LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Darryn Peterson scored 18 points in 20 minutes and No. 14 Kansas beat No. 13 BYU 90-82 on Saturday in the 1,000th game played at historic Allen Fieldhouse.
Bryson Tiller had career-high 21 points and seven rebounds for Kansas (16-5, 6-2 Big 12).
Although the Jayhawks led by as many as 21 points, BYU stayed within striking distance in the second half, cutting the lead to six as the clock ticked under two minutes to go. Kansas outscored the Cougars 8-4 in the final minute to withstand the late rally.
Richie Saunders scored a career-high 33 for BYU (17-4, 5-3). His six three-pointers tied a career-high.
Kansas carried a 20-point lead into halftime, shooting 64.3% from the field. That included 18 points from Peterson and the Jayhawks made 9 of 12 from beyond the arc.
BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, who entered the game averaging a nation-leading 23.6 points, went without a shot until the 11:24 mark in the first half. Dybantsa scored his first basket with 7:22 left in the period, ending a 13-0 run by the Jayhawks with a 3-pointer. He finished with 17 points.
NO. 1 ARIZONA 87, ARIZONA ST. 74
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Koa Peat scored 21 points, fellow freshman Brayden Burries added 17 and Arizona beat rival Arizona State, setting a school record with 22 straight wins to start the season.
Arizona (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) is one of just two unbeaten teams in the nation, along with Miami (Ohio). The Wildcats’ winning streak also tied the Big 12 record to start a season, originally set by Kansas in 1996-97.
The Wildcats — who shot 60% in the second half — scored the first six points after the break to take a 44-38 lead and never trailed again. Burries found Peat on a pinpoint full-court pass that led to a dunk for a 56-47 lead with 13:10 left.
The gritty Sun Devils cut into the deficit several times, but could never quite generate enough offense to keep pace. Noah Meeusen scored 16 points while Maurice Odum added 15.
Arizona State (11-11, 2-7) has dropped nine of its last 11 games.
NO. 2 UCONN 85, CREIGHTON 58
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Braylon Mullins scored 16 points and Alex Karaban and Silas Demary Jr. had 15 apiece to lead UConn in a rout of Creighton.
The Huskies (21-1, 11-0 Big East) won their 17th straight game and posted their biggest winning margin in a conference road game in two years.
Creighton (12-10, 6-5) has dropped two straight games by a total of 51 points. The 27-point loss to the Huskies matched the most lopsided at home in coach Greg McDermott’s 16 seasons at Creighton, according to Sportradar.
The Huskies had won five of their previous six games by six points or less, but this turned into a blowout after Creighton went into an offensive lull late in the first half and never recovered. The Huskies shot 54.1% from the field, their best mark in a Big East game this season, and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 23 points. They were 16 of 31 from 3-point range (52%).
NO. 4 DUKE 72, VIRGINIA TECH 58
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Cameron Boozer scored 24 points to lead Duke to a victory over for its ninth straight win.
Boozer, coming off a 19-point effort in the Blue Devils’ 83-52 victory over No. 20 Louisville on Monday, connected on 9 of 12 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and had five assists for Duke (20-1, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which moved to 7-0 in true road games this season.
Duke has won 31 of its past 32 games against ACC opponents.
Amani Hansberry paced Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-5) with 20 points.
Duke never trailed and led by as many as 13 in the second half before the Hokies rallied. Desperately seeking a Quad 1 victory in hopes of bolstering its NCAA Tournament hopes — the Hokies have just one all season — Virginia Tech cut the Duke lead to 62-56 on a jumper by Jailen Bedford with 6:10 remaining.
NO. 6 GONZAGA 73, SAINT MARY'S 65
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ike scored 30 points in his first game back from injury and Gonzaga beat rival Saint Mary’s in their final West Coast Conference meeting at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Jalen Warley had 10 points and seven rebounds as the Bulldogs (22-1, 10-0) won their 15th straight game and improved to 11-0 at home. Emmanuel Innocenti also scored 10, all during a three-minute stretch in the second half.
Joshua Dent led the Gaels (19-4, 8-2) with 16 points. Paulius Murauskas scored 15 and Dillan Shaw added 13 for Saint Mary’s, which led by four at halftime.
Ike picked up where he left off after missing three games with right ankle soreness. The fifth-year forward scored Gonzaga’s first basket on a left-handed push shot before knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs a 9-2 lead.
NO. 10 HOUSTON 76, CINCINNATI 54
HOUSTON (AP) — Milos Uzan had 16 points and Houston won its 38th straight game over an unranked opponent with a victory against Cincinnati.
Emanuel Sharp, Chris Cenac Jr. and Isiah Harwell each scored 13 for the Cougars (19-2, 7-1 Big 12).
Cenac scored all of his points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting as the Cougars built a 32-20 lead at the half.
Houston won its 16th straight home game and its 14th straight over the Bearcats (11-11, 3-6).
Houston shot 46% and 9 of 26 on 3-pointers. It forced 19 turnovers and converted them into 26 points.
UCF 88, NO. 11 TEXAS TECH 80
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Themus Fulks scored 21 points, including a jumper with a minute to play to key a late run that led UCF to a win over Texas Tech.
The win marked UCF’s third straight conference win, the first time they have done that since joining the Big 12 three years ago.
The Knights led for all but 1:20 of the game, but were clinging to a two-point advantage with 1:30 to play after Fulks turned the ball over. But Jaylen Petty fumbled the outlet pass after the steal, and UCF (17-4, 6-3 Big 12) recovered to set up Fulks’ jumper to go up by two possessions.
The Red Raiders (16-5, 6-2) missed many opportunities to close the gap as the Knights outworked them in the paint throughout the game.
J.T. Toppin scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, his 13th double-double this season and his 10th in the last 12 games, to lead Texas Tech.
But the Knights dominated the interior, outrebounding the Red Raiders 35-23. UCF outscored Texas Tech 21-4 on second-chance points.
KENTUCKY 85, NO. 15 ARKANSAS 77
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Otega Oweh led four Kentucky players in double figures with 24 points to help the Wildcats to a win over Arkansas in a game that featured six technical fouls.
Oweh, who picked up the first technical foul in the first half, scored 11 points in the final 10 minutes to put Arkansas away as Kentucky closed the game on a 26-18 run. Collin Chandler added 13 for the Wildcats while Malachi Moreno scored 11 and and Denzel Aberdeen added 10.
It was 63-all with 8:07 left when Arkansas’ Malique Ewin was whistled for a technical foul following a personal foul. Kentucky made 5 of 6 from the free-throw line before Moreno threw down a dunk 43 seconds later and the Wildcats led the rest of the way.
Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC) committed four technical fouls before that, including three in a span of 38 seconds early in the the second half. Arkansas, which trailed by seven at halftime, took its first lead of the game following the last technical when Billy Richmond’s dunk made the score 52-51.
Darius Acuff Jr. led Arkansas (16-6, 6-3) with 22 points, 17 in the second half, and was one of five Razorbacks players in double figures. But Arkansas shot just 3 of 14 from 3-point range and 16 of 26 from the free-throw line.
NO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 91, GEORGIA TECH 75
ATLANTA (AP) — Caleb Wilson dominated in the return to his hometown, scoring 22 points as North Carolina cruised past Georgia Tech for a victory.
The 6-foot-10 Atlanta native set a school record by scoring 20 points for the 15th time as a freshman. He had been tied with Tyler Hansbrough, who had 14 games with 20 points for the Tar Heels in 2005-06.
Wilson set another school record by reaching double-figure points in the first 21 games of his college career. He broke a tie with Rashad McCants, who had at least 10 points in his first 20 games in 2002-03.
With a light snow falling outside McCamish Pavilion, Henri Veesaar gave North Carolina (17-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) a devastating 1-2 punch on the inside with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tar Heels won their third in a row, with Wilson adding three more dunks to what was already his nation-leading total of 62.
NO. 17 VIRGINIA TECH 73, BOSTON COLLEGE 66
BOSTON (AP) — Thijs De Ridder scored 17 points, Malik Thomas had 14 and 17 Virginia held off Boston College.
Chance Mallory added 11 points for the Cavaliers (18-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Donald Hand Jr., son of former Cavaliers’ star Donald Hand (1998-01), led the Eagles (9-12, 2-6) with 20 points. Fred Payne added 17 points for the Eagles.
Getting to the basket relatively easily most of the game, Virginia took its first lead of the game, 41-38, on Sam Lewis’ three-point play 4½ minutes into the second half.
The Cavaliers pushed their advantage to seven a few minutes later on Thomas’ twisting layup when he was in a stretch of scoring eight of their 11 points.
NO. 18 VANDERBILT 71, MISSISSIPPI 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 24 points and Vanderbilt survived a late scare to beat Mississippi at Memorial Gymnasium.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Oxford, Mississippi, but due to severe winter weather this week, the university has closed its campus until Feb. 8. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt switched home games, with the Commodores now traveling to Oxford on March 4.
Vanderbilt (19-3, 6-3 Southeastern) was still without its second-leading scorer, Duke Miles, but once again got a massive lift by Tanner, who is averaging 17.5 points a game this season.
AK Okereke broke into double figures with 17 points, making 11 of 13 free throws.
Malik Dia and AJ Storr each had 16 points for Ole Miss (11-10, 3-5).
NO. 20 LOUISVILLE 88, SMU 74
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mikel Brown Jr. scored 20 points off the bench, Isaac McKneely added 14 and Louisville used a 10-0 second-half run to rally past SMU 88-74.
The Cardinals (15-6, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) overcame a cold start and 47-44 halftime deficit to take their first lead at 55-53 on Kobe Rodgers’ transition layup with 14:37 remaining. SMU eventually went ahead 62-61, but Aly Khalifa (eight points) scored five during their pivotal spurt and Louisville steadily stretched the lead to bounce back from Monday night’s 83-52 rout at No. 4 Duke.
Mustangs guard Boopie Miller, the ACC’s No. 4 scorer, had 20 points for his 28th consecutive double-digit scoring game. SMU (15-6, 4-4) entered the game with the league’s top offense (87.3 points per game) and had won its past two.
Louisville entered averaging 86 points and reached that mark behind 52% shooting after halftime and 49% overall. The Cardinals’ bench provided the biggest boost, dominating the Mustangs 47-5 while holding them to 37% shooting in the second half.
NO. 22 CLEMSON 63, PITTSBURGH 52
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Carter Welling and Nick Davidson scored 12 points each and Clemson used a big first-half run to take control on the way to its 15th straight win over Pittsburgh.
Welling and Davidson combined for 17 second-half points for the Tigers (18-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who opened a 17-point lead at halftime and gave Clemson coach Brad Brownell his 200th home win over 16 seasons.
The Panthers (9-13, 2-7) used a 14-4 run at the start of the second half to get the lead into single digits. But RJ Godfrey had two inside baskets and Welling scored six straight points to restore Clemson’s large lead.
Pitt has struggled during ACC play. It had hoped to carry momentum from an overtime win against Wake Forest earlier this week into Clemson.
But the Tigers’ defense kicked in midway through the opening half as they went on a 26-9 run over a 13-minute span to take control. Efrem “Butta” Johnson had two of Clemson’s five threes during that surge while the Panthers shot just shot 21% and were 2-of-18 from behind the arc the first 20 minutes.
NO. 24 MIAMI (OHIO) 85, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 61
OXFORD, Ohio (AP) — Brant Byers scored 21 points and Miami (Ohio) set a Mid-American Conference record with its 22nd straight win, pulling away in the second half for a victory over Northern Illinois.
The RedHawks (22-0, 10-0) surpassed the 2001-02 Kent State squad for the longest winning streak in conference history.
Miami and Arizona remain the lone unbeaten teams in Division I.
Miami has also won 28 straight games at Millett Hall for Division I’s longest home winning streak.
Peter Suder added 19 points and Antwone Woolfolk had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Gianni Cobb and Taj Walters paced Northern Illinois (7-14, 3-7) with 17 points apiece. The Huskies have dropped three of their last four.
The RedHawks came into the game leading the nation in field-goal percentage (53.7%) and third in 3-point percentage (40.9%), but had an off night shooting. They were 31 of 64 from the field and only 7 of 28 from beyond the arc.
Where Miami was able to win the game was on defense. It forced 17 turnovers, which led to 22 points.
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