College basketball: No. 11 Michigan State overcomes loss of Nick Ward to beat Ohio State

Tom Izzo wants his team to be able to win in a variety of ways. On Sunday, the Michigan State coach lost his standout big man to an injury — and the Spartans still rolled.

“Defense not only travels — sometimes it works at home too,” Izzo said.

Kenny Goins had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 11 Michigan State finished the game with a 20-2 run, beating Ohio State 62-44 in East Lansing, Mich. Matt McQuaid scored 14 points for the Spartans and Cassius Winston added 13.

Michigan State won despite an injury to Nick Ward, who hardly played in the second half and appeared to have a wrap on one of his hands.

“He might’ve dislocated a finger or something here,” Izzo said. “I won’t know until they go through all the medical procedures what that is, but it was a problem for us the second half.”

Michigan State (21-5, 12-3) pulled into a first-place tie with rival Michigan atop the Big Ten, holding Ohio State to 13 points in the second half. The Buckeyes (16-9, 6-8) led by six at the break but shot 4 of 21 from the field the rest of the way.

“It was all on defense,” McQuaid said. “We weren’t getting clean rebounds in the first half. We did a better job in the second of securing the ball and running.”

It was tied at 42 when Michigan State’s Kyle Ahrens sank a 3-pointer that started a 10-0 run.

Kaleb Wesson scored 12 points for Ohio State, but he failed to take advantage of Ward’s absence and foul trouble to Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman.

No. 9 Houston 85, at Tulane 50: Corey Davis Jr. made eight three-pointers and scored 26 points to help the Cougars win their 10th consecutive game.

Davis and Armoni Brooks led the way as Houston went 17 for 34 from beyond the arc. Brooks made six 3s on his way to 24 points.

The Cougars (25-1, 12-1 American Athletic) opened the game with a 22-5 run. The Green Wave twice got within eight points early in the second half, but Davis made three 3-pointers during a 17-0 run that put the Cougars in command with a 58-33 lead.

Tulane (4-20, 0-12) dropped its 14th consecutive game in the program’s longest losing streak in 55 years. They have six more chances to avoid the first winless conference season in school history.

Caleb Daniels scored 13 points for the Green Wave, and Samir Sehic had 12.

at Cincinnati 72, Wichita State 62: Jarron Cumberland scored 27 points, matching his career high with six three-pointers, and the Bearcats sweep their season series with.

The Bearcats (21-4, 10-2 American Athletic) took control with a late first-half run led by Cumberland, who scored 14 in the opening half. He hit the big baskets as Cincinnati stayed ahead the rest of the way.

Wichita State (12-12, 5-7) had its winning streak snapped at a season-high four games. Dexter Dennis led the Shockers with 14 points.

WOMEN

No. 10 Stanford 69, at USC 67: Alanna Smith made a layup with three seconds left to provide the winning margin for the Cardinal.

Despite losing a fingernail in the first quarter, Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds to help the Cardinal (21-4, 11-3 Pac-12) rally after trailing for most of the game. DiJonai Carrington added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Kiana Williams played all 40 minutes and had 16 points and four assists.

The Trojans (15-10, 5-9) were led by the Moore sisters. Minyon Moore had 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Mariya Moore added 14 points.USC jumped ahead 8-2 and pushed its advantage to 15 in the second quarter before taking a 36-26 lead at the half.

Stanford shot 37.1% but out-rebounded USC 45-33 with 17 offensive rebounds. Freshman Lexie Hull had seven rebounds and six points off the bench for Stanford but fouled out with 6:16 to play.

USC received a scare when Minyon Moore went down hard after fast-break layup with 5:28 left in the second quarter. She remained on the floor for several minutes before heading to the trainer’s room but returned to play at the 3:43 mark.

at UCLA 80, Cal 74: Japreece Dean scored a career-high 28 points and Michaela Onyenwere added 23 with nine rebounds to help the Bruins win.

Dean hit four 3-pointers and had seven assists. Kennedy Burke scored 13 points for the Bruins (16-10, 9-5 Pac-12), who rebounded from a loss to No. 10 Stanford on Friday to win for the seventh time in their last eight games. UCLA is a half-game behind No. 19 Arizona State for fourth in the conference standings. The top four teams earn a first-round bye in next month’s Pac-12 tournament.

The Bruins missed nine consecutive shots as Cal scored 11 consecutive points to take a 61-58 lead early in the fourth quarter. Onyenwere answered with a 3-point play to spark a 13-4 run that gave UCLA the lead for good. Dean made two free throws and then hit a 3-pointer to cap the spurt and make it 71-65 with 2:29 to play. The Bruins made 8 of 8 from the free-throw line down the stretch to seal it.

Kristine Anigwe had 27 points and 14 rebounds — her 26th consecutive game, dating to last season, with a double-double — for Cal (14-11, 5-9), which has lost five in a row. Anigwe moved past Lisa Leslie (2,414 career points) into fifth on the Pac-12’s all-time scoring list and is tied with Jayne Appel — passing Chantel Osahor (1,253) — for fourth in conference history with 1,263 rebounds. Anigwe and Chiney Ogwumike (Stanford, 2010-14) are the only players to rank in the Pac-12’s top five of both categories.