WASHINGTON (AP) — Cameron Boozer scored 18 points and No. 3 Duke handed another neutral-site loss to fellow blueblood Michigan, knocking off the top-ranked Wolverines 68-63 on Saturday night in a raucous possible Final Four preview in the nation’s capital.
The Wolverines had won 11 straight and replaced Arizona atop the AP Top 25 this week. The now-fourth-ranked Wildcats won at No. 2 Houston earlier Saturday, making it the first time since Feb. 8, 2025, that the teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the poll lost on the same day.
With his dad, former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, in attendance, Cameron Boozer hit a 3-pointer with 1:55 left to give the Blue Devils a 64-58 lead. Isaiah Evans added 14 points for the Blue Devils (25-2), who could return to Capital One Arena in just over a month for the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
In the programs’ first meeting in 12 years, Duke improved to 23-8 against Michigan and 7-0 on neutral courts, a series that includes the 1992 national title game. Michigan hasn’t beaten Duke since Dec. 6, 2009 in Ann Arbor.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 21 points for the Wolverines (25-2), who had not lost since a home defeat by three points to Wisconsin on Jan. 10.
NO. 4 ARIZONA 73, NO. 2 HOUSTON 66
HOUSTON (AP) — Anthony Dell’Orso tied a season high with 22 points and Arizona toppled Houston to move into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference.
Arizona (25-2, 12-2), which opened the season 23-0, won its second straight game following consecutive losses to then-No. 9 Kansas and then- 16th-ranked Texas Tech, that knocked the team out of the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Wildcats were down by two before scoring the next 12 points to make it 60-50 with about five minutes remaining. The Cougars missed eight consecutive shots and had three turnovers in that stretch to allow Arizona to build the lead.
Houston (23-4, 11-3) hadn’t scored in about eight minutes when Emanuel Sharp made two free throws with 4 ½ minutes to go. Kalifa Sakho made two more free throws to cut the lead to 60-54 with less than four minutes remaining.
It had been more than 10 minutes since the Cougars made a field goal when a 3-pointer by Kingston Flemings got them within 61-57, but Arizona got four straight points by Jaden Bradley to pad the lead with just over a minute left.
Flemings had 17 points and Sharp added 14 for the Cougars, who lost consecutive games for the first time this season after falling 70-67 at No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night to end a six-game winning streak.
The Cougars struggled to take care of the ball, committing 12 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Wildcats.
NO. 5 UCONN 73, VILLANOVA 63
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 12 points, Tarris Reed Jr. added 11 and UConn used a dominating second half to defeat Villanova.
Braylon Mullins added 10 points for the Huskies (25-2, 15-2 Big East), who rebounded from Wednesday’s 91-84 home loss to unranked Creighton.
Tyler Perkins scored 15 points and Matt Hodge had 13 for Villanova (21-6, 12-4), which had won six in a row since losing 75-67 in overtime to UConn on Jan. 24 in the teams’ first meeting.
The teams were locked in a two-point game at the break after a competitive first half, but Villanova went without a field goal in the opening 5:25 of the second half. UConn took advantage with a 13-2 run after the intermission. And the Huskies continued from there. The lead reached as many as 21 points later in the half on a nifty spin move and finish by Reed.
NO. 23 BYU 79, NO. 6 IOWA STATE 69
PROVO, Utah (AP) — AJ Dybantsa had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help BYU beat Iowa State for its first victory over a Top 10 opponent this season.
Kennard Davis, Jr. added 17 points, and Mihailo Boskovic had 13 for the Cougars (20-7, 8-6 Big 12). They outscored Iowa State 40-22 in the paint and had a 39-28 edge on the glass.
Tamin Lipsey led the Cyclones (23-4, 10-4) with 19 points. Jamarion Batemon added 14, and Joshua Jefferson had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Iowa State was tabbed as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s reveal of the Top 16 teams in the bracket earlier Saturday. The Cyclones were the fifth Top 10 team on the day to suffer a loss.
Iowa State whittled a double-digit deficit to a basket, drawing to 57-54 on Lipsey’s 3-pointer with 7:21 left.
Dybantsa and Davis scored back-to-back baskets at the rim to quell the rally. It marked the beginning of a 13-3 run that made it 70-57 with 3:33 remaining.
CINCINNATI 84, NO. 8 KANSAS
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Moustapha Thiam had a career-high 28 points and led Cincinnati to an upset of Kansas.
This was the second win of the season for Cincinnati (15-12, 7-7 Big 12) against a ranked team, having taken down then-No. 2 Iowa State 79-70 on Jan. 17.
The 7-footer Thiam made 11 of 17 shots from the field and had eight rebounds. Baba Miller added 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
Jalen Celeste had 14 points and eight rebounds, shooting 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. Day Day Thomas scored 10.
Cincinnati held a 36-34 lead after a tumultuous first half that saw nine ties and 10 lead changes. The Bearcats kept the Jayhawks (20-7, 10-4) at arm’s length with timely shots to kill momentum throughout the second, only allowing Kansas to pull ahead for one possession before retaking the lead.
They delivered the final blows with a 20-8 run, surging ahead by double digits for the first time with less than five minutes to go.
NO. 9 NEBRASKA 87, PENN STATE 64
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Pryce Sandfort scored 20 of his career-high 33 points in the first half and finished with eight 3-pointers, leading Nebraska in a rout of Penn State.
The Cornhuskers (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten) bounced back from a 57-52 loss at Iowa on Tuesday and moved into a tie for third place in the conference with their dominant performance against the league’s last-place team.
Sandfort, who set the school record for 3-pointers in a season against Iowa, made his first five deep shots and started 6 for 6 overall against the Nittany Lions (11-17, 2-15). He finished 8 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Sandfort showed he’s more than just a perimeter threat when he snaked his way through two defenders to the hoop for a layup that put the Huskers up 31-15.
Braden Frager scored 15 points and Sam Hoiberg had a career-high 10 assists to go with 11 points.
UCLA 95, NO. 10 ILLINOIS 94, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donovan Dent hit a go-ahead layup with 1 second remaining in overtime, lifting UCLA over Illinois after the Bruins rallied from a 23-point, first-half deficit.
Fans stormed the court in celebration at the buzzer. It was UCLA’s biggest comeback since rallying from 19 points down in a 90-83 victory over Oregon on Feb. 23, 2019, at home.
The Illini were favored by 7.5 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Eric Dailey Jr. led six Bruins in double figures with 20 points. Tyler Bilodeau had 18 points and Trent Perry 17.
Freshman Keaton Wagler grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 4.9 seconds remaining to put Illinois in front, 94-93, before Dent capped UCLA’s comeback.
Neither team led by more than two points in the extra session.
Wagler had 19 points — making all eight of his free throws — eight rebounds and six assists.
The Bruins (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten) improved to 15-1 at home.
Making their first visit to Pauley Pavilion since 1997, the Illini (22-6, 13-4) were coming off a 36-point victory at Southern California, their largest in a Big Ten road game in 80 years, and had won 14 of 16.
UCLA erased an 11-point deficit early in the second half with three 3-pointers and took its first lead of the game on Xavier Booker’s basket, 60-58.
NO. 11 GONZAGA 71, PACIFIC 62
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike had 20 points and three blocks, Davis Fogle scored 18 points and Gonzaga beat Pacific to wrap up a top-two seed and a semifinal spot in the WCC Tournament.
Emmanuel Innocenti added 13 points for the Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1 West Coast Conference). The 15 conference victories are the program’s most since 2020-21.
Ike had 20 or more points for the ninth straight game, the longest streak by a Gonzaga player in the past 20 seasons. He’s the only active Division I player with at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds.
Elias Ralph and Justin Rochelin led the Tigers (17-13, 8-9) with 12 points each. TJ Wainwright had 10 points.
Wainwright opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to put Pacific ahead 35-31. The Zags went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 56-49.
NO. 12 FLORIDA 94, MISSISSIPPI 75
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Alex Condon scored 24 points and Florida tightened its grip atop the Southeastern Conference standings with a win over Mississippi.
Florida (21-6, 12-2 SEC) entered as the conference leader with a two-game cushion in the loss column over Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee with four games remaining.
The win was the seventh consecutive for the Gators and extended its SEC road game winning streak to six. Florida improved to 16-2 since mid-December and remained unbeaten in February.
Thomas Haugh added 20 points and nine rebounds as Florida had five players in double figures. Reserves Urban Klavzar scored 15 points while Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland had 11 points apiece.
The Gators trailed in the opening five minutes before building a first half leads of 14 points on two occasions and led by as many as 22 points on Hough’s dunk with 3:14 remaining.
NO. 13 TEXAS TECH 100, KANSAS STATE 72
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Donovan Atwell had 26 points with six 3-pointers, Christian Anderson scored 21 and Texas Tech beat Kansas State in the first game for the Red Raiders since standout post JT Toppin’s season-ending knee injury.
Texas Tech (20-7, 10-4 Big 12) maintained a double-digit lead after making nine consecutive shots, including three 3s in a row by Atwell, during a 26-10 run in just under seven minutes for a 40-20 lead with 6:20 left in the first half.
Anderson, who also had nine assists, scored 16 of his points after halftime, when LeJuan Watts had 13 of his 19.
The Red Raiders reached 20 wins for the third season in a row. The school record is four, with coach Bob Knight from 2001-02 to 2004-05.
PJ Haggerty had 17 points and Nate Johnson 15 points for Kansas State (11-16, 2-12), which was playing its second game since a coaching change. The Wildcats beat Baylor 90-74 at home Tuesday, two days after coach Jerome Tang was fired.
NO. 14 VIRGINIA 86, MIAMI 83
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Chance Mallory drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with 3.6 seconds to play, and then sank all three free throws to lift Virginia to a win over Miami.
Jacari White came off the bench to score 17 points, hitting five 3-pointers for the Cavaliers (24-3, 12-2 Atlantic Coast), who won their eighth straight.
Sam Lewis had 15 points, Thijs De Ridder scored 14, and Mallory had all 12 of his points in the second half.
Shelton Henderson and Tre Donaldson each scored 18 to lead Miami (21-6, 10-4), which saw its four-game win streak snapped. The Hurricanes out rebounded UVA 30-23 and outscored Virginia 18-2 on second-chance points.
The win kept the second-place Cavaliers ahead of third-place Miami in the conference standings and robbed the Hurricanes of a chance for a big Quad 1 victory.
NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 77, SYRACUSE 64
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Henri Veesaar returned to the starting lineup and scored 19 points in leading North Carolina to a win over Syracuse.
The 7-foot center, who averages 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Tar Heels, missed the Tar Heels’ past two games, most recently Tuesday’s 24-point loss at N.C. State.
Seth Trimble and Luka Bogavac each had 13 points and Zayden High added nine for North Carolina (21-6, 9-5 ACC).
J.J. Starling led Syracuse (15-13, 6-9) with 22 points, including 14 in the second half. William Kyle III had eight rebounds. Syracuse has lost four of its past six.
The Orange were just 3 of 17 from 3-point range. North Carolina scored 13 points off 10 Syracuse turnovers and outscored the Orange 42-32 in the paint.
NO. 17 ST. JOHN'S 81, CREIGHTON 52
NEW YORK (AP) — Bryce Hopkins had 15 points and 10 rebounds as St. John’s breezed past Creighton for its 13th straight victory — marking the school’s longest winning streak in 41 years.
Dylan Darling scored 17 points off the bench and Zuby Ejiofor added 15 for the first-place Red Storm (22-5, 15-1 Big East), who led wire-to-wire and held Creighton to 32% shooting from the field in their 18th victory in 20 games.
Dillon Mitchell had 10 rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers on Johnnies Day at Madison Square Garden.
St. John’s hadn’t won 13 in a row since a 19-game run in 1984-85 on the way to a No. 1 national ranking, a top seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Final Four berth under Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca.
TENNESSEE 69, NO. 19 VANDERBILT 65
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 17 points as Tennessee outlasted Vanderbilt in a back-and-forth affair.
A turnaround jumper by Nate Ament, who was double-teamed by Commodores Jalen Washington and Chandler Bing, gave the Volunteers (20-7, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) a 66-65 lead with less than a minute to play. Ament finished with 13 points.
After that shot, Vanderbilt (21-6, 8-6) sent Tennessee to the line twice, with the Volunteers making 2 of 4 attempts.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner missed a 3-point attempt from the top of the arc with three seconds left that would have tied it. Amari Evans added a free throw with one second left for the final score.
Jaylen Carey, who played in his first game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym after transferring from Vanderbilt to Tennessee, was heckled by Commodore fans every time he touched the ball. He finished with seven points.
NO. 20 ARKANSAS 94, MISSOURI 86
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Billy Richmond III scored 21 points and Darius Acuff Jr. added 20 to pace Arkansas to a win over Missouri.
Arkansas (20-7, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) improved to 7-0 in games following a loss this season while also staying in contention for the SEC regular-season title. The Hogs are in second place, two games behind conference-leading Florida with four games still to be played.
The Hogs effectively put the game away on Malique Ewin’s dunk that gave Arkansas its biggest lead at 91-77 with 2:02 to play.
Ewin finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, Meleek Thomas added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Trevon Brazile contributed 12 points and six assists.
Missouri (18-9, 8-6) was led by Mark Mitchell’s 26 points.
NO. 21 LOUISVILLE 87, GEORGIA TECH 70
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mikel Brown Jr. scored 19 points, including seven during a 17-2 run midway through the second half that helped propel Louisville past Georgia Tech.
The Cardinals (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) never trailed but allowed the Yellow Jackets to get within 44-35 just after halftime.
J’Vonne Hadley made two free throws, Brown followed with a layup before adding a jumper and 3-pointer for a 61-37 cushion against Georgia Tech (11-17, 2-13).
Georgia Tech trailed 66-55 with 7:38 remaining after Akai Fleming’s jumper in the lane.
Louisville outscored the Yellow Jackets 12-7 over the next 3:48, helped by the first of Isaac McKneely’s two 3-pointers, as the Cardinals rebounded from Tuesday night’s 95-85 loss at SMU.
Baye Ndongo had 17 points and Fleming 15 as Georgia Tech dropped its ninth consecutive game.
NO. 25 ALABAMA 90, LSU 83
BATON ROGUE, La. (AP) — Aiden Holloway scored 17 points, Amari Allen added 16 and Alabama beat LSU for its sixth straight victory.
The Crimson Tide (20-7l, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) also beat the Tigers (14-13, 2-12) for the sixth straight time.
Alabama, ranked second nationally in 3-pointers at 12.7 per game, had seven players combine for 10 3s — the Tide’s eighth consecutive game with 10 or more.
Latrell Whitesell Jr. scored 14 points for Alabama. Aiden Sherrell had 12 points and 10 rebounds. and London Jemison also scored 12 points.
Marquel Sutton led LSU with 21 points. Jalen Reece had 14, PJ Carter 13, and Rashad King 12. Pablo Tamba added 10 points and 12 rebounds.
An 8-0 burst, keyed by 3-pointers from Allen and Wrightsell, gave Alabama a 63-49 lead with 13:39 left. LSU twice cut it to six, the final time at 89-83 on Sutton’s dunk with 14 seconds remaining.
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