No. 1 Arizona rolls 12th-ranked Alabama in the second half and wins 96-75

By Canadian Press on December 14, 2025.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Brayden Burries scored 28 points, 20 of those coming during a 14-minute second-half flurry, and No. 1 Arizona roared back from its first halftime deficit of the season to beat No. 12 Alabama 96-75.

The Wildcats (9-0) trailed by two points at halftime before seizing command with a 14-1 run, highlighted by Burries making three consecutive baskets. Burries was 5 for 10 from 3-point range, mitigating a quiet night for fellow freshman Koa Peat, who was saddled by foul trouble and scored six points — far off his 15.9 points-per-game average.

Labaron Philon Jr. scored 24 points, including a twisting pullup in the lane that gave Alabama (7-3) a 41-39 lead at the half. That was the final highlight for the Tide, which couldn’t match Arizona’s intensity over the final 20 minutes.

Motiejus Krivas, Arizona’s 7-foot-2 Lithuanian center, finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Point guard Jaden Bradley added 14 points and seven assists, haunting the former Crimson Tide program that he helped earn the top overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 21 for Alabama, which shot 12 for 32 from deep but couldn’t approach its 95-point average. Aiden Sherrell blocked eight shots but had little help from the Tide’s frontcourt.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN 101, MARYLAND 83

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg had 29 points, a career-best nine assists and eight rebounds, and Michigan rallied from a nine-point deficit Saturday night to defeat Maryland.

Aday Mara scored 18 points for the Wolverines (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who overcame a halftime deficit for the second time this season and the first since they beat TCU on Nov. 14.

Michigan scored 100 points for the fourth time in five games.

Diggy Coit made eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points for the Terrapins (6-5, 0-2), who lost center Pharrel Payne to a right leg injury late in the first half and forward Solomon Washington to ejection after he picked up his second technical foul early in the second half.

NO. 6 PURDUE 79, MARQUETTE 59

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 Purdue past Marquette.

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. 8 GONZAGA 82, NO. 25 UCLA 72

SEATTLE (AP) — Graham had 25 points and five assists and Gonzaga beat UCLA to improve to 9-1.

Ike scored 15 points in the first half, highlighted by a tomahawk dunk with 8:02 remaining that gave Gonzaga a 23-19 advantage. The Bulldogs took their first lead shortly before Ike’s dunk on a 3-pointer by Adam Miller, negating a 7-0 deficit.

Tyler Bilodeau led UCLA (7-3) with 22 points. He was 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

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. 10 BYU 100, UC RIVERSIDE 53

PROVO, Utah (AP) — AJ Dybantsa had 26 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, and BYU beat UC Riverside.

Richie Saunders added 19 points to help the Cougars (9-1) gettheir sixth straight win. Alexsej Kostic made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 15 points. Khadim Mboup added a career highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

BYU scored 20 points off 18 turnovers and outscored UC Riverside 29-6 in fastbreak points. The Cougars also outscored the Highlanders 56-24 in the paint and shot 59% from the field.

Andrew Henderson led UC Riverside (5-6) with 14 points and BJ Kolly added 12.

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. 15 VANDERBILT 83, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 72

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Nickel scored a career-high 30 points and Vanderbilt beat Central Arkansas.

Tyler Tanner had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Commodores, and Jalen Washington added 12 points and seven rebounds. Devin McGlockton had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Vanderbilt shot 42.2% (27 for 64) from the field, 29% (11 for 38) on 3-pointers and 81.8% (18 for 22) from the free-throw line.

The Commodores (10-0) remained the only undefeated team in the Southeastern Conference with their best start since opening the 2007-08 season 16-0.

Nickel shot 8 for 15 on 3-pointers, surpassing his previous best of seven, which came in an 86-84 win at Texas A&M on Feb. 26. It was the third game this season that Nickel led Vanderbilt in scoring and the second time he made six or more 3s.

Camren Hunter scored 18 points to lead Central Arkansas (4-7). Ty Robinson had 14 points and Javion Guy-King added 13. Malchiah Marable had a team-high seven rebounds.

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. 19 KANSAS 77, NC STATE 76, OT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Melvin Council Jr. had career highs of 36 points and nine made 3-pointers to help Kansas edge N.C. State in overtime.

Council had made just 5 of 27 3s coming into the game, but took advantage of open looks early then largely carried the Jayhawks (8-3) down the stretch — including scoring Kansas’ last 13 points of regulation and feeding Flory Bidunga’s go-ahead dunk with 51.9 seconds left in the OT.

N.C. State (7-4) had one final possession to win it, inbounding from near halfcourt with 1.0 seconds left. But Darrion Williams’ fading 3 on the catch missed everything to end this one.

Kansas freshman star Darryn Peterson had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. But he abruptly checked out of a tight game with 2:15 left and didn’t return, watching from the bench in an exit coming shortly after he missed seven games with a hamstring strain.

Council finished 13 of 27 from the floor and 9 of 15 from behind the arc to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

Quadir Copeland scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack, while Williams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

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.

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The Associated Press