College basketball: No. 3 Gators pull away on 3-pointers

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Michael Frazier II scored 14 points, highly touted freshman Chris Walker had two crowd-pleasing dunks in his debut and No. 3 Florida beat Missouri 68-58 on Tuesday.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Michael Frazier II scored 14 points, highly touted freshman Chris Walker had two crowd-pleasing dunks in his debut and No. 3 Florida beat Missouri 68-58 on Tuesday.

The Gators won their 14th consecutive game and extended a school record with their 28th straight victory at home.

Frazier hit three 3-pointers in a 2-minute span in the second half, giving Florida some breathing room in a tight, back-and-forth game.

Scottie Wilbekin finished with a career-high 19 points for the Gators (20-2, 9-0 Southeastern Conference). He was 13 of 16 from the free-throw line, most of them down the stretch.

Jabari Brown led the Tigers (16-6, 4-5) with 15 points while Jordan Clarkson added 14.

No. 8 Kansas 69, Baylor 52

WACO, Texas — Naadir Tharpe scored 22 points, nine in a go-ahead run before halftime, and Big 12-leading Kansas rebounded from its first league loss.

Andrew Wiggins overcame a slow start to score 14 points, while Perry Ellis had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas.

Wiggins, the Big 12’s top scoring freshman, finished 4-of-13 shooting and didn’t make his first basket until a half-court shot to beat the buzzer going into halftime. That capped a 14-3 run over the final 5 minutes for a 35-27 lead.

Tharpe’s short jumper with 3½ minutes left in the half broke a 25-all tie and put the Jayhawks (17-5, 8-1 Big 12) ahead to stay.

Cory Jefferson had 14 points to lead Baylor (14-8, 2-7), which lost its fourth consecutive game at the Ferrell Center after a 13-game home winning streak. It’s the longest home drought since dropping six straight in 2005.

No. 11 Duke 83, Wake Forest 63

DURHAM, N.C. — Jabari Parker scored 21 points and Rasheed Sulaimon added 19 points for Duke (18-5, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

The Blue Devils shot nearly 51 percent, hit 12 3-pointers against one of the ACC’s best perimeter defenses and used a big run at the end of the first half to roll to their eighth straight victory over their instate rivals.

Devin Thomas had 14 points for the Demon Deacons (14-9, 4-6).

No. 15 Texas 59, TCU 54

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jonathan Holmes had 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds and Texas rallied in the second half to extend its winning streak to seven games.

Holmes hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:41 remaining, and the Longhorns (18-4, 7-2 Big 12) held off the Horned Frogs with several key offensive rebounds in the final 2 minutes.

Cameron Ridley had 12 points and nine rebounds, including one that led to his clinching free throws after a miss by Isaiah Taylor with 7 seconds left.

Ohio St. 76, No. 17 IOWA 69

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Aaron Craft had 17 points, six assists and six steals to help Ohio State to its third win in four games.

LaQuinton Ross added 13 points for the Buckeyes (18-5, 5-5 Big Ten), who moved back to .500 in the league after starting a surprising 2-4.

Craft’s first points of the second half came on a three-point play that put Ohio State ahead 66-59 with 1:17 left.

Mike Gesell had 16 points for Iowa (17-6, 6-4), which shot just 3 of 20 from 3-point range and lost its second straight at home.

No. 18 Kentucky 80, Mississippi 64

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Willie Cauley-Stein broke a slump with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Kentucky shot 60 percent in the second half.

The Wildcats’ 7-foot sophomore had six blocks and altered other attempts to help limit the Rebels (15-7, 6-3 SEC) to 36 percent shooting in the second half and 39 percent (25 of 65) overall.

Kentucky (17-5, 7-2) made 15 of 25 from the field in the second half to turn a 35-34 halftime lead into a rout.

No. 24 Memphis 101, Rutgers 69

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Austin Nichols scored 18 points, and Joe Jackson added 16 points and eight assists for Memphis.

The Tigers (17-5, 7-3 American Athletic Conference) hit a season-high 12 3-pointers and shot 59 percent. Nichols was 8 of 9 from the field, and Jackson hit all but one of his seven shots.

Kadeem Jack was the only player to score in double figures (12)for Rutgers (9-14, 3-7).