Evans’ 22 leads Oklahoma State past No. 3 Kansas
STILLWATER, Okla. —‚Kansas coach Bill Self soon will learn whether his team has the toughness he wants to see.
Freshman Jawun Evans had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds to help Oklahoma State upset the third-ranked Jayhawks 86-67 on Tuesday night.
Frank Mason III scored 14 points and Perry Ellis added 13 for Kansas (15-3, 4-2), which has lost two of its past three to fall out of a tie for the Big 12 lead.
“I’ve always questioned whether or not this team was tough enough from a mental standpoint to fight through some stuff, and to be honest with you, we haven’t shown that we are,” Self said. “But we’re not going to go anywhere if we don’t show that we are, so this is probably, if there’s any positive out of this — we’ll find out who we really are. I know we’re capable of being much better than this.”
Jeff Newberry scored 13 points and Jeffrey Carroll added 11 for the Cowboys, who had lost four straight. Oklahoma State shot 50 percent from the field, made 11 of 21 3-point attempts and outrebounded the Jayhawks 38-31.
“We’re so spoiled here, we haven’t had many games like this over the years, but we’ve had them,” Self said. “Mature guys understand it’s one game and bounce back, but it is disheartening at the moment.”
Oklahoma State (10-8, 2-4) made 23 of 26 free throws while Kansas made just 13 of 24 as the Cowboys beat Kansas in Stillwater for the third straight time and the fifth in seven years.
“I think about everything that could go wrong with us went wrong,” Self said. “We didn’t make shots when the game was at least somewhat in balance, and they were so athletic, and of course, they played great. They made timely shots, had seven different guys make shots. What went wrong was they were far better than us.”
GEORGETOWN 81, No. 5 XAVIER 72
CINCINNATI — Tre Campbell scored a career-high 21 points — 17 in the first half — and Georgetown held on for the win.
The Hoyas (12-7, 5-2 Big East) pulled ahead 39-33 at halftime behind Campbell’s big game and led by as many as 11 in the second half while sending the Musketeers (16-2, 4-2) to their first home-court loss of the season.
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 20 points for Georgetown, 15 in the second half.
Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 18 points.
Xavier had won all three games against Georgetown last season, including a matchup in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. The Hoyas’ front line dug in and got a different result, outrebounding Xavier 39-35.
No. 7 MARYLAND 62, NORTHWESTERN 56, OT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Melo Trimble scored 18 points and Diamond Stone made a pivotal three-point play with 1:13 left in overtime for Maryland.
The Terrapins (17-2, 6-1 Big Ten) shot 44 percent and were outrebounded 41-31 by the scrappy, hustling Wildcats (15-5, 3-4).
But Trimble came up big in overtime, opening the scoring with a three-point play and getting assists on two baskets, including the layup by Stone that put Maryland ahead 58-55.
Stone finished with 11 points and Robert Carter Jr. added 10. Despite struggling mightily in this one — giving up 16 offensive rebounds and collecting only four — the Terrapins swept the season series after beating the Wildcats 72-59 on Jan. 2.
Aaron Falzon scored 13 points and Bryant McIntosh had 12 points on 5-for-18 shooting.
No. 8 SMU 77, HOUSTON 73
DALLAS — Nic Moore scored 23 points and had some part in five consecutive SMU baskets down the stretch as the Mustangs remained Division I’s only undefeated team.
Markus Kennedy had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and his two free throws with 5:35 left broke the game’s 12th and final tie to put the Mustangs (18-0, 7-0 AAC) ahead to stay. Kennedy’s tip-in a minute earlier tied the game and was part of an 8-0 spurt.
Moore, the senior point guard, then had consecutive baskets before missing two in a row — one tipped in by Sterling Brown and the other followed by Ben Moore to make it 67-64.
Damyean Dotson had 16 points for the Cougars (13-5, 3-3), who lost their third straight. Danrad Knowles had 14 points and Galen Robinson Jr. had 11.
No. 10 TEXAS A&M 71, LSU 57
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Jalen Jones scored 20 points and freshman Tyler Davis tied a season-high with 18 to lead Texas A&M to its ninth straight win.
The victory improves the Aggies (16-2) to 6-0 in Southeastern Conference play, which is their best start to league play since they won their first seven in 1993-94 when they were in the Southwest Conference.
The Aggies used a 16-3 run to make it 60-47 with about 9 minutes remaining.
Tim Quarterman had 12 points for LSU (11-7, 4-2). Freshman Ben Simmons entered the game averaging 20 points but was held to 10 points with 11 rebounds.
The Aggies haven’t lost since Dec. 5, and their winning streak is their longest since the team won 13 straight from Nov. 26, 2010 to Jan. 15, 2011.
No. 13 VIRGINIA 69, CLEMSON 62
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Malcolm Brogdon scored 20 points and Anthony Gill had two big baskets late for Virginia.
The Cavaliers (14-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 52-39 after a 17-4 run with 9 minutes left, then saw the Tigers close within 55-53 with about 3 1/2 minutes remaining. But Gill scored on a putback after a miss by Brogdon, then took a feed from Brogdon moments later for a fast-break dunk that built the margin back up to 59-53.
The Tigers (12-7, 5-2), seeking their sixth consecutive victory and third straight over a ranked team, got back within 62-59 on a 3-pointer by Jordan Roper and three free throws by Jaron Blossomgame with 1:36 to play, but Brogdon made two free throws with 30.7 seconds for the Cavaliers.
Gill finished with 12 points despite foul trouble for Virginia while Devon Hall had 11 and Isaiah Wilkins 10.
Blossomgame made four 3-pointers and scored 23 for the Tigers and Landry Nnoko added 15
No. 16 PROVIDENCE 71, No. 18 BUTLER 68
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Ben Bentil scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half for Providence.
Rodney Bullock added 16 points for the Friars (16-3, 4-2 Big East), who improved to 3-1 this season against ranked opponents. It was Providence’s second victory over Butler this season.
The Bulldogs held the Big East’s two leading scorers — Bentil and Kris Dunn — to 12 points in the first half. Dunn finished with nine. They entered the night averaging 19 and 17 points, respectively.
On Butler’s final possession, Kelan Martin missed a 3-pointer, the Bulldogs got the rebound and Kellen Dunham fired up a desperation 3 at the buzzer that missed everything.
Dunham led Butler (13-5, 2-4) with 21 points, including six 3-pointers, while Roosevelt Jones added 16.
The Bulldogs have lost four straight games to ranked foes.
No. 24 SOUTH CAROLINA 77, MISSISSIPPI 74, OT
OXFORD, Miss. — Michael Carrera scored 19 points and Laimonas Chatkevicius added 17 for South Carolina.
Ole Miss led 64-53 with 5:17 remaining in regulation, but South Carolina tied the game at 66 with 43 seconds on a layup by Carrera.
Carrera also made the most important play in overtime, hitting a layup while getting fouled. He converted the free throw to give South Carolina a 75-72 lead with 29.3 seconds left.
South Carolina (17-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) had four players score in double figures. Chatkevicius had a double-double, adding 10 rebounds.
Ole Miss (12-6, 2-4) has lost three straight games. Stefan Moody led the Rebels with 24 points while Anthony Perez added 16.
No. 25 INDIANA 103, ILLINOIS 69
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Troy Williams scored 21 points and Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell finished with 16 points and nine assists for Indiana.
It was a milestone night for Ferrell. The senior guard broke Michael Lewis’ career record for assists (545. He has 553. Ferrell moved within 13 points of passing Eric Anderson for No. 10 on the Hoosiers’ career scoring list.
All that came on a night that the Hoosiers (16-3, 6-0 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to 11 and set a school record with 19 3-pointers.
Illinois (9-10, 1-5) was led by Malcolm Hill with 20 points and Kendrick Nunn with 10.