College basketball: No. 3 Kansas beats No. 7 West Virginia; North Carolina State upsets No. 17 UNC

Christian Braun hit six 3-pointers and had 22 points, Jalen Wilson hit four 3s and scored 17, and No. 3 Kansas shrugged off a mid-game malaise before cruising past seventh-ranked West Virginia 79-65 on Tuesday night.

Marcus Garrett finished with 15 points, Ochai Agbaji had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and David McCormack added 10 points and 11 boards as the Jayhawks (8-1, 2-0 Big 12) won their fifth straight against the Mountaineers (6-2, 1-1).

Kansas trailed by a point at halftime before Braun and Wilson heated up in the second half, carrying the Jayhawks to their eighth consecutive victory overall.

Sean McNeil made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead West Virginia, though almost all of his production came in the first half, when the outcome was still hanging in the balance. Miles McBride added 19 points but the bruising duo of Oscar Tschiebwe and Derek Culver was held to a combined 11 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 1 Gonzaga 95, Northwestern State 78

Drew Timme had 25 points and nine rebounds as Gonzaga held off a late challenge to beat Northwestern State for the second night in a row.

Jalen Suggs added 19 points and Corey Kispert had 18 for Gonzaga (6-0), which owns the nation’s longest home win streak at 41 games.

Jairus Roberson scored 15 points to lead Northwestern State (1-9), which was playing its fourth game in five nights.

The Zags cruised to a 95-57 victory over Northwestern State on Monday.

No. 4 Iowa 70, Purdue 55

Luka Garza scored 22 points, Joe Wieskamp added 17 and Iowa beat Purdue.

Garza, who came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 29.3 points per game, scored 10 of the first 16 points for the Hawkeyes (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten), who were coming off a 99-88 loss to No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday.

Garza has scored 20 or more points in 17 consecutive Big Ten games, the longest streak in the conference since Ohio State’s Dennis Hopson had 16 in 1987. Garza was 7 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 8 in 3-pointers.

Trevion Williams led Purdue (6-3, 1-1) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Brandon Newman added 11 points.

No. 6 Houston 76, Temple 50

Quentin Grimes had 22 points and seven rebounds, Justin Gorham had 14 points and 12 boards and Houston beat Temple in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Grimes scored at least 20 points for the third straight game as the Cougars shot 48%, including 10 of 26 on 3-pointers. Reggie Chaney had 13 points and Tramon Mark scored 12 for Houston (6-0).

J.P. Moorman II scored 12 points and Brendan Barry had nine for Temple (1-1), which shot 29%.

The Cougars outrebounded Temple 43-26, including a 15-9 advantage on the offensive boards. Houston used that advantage for a 17-4 edge in second chance points.

No. 9 Wisconsin 67, Nebraska 53

Brad Davison had 15 points and a career-high seven assists, and Wisconsin overcame a dreadful start to beat Nebraska in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Micah Potter added 10 points and 11 rebounds and sparked a key 16-0 run in the second half. Fifth-year senior Aleem Ford celebrated his 24th birthday with 13 points and eight rebounds to help the Badgers (7-1) earn their ninth straight conference victory and 15th straight home win.

The Badgers closed the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season by winning eight straight conference games to share the Big Ten regular-season title with Maryland and Michigan State.

Dalano Banton scored 15 points, Teddy Allen had 11 and Trey McGowens added 10 for Nebraska (4-4).

No. 14 Missouri 54, Bradley 53

Jeremiah Tilmon’s three-point play with a second left lifted Missouri over Bradley.

Down eight with under four minutes to go, Missouri (6-0) went on a 6-0 run in the final 1:33 to spoil Bradley’s upset bid in dramatic fashion.

On the Tigers’ final possession, Xavier Pinson found Tilmon in the post on the left block. With time ticking down, Tilmon power-dribbled to the basket and forced a foul from Elijah Childs, finishing through the contact and earning a trip to the free throw line to win the game.

Tilmon sank the foul shot, and Mitchell Smith swatted away two inbounds passes by the Braves (6-3) to clinch it.

No. 15 Texas Tech 69, Oklahoma 67

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 21 points and Marcus Santos-Silva had 18 to help Texas Tech hold off Oklahoma.

Mac McClung added 16 points for Tech (7-2, 1-1 Big 12), which was coming off a one-point home loss to Kansas.

De’Vion Harmon scored 17 points and Austin Reaves added 13 for Oklahoma (5-2, 1-1), which made just 17 of 27 free throws. Brady Manek, Oklahoma’s leading scorer this season, finished with two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

Texas Tech, leading by three, fouled Harmon with 4 seconds left. Harmon made the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally. Victor Iwuakor rebounded for Oklahoma and was fouled with 2.8 seconds to play. He missed the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally. Oklahoma had several chances at a putback — Reaves had the best look — but none of the shots went in.

No. 16 Virginia 76, William & Mary 40

Trey Murphy III scored seven of his 15 points during a 13-0 first-half run and Virginia returned from a long coronavirus-related pause to beat William & Mary.

The Cavaliers (4-1) were playing for the first time since they beat Kent State on Dec. 4 but showed few signs of rust as they cashed in on their first five possessions to take an 11-2 lead. A 13-0 run came shortly thereafter as William & Mary went 7:52 without scoring.

Yuri Covington’s 12 points led the Tribe (2-3), which never recovered. They lost their 12th straight in the series, which Virginia leads 56-26. William & Mary’s last victory against the Cavaliers came in 1984-85.

North Carolina State 79, No. 17 North Carolina 76

Devon Daniels scored eight straight points in the second half and finished with 21 to help North Carolina State beat North Carolina.

Freshman Shakeel Moore scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who blew nearly all of a 17-point first-half lead in an unusually early meeting in the longtime rivalry.

But N.C. State responded with a 14-2 run after UNC (5-2, 0-1) got within a point, then did just enough down the stretch to hold off the Tar Heels’ late rally to win for only the fifth time in 37 meetings.