No. 4 Alabama downs No. 8 Kentucky 102-97

By Canadian Press on January 18, 2025.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Grant Nelson had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 4 Alabama beat No. 8 Kentucky 102-97 on Saturday in a matchup of two of the top offensive teams in the country.

Nelson was 7 for 13 from the field and 9 for 10 at the line. He scored a total of 21 points in his previous three games.

Mark Sears scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Alabama (15-3, 4-1 SEC), which had five players score in double figures.

Kentucky (14-4, 3-2) had won two in a row since an 82-69 loss at Georgia. Otega Oweh had 21 points for the Wildcats, and Lamont Butler finished with 17 points and eight assists.

Kentucky grabbed a 56-52 lead on Brandon Garrison’s dunk with 16:13 left. But Alabama responded with a 14-2 run.

Sears started the big sequence with a jumper. He also picked up an assist when Aden Holloway’s 3-pointer made it 66-58 with 12:33 remaining.

NO. 1 AUBURN 70, NO. 23 GEORGIA 68

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Tahaad Pettiford hit 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range, scoring 24 off the bench to help No. 1 Auburn escape No. 23 Georgia with a win.

Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) has won 10 in a row and a second straight game without star Johni Broome, who injured his ankle in a Jan. 11 win over South Carolina.

Georgia (14-4, 2-3) struggled with free throws, making 9 of 20 from the line.

WEST VIRGINIA 64, NO. 2 IOWA STATE 57

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Javon Small scored 12 of his 27 points in the final two minutes to lead West Virginia to a win over No. 2 Iowa State, ending the Cyclones’ national-best 12-game winning streak.

Amani Hansberry added 12 points for the Mountaineers (13-4, 4-2 Big 12), who beat a ranked team for the fourth time this season.

West Virginia fans stormed the court and joined the players in singing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on a day in which the school celebrated the life of NBA great Jerry West, who died last June at age 86.

Curtis Jones scored 18 points to lead Iowa State (15-2, 5-1). Keshon Gilbert added 13 points and Josh Jefferson had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Tamin Lipsey gave Iowa State its last lead, 43-41, on a layup with 7:35 left. The Cyclones were limited to 14 points the rest of the game.

NO. 3 DUKE 88, BOSTON COLLEGE 63

BOSTON (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 28 points, settling down after missing four of his first five shots to lead No. 3 Duke to its 12th straight victory, beating Boston College.

Tyrese Proctor added 20 points for the Blue Devils (16-2, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). But the person drawing the pro scouts and a sellout crowd — the bulk of them Duke fans — was Flagg, who was playing his first college game in New England since leaving Maine for Tobacco Road.

Chad Venning scored 19 for Boston College (9-9, 1-5). Duke has beaten BC in 10 consecutive meetings since the Eagles upset the top-ranked Blue Devils in Conte Forum on Dec. 9, 2017.

BC led for almost all of the first 15 minutes, taking an 18-11 lead midway through the first half before the Blue Devils scored 11 of the next 13 points. The Eagles led for the last time at 24-22 before Duke went on a 11-3 run – with nine of the points scored by Flagg.

NO. 5 FLORIDA 84, TEXAS 60

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Alijah Martin scored 22 points, Walter Clayton Jr. added 19 and No. 5 Florida beat Texas to start a new home-winning streak.

Four days after having their 16-game winning streak in Gainesville snapped by Missouri, the Gators (16-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) bounced back with more effort and energy despite dealing with more turmoil.

Assistant coach Taurean Green was on the bench two days after being publicly accused of sexual assault. ESPN reported Thursday that a formal complaint was filed with the school’s Title IX office accusing Green of kissing an athletic department employee and trying to put his hand down her pants in March 2024.

It came while the university is still investigating a Sept. 27 Title IX complaint against head coach Todd Golden that includes allegations of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking, according to copies of the complaint.

None of it seemed to affect Florida with Texas (12-6, 1-4) visiting the O’Connell Center for the first time since 1996. The Gators made eight 3-pointers and outrebounded the Longhorns by eight.

VANDERBILT 76, NO. 6 TENNESSEE 75

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jason Edwards scored 18 points as Vanderbilt held off No. 6 Tennessee for the Commodores’ second straight win.

Fans stormed the court for the first sellout at Memorial Gym since 2019 after the Commodores (15-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) won for only the second time in the last 14 games of this series.

Jaylen Carey added 14 for Vanderbilt. Tyler Nickel had 13 and AJ Hoggard 11.

Mark Byington, Vandy’s fourth different coach to face off against Rick Barnes during his 10 years with the Vols, matched the lone win by Jerry Stackhouse and Bryce Drew each. Only Kevin Stallings (2-1) left Vandy with a winning mark over Barnes’ Vols.

Tennessee (16-2, 3-2) now has lost two of its first three SEC road games. Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 17 points, and Zakai Zeigler, Igor Milicic Jr. and Felix Okpara each had 17.

XAVIER 59, NO. 7 MARQUETTE 57

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Zach Freemantle had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Xavier hung on in the final seconds to beat No. 7 Marquette to earn its third straight victory while snapping the Golden Eagles’ six-game winning streak.

Xavier (12-7, 4-4 Big East) never trailed and led by as many as 19 but needed to make a stop in the final seconds to preserve the victory. Xavier’s Dailyn Swain appeared to knock the ball away as Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell was driving to the basket before a potential tying shot could be attempted.

Marquette (15-3, 6-1) had won its last five meetings in this series, including a 72-70 triumph at Xavier on Dec. 21. Freemantle didn’t play against Marquette last month because of a lower-body injury.

David Joplin had 17 points to lead Marquette.

NO. 9 KANSAS 84, KANSAS STATE 74

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had 25 points and Zeke Mayo scored 24 to lead No. 9 Kansas over Kansas State.

Kansas (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) built a big lead to start the game and then kept K-State at arm’s length. The Wildcats (7-10, 1-5) never got closer than six points.

Mayo had 14 points in the first half. Dajuan Harris Jr. had nine in the first half and six in the second.

With a chance to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to five, Max Jones missed a corner 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining.

Coleman Hawkins led the Wildcats with 15 points and 10 assists.

NO. 10 HOUSTON 69, UCF 68

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — J’Wan Roberts made a go-ahead layup with 1.1 seconds left to lift No. 10 Houston to a win over UCF.

Roberts powered his way to the basket off an inbounds pass, beating UCF’s shot blockers to the rim. The Knights were unable to get off a final shot attempt.

Roberts scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He went 10 for 17 from the field for the game, and also grabbed nine rebounds.

Ja’Vier Francis added 16 points and 10 boards for Houston (14-3, 6-0 Big 12), which trailed 38-30 at halftime.

UCF’s Moustapha Thiam, a 7-foot-2 center, had 18 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 14 points for the Knights (12-5, 3-3), and Darius Johnson finished with 13.

NO. 11 TEXAS A&M 68, LSU 57

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zhuric Phelps scored 13 points, fellow guard Wade Taylor IV added 12 and No. 11 Texas A&M beat LSU.

Taylor returned to the Aggies (14-4, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) after missing three games because of an undisclosed injury.

Cam Carter led LSU (13-6, 1-4) with 16 points.

Down 43-42 early in the second half, Texas A&M took control with a 10-0 run.

Solomon Washington made a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the Aggies a 52-43 lead with 8:13 remaining.

NO. 17 PURDUE 65, NO. 13 OREGON 58

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 23 points and 11 rebounds to help lead No. 17 Purdue past No. 13 Oregon.

Kaufman-Renn missed his first six shots from the field, but finished 7 for 20 while making all nine of his free throws. Braden Smith added 15 points and seven rebounds as the Boilermakers (15-4, 7-1 Big Ten) won their seventh straight game.

Nate Bittle led Oregon (15-3, 4-3) with 18 points, while Jackson Shelstad added 15 points and five rebounds as the Ducks shot 36% from the field, including going 7 of 29 on 3-pointers.

After Bittle opened the second half with a basket to put the Ducks ahead 33-30, Purdue scored 11 straight points while holding Oregon scoreless for more than eight minutes.

Oregon closed within 42-41 on a 3-pointer by Shelstad, but Kaufman-Renn scored the next six points. When Shelstad scored again to get Oregon within 52-48, Kaufman-Renn answered with two free throws before Smith scored the next four points to push Purdue ahead 58-48 with 2:33 left to play.

CREIGHTON 68, NO. 14 UCONN 63

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Jamiya Neal had a career-high 24 points to lead Creighton to a win over No. 14 UConn.

Ryan Kalkbrenner had 16 points and Steven Ashworth scored 12 for the Bluejays (12-6, 5-2 Big East).

Hassan Diarra and Solo Ball each had 15 points for UConn (13-5, 5-2). The Huskies’ loss snapped a 28-game home winning streak.

Four consecutive points from Alex Karaban capped a 12-2 run early in the second half to put the Huskies up 43-41. Creighton answered with a pair of dunks in a 6-0 run to regain the lead.

After missing its first three 3-pointers, Creighton hit four in a row with Isaac Traudt giving the Bluejays their first lead midway through the first half. The Huskies regained the lead twice in the first, but Creighton scored 10 of the last 12 points of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the locker room.

NO. 15 MISSISSIPPI STATE 84, NO. 21 MISSISSIPPI 81, OT

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Riley Kugel scored a season-high 21 points, including two free throws with 11 seconds remaining in overtime, and No. 15 Mississippi State knocked off No. 21 Mississippi.

Ole Miss (15-3, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) battled back from a 73-69 deficit in the final 42 seconds of regulation and tied the game at 74-74 on Matthew Murrell’s 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining. Kugel missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer and the game went to overtime.

KeShawn Murphy added 18 points for Mississippi State (15-3, 3-2) while RJ Melendez had 12 points and seven rebounds. Josh Hubbard has 10 points for the Bulldogs and Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Jaemyn Brakefield had 20 points to lead Ole Miss and Sean Pedulla had 18. Murrell had 15 points, all in the second half.

SANTA CLARA 103, NO. 16 GONZAGA 99

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Tyeree Bryan made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 35 points to help Santa Clara upset No. 16 Gonzaga.

Adama Ball added 20 points, and Christoph Tilly had 17 for the Broncos (13-7, 5-2 West Coast Conference).

Coming off an overtime loss Thursday night at Oregon State, Gonzaga (14-6, 5-2) has lost consecutive conference games for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Nolan Hickman led Gonzaga with 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers. Graham Ike scored 21 points, and Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and 15 assists.

The Broncos pulled ahead with an 11-1 run late in the half. However, Hickman responded with seven points in the final five minutes to give Gonzaga a 45-44 lead.

An early second-half surge propelled Santa Clara in front, with Bryan and Bal combining to hit five 3-pointers in the first seven minutes. The shots kept falling for the Broncos, who were ahead by 13 points with just over four minutes to play.

NO. 24 WISCONSIN 84, SOUTHERN CAL 69

LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Blackwell scored 28 points and No. 24 Wisconsin defeated Southern California to extend its winning streak to seven games.

Max Klesmit added 18 points and Nolan Winter 13 for the Badgers (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten), who have an average margin of victory of 16.1 points during their win streak.

Saint Thomas led the Trojans (11-7, 3-4) with 19 points and Rashaun Agee scored 15. USC, which had won its last two games, led for only 49 seconds on Saturday.

Wisconsin had a 51-32 lead with 17:54 remaining before USC went on a 13-0 run. The Trojans eventually whittled it down to three before the Badgers regained control.

The Associated Press