College basketball: No. 4 Texas beats No. 14 West Virginia on late three-pointer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va — Andrew Jones hit a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 4 Texas to a 72-70 victory over No. 14 West Virginia on Saturday.
Jones took a pass from Courtney Ramey and hit an uncontested shot from the right corner after the Mountaineers’ Emmitt Matthews missed two free throws with 11 seconds left.
Ramey scored 19 points for Texas (10-1, 4-0 Big 12), which trailed for most of the game and had to come from nine points down in the second half. Jones finished with 16 points, Matt Coleman had 13, and freshman Greg Brown had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Evan Mobley had 19 points and career highs of 13 rebounds and six blocks to lead USC to a 73-64 win at Arizona State for a sweep of its desert trip.
Texas scored the final seven points of the game and avenged last year’s 38-point loss at West Virginia, which was the fifth-worst loss in program history and the worst under coach Shaka Smart.
Taz Sherman scored 17 points, Sean McNeil added 14 points and Derek Culver had his seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Mountaineers (9-4, 2-3).
No. 1 Gonzaga 116, Portland 88
PORTLAND, Ore. — Joel Ayayi posted the first triple-double in Gonzaga history, and the Bulldogs routed Portland for their 16th straight win.
Ayayi had 12 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds and Drew Timme had 26 points for the Bulldogs (12-0, 3-0 West Coast Conference), who are riding the nation’s longest active winning streak.
Ahmed Ali had 19 points for the Pilots (6-5, 0-2), who have lost 13 straight against Gonzaga.
It was Gonzaga’s first “true” road trip of the season — the team played a number of early season neutral-site games.
No. 2 Baylor 67, Texas Christian 49
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jared Butler scored a season-high 28 points, and Baylor stayed undefeated with another another double-digit win even after trailing at halftime for the first time this season.
MaCio Teague added 12 points and Davion Mitchell had 10 for the Bears (11-0, 4-0 Big 12).
Mike Miles had 15 of his 17 points by halftime for the Horned Frogs (9-4, 2-3), who led at halftime only because of the freshman’s highlight buzzer-beating three-pointer from about 65 feet that made it 28-27.
RJ Nembhard had 14 points and Kevin Samuel had 11 rebounds for TCU, which played consecutive home games against top-10 opponents for the first time in school history. No. 6 Kansas beat the Frogs 93-64 on Tuesday.
Despite nearly running out of big men Saturday night, UCLA held on for an 81-76 win at Arizona that kept the Bruins alone atop the Pac-12 standings.
No. 6 Kansas 63, Oklahoma 59
LAWRENCE, Kan. — David McCormack hit the clinching short hook shot with 12.8 seconds to go, giving the Kansas big man 17 points against short-handed Oklahoma.
Ochai Agbaji added 14 points and Jalen Wilson had nine points and 11 rebounds, helping Kansas (11-2, 4-1 Big 12) avoid back-to-back losses in Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since the first season under Roy Williams in 1988-89.
The Sooners (6-4, 2-3), playing without Brady Manek and Jalen Hill because of COVID-19 protocols, took a 57-56 lead when Austin Reaves hit a jumper from the free-throw line with 2½ minutes to go. But McCormack scored over Oklahoma’s Kur Kuath to give Kansas the lead back, and Wilson’s 3-pointer made it 61-57 with 1:26 to go.
No. 7 Creighton 97, St, John’s 79
OMAHA, Neb. — Denzel Mahoney scored a season-high 24 points to lead six players in double figures with star Marcus Zegarowski out of the lineup, and Creighton pulled away early in a victory over St. John’s.
The Bluejays (10-2, 6-1) won their sixth straight Big East game in the same season for the first time since joining the conference in 2013. The Red Storm (6-6, 1-5) dropped to 0-4 on the road.
Zegarowski, the Big East preseason player of the year and the Bluejays’ season scoring leader, was held out because of an undisclosed injury. Stadium reported the junior point guard tweaked his hamstring against Seton Hall on Wednesday.
Creighton didn’t miss a beat, with its balanced offense overshadowing Julian Champagnie’s career-high 33-point performance for St. John’s.
No. 9 Tennessee 68, Texas A&M 54
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Santiago Vescov scored a career-high 23 points, including six three-pointers, and Tennessee beat Texas A&M.
Vescovi’s hot hand began early for the Volunteers (9-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) as he hit his first four shots from behind the arc. His barrage was a part of a 17-4 Tennessee run that pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 14 midway through the opening half.
Senior Savion Flagg was the Aggies’ saving grace at the end of the first, connecting on three consecutive three-pointers to pull the Aggies (6-4, 1-3) within six. Flagg entered Saturday’s contests on a three-for-21 clip from the field over the previous three games.
No. 11 Houston 71, Tulane 50
HOUSTON — Marcus Sasser scored 20 of his career-high 28 points in the first half to lead Houston past Tulane.
Sasser shot seven for nine, including six of seven on three-pointers, in the first half as the Cougars (10-1, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) built a 12-point halftime lead. Sasser finished with a career-high eight three-pointers. Quentin Grimes scored 14 points.
Houston shot 44%, including 15 of 36 on three-pointers. The Cougars outrebounded Tulane 48-26, which led to an 18-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Jordan Walker scored 13 points and Jaylen Forbes had 11 for Tulane (6-3, 1-3). The Green Wave shot 29%, including six of 19 on three-pointers.
Ohio State 79, No. 15 Rutgers 68
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Duane Washington Jr. scored 17 points, and Ohio State closed the first half with a big run to beat Rutgers.
The Buckeyes (9-3, 3-3 Big Ten) used a 22-4 burst to take a 42-30 lead at halftime in sending Rutgers (7-4, 3-4) to its third straight loss.
Rutgers trailed by 22 before making a late rally. Paul Mulcahy stole the ball from Jimmy Sotos, leading to a fast-break dunk that capped a 14-2 surge that made it 67-57 with 3:50 to play.
The Scarlet Knights got no closer than eight points down the stretch.
With a Democrat-controlled Senate, the NCAA probably will have to make more concessions to any potential name-image-and-likeness policy it supports.
No. 17 Oregon 79, Utah 73
SALT LAKE CITY — Chris Duarte scored 25 points and Eric Williams Jr. added 19 to lift Oregon over Utah.
LJ Figueroa scored 15 points for the Ducks (9-2, 4-1 Pac-12) before exiting late in the second half with an apparent leg injury. Amauri Hardy added 13 points. Oregon beat Utah for the 18th time in the last 20 games between the two schools.
Timmy Allen scored 23 points and Mikael Jantunen added a career-high 20 points to lead the Utes (4-4, 1-3). Pelle Larsson had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists before fouling out in the final minute.
No. 18 Texas Tech 91, Iowa State 64
AMES, Iowa — Kyler Edwards scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half as Texas Tech built a huge lead and breezed past Iowa State.
The Red Raiders (10-3, 3-2 Big 12) used a pair of 12-0 runs to make it 54-28 with just over a minute left before the break.
Mac McClung added 18 points for the Red Raiders. Kevin McCullar finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Solomon Young and Rasir Bolton led the Cyclones (2-7, 0-5) with 15 points each.
No. 21 Duke 79, Wake Forest 68
DURHAM, N.C. — Matthew Hurt scored a career-high 26 points to help Duke beat Wake Forest in Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski’s return from a one-game absence because of COVID-19 protocols.
Freshman DJ Steward added 21 points for the Blue Devils (5-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 51% and controlled the boards to extend their home-court dominance in the long-running in-state series.
Krzyzewski missed Wednesday’s one-point win against Boston College. He had said previously that he and his wife were following quarantine protocols after a family member had tested positive for COVID-19, though Krzyzewski said both of them had tested negative.
He said he was tested again early Saturday before being cleared. He said a daughter and granddaughter are fighting the virus and “doing OK but not great.”
No. 22 Virginia 61, Boston College 49
BOSTON — Jay Huff matched his career high with 18 points and added eight rebounds to lead Virginia over Boston College.
Sam Hauser scored 17 with 10 boards to help the Cavaliers (6-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their third straight since a Dec. 26 loss to top-ranked Gonzaga.
DeMarr Langford Jr. scored 14 points and CJ Felder had nine points and nine rebounds for BC, which managed a season-low points. The Eagles (2-9, 0-5) have lost eight of their last nine matchups against Virginia, with the one victory coming in January against the No. 18 and defending NCAA champion Cavaliers — BC’s last win over a ranked team.
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