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Kansas hangs on to beat W. Virginia

Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (front) drives to the basket against West Virginia’s Maciej Bender during Saturday’s game in Lawrence, Kan. Azubuike led the Jayhawks with 21 points.
Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (front) drives to the basket against West Virginia’s Maciej Bender during Saturday’s game in Lawrence, Kan. Azubuike led the Jayhawks with 21 points.

NO. 13 KANSAS 77, NO. 20 WEST VIRGINIA 69

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Udoka Azubuike scored 21 points and Devonte' Graham added 15 to help No. 13 Kansas beat No. 20 West Virginia 77-69 on Saturday night.

Both teams struggled to create much separation in the first half, neither establishing more than a six-point lead. After being tied at halftime, the Mountaineers (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) took the lead with 17:22 left and held it until the game was tied again at 66 with about two minutes remaining. The Jayhawks (20-7, 10-4 Big 12) wouldn't reclaim the lead until Svi Mykhailiuk hit a pair of free throws 30 seconds later.

Daxter Miles Jr. led West Virginia with 22 points, and hit 6-of-9 shots from behind the arc. Jevon Carter added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

The Mountaineers stayed close hitting 14 of 26 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, Kansas had an off night shooting the ball from deep, hitting just 31.8 percent of their tries. The Jayhawks led the Big 12 and were No. 19 in the country in 3s per game heading in.

The Mountaineers had previously won 74 of their last 76 games when holding opponents to 69 points or less.

West Virginia has still yet to win in Allen Fieldhouse, falling to 0-6 in the building. It's won in every other Big 12 arena since joining the conference in 2012, but hasn't found the formula for doing so in Lawrence.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 65, NORTHWESTERN 60

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Cassius Winston scored 17 points, and No. 2 Michigan State erased a 27-point deficit to beat Northwestern and extend its winning streak to 10 games.

Nick Ward added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Miles Bridges hit four free throws in the final minute, and the Spartans (26-3, 14-2 Big Ten) used a huge second half to pull out the win when they looked like they were headed to a stunning blowout loss.

Vic Law cooled off after a blistering start to finish with 21 points, and Northwestern (15-13, 6-9) made just 3 of 26 field goals in the second half.

With the Spartans clinging to a two-point lead in the final minute, Bridges hit two free throws and Winston added two more to make it 63-57. Law nailed a three for Northwestern to make it a three-point game with 11.4 seconds remaining, but Bridges hit two more foul shots.

NO. 3 VILLANOVA 95, NO. 4 XAVIER 79

CINCINNATI -- Mikal Bridges led an early three-point shooting spurt that put Villanova in control, and the third-ranked Wildcats showed they're not ready to relinquish their reign in the Big East, beating No. 4 Xavier in a showdown for the league lead.

The Wildcats (24-3, 11-3) have won all four regular-season titles since the league was reconfigured. Xavier (24-4, 12-3) had a chance to take control of the race, but simply wasn't up to the Wildcats' level in the biggest game of the season. Now, Xavier's lead is down to a half game and Villanova has swept the season series.

Bridges scored 25 points in a balanced attack that got the best of a matchup between the league's top offenses. Trevon Bluiett had 26 points for Xavier, which had its nine-game winning streak snapped.

The Wildcats ended their three-game shooting slump by making 11 three-pointers in the first half when they pulled out to a 19-point lead and silenced a raucous crowd at the Cintas Center, where Xavier was undefeated this season.

BAYLOR 59, NO. 7 TEXAS TECH 57

WACO, Texas -- Terry Maston scored 24 points and Baylor beat No. 7 Texas Tech, ending the Red Raiders' seven-game winning streak after the Big 12 leaders lost top scorer Keenan Evans to a foot injury in the first half.

Maston, who finished two points shy of his career high set in the previous game against Texas, hit the go-ahead shot with 1:26 remaining as the Bears (17-10, 7-7 Big 12) continued their push for the NCAA Tournament with a fifth consecutive victory following a 2-7 start in the rugged conference.

Baylor moved into sole possession of fifth place, and Texas Tech (22-5, 10-4) dropped into a tie for first with No. 13 Kansas with four regular-season games remaining.

NO. 9 GONZAGA 81, PEPPERDINE 67

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Johnathan Williams had 18 points and 12 rebounds and No. 9 Gonzaga held off last-place Pepperdine to remain in first place in the West Coast Conference.

Killian Tillie and Josh Perkins each scored 15 points for Gonzaga (25-4, 15-1 West Coast), which has won nine consecutive games since suffering its only league loss to No. 15 Saint Mary's.

Colbey Ross scored 21 points for Pepperdine (4-24, 1-15), which has lost seven consecutive.

NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 93, LOUISVILLE 76

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Joel Berry scored 23 points, Luke Maye had 19 with 13 rebounds and No. 14 North Carolina dominated the boards and second-chance points to beat Louisville for its fifth consecutive victory.

The Tar Heels (21-7, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 10 consecutive points for a 12-3 lead before warming up from long range to eventually build a 19-point cushion before withstanding several Louisville rallies. North Carolina made eight from behind the arc in the first half alone and 12 of 27 overall in a fast pace that Louisville (18-9, 8-6) struggled to keep up with.

NO. 15 SAINT MARY’S 73,

PORTLAND 61

PORTLAND, Ore. — Jock Landale had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 15 Saint Mary’s rebounded from a pair of losses with a victory over Portland.

Tanner Krebs added 16 points for the Gaels (25-4, 14-2 West Coast Conference), who have won seven consecutive against the Pilots (10-19, 4-12). With the victory, Saint Mary’s has its third consecutive 25-victory season.

TEXAS 77, NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 66

NORMAN, Okla. -- Dylan Osetkowski scored 21 points, Texas slowed national scoring leader Trae Young, and the Longhorns beat No. 23 Oklahoma to extend the Sooners' losing streak to five games.

Young, a freshman point guard, scored 26 points on 7 for 21 shooting. Christian James scored 11 points and was the only other Sooner to score in double figures.

Kerwin Roach scored 12 points, Matt Coleman scored 11 and Mohamed Bamba added 10 points and 18 rebounds for Texas (16-11, 6-8 Big 12), which never trailed and swept the season series for the first time since 2011-12. The Longhorns, who had lost three consecutive, got a much-needed victory to boost their NCAA Tournament hopes.

The Sooners (16-10, 6-8) shot just 30.8 percent overall and posted their lowest-scoring game of the season. Even an appearance by Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield wasn't enough to get the Sooners going.

NO. 24 NEVADA 93, UTAH STATE 87

LOGAN, Utah -- Cody Martin scored 30 points on 13-of-18 shooting and twin brother Caleb Martin added 23 points to lead No. 24 Nevada to a victory over Utah State.

Jordan Caroline chipped in with 20 points for the Wolf Pack. Nevada (23-5, 11-2 Mountain West) shot 59.3 percent from the field -- including 11-of-21 from three-point range -- to pull away from the Aggies.

Koby McEwen scored 32 points and Sam Merrill added 16 to lead Utah State. The Aggies (14-14, 7-8) have lost 14 consecutive to ranked opponents and fell to the Wolf Pack at home for the second time in five games.

Utah State was the hotter team from the field early, going 13 of 19 (68.4 percent) in the first 12 minutes. Nevada used a 17-0 run late in the first half to take its first double-digit lead at 47-37.

Sports on 02/18/2018

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