College basketball roundup: No. 1 Kansas beats Texas Tech to wrap up Big 12 title
No. 1 Kansas wrapped up the outright Big 12 Conference regular-season title Saturday, beating Texas Tech 66-62 behind Udoka Azubuike’s 15 points and 11 rebounds in Lubbock, Texas.
Devon Dotson had 17 points and Ochai Agbaji added 12 for the Jayhawks (28-3, 17-1), the Big 12’s first champion in a decade with only one loss in league play. Kansas was 15-1 in the 2009-10 season, two seasons before the Big 12 expanded to an 18-game schedule.
“Everyone in the locker room, that was our goal, to win it outright and don’t share anything,” Dotson said. “For us to go 17-1 is big. Hopefully we can build off of it. We’re not satisfied. We have bigger goals and aspirations, but we can build off of this for sure.”
Texas Tech (18-13, 9-9), last year’s national runner-up after sharing the Big 12 title with Kansas State, had a chance to tie the game with 2.8 seconds left. But Davide Moretti, who made a three-pointer only seconds earlier, missed from long range. The Red Raiders guard fell to floor after contact with Marcus Garrett, but was no foul called.
Moretti had 18 points for Texas Tech, which lost its fourth game in a row in trying to get back into the NCAA tournament.
Payton Pritchard had 29 points to help No. 13 Oregon defeat Stanford 80-67 in Eugene, Ore., to win the Pac-12 Conference regular-season title.
at No. 3 Dayton 76, George Washington 51: Obi Toppin had 27 points, and the Flyers (29-2, 18-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) rolled past the Colonials (12-19, 6-12) in Dayton, Ohio, to finish the regular season with their school-record 29th victory.
Dayton won its 20th consecutive game to tie a record set by the 1951-52 team. The Flyers went unbeaten at home and in true road games. Their only losses were at neutral sites.
Jalen Crutcher added 21 points for Dayton, which will begin play as the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament that starts Wednesday in New York.
at West Virginia 76, No. 4 Baylor 64: In Morgantown, W.Va., Emmitt Matthews scored a season-high 18 points and freshman Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers (21-10, 9-9) used a big second-half run to deny the Bears (26-4, 15-3) the chance to earn a tie for the Big 12 regular-season championship.
Baylor went more than eight minutes without a field goal midway through the second half to take itself out of contention and hand the championship to top-ranked Kansas.
Instead, it was West Virginia celebrating. The sellout crowd stormed the court after the Mountaineers’ second consecutive win and just the third in nine games.
Tournament MVP Sam Merrill scored 27 points and hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to lift Utah State to a 59-56 win over San Diego State.
No. 6 Kentucky 71, at Florida 70: Nick Richards scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as the Wildcats (25-6, 15-3 Southeastern Conference) rallied from 18 points down to beat the Gators (19-12, 11-7) in Gainesville, Fla.
Short-handed Kentucky needed the comeback to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time in nearly three months.
Scottie Lewis scored a career-high 19 points for Florida, which led by 18 points with 11:48 left in the game.
The Wildcats played without point guard Ashton Hagans, who didn’t make the trip three days after arguing with coach John Calipari on the bench during a home loss to Tennessee.
at No. 7 Florida State 80, Boston College 62: Balsa Koprivica scored 15 points, and the Seminoles (26-5, 16-4) won their first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in school history with a victory over the Eagles (13-18, 7-13) in Tallahassee, Fla.
Dominik Olejniczak added a season-high 14 points for Florida State, which had a banner ready to celebrate its accomplishment, which was secured with Virginia’s victory over No. 10 Louisville.
FSU will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC tournament and looks to claim its first championship since 2012. Boston College has lost five consecutive games.
at No. 11 Creighton 77, No. 8 Seton Hall 60: In Omaha, Marcus Zegarowski made all five of his three-point attempts and finished with 23 points as the Bluejays (24-7, 13-5) earned a share of the Big East Conference regular-season title with a win over the Pirates (21-9, 13-5).
Creighton claimed all or part of its first conference title since winning the Missouri Valley outright in 2012-13. The Bluejays joined the Big East the next season.
Creighton has won 11 of its last 13 games and, because it swept the season series against the Pirates, will be the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament in New York next week.
Seton Hall lost its last two games and will be the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
Jonah Mathews hits a three-pointer with one second left to lift USC to a stunning, 54-52 victory over crosstown rival UCLA on Saturday.
at No. 22 Virginia 57, No. 10 Louisville 54: Kihei Clark scored 18 points, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds left, and the Cavaliers (23-7, 15-5 ACC) recovered after blowing a 14-point second-half lead to defeat the Cardinals (24-7, 15-5) in Charlottesville, Va.
Virginia won for the 10th time in 11 games and moved into a tie with Louisville for second place in the league standings.
Mamadi Diakite added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers in his final game at John Paul Jones Arena. Jay Huff scored 11 points and blocked a shot from in close by Steven Enoch with 51 seconds and grabbed the rebound.
Jordan Nwora had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals, who lost for the second time in three games.
at No. 12 Duke 89, North Carolina 76: In Durham, N.C., Vernon Carey Jr. had 25 points and 10 rebounds and graduate reserve Justin Robinson offered a huge spark as the Blue Devils (25-6, 15-5 ACC) defeated the rival Tar Heels (13-18, 6-14).
Robinson, son of retired NBA great David Robinson, matched career highs with 13 points and six rebounds to go with a career-best four blocks for Duke. Point guard Tre Jones added 21 points in the rematch of last month’s overtime classic won by the Blue Devils after two buzzer-beating shots.
Garrison Brooks had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels.
No. 14 Villanova 70, at Georgetown 69: Jermaine Samuels had a three-point play with 5.6 seconds left as the Wildcats (24-7, 13-5) survived a late scare to clinch a share of the Big East regular-season title with a victory over the Hoyas (15-16, 5-13) in Washington.
Samuels was fouled on a drive by Georgetown’s Jamorko Pickett, and Qudus Wahab blocked the shot. After a video review, the basket counted and Samuels made the subsequent free throw to put Villanova up by one.
The Hoyas’ Terrell Allen got up a shot at the buzzer, but it clanged off the backboard.
Saddiq Bey led Villanova with 18 points. Pickett led Georgetown with 20 points as the Hoyas lost their sixth straight and fell under .500 for the first time in coach Patrick Ewing’s three seasons.
Almost nothing worked, hurting UCLA’s NCAA tournament chances and likely leaving the Bruins in need of at least one victory in the Pac-12 tournament next week.
No. 17 Auburn 85, at Tennessee 63: Samir Doughty made eight of 13 three-point tries and finished with 32 points as the Tigers (25-6, 12-6 SEC) ended a two-game skid with a win over the Volunteers (17-14, 9-9) in Knoxville, Tenn.
Auburn now heads to Nashville to defend its SEC tournament championship. The Tigers have a double-bye to the quarterfinals.
John Fulkerson led Tennessee with 19 points before fouling out late.
at Northwestern 80, No. 20 Penn State 69: In Evanston Ill., Miller Kopp scored 21 points to lead the Wildcats (8-22, 3-17 Big Ten) as the Nittany Lions (21-10, 11-9) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Penn State came in looking to head into the Big Ten tournament on a winning note, only to stumble against one of the worst teams in the conference. Northwestern beat a ranked team for the first time since knocking off No. 20 Michigan two years ago.
The Wildcats came away with the win after losing 13 of 14. They moved a half-game ahead of last-place Nebraska. Boo Buie added 13 points for Northwestern.
Lamar Stevens continued to close in on Penn State’s all-time scoring record, finishing with 18 points. That gave him 2,207 in four seasons, six shy of the mark set by Talor Battle from 2007 to 2011.
No. 24 Wisconsin 60, at Indiana 56: Nate Reuvers scored 17 points in Bloomington, Ind., and the Badgers (21-10, 14-6) held the Hoosiers (19-12, 9-11) to one basket over the final 10 minutes to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Micah Potter added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, which has won eight straight.
Devonte Green scored all 16 of his points in the first half for Indiana (19-12, 9-11), which has lost three of four.
The Badgers tied the score on Potter’s three-point play before taking the lead for good on Brad Davison’s three-pointer with 4:05 to go.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
