No. 5 Alabama beats No. 10 Texas A&M for 8th straight win

By Canadian Press on January 11, 2025.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Mark Sears scored 27 points, Aden Holloway added 15, and No. 5 Alabama beat No. 10 Texas A&M 94-88 on Saturday night in the first game between top 10 teams in College Station history.

The Crimson Tide (14-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) never trailed in winning their eighth consecutive game. Alabama snapped A&M’s nine-game win streak, the longest by the Aggies (13-3, 2-1) since the 2015-16 squad won 10 straight.

Guard Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies with 24 points.

Texas A&M senior guard Wade Taylor IV missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.

Alabama center Clifford Omoruyi missed the second of two free throws with 37 seconds remaining and the Crimson Tide leading 88-84. But teammate Chris Youngblood grabbed the rebound and made both his free throws to give Alabama a 90-84 lead.

Sears is the second Alabama player with 1,500 points, 300 assists and 200 3-pointers in a career, joining Brian Williams (1995-99).

NO. 1 TENNESSEE 74, TEXAS 70

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Zakai Zeigler scored 16 points and No. 1 Tennessee beat Texas in the Volunteers’ first game since a 30-point blowout loss earlier in the week at No. 8 Florida.

Jordan Gainey’s 3-pointer gave Tennessee a 66-60 lead with 2:41 to play before Zeigler scored the next six points for the Volunteers (15-1, 2-1 SEC), including a reverse layup with 59 seconds left.

Gainey and Darlinstone Dubar each scored 12 for Tennessee, which had been the nation’s last unbeaten team before the rout at Florida.

The Volunteers were in another fight against SEC newcomer Texas (11-5, 0-3). Dubar’s putback dunk tied it at 56 before his 3-pointer gave them a 61-60 lead.

Freshman Tre Johnson scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting for Texas, but had just one basket in the final 11 minutes for the Longhorns.

NO. 2 AUBURN 66, SOUTH CAROLINA 63

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tahaad Pettiford assisted on Dylan Cardwell’s go-ahead dunk and converted two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining as the Tigers overcame an injury to leading scorer Johni Broom and rallied to beat the Gamecocks.

With Auburn trailing by a point with 90 seconds remaining, Pettiford fed Cardwell for a dunk to give the Tigers (15-1, 3-0 SEC) a 64-63 lead. Pettiford sealed the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds and finished with 15 points.

Broome, considered a contender for national player of the year honors, rolled his left ankle after going up for a rebound and exited the game with about 13 minutes left in the second half. He had six points and three rebounds in 24 minutes. There was no immediate word on the extent of Broome’s injury.

Collin Murray-Boyles had a game-high 25 points for the Gamecocks (10-6, 0-3), who were missing guards Myles Stute and Jamarii Thomas.

NO. 3 IOWA STATE 85, TEXAS TECH 84, OT

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Joshua Jefferson made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left in overtime after forcing it with a buzzer-beating layup, and third-ranked Iowa State won its 11th consecutive game by beating Texas Tech.

Jefferson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. He had the last six points for the Cyclones (14-1, 4-0 Big 12), with four free throws and a layup in the final minute of overtime.

Curtis Jones had 26 points for Iowa State, which trailed by 13 before halftime. Keshon Gilbert scored 14.

Chance McMillian, JT Toppin and Christian Anderson each had 18 points for Texas Tech (11-4, 2-2). Darrion Williams had 15 points, but his short runner ricocheted off the back of the rim to end the game.

Jefferson had a layup on a pass from Tamin Lipsey at the buzzer of regulation to tie the game at 74.

NO. 4 DUKE 86, NOTRE DAME 78

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman record 42 points to help the Blue Devils hold off the Fighting Irish and stay unbeaten in conference play.

The 6-foot-9 preseason Associated Press All-American made 11 of 14 shots, 4 of 6 3-pointers and 16 of 17 foul shots. He also had seven assists and six rebounds , turning in an all-around floor game that had him single-handedly wearing down the Notre Dame defense.

Khaman Maluach added a season-high 19 points for Duke (14-2, 6-0).

Markus Burton scored 23 points for the Fighting Irish (7-9, 1-4), who made 14 of 23 3-pointers and kept hanging around to make things interesting at the end.

NO. 6 KENTUCKY 95, NO. 14 MISSISSIPPI STATE 90

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Robinson scored a season-high 27 points and No. 6 Kentucky made 16 of 32 3- pointers in a victory over No. 14 Mississippi State.

Robinson was 7 of 10 from 3-point range and 9 of 12 overall.

Otega Oweh added 15 points for Kentucky (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) and Andrew Carr had 13. Ansley Almonor scored nine of his 11 points in the second half and Lamont Butler and Amari Williams each had 10. Williams also had 12 rebounds and six assists.

Cameron Matthews led Mississippi State (14-2, 2-1) with 19 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Josh Hubbard had 15 points and RJ Melendez added 14.

Mississippi State trailed by 14 early in the second half before using a 12-0 run to cut it to 68-66. Claudell Harris’ 3 pointer with 8:17 remaining gave the Bulldogs an 80-78 lead, but it was their last lead of the game.

Hubbard hit a driving layup to cut it to 91-90 with two minutes remaining. but Bulldogs were held scoreless the rest of the way.

NO. 8 FLORIDA 71, ARKANSAS 63

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Alijah Martin scored 14 points and three teammates also scored in double figures as No. 8 Florida defeated Arkansas.

Alex Condon, Will Richard and Walton Clayton Jr. scored 12 points apiece for the Gators (15-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), who were coming off a 73-43 win over top-ranked Tennessee on Tuesday.

Adou Thiero scored nine of his 17 points from the line for Arkansas (11-5, 0-3), which started conference play 0-3 for the second straight season and for the third time in four years.

First-year Arkansas coach John Calipari fell to 0-3 in conference play for the first time since 1988-89, his first year of college coaching at Massachusetts.

Florida limited Arkansas to 30% (18 for 6) shooting and 3 for 16 from 3-point range. The Gators scored 19 second-chance points compared to six for Arkansas, and 19 bench points compared to seven for the Razorbacks.

NO. 9 UCONN 68, GEORGETOWN 60

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 19 points, Solo Ball added 15, and No. 9 Connecticut bounced back from its first conference loss of the season to beat Georgetown.

The Huskies (13-4, 5-1 Big East), who fell 68-66 at Villanova on Wednesday, have not lost back-to-back league games since January 2023.

Curtis Williams Jr. had 15 points for the Hoyas (12-4, 3-2), who have dropped 20 consecutive games against ranked teams since winning the 2021 Big East tournament.

Connecticut led 36-31 after 20 minutes, but opened the second half on a 17-2 run to force Georgetown coach Ed Cooley to burn through two timeouts before the Hoyas made their first field goal after the break. The Huskies eventually built a 64-41 advantage.

NO. 11 KANSAS 54, CINCINNATI 40

CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Dickinson scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. as No. 11 Kansas pulled away from Cincinnati for a victory.

The matchup between two of the nation’s top defensive teams resulted in a low scoring affair. The Jayhawks held the Bearcats scoreless for more than six minutes in the second half to spark a 14-0 run.

The 40 points are the fewest for the Bearcats in head coach Wes Miller’s four seasons.

Zeke Mayo scored eight points for Kansas (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) which has won three straight.

Dillon Mitchell scored 10 points and Arrinten Page and Dan Skillings Jr. each had nine for Cincinnati (10-5, 0-4 Big 12).

Both teams shot under 40% and were a combined 3 of 18 from 3-point range in the first half. The Bearcats led 25-24 at halftime behind eight points from Mitchell.

NO. 12 HOUSTON 87, KANSAS STATE 57

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored 15 points, Joseph Tugler had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 12 Houston used two big first-half runs to build a 22-point halftime lead in a blowout of Kansas State.

LJ Cryer and Ja’Vier Francis added 11 points apiece for the Cougars, who cruised to their eighth straight victory in their first trip to Manhattan since 1971. Houston beat the Wildcats by 22 at home last season in their first game as Big 12 foes.

The Cougars (12-3, 4-0) used runs of 16-2 and 18-3 to take a 46-24 halftime lead. Kansas State (7-8, 1-3) managed to close to 60-46 with just under 10 minutes to go, but the Cougars scored the next 12 points to put the game away.

Brendan Hausen hit five 3-pointers and had 15 points for the Wildcats, who were outrebounded 44-20 and outscored 52-18 in the paint. Max Jones added 13 points and four assists.

SOUTHERN CAL 82, NO. 13 ILLINOIS 72

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Desmond Claude scored a season-high 31 points to lead Southern California to a win over No. 13 Illinois.

Wesley Yates III had 15 points — shooting 7 of 8 from the field — while Rashaun Agee had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten).

Illinois (12-4, 4-2) had a five-game winning streak snapped. Ben Humrichous had 15 points, while Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Tre White each scored 11.

Kasparas Jakucionis, the Illini’s leading scorer, missed his second straight game because of a forearm injury suffered Jan. 5 against Washington.

GEORGIA 72, NO. 17 OKLAHOMA 62

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Dakota Leffew and Asa Newell each scored 15 points and Georgia held off No. 17 Oklahoma for its second consecutive win over a Top 25 team.

Georgia (14-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) made its bid to enter the Top 25 by beating No. 6 Kentucky 82-69 on Tuesday night and then giving the Sooners (13-3, 0-3) their third consecutive loss.

Oklahoma is still looking for its first SEC win in its debut season in the league. Jalon Moore led the Sooners with 17 points. Duke Miles and Kobe Elvis each had 14.

Brycen Goodine, who scored 34 points in Oklahoma’s 80-78 loss to No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday night, scored only 3 points while making 1 of 7 shots from the field.

NO. 18 GONZAGA 88, WASHINGTON STATE 75

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike had 21 points and seven rebounds, and No. 18 Gonzaga pulled away from Washington State after a back-and-forth first half to earn a victory.

Nolan Hickman added 19 points and hit five 3-pointers for the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 West Coast Conference), who won their fifth straight game.

Washington State (13-5, 3-2) was led by Nate Calmese, who scored 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and finished with eight assists.

Ben Gregg had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Zags.

Despite just 66 miles separating the schools, they hadn’t met in more than 10 years. But after yet another round of conference realignment, these programs will square off regularly now — first in the WCC and later in the restructured Pac-12.

NO. 19 MEMPHIS 74, EAST CAROLINA 70

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — PJ Haggerty scored eight of his 25 points in the final 2:34 and No. 19 Memphis held off East Carolina.

Haggerty shot 7 for 16 from the field and was perfect on 10 free throws, including both ends of a 1-and-1 with 9.7 seconds left to preserve the victory.

Tyrese Hunter added 14 points and Dain Dainja scored 10 as Memphis (13-3, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) won its fourth straight.

C.J. Walker had nine of his 23 points down the stretch as East Carolina tried to overtake Memphis. RJ Felton added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Memphis appeared to have control of the game in the first half after a 16-0 run, but East Carolina (9-8, 1-3) battled back in the second half but never did take the lead.

NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI 77, LSU 65

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Malik Dia scored 19 points, Jaemyn Brakefield added 16 and No. 23 Mississippi beat LSU.

The Rebels (14-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) have won their first three league games for the first time in six years.

Dia, a 6-foot-9 transfer center from Belmont, made 2 of 4 3-pointers and had seven rebounds and two blocks. He was coming off a 21-point, eight-rebound performance in the Rebels’ 73-66 victory at Arkansas on Wednesday night.

Cam Carter led LSU (11-5, 0-3) with 16 points. Daimon Collins added 14, and Jordan Sears had 10.

The Rebels led 28-26 at halftime. LSU had a 15-0 run and led most of the half before Ole Miss pulled ahead on Jaemyn Brakefield’s layup at 46.1 seconds left. The Rebels opened the second half with a 22-8 run.

NO. 25 UTAH STATE 81, BOISE STATE 79

LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Ian Martinez had a 4-point play with seven seconds left and No. 25 Utah State rallied to beat Boise State for its sixth straight victory.

After Alvaro Cardenas hit a 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds remaining to give Boise State a 79-77 lead, Martinez made a 3-pointer and added a free throw.

Martinez scored 18 points to help Utah State (16-1, 6-0 Mountain West) beat Boise State (12-5, 4-2) for the fifth straight time. Deyton Albury added 14 points, Drake Allen had 13, Dexter Akanno 12 and Mason Falslev 10.

Tyson Degenhart scored 22 points for Boise State. Cardenas had 15 points and eight assists.

The Associated Press