LEXINGTON, Ky. -- PJ Washington scored 21 points, including a big three-pointer down the stretch, Tyler Herro added 18 and No. 8 Kentucky pulled away from No. 22 Mississippi State 76-55 on Tuesday night for its fifth consecutive victory.
The Wildcats (15-3, 5-1 SEC) led for all but the early minutes, but had to survive some rough stretches that allowed the Bulldogs (14-4, 2-3) to get within 41-39 with 13:39 remaining. Kentucky answered with scoring 18 of the next 25 points over the next 6:50, helped by Herro's three free throws and consecutive 3s by Immanuel Quickley and Washington, for a double-digit advantage it maintained.
Washington was 9 of 15 from the field with three three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds. Herro made all three from long range and all five free throws to follow his 20-point performance at Auburn.
Reid Travis grabbed 12 rebounds as the Wildcats won the glass 43-36 and won the second of three consecutive Top-25 matchups. No. 9 Kansas is next on Saturday.
Kentucky also succeeded in holding MSU's potent perimeter game to just 3 of 20 from behind the arc after entering the contest second in the SEC at 38 percent.
Quinndary Weatherspoon had 19 points and Tyson Carter 11 for the Bulldogs, who made just 19 of 61 from the field (31 percent) in their first game against a ranked foe this season.
No. 2 Duke 79, Pittsburgh 64
PITTSBURGH -- Zion Williamson hit his first 10 shots on his way to 25 points, fellow freshman RJ Barrett scored 26 and No. 2 Duke had little trouble with Pittsburgh.
Williamson finished 11 of 13 from the floor to go with seven rebounds and seven assists for the Blue Devils (16-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who kept the Panthers (12-7, 2-4) in check even without injured freshman guard Tre Jones. Duke held Pitt to 41 percent shooting, outrebounded the Panthers 39-34 and wasn't in any real danger after a surge midway through the first half.
No. 3 Virginia 68,
Wake Forest 45
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Kyle Guy and Jay Huff scored 12 points each, and No. 3 Virginia opened with a 25-3 run in a victory against Wake Forest.
De'Andre Hunter and Mamadi Diakite had 11 points each for the Cavaliers (17-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who bounced back from a 72-70 loss at No. 2 Duke on Saturday. The victory was Virginia's seventh in a row in the series against Wake Forest and their 12th in a row overall at John Paul Jones Arena.
Brandon Childress led the Demon Deacons (8-10, 1-5) with 12 points, and Olivier Sarr had 11.
No. 5 Michigan 59, Minnesota 57
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Charles Matthews made a baseline floater at the buzzer to lift No. 5 Michigan to a victory over Minnesota after the Golden Gophers scored 10 consecutive points to tie the game late.
On the final possession, Iggy Brazdeikis drove to the basket and had his shot blocked by Eric Curry, but the ball bounced right to Matthews to the left of the rim and he had time to release a shot that went high in the air and dropped through with no time remaining.
The shot by Matthews was clearly released before the game clock expired, but the shot clock was a much closer call. After a long review, officials ruled the shot was released before the shot clock expired.
Northern Illinois 77, No. 14 Buffalo 75
DEKALB, Ill. -- Noah McCarty banked in a game-winning basket with two seconds to play as Northern Illinois upset No. 14 Buffalo.
The Huskies reserve took a feed from Trendon Hankerson for the layup seconds after Buffalo had tied the game on a three-pointer by C.J. Massinburg.
Dante Thorpe scored 23 points and Eugene German added 20 as Northern Illinois (11-8, 4-2 Mid-American Conference) ended a two-game skid and claimed its first home victory over a ranked team since 1972.
Massinburg scored 23 points for the Bulls (17-2, 5-1 MAC), who saw their seven-game winning streak snapped.
Kansas State 58, No. 14 Texas Tech 45
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Barry Brown Jr. had 15 points, Dean Wade had 13 and Kansas State's defense shut down No. 14 Texas Tech.
The Big 12's top-ranked defenses combined to force 30 turnovers. The Wildcats (15-4, 5-2) held Texas Tech to 33-percent shooting and never led the Red Raiders get their offense rolling.
Jarrett Culver led Texas Tech (15-4, 4-3) with 17 points. Tariq Owens had 12.
The Red Raiders struggled to contain Brown in the first half. He had two step-back three-pointers and 11 points. Wade was a mismatch as well, with Red Raider big man Norense Odiase called for three fouls in the first half. He only played five minutes.
South Carolina 80, No. 16 Auburn 77
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Chris Silva had a career-high 32 points, and Felipe Haase's three-pointer with 30.3 seconds left put South Carolina ahead for good in a victory over No. 16 Auburn.
The Gamecocks (10-8, 5-1) continued their improbable SEC run. They entered league play with a 5-7 preconference mark, but have won five of their first six, beating a pair of ranked opponents in Mississippi State and the Tigers.
The Tigers (13-5, 2-3 SEC) used a late 12-0 run to wipe out South Carolina's 71-61 lead. They were still ahead 77-75 after Jared Harper's two foul shots with 56.3 to go. That's when Haase nailed his long-range, go-ahead basket from the right corner.
No. 18 Villanova 80, Butler 72
INDIANAPOLIS -- Eric Paschall scored 23 points, Phil Booth added 17 and No. 18 Villanova made 12 three-pointers to pull away from Butler.
The Wildcats (15-4, 6-0 Big East) have won seven consecutive since losing to Kansas on Dec. 15.
Aaron Thompson had 15 points for Butler (12-8, 3-4), which had won its previous two games. Sean McDermott had 14 points and seven rebounds while Kamar Baldwin and Jordan Tucker each finished with 11 points.
While the Big East's two best defensive teams lived up to the billing, each team's shooters were even better -- especially during a first half when the teams combined to shoot 55 percent from the field and made 13 three-pointers.
Alabama 74,
No. 20 Mississippi 53
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- John Petty scored 15 points off the bench, and Donta Hall added 11 points and 10 rebounds for a school-record fourth consecutive double-double as Alabama defeated No. 20 Mississippi.
Galin Smith matched his season high with 10 points for Alabama (12-6, 3-3 SEC). Hall had his 10th double-double of the season.
Terence Davis finished with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting before fouling out with just over 16 minutes remaining for the Rebels (14-4, 4-2).
Florida 81, Texas A&M 72
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- KeVaughn Allen (North Little Rock) scored 31 points, Noah Locke added a career-high 27 and Florida used a flurry of three-pointers to overcome a 13-point deficit.
Florida made 18 of 37 from behind the arc, including 11 of 15 in the second half.
Allen hit 8 of 10, and Locke connected on 7 of 13. It was most combined three-pointers for any two players in school history, topping the previous record of 13 set by Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton in 2012.
Florida (11-7, 3-3 SEC) needed just about every one of them to rally against the Aggies (7-10, 1-5).
Sports on 01/23/2019