Top-ranked Auburn snaps back with a win over Vanderbilt
Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) shoots the ball past Vanderbilt forward Devin McGlockton (99) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Denver Jones scored 21 points as No. 1 Auburn held off Vanderbilt 80-68 on Tuesday night to avoid the Tigers’ first losing skid of the season.
Now Auburn (22-2, 10-1) goes into Saturday’s big showdown for the top of the Southeastern Conference standings, supremacy in the state of Alabama and the top of the AP Top 25. The Tigers came into Tuesday night tied with No. 2 Alabama in league play.
Chaney Johnson finished with 20 points for Auburn, and Johni Broome had 17.
Vanderbilt (17-7, 5-6) took its first lead with a 3 by Jason Edwards early in the second. The Commodores last led 49-48 on a putback by Chris Manon.
Auburn answered with a 12-2 run to squelch Vanderbilt’s hopes at its biggest win this season.
Edwards finished with 13 points for Vanderbilt. AJ Hoggard and Devin McGlockton each added 10. McGlockton also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 103, TEXAS 80
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Jarin Stevenson scored 22 points and No. 2 Alabama used a hot-shooting first half and a barrage of 3-pointers to cruise to a win over Texas.
The victory sets up Saturday’s showdown with rival No. 1 Auburn, which beat Vanderbilt Tuesday night, with the winner claiming sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama shot 65% in the first half to seize control, then buried timely 3-pointers in the second to snuff out any hopes of a comeback. Alabama (21-3, 10-1) made 17 3-pointers.
Freshman Tre Johnson scored 24 points to lead Texas (15-10, 4-8), which has lost four of its last five and is struggling to build an NCAA Tournament resume in the program’s first season in the SEC. Three of Texas’ four home losses in the SEC have been to opponents ranked No. 1 or No. 2.
NO. 3 FLORIDA 81, NO. 22 MISSISSIPPI ST. 68
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Denzel Aberdeen had a game-high 20 points and Walter Clayton Jr. added 19 points to lead No. 3 Florida to a victory over No. 22 Mississippi State.
Thomas Haugh scored 16 points for Florida (21-3, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) and Will Richard and Rueben Chinyelu each added 10.
Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State (17-7, 5-6) with 19 points while KeShawn Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Trailing by one at halftime, Florida exploded on a 17-0 run to open the second half and were never threatened the rest of the way.
The Gators shot 46% for the game and made 14 of 36 from 3-point range.
Mississippi State made 7 of 27 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs had 15 turnovers and outrebounded Florida 43-32.
NO. 15 KENTUCKY 75, NO. 5 TENNESSEE 64
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Ansley Almonor and Otega Oweh scored 13 points each and No. 15 Kentucky beat No. 5 Tennessee.
The Wildcats (17-7, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) completed a regular season sweep of the Volunteers. Kentucky also beat Tennessee 78-73 on Jan. 28 in Knoxville, and is now 7-1 against teams ranked in the Top 15 this season.
Koby Brea and Trent Noah added 11 points each. The Wildcats made 12 3-pointers, including three by Noah.
Zakai Zeigler scored 17 points to lead Tennessee (21-5, 7-5), Igor Milicic had 16 and nine rebounds, and Chaz Lanier added 10 points.
NO. 20 MICHIGAN 75, NO. 7 PURDUE 73
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Danny Wolf scored 15 points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds, to lead No. 20 Michigan to its fifth straight win, over No. 7 Purdue.
Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 14 for the Wolverines (19-5, 11-2 Big Ten) while Tre Donaldson and Vladimir Goldin scored 12 apiece.
The Boilermakers (19-6, 11-3) were led by Braden Smith with a game-high 24 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn with 22 points and Fletcher Loyer with 15.
Michigan trailed most of the night, rallying from a 48-38 deficit with 14:44 remaining with a 19-9 run to tie it on a 3-pointer by Nimari Burnett with 5:51 to go. Neither team led by more than four the rest of the way.
NO. 8 TEXAS A&M 69, GEORGIA 53
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Solomon Washington scored 17 points and No. 8 Texas A&M used a huge second half run to cruise to a win over Georgia.
Georgia led by eight points early in the second half before Texas A&M took over, using a 22-0 run to make it 50-36 with nine minutes left. Washington started the run with a 3-pointer before a steal by Wade Taylor IV gave the Aggies the ball back. Taylor dished to Washington, who finished with a two-handed dunk.
The Bulldogs made four free throws in the first four minutes of the second half. Their next points didn’t come until Asa Newell made two free throws with 8½ minutes to go and he made two more less than a minute later.
But Georgia did not make a field goal in the second half until a dunk by Newell with 7:20 remaining. Georgia missed 12 consecutive shots and had four turnovers during A&M’s big run.
Henry Coleman III added 13 points for the Aggies (19-5, 8-3 Southeastern Conference), who extended their winning streak to four games.
NO. 10 IOWA ST. 77, UCF 65
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Keshon Gilbert scored 15 points and Joshua Jefferson had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 10 Iowa State to a win over UCF.
Tamin Lipsey scored 11 points and Curtis Jones scored 10 off the bench for Iowa State (19-5, 9-4 Big 12).
Keyshawn Hall led the Knights (13-11, 4-9) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Guard Mikey Williams had 14 points off the bench.
The Cyclones usually rely on their scoring to win, but they put the defensive clamps on the Knights, holding one of the Big 12’s highest-scoring teams to 41.5% shooting from the field including 6 for 26 (23.1%) from 3-point range.
INDIANA 71, NO. 11 MICHIGAN ST. 67
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Malik Renea scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to help Indiana beat No. 11 Michigan State, leaving Tom Izzo on the brink of breaking Bob Knight’s Big Ten wins record.
The Hoosiers (15-10, 6-8 Big Ten) had lost five straight under coach Mike Woodson, who is stepping down after the season.
The Spartans (19-5, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games, leaving Izzo with 353 Big Ten wins that match the mark Knight set at Indiana while winning three NCAA titles.
Michigan State’s Jaden Akins scored 14 points and Jase Richardson had 13.
Myles Rice had 10 points, including two free throws with 30 seconds left to put the Hoosiers ahead by four points.
Indiana’s Oumar Ballo scored 14 points and Luke Goode had 10.
KANSAS ST. 73, NO. 13 ARIZONA 70
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Dug McDaniel scored a season-high 24 points and Kansas State beat No. 13 Arizona for its sixth straight victory — four against ranked opponents.
David N’Guessan had 16 points and seven rebounds for the resurgent Wildcats (13-11, 7-6 Big 12), who lost six in a row right before this winning streak. C.J. Jones added 10 points, and McDaniel finished with five steals, four rebounds and three assists.
KJ Lewis led Arizona (17-7, 11-2) with 15 points off the bench. The Wildcats missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, ending their six-game winning streak.
Jaden Bradley had 13 points, Henri Veesaar scored 12 and Tobe Awaka added 10 for Arizona, which lost for only the second time since Dec. 14.
NO. 17 KANSAS 71, COLORADO 59
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson scored 19 points to help No. 17 Kansas beat Colorado, handing the Buffaloes their 13th straight loss.
Besides Dickinson, Kansas (16-7, 7-5 Big 12) had three other players in double figures. Zeke Mayo added 13 points and Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams each had 10 each.
Kansas has alternated between wins and losses in the last seven games. Despite the double-digit margin, this victory was anything but easy.
Colorado (9-14, 0-12) used an early second-half run to trim a 14-point halftime deficit to just 6. Kansas didn’t lead by more than 11 points until Adams hit a short jumper just before the shot clock expired to make it 69-56 with 1:31 left.
Sebastian Rancik led Colorado with a season-high 19 points. Bangot Dak added 11 points for the Buffaloes, and Elijah Malone had 10.
NO. 18 MARQUETTE 68, DEPAUL 58
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kam Jones had 19 points and moved into third place on Marquette’s career scoring list as the 18th-ranked Golden Eagles snapped a three-game skid by beating DePaul.
Jones increased his total to 1,870 points and passed Lazar Hayward, who scored 1,859 points for Marquette from 2006-10.
Marquette’s top two career scorers are Markus Howard (2,761 from 2016-20) and Jerel McNeal (1,985 from 2005-09).
Stevie Mitchell added 17 points as Marquette (19-6, 10-4 Big East) ended its longest losing streak since dropping four straight games in 2021-22, the first season of Shaka Smart’s coaching tenure.
CJ Gunn had 14 points, Isaiah Rivera 13, David Thomas 11 and Layden Blocker 10 for DePaul (11-14, 2-12).
UCONN 70, NO. 24 CREIGHTON 66
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Liam McNeeley scored a season-high 38 points and had 10 rebounds, and UConn overcame a 14-point deficit late in the first half to end No. 24 Creighton’s nine-game winning streak with a victory.
Alex Karaban’s floater in the lane broke a 65-all tie with 1:44 left, and the Huskies (17-7, 9-4 Big East) won for the first time in five trips to Omaha since rejoining the Big East in 2020.
Creighton (18-7, 11-3), which re-entered the AP Top 25 this week for the first time since late November, shot just 30% in the second half while losing for the first time since Jan. 3.
McNeeley carried the Huskies all night in his second game back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for eight games. The freshman standout had his fourth double-double, and he scored 23 points and made four of his season-high five 3s after halftime.
Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth led the Bluejays with 13 points apiece. Ashworth shot just 1 of 8 from the field but made 11 of 12 free throws.