No. 1 Michigan beats No. 7 Purdue 91-80 for its 11th straight win

By Canadian Press on February 17, 2026.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Elliot Cadeau scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half Tuesday night, and Aday Mara added 10 points and 11 rebounds to send No. 1 Michigan past No. 7 Purdue 91-80.

Trey McKinney, Yaxel Lendeborg and L.J. Cason each had 13 points for the Wolverines, who won their 11th straight and took a big step toward capturing their first outright Big Ten regular-season title in five years.

The win came one day after Michigan (25-1, 15-1) moved into the nation’s top spot for the first time since January 2013.

It was the 7-foot-3 Mara’s early tone-setting presence that helped the Wolverines turn the tables on Purdue’s usually dominant front line as two-time national player of the year Zach Edey watched from the second row. Mara made each of his first four shots on the way to a 10-point, eight-rebound first half. He spent most of the second half in foul trouble, finishing 4 of 6 from the field as Michigan had a 39-31 rebounding advantage.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season high 27 points to lead Boilermakers on a night most of his teammates struggled. Braden Smith added 20 points as the Boilermakers (21-5, 11-4) had their four-game winning streak end. They now trail Michigan by 3 1/2 games in the league race.

Michigan took control quickly by using an early 13-0 spurt to take a 23-10 lead. A 14-4 scoring flurry gave Michigan a comfortable 44-22 cushion with 4:23 left in the first half, forcing Purdue to futilely play catchup the rest of the night.

IOWA 57, NO. 9 NEBRASKA 52

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Bennett Stirtz scored 25 points and Cooper Koch added 10 as Iowa overcame a cold-shooting second half to defeat Nebraska.

Iowa (19-7, 9-6 Big Ten) won despite not making a field goal over the final 4:59. The Hawkeyes were 7 of 28 from the field in the second half, including 3 for 13 on 3-pointers.

Nebraska (22-4, 11-4), which has lost four of six, wasn’t much better. The Cornhuskers went 9 of 23 from the field, including 2 for 12 on 3s, and missed eight of their last 11 shots, going through an 11 1/2-minute stretch with just one basket.

Stirtz scored 10 of Iowa’s final 14 points. His jumper with 5:38 left gave the Hawkeyes a 47-45 lead, then he added a step-back 3 only 40 seconds later.

Iowa was coming off back-to-back losses last week to Maryland and Purdue after a six-game winning streak.

Pryce Sandfort, making his first appearance at Iowa since transferring after last season, led the Cornhuskers with 13 points. Sandfort was booed and taunted by Iowa’s student section throughout the game, but hit two 3-pointers to become Nebraska’s single-season leader with 90.

Jamarques Lawrence added 11 points for Nebraska.

NO. 12 FLORIDA 76, SOUTH CAROLINA 62

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Alex Condon had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Rueben Chinyelu also notched a double-double and Florida handled South Carolina for the second time in three weeks.

Chinyelu finished with 15 points and 17 boards for his 16th double-double of the season. The Gators won their sixth consecutive game and improved to 11-1 since losing at Missouri to open Southeastern Conference play.

This one was much closer than the previous meeting, a 47-point blowout in Columbia, South Carolina, in late January.

Still, the Gamecocks (11-14, 2-11 SEC) trailed by 10 points early and never mounted much of a threat in Gainesville, where Florida improved to 12-1 this season.

It was lopsided enough that 7-foot-9 walk-on center Olivier Rioux played the final minute after the home crowd chanted for him.

The best rebounding team in the country dominated inside, with Florida (20-6, 11-2) mounting a 47-30 rebounding advantage and outscoring South Carolina 44-28 in the paint.

Thomas Haugh added 10 points for Florida, which is trying to win the SEC’s regular season for the first time since 2014 and stay in the Sunshine State to open the NCAA Tournament in Tampa.

South Carolina leading scorer Meechie Johnson, who had 10 points in the first meeting, led the Gamecocks with 22 this time around.

NO. 15 MICHIGAN STATE 82 UCLA 59

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jeremy Fears Jr. had 16 points and 10 assists, leading Michigan State to a victory over UCLA.

The Spartans (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) bounced back with a strong performance after losing three of four games and falling five spots in the AP Top 25 this week.

The Bruins (17-9, 9-6) have lost two straight games after winning five of six.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau scored 22 points but didn’t have much help. None of his teammates were in double figures until Skyy Clark made some late shots to finish with 12 points.

Fears made three 3-pointers in the first half and Michigan State took a 43-23 lead into the break. He finished with four 3s, a career high.

The Spartans were 8 of 14 from beyond the arc in the opening period and finished with a season-high 14 3-pointers on 27 attempts.

Coen Carr also scored 16 points for Michigan State. Carson Cooper had 12 and freshman Jordan Scott added 11. Jaxon Kohler provided nine points and 10 rebounds.

NC STATE 82, NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 58

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Quadir Copeland scored 20 points while N.C. State held North Carolina to 31.7% shooting in a rivalry win.

Freshman Matt Able added 19 points for the Wolfpack (19-8, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who desperately needed this win to regroup after a 41-point loss at Louisville and a final-minute collapse in a home loss to Miami. And that had pushed Will Wade’s first N.C. State team onto shakier footing when it came to securing its ticket to March Madness.

But N.C. State pressed the attack all night against an injury-depleted rival, backed by a boisterous crowd. The Wolfpack shot 53.1% to build a 16-point halftime lead and never looked back.

By the end, N.C. State had its biggest margin of victory in the series since a 28-point win (85-57) in February 1962, according to College Basketball Reference.

Copeland added six rebounds and seven assists. Darrion Williams added 13 points on a night when he had a scary first-half fall that required stitches, coming after he hit his face on the court and trainers needed multiple towels to tend to the bleeding near his left eyebrow.

RHODE ISLAND 81, NO. 18 SAINT LOUIS 76

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Jonah Hinton made nine 3-pointers and scored 29 points as Rhode Island upset Saint Louis, snapping the Billikens’ 18-game winning streak.

Robbie Avila led Saint Louis (24-2, 12-1 Atlantic 10) with 21 points and Dion Brown added 19. The Billikens committed 18 turnovers and trailed for 36 minutes.

The 18-game run had marked the second-longest active winning streak in the country, and the program’s longest since the 2013-14 squad won a school-record 19 games in a row.

Down 79-76 after URI’s Myles Corey made both free throws with 26.3 seconds remaining, Saint Louis had two chances to tie but Avila and Ishan Sharma each missed from beyond the arc. Tyler Cochran wrapped it up for the Rams (15-11, 6-7) by sinking two free throws with 13.6 seconds left.

Corey had 15 points and was 11 of 11 from the foul line. Cochran scored 11.

SMU 95, NO. 21 LOUISVILLE 85

DALLAS (AP) — Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 25 points and Boopie Miller had 23 points with nine assists as SMU beat Louisville, ending the Cardinals’ five-game winning streak.

SMU (18-8, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) went ahead to stay on Miller’s short floater in the lane with 6:19 left that broke a 76-all tie. That was the second of six consecutive made field goals by the Mustangs, including a pair of 3-pointers by Corey Washington, who finished with 18 points.

Miller’s alley-oop pass to Pierre for a dunk with 1:49 remaining pushed the lead to 91-83 and sent the already-loud Moody Coliseum crowd into a real frenzy.

It was the Mustangs’ second win at home over a ranked ACC opponent this season, and could be significant in their push to reach their first NCAA Tournament since 2017. They beat then-No. 12 North Carolina 97-83 on Jan. 3, which was their first victory over a Top 25 opponent under second-year coach Andy Enfield.

Standout freshman Mikel Brown Jr. had 29 points for Louisville (19-6, 8-5), whose winning streak started with an 88-74 home win over SMU on Jan. 31. J’Vonne Hadley had 14 points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Conwell scored 12.

NO. 22 MIAMI (OHIO) 86, UMASS 77

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) — Miami of Ohio won its 26th straight game to remain the last unbeaten team in Division 1, defeating UMass thanks to 23 points from Peter Suder.

Luke Skaljac had 16 points and seven assists for Miami (26-0, 13-0 Mid-American Conference). Leonardo Bettiol scored 18 points with nine rebounds, Isaiah Placide scored 19 and Danny Carbuccia had 15 for UMass (15-12, 6-8).

Miami led by eight points with 14 minutes left before UMass scored seven straight to make it a one-point game and then added a 5-0 run to take a 62-60 lead. It was tied for the final time at 68-68 when Placide banked in a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer, leaving defender Eian Elmer shrugging in disbelief.

But Elmer answered with a 3 for Miami, then Suder hit a layup after a UMass turnover to give the RedHawks a five-point lead.

UMass never got any closer than three points after that.

OHIO STATE 86, NO. 24 WISCONSIN 69

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Bruce Thornton scored 27 points and Devin Royal added 25 for Ohio State as the Buckeyes knocked off Wisconsin.

Ohio State (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) beat a ranked team for the first time in seven tries this season.

Braeden Carrington made five 3-pointers in the second half and led the Badgers with 20 points while Nick Boyd and John Blackwell each had 14 points.

Wisconsin (18-8, 10-5) entered as one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, having beaten then-No. 8 Illinois and then-No. 10 Michigan State last week, but the Badgers couldn’t overcome a first half in which they shot 40% from the floor.

Ohio State shot 51.7% in the first half, including going 6 for 13 from 3-point range, to build a 38-26 lead at the break. The Buckeyes were 11 for 21 from behind the arc for the game.

The Associated Press