Jordan Bone scored a game-high 27 points Saturday as No. 7 Tennessee exacted revenge on No. 4 Kentucky with a 71-52 Southeastern Conference win at sold-out Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
Mar 2, 2019; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Jordan Bone (0) moves the ball against Kentucky Wildcats guard Ashton Hagans (2) during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee won 71 to 52. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Avenging an 86-69 loss to the Wildcats on Feb. 16 in Lexington, the Volunteers (26-3, 14-2 SEC) kept pace with LSU atop the conference and dropped Kentucky (24-5, 13-3) a game behind. LSU owns the tiebreaker, thanks to its overtime win on Feb. 23 over Tennessee in Baton Rouge.
Grant Williams added 24 points and seven rebounds for the Volunteers, who committed just five turnovers and limited the Wildcats to 14 field goals in 44 attempts (31.8 percent). Kentucky experienced droughts of more than nine and five minutes without baskets, unable to establish its inside game or connect from the perimeter.
PJ Washington led the Wildcats with 13 points but committed four of their 16 turnovers and hit only 2 of 6 shots from the field. Kentucky never made a serious run after halftime, trailing 47-27 after Lamonte Turner converted in transition with 16:10 left. It never got closer than 14 points for the game’s remainder.
No. 5 North Carolina 81, Clemson 79
Coby White scored 28 points, and the Tar Heels held off the Tigers at Clemson, S.C., in a game in which longtime North Carolina coach Roy Williams collapsed and did not return.
Williams, 68, dropped to one knee in front of the Tar Heels’ bench with 55 seconds left in the first half and was assisted from the court by medical personnel. He told reporters he was feeling better after the game and that he had experienced an episode of vertigo.
Cam Johnson added 19 points, and Luke Maye had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (24-5, 14-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Clemson (17-12, 7-9) got 24 points from Marcquise Reed.
No. 1 Gonzaga 69, Saint Mary’s 55
A dominant second half enabled the Bulldogs to become the first team in 28 seasons to win all of their conference games by double digits as they rolled past the Gaels in Moraga, Calif.
Josh Perkins tallied 19 points, and Rui Hachimura scored 17 for the Bulldogs (29-2, 16-0), who will be the top seed for the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. Brandon Clarke added 15 points as Gonzaga hit 52.8 percent of its field goal tries and generated 19 points off 13 Gaels turnovers.
Jordan Ford scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary’s (20-11, 11-5), whose longshot hopes for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid were likely erased by the defeat.
No. 2 Virginia 73, Pittsburgh 49
Behind three players in double figures, the Cavaliers cruised past the Panthers at Charlottesville, Va.
Junior Kyle Guy led all scorers with 17 points, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, while Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Virginia (26-2, 14-2 ACC) pulled its starters midway through the second half after leading by as many as 27 and shot 58.5 percent on the day.
Pittsburgh (12-17, 2-14) was clearly outmatched from the beginning as it took a 4-of-5 shooting barrage early in the second half to make its percentage more respectable. The Panthers shot 39 percent for the game as Jared Wilson-Frame led the way with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
No. 3 Duke 87, Miami (FL) 57
Freshmen R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish each scored 19 points as the Blue Devils throttled the Hurricanes at Durham, N.C.
Duke (25-4, 13-3 ACC) maintained a chance to finish first in the ACC, though the Blue Devils trail Virginia and North Carolina by one game.
Anthony Lawrence II and Ebuka Izundu scored 15 points apiece for Miami (12-16, 4-12), which dropped to 0-8 in ACC road games.
Indiana 63, No. 6 Michigan State 62
Justin Smith scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Hoosiers to an upset of the Spartans at Bloomington, Ind.
Michigan State was dealt a critical blow to its championship hopes in the Big Ten. With just two games remaining, the Spartans (23-6, 14-4) now sit a full game behind Purdue and are tied with Michigan for second place. Cassius Winston scored 20 points and handed out 11 assists for the Spartans, but his final shot from the baseline didn’t go down, securing the Indiana win.
The Hoosiers (15-14, 6-12) closed the game on a 12-3 run to pull off the upset as Devonte Green scored 13 to go with Smith’s performance.
Central Florida 69, No. 8 Houston 64
Collin Smith scored a season-high 21 points as the Knights ended the nation’s longest active home winning streak with a victory over the Cougars.
Tacko Fall had 13 points for the Knights (22-6, 12-4 American), who have won six of their last seven outings.
Corey Davis Jr. scored 19 points, and Dejon Jarreau added 15 for the Cougars (27-2, 14-2), who went into the game with a 33-game winning streak at home. They also had won their last 12 games overall.
No. 11 Texas Tech 81, TCU 66
Texas Tech took another big step toward its first Big 12 Conference regular-season championship by weathering the host Horned Frogs’ second-half comeback bid at Fort Worth, Texas.
The Red Raiders (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) are tied with Kansas State atop the conference standings with two games to go.Jarrett Culver and Davide Moretti paced Texas Tech with 15 points apiece while Tariq Owens was dominant in the first half on the way to 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
JD Miller and Alex Robinson led TCU (18-11, 6-10) with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
Utah State 81, No. 12 Nevada 76
Sam Merrill scored a game-high 29 points as the Aggies moved into first place in the Mountain West with an upset of the Wolf Pack at Logan, Utah.
Diogo Brito finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Neemias Queta added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Aggies (24-6, 14-3), who can clinch at least a share of the first Mountain West regular-season title in school history on Tuesday night with a win at Colorado State.
Caleb Martin scored 23 points and had nine rebounds, and Tre’Shawn Thurman finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for Nevada (26-3, 13-3), which shot just 36.4 percent
No. 13 LSU 74, Alabama 69
Skylar Mays scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the final 3:10, and freshman Javonte Smart added 19 points to lift the Tigers over the Crimson Tide at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
LSU (24-5, 14-2 SEC) trailed 56-53 when Alabama’s Donta Hall hit a driving layup and free throw with 6:17 left. The Tigers then went on a 17-7 run, with Mays doing most of the damage with driving layups and heady passing.
John Petty hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Alabama in the final 20 seconds, but Mays iced the game with two free throws in the final seconds. Petty led Alabama (17-12, 8-8) with 23 points.
No. 14 Purdue 86, Ohio State 51
Carsen Edwards scored 25 points to lead the Boilermakers in a rout of the Buckeyes at West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (22-7) moved into sole possession of the Big Ten lead at 15-3. Matt Haarms supplied 12 points, and Aaron Wheeler had 10 for Purdue.
Jaedon LeDee led the Buckeyes (18-11, 8-10) with 16 points. Justin Ahrens, who scored 29 in the previous outing, was scoreless, missing his only shot.
No. 15 Kansas 72, Oklahoma State 67
Dedric Lawson recorded his 18th double-double, posting 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Jawhawks outlasted the Cowboys at Stillwater, Okla.
Kansas (22-7, 11-5) remained in contention for at least a share of a 15th consecutive Big 12 championship after recovering from a five-point deficit in the second half. Quentin Grimes, who added 17 points, nailed a 3-pointer to tie it for the Jayhawks at 67-67 with 2:44 remaining.
Curtis Jones fueled the upset bid with 19 points for the Cowboys (10-19, 3-13). Cameron McGriff added 19 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma State but fouled out with 1:38 remaining.
No. 16 Kansas State 66, Baylor 60
The Wildcats got 46 points from their senior trio of Dean Wade, Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown to defeat the Bears at Manhattan, Kan.
Wade’s 20 points led Kansas State, with Stokes scoring 16 and Brown adding 10 points and seven rebounds. Xavier Sneed also contributed 14 points.
Mario Kegler topped Baylor with 13 points but fouled out with 4:50 left in the game. Makai Mason added 11 points, and Jared Butler had 10.
No. 18 Florida State 78, North Carolina State 73
Mfiondu Kabengele scored 16 points and blocked four shots to help the Seminoles take down the Wolfpack at Tallahassee, Fla.
M.J. Walker added 15 points, and Trent Forrest had 13 for Florida State (23-6, 11-5 ACC). Terance Mann recorded 11 points as the Seminoles won for the 10th time in the past 11 games.
DJ Funderburk matched his career highs of 18 points and nine rebounds for NC State (20-9, 8-8). Markell Johnson scored 14 points, and Torin Dorn added 12 points.
No. 19 Wisconsin 61, Penn State 57
Brevin Pritzl came off the bench to score 17 points, including the go-ahead layup with 4:01 left, as the Badgers rallied in the second half to subdue the Nittany Lions at Madison, Wis.
Ethan Happ added 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), who trailed by eight points early in the half before clamping down on the Nittany Lions (12-17, 5-13). The result kept alive Wisconsin’s hopes of a double bye into the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
Lamar Stevens scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Penn State, but he made only 5 of 19 shots from the field, including 1 of 9 in the second half. Josh Reaves contributed 14 points and nine boards.
Rutgers 86, No. 22 Iowa 72
Ron Harper Jr. scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the first half as the Scarlet Knights spoiled the Hawkeyes’ Senior Day at Iowa City, Iowa.
Issa Thiam came off the bench to score 13 for the Scarlet Knights (14-14, 7-11), who prior to this season had never won more than three conference games since joining the Big Ten five seasons ago. Caleb McConnell added 11 points, and Montez Mathis had 10.
Four players reached double figures for the Hawkeyes (21-8, 10-8), led by Nicholas Baer — their only senior — with 17 points. Tyler Cook added 16, Jordan Bohannon tallied 15 and Luka Garza contributed 10.
No. 23 Cincinnati 71, Memphis 69
Jarron Cumberland scored 26 points as the Bearcats held off the Tigers at Cincinnati to move into a tie for first place in the American Athletic Conference.
Nysier Brooks added 13 points, and Keith Williams chipped in 10 for the Bearcats (25-4, 14-2), who joined Houston atop the conference after the Cougars were upset at home by Central Florida. Cincinnati hosts Houston on March 10 with the AAC title at stake.
Jeremiah Martin scored a game-high 28 points for the Tigers (18-12, 10-7), including a driving layup with 6.9 seconds left that pulled them within 70-69. Cincinnati’s Tre Scott sank a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to extend the lead to two points.
No. 24 Wofford 85, Samford 64
Fletcher Magee scored 36 points as the Terriers completed an unbeaten Southern Conference regular season by running away from the Bulldogs at Birmingham, Ala.
The Terriers (26-4, 18-0) became the first Southern Conference team to go undefeated in league play in the regular season since Davidson’s 2007-08 team, which included Stephen Curry. That team advanced to an NCAA regional final.
Josh Sharkey and reserve Robert Allen each posted 16 points, and Ruben Guerrero had 12 points for Samford (16-15, 6-12), which lost its fourth game in a row. Allen grabbed 11 rebounds.
—Field Level Media
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Date: 03/03/2019 03:21
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