College basketball: Smothering defense leads No. 2 Virginia past Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — De’Andre Hunter scored 15 points, Kyle Guy added 14 and second-ranked Virginia smothered struggling Syracuse 59-44 on Saturday.

Virginia (22-1, 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which beat the Orange 68-61 in January, has won 14 straight and is off to its best start in conference play since the days of Ralph Sampson, who led the 1980-81 team to a 12-0 start.

Syracuse (15-8, 4-6), in desperate need of a signature victory, was coming off a four-point loss at Georgia Tech in which it shot 30 percent (15 of 50), and the offensive futility continued against the nation’s best scoring defense.

NO. 3 PURDUE 78, RUTGERS 76

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Vincent Edward had 18 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Purdue held on for a school-record 19th straight win.

Mathis Dakota scored 16 points, Carsen Edwards had 13 and P.J. Thompson added 12 points for the Boilermakers (23-2, 12-0 Big Ten).

Corey Sanders had 31 points and seven rebounds, and Deshawn Freeman added 14 points and nine rebounds for Rutgers (12-13, 2-10), which overcame a 15-point first-half deficit looked poised to pull off an upset at home.

Rutgers pulled within one on two occasions. Shaquile Doorson had a put-back dunk off of Geo Baker’s missed layup to get to 48-47 with 12:28 left, and Freeman had a tip-in on a miss by Sanders to make it 55-54 with 8:06 remaining, However, that was as close as the Scarlet Knights got the rest of the way.

ST. JOHN’S 81, NO. 4 DUKE 77

NEW YORK — Shamorie Ponds scored 33 points, and St. John’s snapped an 11-game losing streak and handed the suddenly suspect Blue Devils their second loss in eight days.

Bashir Ahmed added 19 points and Tariq Owens had 17 for the Red Storm (11-13), who overcame an early 10-point deficit and fought off Duke’s heralded freshmen down the stretch in their biggest win under third-year coach Chris Mullin.

St. John’s was playing the second of three straight games against top-6 opponents in a span of nine days. Next up, a visit to No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday night.

Gary Trent Jr. had 22 points for the Blue Devils (19-4).

NO. 5 MICHIGAN St. 63, INDIANA 60

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Matt McQuaid scored 12 points and made the decisive 3-pointer with 1:08 to play for Michigan State.

The Spartans (22-3, 10-2 Big Ten) have won six straight to stay two games behind Purdue in the conference title chase.

Juwan Morgan had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana (12-12, 5-7), which has lost four straight overall. Freddie McSwain Jr. finished with eight points and 16 rebounds.

NO. 6 XAVIER 96, GEORGETOWN 91

CINCINNATI — Trevon Bluiett had a season-high 31 points, including a four-point play that tied it late in regulation, and Xavier never trailed in overtime.

The Musketeers (21-3, 9-2 Big East) made all of their 10 free throws in overtime, including four by Tyrique Jones, as they remained unbeaten in 15 home games this season. Bluiett’s two foul shots clinched it with 10 seconds left.

The Hoyas (13-9, 3-8) missed a 3-pointer at the end of regulation and another one in overtime that gave Xavier a chance to finish off a back-and-forth game. There were 20 ties and 21 lead changes, with neither team ahead by more than five points.

Jessie Govan scored 23 points, and Marcus Derrickson had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Georgetown, which has lost five of six.

OKLAHOMA St. 84, NO. 7 KANSAS 79

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kendall Smith scored 24 points, including the clinching free throws in the final seconds, and Oklahoma State held on for the upset.

Cameron McGriff added 20 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 15 for the Cowboys (14-9, 4-6 Big 12), who built an 18-point first-half lead and dominated the boards in ending their three-game losing streak.

It was the third loss for the Jayhawks (18-5, 7-3) in Allen Fieldhouse, their most since the 1998-99 season, and their second in conference play. They also lost to Texas Tech in the Phog.

Udoka Azubuike had 20 points and Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 apiece for Kansas.

NO. 8 CINCINNATI 65, UCONN 57

STORRS, Conn. — Jacob Evans III scored 19 points to lead Cincinnati past the struggling Huskies.

Kyle Washington added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bearcats (21-2, 10-0 American), who never trailed.

Jalen Adams scored 20 points and Christian Vital added 18 for the Huskies, who have lost five of their last six to fall below the .500 mark at 11-12 (4-6).

WASHINGTON 78, NO. 9 ARIZONA 75

SEATTLE — Dominic Green collected a loose ball in the final seconds and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Washington the victory.

Green finished with 14 points off the bench and the biggest shot of his career as the Huskies padded an already improving resume for NCAA tournament contention. Noah Dickerson led Washington (17-6, 7-3 Pac-12) with 25 points and David Crisp added 16.

Dusan Ristic scored 21 points for Arizona (19-5, 9-2) and Allonzo Trier had 17 of his 20 in the second half. Ayton was a force on the inside with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, but missed a free throw with 21 seconds left that would have given Arizona the lead.

NO. 10 TEXAS TECH 83, TCU 71

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jarrett Culver scored 20 points with four 3-pointers, and Texas Tech got its fourth straight victory and a share of the Big 12 Conference lead.

Culver, Tech’s hometown freshman guard, made all of his 3s in the first half. That included consecutive baskets from beyond the arc in an 18-0 run that put the Red Raiders (19-4, 7-3 Big 12) firmly in control — even without top scorer Keenan Evans taking a shot in that stretch.

Evans still finished with 17 points and six assists, while Zhaire Smith had 12 points.

Vladimir Brodziansky led TCU (16-7, 4-6) with 18 points, while Bane had 13. Kenrich Williams had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

NO. 11 AUBURN 93, VANDERBILT 81

AUBURN, Ala. — Bryce Brown scored 25 points and Mustapha Heron had 23 to lead hot-shooting Auburn.

The two high-scoring guards alternated taking over for the Tigers (21-2, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) in the second half.

Heron scored 13 straight Auburn points, including three 3-pointers. Then Brown topped that with a 15-point run that also included a trio of 3s, one of which he turned into a four-point play.

Jared Harper scored 14 points and had 14 assists for Auburn, making three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes.

Jeff Roberson had the hot hand for the Commodores (8-15, 2-8), pouring in 30 points and making 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

TEXAS 79, NO. 12 OKLAHOMA 74

AUSTIN, Texas — Matt Coleman scored 22 points, leading a big second-half rally before his late free throws helped secure the win over Oklahoma and freshman star Trae Young.

Coleman scored 14 points in the second half. His free throws down the stretch came after he missed three in a row late in an overtime loss at Texas Tech that could have helped clinch a victory. Texas closed the game on a 22-8 run.

Kerwin Roach II added 19 points for Texas (15-8, 5-5 Big 12).

Young, the national scoring leader, came in averaging 30.3 points, but finished with 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting and made just two 3-pointers. He had 14 assists. The loss kept the Sooners (16-6, 6-4) from pulling into a three-way tie atop the Big 12 with Kansas and Texas Tech.

NO. 13 SAINT MARY’S 65, SAN DIEGO 62

SAN DIEGO — Jock Landale had 34 points and tied his season high with 18 rebounds — he had a double-double by halftime — and Saint Mary’s extended its school-record winning streak to 18.

The Gaels (23-2, 12-0 West Coast Conference) have the nation’s second-longest winning string. No. 3 Purdue won its 19th straight on Saturday, 78-76 at Rutgers.

The Gaels led 36-24 at halftime and continued to lead by double digits until the Toreros slowly closed the gap late in the game. Isaiah Pineiro led USD (15-9, 6-6) with 24 points.

NO. 14 GONZAGA 68, BYU 60

SPOKANE, Wash. — Rui Hachimura scored 15 points, Josh Perkins added 14 and Gonzaga edged BYU for its fifth win in a row.

Johnathan Williams had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga (21-4, 11-1 West Coast), which had lost to BYU at home each of the previous three seasons.

TJ Haws had 22 points for BYU (18-7, 7-5), which was coming off a head-scratching road loss at Loyola Marymount.

NO. 15 W. VIRGINIA 89, KANSAS STATE 51

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sagaba Konate scored 19 points and West Virginia ended a three-game losing streak.

James “Beetle” Bolden added 13 points in his first career start, Teddy Allen had 12 points off the bench and Wes Harris had 10 for West Virginia (17-6, 6-5 Big 12).

Dean Wade scored 17 points and Xavier Sneed had 16 for Kansas State (16-7, 5-5).

NO. 18 TENNESSEE 94, MISSISSIPPI 61

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Grant Williams and Lamonte’ Turner scored 17 points each to lead five Tennessee players in double figures as the Volunteers won their fifth straight.

The blowout enabled Tennessee (17-5, 7-3 SEC) to move into sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference. The Vols began the day in a three-way tie for second with No. 21 Kentucky and No. 23 Florida, which both lost Saturday.

Tennessee has won eight of its last nine games while Ole Miss (11-12, 4-6) has dropped five of its last six.

Admiral Schofield had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Tennessee. Kyle Alexander scored 14 points and Jordan Bowden added 10 for the Vols.

NO. 19 N. CAROLINA 96, PITTSBURGH 65

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Luke Maye scored 26 points to help North Carolina end its first three-game losing streak in four years.

The Tar Heels (17-7, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) found themselves in a close game late in the first half with a team that had yet to win a league game, but they blew it open with a big run spanning halftime.

Graduate transfer Cameron Johnson scored eight points against his former team in UNC’s 14-3 half-ending flurry, which grew to 25-5 when Joel Berry II hit his fourth 3-pointer for a 56-37 lead.

Freshman Marcus Carr scored 22 points for the Panthers (8-16, 0-11), who lost their 11th straight, the longest skid in program history.

NO. 20 CLEMSON 75, WAKE FOREST 67

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Gabe DeVoe scored 24 points to lead Clemson.

Marcquise Reed added 10 of his 22 in the final six minutes to help the Tigers (19-4, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their third straight and claim sole possession of second place in the league standings, a half-game ahead of No. 4 Duke.

Bryant Crawford scored 16 points and Keyshawn Woods added 13 for the Demon Deacons (9-14, 2-9). Wake Forest went 5 minutes without a field goal down the stretch while Clemson finally took control of a tight game that had 20 lead changes and 12 ties.

Doral Moore added 13 rebounds for the Demon Deacons. Shelton Mitchell finished with 10 points for the Tigers.

MISSOURI 69, NO. 21 KENTUCKY 60

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri had never beaten Kentucky in 10 previous tries, but behind 16 points each from Jordan Barnett and Kassius Robertson, the Tigers finally cleared that Big Blue hurdle.

The 21st-ranked Wildcats (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) had erased double-digit deficits the last two games in victories over West Virginia and Vanderbilt, but their poor shooting against Missouri’s stingy defense ensured there would be no rally this time.

Kentucky shot 31.3 percent from the field. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Wildcats with 15 points and six assists.

Jontay Porter added 13 points and eight rebounds for Missouri (15-8, 5-5 SEC).

ALABAMA 68, NO. 23 FLORIDA 50

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Collin Sexton scored 17 points, Donta Hall notched his fourth double-double of the season, and Alabama rallied from a 10-point deficit for the upset.

Sexton added eight rebounds and six assists for the Tide (15-8, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), which improved to 2-4 on the road.

The Gators (15-8, 6-4) lost their third consecutive SEC game, the first time that’s happened since the end of coach Mike White’s first season in 2016.

Hall was one of the beneficiaries. He made all seven shots and finished with 14 points and 11 boards.

NO. 24 MICHIGAN 76, MINNESOTA 73, OT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman made a tiebreaking three-point play with 3.8 seconds left and finished with 17 points as Michigan held on in overtime.

The Wolverines (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten) needed the extra time to win because they struggled to shoot from the field and the line.

The Golden Gophers (14-11, 3-9) were in a position to end their longest losing streak of the year because freshman Isaiah Washington had a season-high 26 points and Nate Mason scored 22 points, including a 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left that tied the game.