No. 9 Iowa stays unbeaten in Big Ten

Peter Jok scored a career-high 29 points and No. 9 Iowa shook off pesky Rutgers in the second half in posting a harder-than-expected 90-76 victory on Thursday night at Piscataway, N.J.

Jarrod Uthoff and Anthony Clemmons added 20 points apiece as the Hawkeyes (15-3, 6-0) won their eighth straight game and their 12th in a row in the Big Ten Conference, dating to last season.

Iowa used a zone defense late in the first half in a 16-7 run that gave it a 45-37 lead, and it opened the game up in the second half with its long-range shooting. Mike Williams had 17 points to lead Rutgers (6-14, 0-7), which was coming off a 50-point loss to No. 22 Purdue on Monday, its worst home loss.

No. 23 Kentucky 80, at Arkansas 66: Tyler Ulis scored 24 points to lead four Kentucky players in double figures as the Wildcats (14-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a loss at Auburn. The win is the first for John Calipari as coach of the Wildcats in Bud Walton Arena, where he improved to 2-4 all-time — including a win with Memphis in 2003.

at No. 22 Purdue 75, Ohio State 64: P.J. Thompson scored 10 of his 12 points in the final seven minutes, helping the Boilermakers (17-3, 5-2 Big Ten) pull away for their third consecutive win. A.J. Hammons added 16 points for Purdue.

The Buckeyes (12-8, 4-3) were led by Jae’Sean Tate, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds.