Oscar Cluff scores 22, Braden Smith reaches new milestone as No. 6 Purdue beats Marquette

By Canadian Press on December 13, 2025.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Oscar Cluff made all nine of his shots and finished with a season-high 22 points, and Braden Smith reached another milestone with 10 more assists Saturday to lead No. 6 Purdue past Marquette 79-59.

It took Smith only 12 seconds to find Fletcher Loyer for a 3-pointer to become the second Division I men’s basketball player to join the 1,500-point, 850-assist, 550-rebound club. D.J. Cooper was the first to do it during his career at Ohio from 2009-13.

Smith had seven points and five rebounds to increase his career numbers to 1,515 points, 859 assists and 759 rebounds. Cluff had 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double. Loyer scored 15 points.

NO. 7 HOUSTON 99, NEW ORLEANS 57

HOUSTON (AP) — Kingston Flemings, Chris Cenac Jr., Chase McCarty and Mercy Miller each scored 15 points, and Houston won its fourth straight.

Flemings and Cenac, both freshmen, combined to shoot 11 of 19 from the field for Houston (10-1), which won its tenth straight at home and has won 22 straight nonconference home games. The Cougars had 10 of 11 players score, and nine finished with at least six points.

The Cougars shot 54%, including 11 of 23 on 3-pointers, and were 24 of 31 from the free-throw line. Houston forced 21 turnovers and converted them into 29 points while committing six turnovers. The Cougars also had 23 assists on 32 field goals, led by Milos Uzan, who matched a career high with 10 assists.

NO. 9 MICHIGAN ST. 76, PENN ST. 72

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Divine Ugochukwu scored a career-high 23 points and Michigan State overcame a sloppy performance to beat Penn State.

Jaxon Kohler posted his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds while Carson Cooper added 10 points for the Spartans (9-1, 2-0 Big Ten), who committed a season-high 17 turnovers and trailed for long stretches in both halves.

They were able to bear down, however, and avoid a second-straight loss after falling to No. 4 Duke on Monday.

Freddie Dilione scored a career-high 22 points, Kayden Mingo added 11 and Ivan Juric had 10 for the Nittany Lions (8-3, 0-2), who led by as many as nine in the first half and then by three with five minutes left four days after getting blown out by Indiana.

NO. 11 LOUISVILLE 99, MEMPHIS 73

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Ryan Conwell had 17 points and reserve Adrian Wooley scored 15 as he and Kasean Pryor alternated making six of Louisville’s seven consecutive 3-pointers during a first-half surge that rocketed the Cardinals past Memphis.

The Cardinals (9-1) converted 18 of 35 attempts from long range, second to their 20 made 3s against NJIT on Nov. 26. Their total included 12 of 22 from deep before halftime, during which Wooley (5 of 8) and Pryor (3 of 3, 11 points) took turns knocking down shots to break the game open.

Hasan Abdul Hakim had 18 points and Dug McDaniel 16 for the Tigers (4-5), who had won four in a row. Memphis missed consecutive shots during one first-half drought that opened the door for Louisville to pull away.

NO. 23 NEBRASKA 83, NO. 13 ILLINOIS 80

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jamarques Lawrence hit a 3-point shot with less than a second remaining Saturday to give Nebraska a win over Illinois.

The undefeated Huskers (11-0, 2-0 Big Ten) are off to the best start in program history. They won 10 in a row to start the 1977-78 season.

Tomislav Ivicic’s 3-pointer — his only points of the game — with 17 seconds to go deadlocked the game at 80-all for the Illini (8-3, 1-1), who trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half and 14 points in the first half.

Lawrence finished with 14 points. Bryce Sandfort scored a career-high 32 points and Rienk Mast had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskers in their first road game of the season.

Kylan Boswell scored 20 points for Illinois, which led for only 16 seconds early in the first half. Andrej Stojakovic had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Keaton Wagler had 19 points for the Illini.

NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 80, SC-UPSTATE 62

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Caleb Wilson had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead North Carolina to a win against USC Upstate.

Wilson shot 6 of 7 from the floor and didn’t miss a field-goal attempt until there was less than a minute to play. The Tar Heels (9-1) also got a boost from Jonathan Powell’s 17 points, which tied a career high. Luka Bogavac added 15 points and five assists, and Henri Veesaar scored 14.

Learic Davis paced the Spartans (6-6) with 14 points before fouling out late. Mason Bendinger had 13 points.

NO. 17 ARKANSAS 93, NO. 16 TEXAS TECH 86

DALLAS (AP) — Trevon Brazile scored 18 of his 24 points after halftime and finished with 10 rebounds as Arkansas overcame Texas Tech in a rematch of a Sweet 16 game in last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas (8-2), which trailed by as many as 10 points before halftime, went ahead for good on Brazile’s driving layup that made it 78-77 with 5:20 left. A minute after that, coming out of a timeout, he made a move near the baseline that got JT Toppin in the air and drove by the preseason AP All-American for an emphatic one-handed slam dunk.

Brazile is one of the three starters for the Razorbacks who played in the Sweet 16 game last March, when they had a 16-point lead midway through the second half before Tech rallied for an overtime victory.

NO. 18 FLORIDA 80, GEORGE WASHINGTON 70

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Xaivian Lee scored 24 points to lead Florida to a victory over George Washington in the second game of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic.

Lee scored a season high on 6-of-11 shooting, including making 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

Thomas Haugh had 19 points and seven rebounds. Boogie Fland finished with 12 points and five assists for the defending champion Gators (6-4), who were coming off losses to top-five ranked Duke and UConn.

Trey Autry had 15 points and Tyrone Marshall Jr. scored 14 for the Revolutionaries, who made 7 of 19 free throws. Castro had 12 points and Jean Aranguren 11.

NO. 22 ST. JOHN’S 91, IONA 64

NEW YORK (AP) — Oziyah Sellers scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, Zuby Ejiofor tied a career-high by blocking eight shots for the second straight game and St. John’s survived a difficult start and pulled away for a victory over Iona.

Sellers made four 3s in the second half and shot 7 of 13. He had his second-best showing of the season after shooting 3 of 15 in the previous two games against Auburn and Ole Miss.

Ejiofor also had six points and 10 rebounds. Ian Jackson added 14 points in his return to the starting lineup. Joson Sanon and Bryce Hopkins each had 13 points.

_____

The Associated Press