ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Charles Matthews made a baseline floater at the buzzer to lift No. 5 Michigan to a 59-57 win over Minnesota on Tuesday night after the Golden Gophers scored 10 straight points to tie the game late.
On the final possession, Iggy Brazdeikis drove to the basket and had his shot blocked by Eric Curry, but the ball bounced right to Matthews to the left of the rim and he had time to release a shot that went high in the air and dropped through with no time remaining.
The shot by Matthews was clearly released before the game clock expired, but the shot clock was a much closer call. After a long review, officials ruled the shot was released before the shot clock expired.
Michigan (18-, 7-1 Big Ten) was down seven before using a 23-3 run to take the lead. Gabe Kalscheur’s 3-pointer tied it at 57 for Minnesota (14-5, 4-4) with 30.9 seconds remaining.
No. 2 DUKE 79, PITTSBURGH 64
PITTSBURGH — Zion Williamson hit his first 10 shots on his way to 25 points, fellow freshman RJ Barrett scored 26 and Duke had little trouble with Pittsburgh.
Williamson finished 11 of 13 from the floor to go with seven rebounds and seven assists for the Blue Devils (16-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who kept the Panthers (12-7, 2-4) in check even without injured freshman guard Tre Jones. Duke held Pitt to 41 percent shooting, outrebounded the Panthers 39-34 and wasn’t in any real danger after a surge midway through the first half.
No. 3 VIRGINIA 68, WAKE FOREST 45
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Kyle Guy and Jay Huff scored 12 points each, and Virginia opened with a 25-3 run in a victory against Wake Forest.
De’Andre Hunter and Mamadi Diakite had 11 points each for the Cavaliers (17-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who bounced back from a 72-70 loss at No. 2 Duke on Saturday. The victory was Virginia’s seventh in a row in the series against Wake Forest and their 12th in a row overall at John Paul Jones Arena.
No. 8 KENTUCKY 76,
No. 22 MISSISSIPPI St. 55
LEXINGTON, Ky. — PJ Washington scored 21 points, including a big 3-pointer down the stretch, Tyler Herro added 18 and Kentucky pulled away from Mississippi State for its fifth consecutive victory.
The Wildcats (15-3, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) led for all but the early minutes, but had to survive some rough stretches that allowed the Bulldogs (14-4, 2-3) to get within 41-39 with 13:39 remaining. Kentucky answered with scoring 18 of the next 25 points over the next 6:50, helped by Herro’s three free throws and consecutive 3s by Immanuel Quickley and Washington, for a double-digit advantage it maintained.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 77, No. 14 BUFFALO 75
DEKALB, Ill. — Noah McCarty banked in a game-winning basket with 2 seconds to play, and Northern Illinois upset Buffalo.
The Huskies reserve took a feed from Trendon Hankerson for the layup seconds after Buffalo had tied the game on a 3-pointer by C.J. Massinburg.
Dante Thorpe scored 23 points and Eugene German added 20 as Northern Illinois (11-8, 4-2 Mid-American Conference) ended a two-game skid and claimed its first home win over a ranked team since 1972.
KANSAS STATE 58,
No. 14 TEXAS TECH 45
MANHATTAN, Kansas — Barry Brown Jr. had 15 points, Dean Wade had 13 and Kansas State’s defense shut down Texas Tech.
The Big 12’s top-ranked defenses combined to force 30 turnovers. The Wildcats (15-4, 5-2) held Texas Tech to 33-percent shooting and never led the Red Raiders get their offense rolling.
Jarrett Culver led Texas Tech (15-4, 4-3) with 17 points. Tariq Owens had 12.
SOUTH CAROLINA 80, No. 16 AUBURN 77
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Chris Silva had a career-high 32 points, and Felipe Haase’s 3-pointer with 30.3 seconds left put South Carolina ahead for good in a victory over Auburn.
The Gamecocks (10-8, 5-1) continued their improbable SEC run. They entered league play with a 5-7 preconference mark, but have won five of their first six, beating a pair of ranked opponents in Mississippi State and the Tigers.
No. 18 VILLANOVA 80, BUTLER 72
INDIANAPOLIS — Eric Paschall scored 23 points, Phil Booth added 17 and Villanova made 12 3-pointers to pull away from Butler.
The Wildcats (15-4, 6-0 Big East) have won seven straight since losing to Kansas on Dec. 15.
Aaron Thompson had 15 points for Butler (12-8, 3-4), which had won its previous two games. Sean McDermott had 14 points and seven rebounds while Kamar Baldwin and Jordan Tucker each finished with 11 points.
ALABAMA 74,
No. 20 MISSISSIPPI 53
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — John Petty scored 15 points off the bench, and Donta Hall added 11 points and 10 rebounds for a school-record fourth straight double-double as Alabama defeated Mississippi.
Galin Smith matched his season high with 10 points for Alabama (12-6, 3-3 Southeastern Conference). Hall had his 10th double-double of the season.
Terence Davis finished with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting before fouling out with just over 16 minutes remaining for the Rebels (14-4, 4-2). Breein Tyree finished with nine points. Entering the game, Davis and Tyree combined for 33.7 points per game
