karaban had 15 points and Samson Johnson added 13 for UConn (16-6,8-3), which led by as many as 22 in the first half and answered every Marquette comeback attempt the rest of the way.

Kam Jones scored 22, Chase Ross 19 and David Joplin 13 for Marquette.

BAYLOR 81, NO. 11 KANSAS 70

WACO, Texas (AP) — Robert Wright III scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime, and Baylor rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the first half for a victory over No. 11 Kansas.

The collapse by the Jayhawks (15-6, 6-4 Big 12), who led 40-21 at halftime, came a week after sixth-ranked Houston pulled off improbable rallies in the final seconds of regulation and the first overtime in a double-OT win at Allen Fieldhouse.

It was the biggest blown lead in a loss in the storied program’s history, surpassing the 20-point lead (44-24) Kansas squandered in a 91-74 loss at home to top-ranked Arizona on Jan. 27, 2003.

Norchad Omier put the Bears (14-7, 6-4) within 46-45 on two free throws with 13:39 remaining after they trailed 38-17 late in the first half.

Baylor took the lead for good on a tiebreaking 3-pointer from Jalen Celestine with four minutes to go, and after Kansas had rebuilt its lead to 10.

ARKANSAS 89, NO. 12 KENTUCKY 79

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Adou Thiero scored 21 points against his former team in his return to Lexington and Arkansas beat No. 12 Kentucky.

D.J. Wagner scored 17 points and Zvonimir Ivisic added 14 points against their former team as well to lead Arkansas (13-8, 2-6 Southeastern Conference). Johnell Davis, the highly touted transfer from Florida Atlantic. added 18 points — 12 in the first half to get the Razorbacks a win in his first game back since leaving the Wildcats last season after 12 years.

Amari Williams had a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for Kentucky (15-6, 4-4). Jaxson Robinson also scored 20 as the Wildcats lost their second straight home game.

NO. 13 TEXAS A&M 76, SOUTH CAROLINA 72

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Wade Taylor IV had 25 points and tied his career high with seven 3-pointers as No. 13 Texas A&M held off South Carolina.

The Aggies (17-5, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) looked like they had this one going away after Taylor’s sixth 3 early in the second half gave them a 49-36 lead. But the Gamecocks scored the next 11 points to tighten things up.

South Carolina was still down just 74-72 after Collin Murray-Boyles’ bucket with 1.8 seconds left.

But A&M’s Henry Coleman III followed with two free throws to end things.

Taylor matched his best showing from outside, set last March in an NCAA Tournament win over Nebraska.

Murray-Boyles had 22 points to lead the Gamecocks (10-12, 0-9).

NO. 20 MISSOURI 88, NO. 14 MISSISSIPPI ST. 61

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Caleb Grill shot 6 for 11 from 3-point range and scored 20 points as the Tigers beat the Bulldogs.

Tamar Bates scored 14 points and Josh Gray added 10 for Missouri (17-4, 6-2 SEC), which hit 15 of 32 shots from distance.

Josh Hubbard scored 24 points for Mississippi State (16-6, 4-5). KeShawn Murphy had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Missouri led by 14 points at halftime and used a 15-0 run early in the second half to put the game out of reach.

NO. 15 ST. JOHN’S 68, PROVIDENCE 66

NEW YORK (AP) — Kadary Richmond scored 24 points, including the tiebreaking jumper with three seconds left, as the Red Storm held off the Friars after blowing a 19-point lead in the final nine minutes.

RJ Luis Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Red Storm (19-3, 10-1 Big East), who have won eight straight games and 14 of 15.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim had a season-high 27 points to help Providence (11-11, 5-6) rally. He hit two of his eight 3-pointers during the comeback before Bensley Joseph made a tying 3 with 33 seconds left — his only basket of the game.

Following a timeout, Richmond used a screen by Zuby Ejiofor to get separation from Jayden Pierre and drain a pull-up jumper from the foul line.

NO. 17 WISCONSIN 75, NORTHWESTERN 69

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — John Tonje had 27 points and 17th-ranked Wisconsin held off Northwestern for a win.

Down 52-50, the Badgers (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) went on a 14-3 run just after the halfway point of the second half to take the lead for good. Reserve Carter Gilmore scored seven points during the decisive run and finished with 15 and seven rebounds. The Wildcats were just 1 for 6 from the floor during the spurt.

The Badgers had lost two of three after a seven-game winning streak.

Jalen Leach had 23 points and seven assists for Northwestern (12-10, 3-8), which scratched second-leading scorer Brooks Barnhizer hours before the game with a foot injury.

Nick Martinelli added 15 points and Ty Berry had 14 for the Wildcats, who have lost three straight and seven of nine.

GEORGIA TECH 77, NO. 21 LOUISVILLE 70

ATLANTA (AP) — Lance Terry scored 23 points, including a jam that sparked a 9-0 run midway through the second half, and Georgia Tech rallied after trailing by 13 points to beat No. 21 Louisville, ending the Cardinals’ 10-game winning streak.

Louisville (16-6, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) suffered its first loss since a 93-85 setback at Kentucky on Dec. 14.

Terry’s jam gave Georgia Tech (10-12, 4-7) a 53-52 lead. Terry added two 3-pointers that helped the Yellow Jackets stretch the advantage to 68-60.

Terrence Edwards Jr., from Tucker High School near Atlanta, led Louisville with 22 points.

OKLAHOMA 97, NO. 24 VANDERBILT 67

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears scored 21 points to help Oklahoma dominate No. 24 Vanderbilt.

Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore added 19 points and surpassed 1,000 career points. Dayton Forsythe scored 14 points for the Sooners (16-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference), who have won three of four after losing their first four league games.

Oklahoma took control with a 23-0 run in the second half. The Sooners shot 63.2% from the field overall, including 72.7% after the break.

Devin McGlockton led Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) with 22 points. Jason Edwards scored 21 points for the Commodores, but he needed 20 shots to get them.

Vanderbilt led 38-27 late in the first half before Oklahoma closed on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 40-36 at the break.

Oklahoma controlled the second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brycen Goodine and Moore put the Sooners up 52-42 with 16:31 remaining, and a timeout by Vanderbilt didn’t help. By the end of Oklahoma’s 23-0 run, the Commodores had missed eight consecutive shots.

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