TCU upsets No. 2 Baylor
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 23 points, with eight straight in TCU’s tiebreaking run as the Horned Frogs upended No. 2 Baylor 75-72 on Saturday.
Bane made a long tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:42 left that put the Horned Frogs (16-13, 7-9 Big 12) ahead to stay. After blocking a shot by Jared Butler, Bane then made a turnaround jumper before adding another 3 to make it 63-55 with just over three minutes left. That was part of a bigger 18-1 spurt that Bane had started with another 3-pointer.
Baylor (25-3, 14-2) lost for the second time in three games since winning a Big 12-record 23 games in a row. The Bears were the nation’s No. 1 team when they lost a week ago to now-No.1 Kansas (26-3, 15-1), which is a game ahead of them in the league standings after beating Kansas State on Saturday.
This was only the third Big 12 game this season when Baylor, which is still in contention for its first Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, trailed in the second half.
No. 1 KANSAS 62, KANSAS STATE 58
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Devon Dotson scored 25 points to help top-ranked Kansas absorb the loss of center Udoka Azubuike for long stretches of the game, and the cold-shooting Jayhawks held on to beat Kansas State for their 14th straight win.
Azubuike finished with six points and nine rebounds while playing just 20 minutes after hurting his ankle in the opening minutes of the game. David McCormack came off the bench to score nine in his place, helping the Jayhawks (26-3, 15-1) edge closer to clinching at least a share of another Big 12 championship.
Cartier Diarra scored 15 points and Xavier Sneed and Makol Mawien had 13 apiece for the Wildcats (9-20, 2-14), who were held scoreless for nearly 5 1/2 minutes late in the game.
It was their first meeting since their game in Lawrence late last month ended in a brawl that spilled into the disabled seating section of Allen Fieldhouse. Several punches were thrown, and Kansas forward Silvio de Sousa took a stool and nearly swung it before assistant coach Jerrance Howard grabbed it away from him.
CLEMSON 70, No. 6 FLORIDA STATE 69
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Freshman Al-Amir Dawes hit a twisting, driving bucket with a second left and Clemson toppled another highly ranked team, rallying past Florida State.
Trent Forrest had put Florida State up by a point with a short jumper with 8.4 seconds left. Dawes then took the ball down the right side of the lane and flipped up the game-winning shot.
Florida State’s last-chance heave was way off the mark and gave the Tigers (15-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) another big win in their puzzling season that includes victories over then-No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Louisville.
Clemson overcame a 10-point lead in the second half. Dawes finished with 18 points.
Forrest made a 3 that put the Seminoles (24-5, 14-4) ahead 42-32 early in the second half. That’s when the Tigers used a 17-5 run over the next six minutes to get back into the game.
No. 8 KENTUCKY 73, No. 15 AUBURN 66
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, Kentucky used a big run in the first half before holding off Auburn and clinch the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
The Wildcats (24-5, 14-2) entered with a two-game lead on the second-place Tigers (24-5, 11-5) but had to overcome a 20-11 deficit before responding with the 20-3 spurt over 5:47 and eventually build an eight-point advantage. Auburn fought back to within 53-50 early in the second half, but Kentucky stayed ahead in a foul-plagued half by making 14 free throws down the stretch. That included seven by Quickley, who made all 11 from the line.
Kentucky made 27 of 33 free throws while Auburn hit 13 of 22 in a game featuring 23 fouls by each team. The schools also finished with 38 rebounds each.
PROVIDENCE 58, No. 12 VILLANOVA 54
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luwane Pipkins scored 27 points to lead Providence to its fifth win over a Top 25 team this month, holding off Villanova.
The Friars (17-12, 10-6) boosted their NCAA Tournament resume with a win in Philly where they led for the balance of the game. Providence already knocked off Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall and Marquette during their ranked-win streak in February. The Friars won their fourth straight game overall and have put behind a disastrous start to the season — which included losses to Long Beach State and College of Charleston – to aid their tournament chances.
The Wildcats (22-7, 11-5) played their worst game of the season and were never really in it, missing 3-pointer after 3-pointer to shoot themselves out of a chance at a victory.
No. 13 SETON HALL 88, MARQUETTE 79
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Myles Powell scored 28 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 26 as Seton Hall built a big second-half lead and then held off Marquette.
Seton Hall (21-7, 13-3 Big East) led 44-35 at the half and extended the margin to 24 points midway through the final 20 minutes before Marquette rallied to 84-79 on a 3-pointer by Sacar Anim with 34 seconds left.
The Pirates took their biggest lead at 74-50 on a 3-pointer by Powell with 11:02 remaining, before Marquette (18-10, 8-8) climbed back with 10 consecutive points.
No. 18 IOWA 77, No. 16 PENN STATE 68
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Luka Garza scored 25 points and had 17 rebounds as Iowa pulled away in the second half for a win over Penn State.
Garza extended his streak of 20 or more points against Big Ten teams to 14 games, a new school record. It was Garza’s 14th double-double of the season.
He struggled in the first half, going 3 of 16 from the field, but found room to work inside in the second half, making 8 of 12 shots.
It was the 13th consecutive home win for the Hawkeyes (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten).
Lamar Stevens led Penn State (21-8, 11-7) with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
OKLAHOMA 73, No. 20 WEST VIRGINIA 62
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Kristian Doolittle scored 19 points two days after undergoing surgery to repair a broken nose and Oklahoma boosted its NCAA Tournament hopes with a victory over West Virginia.
Oklahoma (18-11, 8-8 Big 12) built a 21-point lead in the second half and cruised from there to complete a regular-season sweep of the reeling Mountaineers (19-10, 7-9).
Brady Manek added 15 points, Austin Reaves had 13 and Jamal Bieniemy 11 points for the Sooners. They broke a six-game road losing streak.
TEXAS 68, No. 22 TEXAS TECH 58
Andrew Jones had a career-high 22 points and Texas scored the game’s last eight points over the final minute, stretching its winning streak to four games with a victory at Texas Tech.
Royce Hamm Jr. had a putback layup to put Texas up 62-58 with 50 seconds left. Texas Tech then had a chance to cut the gap, but freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey’s dunk attempt ricocheted off the back of the rim. Matt Coleman III got the rebound and turned that into a fastbreak layup for the Longhorns (18-11, 8-8 Big 12).
The Red Raiders (18-11, 9-7), the Big 12 co-champions last season when they made it to the NCAA championship game, didn’t score again. Tech lost both of its games this week after getting back into the Top 25.