Big Ten
Nebraska 80, Illinois 57
Bo Spencer scored 27 points and Nebraska used a 36-4 run to roll over visiting Illinois. The Cornhuskers (12-13, 4-10 Big Ten) snapped a four-game losing streak and sent the Illini (16-11, 5-9) to their fifth consecutive loss.
Joining Spencer in double figures were Caleb Walker with 13 points and Brandon Richardson with 12.
D.J. Richardson led Illinois with 15 points.
Nebraska jumped in front with a 17-2 run to close the first half. The Huskers held the Illini without a basket for more than 7 minutes and forced six turnovers.
The Nebraska spurt continued after intermission. The Huskers outscored Illinois 19-2 to open the second half, going up 52-28 on Mike Fox’s 3-pointer with 14:33 remaining. Nebraska’s biggest lead was 32 on Spencer’s layup, which made the score 68-36 with 7 minutes left.
Nebraska made 56 percent (30-of-54) and outscored Illinois by 10 in the paint.
Northwestern 64, Minnesota 53
John Shurna set the Northwestern career scoring record as he collected 18 points against visiting Minnesota. The senior forward topped Billy McKinney’s 35-year-old record of 1,900 points. Shurna now has 1,902 for his three-year career. The record-breaker came on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 10: 40 left in the second half to give the Wildcats a 50-40 lead. Dave Sobolewski scored a game-high 22 points for Northwestern (16-10, 6-8), while Drew Crawford added 11. Julian Welch scored 21 points and Joe Coleman added 12 for the Gophers (17-10, 5-9).
Top 25
No. 1 Kentucky 77, Mississippi 62
Terrence Jones had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Kentucky its 50th consecutive win at home. The Wildcats (26-1, 11-0 SEC) are 49-0 at home under coach John Calipari as part of the nation’s longest active home winning streak.
Kentucky took an early 16-5 lead, but the Rebels took advantage of freshman center Anthony Davis sitting for much of the first half because of foul trouble. Ole Miss forwards Terrance Henry and Murphy Holloway took the ball inside without the nation’s leading shot blocker looming. Henry, who had 16 points of his 18 points in the first half, helped the Rebels (15-11, 5-7) take a 31-29 lead.
But the Wildcats hit three consecutive 3-pointers to take a 43-35 halftime lead, and they never trailed in the second half.
The double-double was Jones’ first of his sophomore season after recording 13 as a freshman.
No. 3 Missouri 71, Texas A&M 62
Kim English scored 21 points and Marcus Denmon had a key 3-pointer late to lift visiting Missouri to its seventh win in a row. Missouri tied a school record with its 12th Big 12 win.
Texas A&M cut the lead to five points on a 3-pointer by Elston Turner with 1:22 remaining. A turnover by Phil Pressey on the next play gave A&M the ball back.
David Loubeau had a chance to get A&M within three points, but he was called for an offensive foul when he knocked Steve Moore to the ground going up for the shot. Marcus Denmon’s 3 on the other end pushed the lead to 68-60 with 35 seconds left, and his two free throws seconds later sealed the win for Missouri (25-2, 12-2). Middleton, in his third game back after missing five in a row with a knee injury, had 15 points to lead A&M (13-13, 4-10).
No. 8 North Carolina 74, Clemson 52
Harrison Barnes scored 24 points to help host North Carolina beat Clemson. Tyler Zeller added 14 points for the Tar Heels (23-4, 10-2 ACC), who extended the Tigers’ long run of futility in Chapel Hill. North Carolina improved to 56-0 all time there against Clemson (13-13, 5-7), which is an NCAA record for the most consecutive home wins against one opponent.
North Carolina led by 15 points in the first half and never let Clemson closer than six in the second half before blowing it open late.
John Henson added 13 points for the Tar Heels, while Kendall Marshall had 13 assists.
Andre Young scored 13 points to lead the Tigers, who shot 38 percent.
Kansas State 57, No. 9 Baylor 56
Angel Rodriguez had 15 points and six assists and Kansas State made up for his potentially costly turnover in the final seconds as the Wildcats held on to win at Baylor. Rodriguez had an apparent breakaway layup with 13 seconds left after a turnover by Baylor guard Pierre Jackson. But Rodriguez was called for a traveling instead, giving the Bears one more chance.
Jackson worked the ball up the court for Baylor (22-5, 9-5 Big 12) and got it inside to Quincy Miller, who was surrounded as he tried to get off a game-winning shot. Jordan Henriquez, whose dunk with 1:55 left had put K-State up, was credited with a blocked shot as time expired.
Rodney McGruder also had 15 points for the Wildcats (18-8, 7-7), who had lost their previous two games.
Quincy Acy led Baylor with 14 points.
No. 10 Georgetown 63, Providence 53
Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark scored 13 points each and visiting Georgetown shut down Providence’s shooters for the second time this season.
Georgetown (20-5, 10-4 Big East) held Providence (13-15, 2-13) without a basket for a 14-minute stretch in the first half and led 31-20 at the break.
New Mexico 65, No. 11 UNLV 45
Drew Gordon scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead host New Mexico to its seventh win in a row. It was the second win this week over a ranked team for the Lobos (22-4, 8-2 Mountain West), who beat No. 13 San Diego State 77-67 on Thursday.
Anthony Marshall had 18 to points lead UNLV (22-6, 6-4), which lost for the third time in four games.
The Rebels used a 12-2 run to take their biggest lead at 21-13, holding the Lobos without a field goal for 8 minutes midway through the first half. New Mexico immediately responded with a 10-0 run to go up 23-21.
At one point in the second half, Gordon scored 10 straight points for New Mexico and later had eight points during a 16-1 run that left the Lobos with a 52-37 lead. Tony Snell hit a 3-pointer, drove the baseline for a dunk and passed to Gordon for a finger-roll basket during the run.
No. 12 Marquette 79, UConn 64
Marquette outrebounded and outhustled a much bigger Connecticut team on its way to a convincing win in Hartford, Conn. Jae Crowder had 29 points and 12 rebounds and Darius Johnson-Odom added 24 in the 79-64 win, the 10th in 11 games for No. 12 Marquette (22-5, 11-3 Big East).
Johnson-Odom and Crowder combined for 29 first-half points as the Golden Eagles ran out to a 43-29 halftime lead. UConn (16-10, 6-8) cut that to four points early in the second half, but lost its momentum when guard Ryan Boatright was called for technical foul during a timeout.
Air Force 58, No. 13 San Diego State 56
Michael Lyons scored 27 points and Air Force upset visiting San Diego State when Xavier Thames’ off-balance 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer. The Falcons (13-11, 3-7 Mountain West) won for just the second time in 74 games against a top 25 team. The only other time they beat a ranked team was Feb. 15, 1992, No. 22 UTEP.
The short-handed Aztecs (20-6, 6-4) lost their third in a row, something they hadn’t done since 2008, a span of 124 games. The Aztecs fell two games behind conference leader New Mexico, which upset No. 11 UNLV 65-45 earlier Saturday.
The Aztecs got 17 points from Chase Tapley and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Tim Shelton, but they sorely missed Jamaal Franklin, their leading scorer (16.0) and rebounder (7.4), who sprained his left ankle in the closing minutes of a loss to New Mexico on Wednesday night and sat out Saturday’s game at Clune Arena.
No. 14 Florida 98, Arkansas 68
Erving Walker scored a career-high 31 points and Florida ended Arkansas’ perfect home record. The Gators (21-6, 9-3 SEC) shot a season-high 58.3 percent from the field, hitting 13-of-23 3-pointers.
Walker, who was 2-of-18 from behind the arc over his last four games, hit his first four 3-point attempts. Florida led 53-27 at halftime after connecting on 9-of-14 3-pointers. Kenny Boynton had 25 points and Bradley Beal added 21 for the Gators. The loss ends a 17-0 start to the season in Fayetteville for the Razorbacks (17-10, 5-7).
No. 16 Murray State 65, No. 21 Saint Mary’s 51
Isaiah Canaan scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and senior Donte Poole added 11 as host Murray State beat Saint Mary’s for its most convincing win to date over a nationally recognized opponent.
The Racers (26-1) jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never trailed, building a double-digit advantage early in the second half and cruising from there in front of a sold-out CFSB Center.
Matthew Dellavedova scored 17 points for Saint Mary’s (23-5)
No. 19 Louisville 90, DePaul 82
Russ Smith hit back-to-back baskets in overtime, and visiting Louisville rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat DePaul and earn its seventh win in eight games. Kyle Kuric scored 25 points, Chris Smith added 20 and Russ Smith 16 to lead the Cardinals (21-6, 9-5 Big East), who trailed by 10 at the half in the noisy Allstate Arena, where they were cheered by a large contingent of red-clad fans.
DePaul (11-15, 2-12) has lost 36 straight games to ranked opponents. The Blue Demons have lost 11 of their last 12, but this was a game they appeared ready to win, building a big first-half lead.
Brandon Young scored 27 for DePaul.
No. 20 Florida State 76, North Carolina State 62
Ian Miller scored 17 points to lead visiting Florida State past North Carolina State. Bernard James had 12 points while Okaro White and Michael Snaer each finished with 10 for the Seminoles (19-7, 10-2 ACC).
They never trailed, shot 49 percent, led by double figures for the entire second half, held N.C. State to 29 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers.
That helped Florida State win its third in a row, remain atop the league standings and improve to 4-0 against the Tobacco Road schools in North Carolina — the first time it has beaten all four in the same season.
C.J. Leslie scored 21 points to lead the Wolfpack (18-9, 7-5), but the rest of the team combined to shoot 9-of-44 in their second loss in a row.
No. 22 Virginia 71, Maryland 44
Mike Scott scored 25 points and Virginia took command with a 16-0 run early in the second half and host Virginia beat Maryland. Malcolm Brogdon added 14 points and Sammy Zeglinski 11 for the Cavaliers (20-6, 7-5 ACC), who ended their first two-game losing streak of the season.
Terrell Stoglin scored 14 points, all in the first half, and Nick Faust had 13 for Maryland (15-11, 5-7). The Terps stayed in the game by making seven 3-pointers in the first half, but managed just 13 points after halftime as they misfired on 19 out of 24 shots.
Maryland broke a 31-all halftime tie on a jumper by James Padgett to start the second half, then went 8:18 without a point as Virginia took control with a 16-0 burst.
No. 24 Wichita State 91, Davidson 74
Joe Ragland scored 30 points and visiting Wichita State shot a blazing 80 percent from the field in the second half to break open a tight game and defeat Davidson. Ragland, a senior, hit 11-of-14 shots from the field and finished one point shy of his career high set earlier this year against UNLV.
Toure’ Murry scored 16 points and Carl Hall added 13 points off the bench for the Shockers (24-4), who have won 22 out of 24.
Wichita State only led 39-38 at the break, but hit 20-of-25 shots from the field in the second half. The Shockers scored 58 points in the paint compared to Davidson’s 28.
Despite persistent foul trouble, Jake Cohen scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting to lead Davidson (20-7).
San Francisco 66, No. 24 Gonzaga 65
Rashad Green scored on a short leaner with 3.3 seconds left to lift host San Francisco to victory. Green finished with 16 points, Perris Blackwell added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Williams scored 13 for the Dons (18-11, 8-7 West Coast Conference). Elias Harris had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Gonzaga (21-5, 11-3).
Mid-American
Toledo 59, Sam Houston State 58
Julius Brown converted two free throws with 14 seconds left to seal a road victory for Toledo. Brown’s shots gave Toledo (13-14) a three-point lead in the Bracket Busters game. Marcus James tipped in a shot with five seconds left for Sam Houston State (11-16).
Reese Holliday scored 14 points to lead Toledo. Rian Pearson scored 12, as did Brown, and Brown contributed eight assists.
Bowling Green 73, Morehead State 60
Scott Thomas scored 28 points, including hitting eight 3-pointers, to lead host Bowling Green. Dee Brown added 19 points and Jordon Crawford had nine and 12 rebounds for the Falcons (14-12). Both Brown and Crawford hit three 3-pointers for Bowling Green, which outshot the Eagles 53.8 percent to 35.7 percent from long range to win the BracketBusters contest.
The Eagles led 11-9 less than five minutes into the game, but Crawford, Brown and Thomas all hit 3s to help fuel a 21-9 Falcons run. They led the rest of the way, taking a 14-point advantage at halftime and holding on despite being outscored 31-30 in the second half.
Ty Proffitt had 18 points to lead Morehead State (15-14) and Drew Kelly added 12.
The Falcons rebounded after a loss in their last contest ended a season-high four-game winning streak.
Ball State 71, Southern Illinois 62
Randy Davis scored a career-best 19 points to help host Ball State snap a seven-game losing streak. Tyrae Robinson added 14 points, Jesse Berry 13 and Jarrod Jones 10 for the Cardinals (13-12) The Salukis (8-20) got a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds from Mamadou Seck.
Green Bay 54, Eastern Michigan 49
Kam Serroni and Keifer Sykes led a balanced scoring effort with 10 points apiece as visiting Green Bay earned a nonconference win. Alec Brown and Brennan Cougill each scored nine points for Green Bay (12-14). Both made major contributions to a 41-29 rebounding advantage — Brown with 13 and Cougill with eight.
Brown also had four blocked shots and three assists.
Darrell Lampley led Eastern Michigan (11-16) with 13 points, giving his team a 26-14 scoring advantage off the bench.
S. Illinois-Edwardsville 64, Northern Illinois 62
Mark Yelovich’s basket as time ran out gave host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville a dramatic BracketBusters win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
The Cougars (8-16) rallied from a 12-point deficit in their season home finale behind Yelovich, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half. The Huskies (3-22) tied the score at 62 with 27 seconds left on Aksel Bolin’s layup before Yelovich’s game-winning shot.
South Dakota State 86, Buffalo 65
Nate Wolters had game highs of 22 points and eight assists as South Dakota State won its 15th consecutive home game. Griffan Callahan hit three 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Jackrabbits (22-7), who have won three in a row. Tony Fiegen added 11 points. Mitchell Watt led the Bulls (16-8) with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Ohio 81, UNC Asheville 62
Walter Offutt scored 19 points to lead host Ohio. Offutt shot 8-of-10 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers for the Bobcats (21-6), who have won eight of their last 10 games and improved to 4-0 at home in Bracket Buster contests. Nick Kellogg added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Ohio never trailed against UNC Asheville (18-10), scoring the game’s first six points and taking a 19-6 lead behind a 3-pointer from Offutt.
Texas A&M-CC 49, Central Michigan 47
Hameed Ali’s 3-pointer gave Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (5-21) the lead for good and the Islanders hung on with free throws to beat host Central Michigan. Trey Zeigler led Central Michigan (8-18) with 22 points.
