College basketball: No. 2 Baylor goes to 16-0; No. 1 Gonzaga defeats Pepperdine
WACO, Texas — Davion Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists against his former team, Matthew Mayer soared for a couple of highlight dunks, and No. 2 Baylor remained undefeated with an 84-72 victory over Auburn in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday.
Mitchell made a three-pointer with 11½ minutes left to extend the Bears’ lead to 59-43, getting the pass from Jared Butler and making the shot right after coming out of one of his shoes.
“This was a tough game because it was emotional,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “The team wanted to win it for Davion, and obviously Davion wanted to play well being a transfer from Auburn.”
Baylor (16-0) has gone deeper into a season without a loss only one other time — a 17-0 start in 2011-12. Adam Flagler, another transfer, led the Bears with a season-high 19 points, while Butler had 16, MaCio Teague 15 and Mayer 13. Flo Thamba was scoreless in 17 minutes but had 11 rebounds.
Strong performances from David Singleton and Cody Riley help UCLA beat Oregon State 57-52 on Saturday and rebound from a crushing loss to Stanford.
Jaylin Williams scored 17 points for Auburn (10-8), which had won four of its previous five games. Freshman guard Sharife Cooper added 15 points.
Tigers coach Bruce Pearl said his young backcourt got outplayed by Baylor’s veteran guards.
“And that’s OK, because Butler and Teague and Davion Mitchell and Flagler are all really good,” Pearl said. “But I think our guys are good too. But that was disappointing.”
No. 1 Gonzaga 97, Pepperdine 75
MALIBU — Drew Timme had 19 points, and Gonzaga routed Pepperdine for its 21st straight victory.
Andrew Nembhard added 17 points and eight assists, Corey Kispert scored 16 points and Aaron Cook had a career-high 15 for Gonzaga (17-0, 8-0 West Coast Conference).
Colbey Ross led Pepperdine (7-8, 3-3) with 16 points and seven assists
No. 3 Villanova 80, Seton Hall 72
NEWARK, N.J. — Jeremiah Robinson-Earl scored 23 points in 21 minutes, and Villanova rolled to ninth straight victory, beating Seton Hall.
Jermaine Samuels added 17 points and Justin Moore had 16 for Jay Wright’s team. Collin Gillespie had 11 points and a career-high 11 assists.
The Wildcats (11-1, 6-0 Big East) built a double-digit lead midway through the first half and were really never threatened in handing the Pirates (9-8, 6-5) their third straight loss to a ranked opponent.
Shevar Reynolds had 13 points for Seton Hall.
No. 20 Virginia Tech 65, No. 8 Virginia 51
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Keve Aluma scored a career-high 29 points to lead Virginia Tech past Virginia.
Aluma hit 10 of 15 shots from the field, including two three-pointers to help the Hokies (13-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half.
Jay Huff led Virginia (11-3, 7-1) with 13 points. The Cavaliers’ seven-game winning streak and 15-game conference streak ended.
No. 24 Oklahoma 66, No. 9 Alabama 61
NORMAN, Okla. — De’Vion Harmon scored 18 points to help Oklahoma beat Alabama in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, even though the Sooners played without scoring leader Austin Reaves and starting guard Alondes Williams because of COVID-19 protocols.
Elijah Harkless scored 14 points and Brady Manek added 12 for Oklahoma (11-4). The Sooners became the second team in the last 25 years to beat three top-10 teams in a row, following wins over Kansas and Texas.
Alex Reese scored 15 points for the Crimson Tide (14-4), who had won 10 in a row.
Running back Zach Charbonnet, a former Westlake Village Oaks Christian High star who spent two seasons at Michigan, said Saturday that he’s transferring to UCLA.
No. 10 Texas Tech 76, Louisiana State 71
BATON ROUGE, La. — Mac McClung, who had not made a field goal in the second half, hit two three-pointers to key a stunning late rally in Texas Tech’s victory over Louisiana State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Texas Tech (12-5) scored straight 12 points in the final minute. With the Red Raiders trailing 71-64 following a field goal by Shareef O’Neal with 1:10 remaining, McClung hit two from behind the arc.
Terrence Shannon Jr. led Texas Tech with 23 points and 10 rebounds. McClung added 22 points.
Javonte Smart matched his career high with 29 points for LSU (11-5).
Florida 85, No. 11 West Virginia 80
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Colin Castleton scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and Florida beat West Virginia in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Noah Locke had 19 points for the Gators (10-4). Tyree Applebee finished with 12.
Derek Culver led the Mountaineers (11-5) with a career-high 28 points.
Seth Doege, who worked as an offensive quality control analyst the last two seasons for USC, has been promoted to tight ends coach.
No. 12 Missouri 102, Texas Christian 98 (OT)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Xavier Pinson scored a career-best 36 points, Jeremiah Tilmon had a career-high 33, and Missouri beat Texas Christian in overtime in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
The Tigers (11-3) trailed by 12 with less than five minutes left in regulation. Missouri rallied behind Pinson’s outside shooting. He went eight for 13 from beyond the arc, including a deep three with 3.9 seconds left that tied it at 89.
Freshman Mike Miles led TCU (9-7) with a career-high 28 points.
Penn State 81, No. 14 Wisconsin 71
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Myreon Jones scored 20 points on eight-for-12 shooting, and Penn State snapped a decade-long skid against Wisconsin.
Izaiah Brockington added 18 points and John Harrar had 17 for the Nittany Lions (6-7, 3-6 Big Ten). They had lost 13 straight to the Badgers.
Nate Reuvers led Wisconsin (13-5, 7-4) with 18 points.
No. 18 Tennessee 80, No. 15 Kansas 61
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Yves Pons scored 17 points, and Tennessee never trailed in defeating Kansas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Volunteers (12-3) won their second straight and notched their second win against a top-15 opponent this season, a much-needed boost to their resume after COVID-19 issues scratched No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 14 Wisconsin and also a trip to Notre Dame.
This was just Tennessee’s second win all-time against Kansas in six games. The Vols improved to 5-2 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Jaden Springer scored 13 for Tennessee, whose only losses have been without the freshman this season.
Kansas (11-6) has lost four of five and dropped to 4-4 against ranked opponents this season. The Jayhawks fell to 5-3 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. David McCormack led Kansas with 17 points.
Georgia Tech 76, No. 16 Florida State 65
ATLANTA — Moses Wright scored 23 points as Georgia Tech beat Florida State, ending the Seminoles’ five-game winning streak.
Jose Alvarado added 21 points and Michael Devoe had 19 for the Yellow Jackets (8-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).
RaiQuan Gray had 19 points for Florida State (10-3, 6-2 ).
No. 17 Creighton 69, DePaul 62
CHICAGO — Marcus Zegarowski scored 19 points, and Creighton beat DePaul.
The cold-shooting Bluejays (13-4, 9-3 Big East) made just enough baskets to come out on top in a game that got heated in the first half. They hit all eight of their free throws in a closing 10-2 run and beat the Blue Demons (3-7, 1-7) for the 13th straight time.
Ray Salnave scored a season-high 21 points for DePaul.
Purdue 81, No. 21 Minnesota 62
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Brandon Newman scored 21 of his season-high 29 points in the second half, Trevion Williams added 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Purdue rallied to beat Minnesota.
The Boilermakers (12-6, 6-4 Big Ten) have won five of six. Coach Matt Painter earned his 174th Big Ten victory, tying former Illinois coach Harry Combes for No. 8 on the conference’s career list.
Liam Robbins scored 15 points for Minnesota (11-6, 4-6). The Golden Gophers fell to 0-5 on the road and have lost five of seven.
Utah 77, Colorado 74
BOULDER, Colo. — Reserve 6-foot guard Alfonso Plummer scored 23 points — 21 in the final 7:49 — and Utah rallied to stun Colorado.
McKinley Wright IV made a pair of foul shots to give the Buffaloes their largest lead at 65-46 with 8:46 left before the Utes outscored Colorado 31-9 the rest of the way.
Plummer did all his damage late, burying four three-pointers in the last 7:49. His four-point play with 3:24 left gave the Utes (7-7, 4-6 Pac-12 Conference) a 70-69 lead, and they never trailed again.
Pelle Larsson blocked Wright’s three-point attempt as time expired.
Timmy Allen had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Utah. The Utes have won three of their last five following a four-game losing streak.
Wright led Colorado with 15 points, and Jeriah Horne had 10.
Arizona State 79, Stanford 75
TEMPE, Ariz. — Remy Martin had 23 points and six assists to lead five Arizona State players scoring in double figures as the Sun Devils beat Stanford.
Josh Christopher added 15 points and Marcus Bagley, Jalen Graham and Alonzo Verge Jr. scored 12 apiece for Arizona State (6-8, 3-5 Pac-12).
Christopher hit a three-pointer and Kimani Lawrence made two free throws to give the Sun Devils a one-point lead with 1:46 to play. Michael O’Connell made a short jumper on the other end 29 seconds later, but Lawrence was fouled as he made a layup and converted the three-point play before Verge hit two free throws to cap the scoring as ASU closed on a 10-2 run.
The Sun Devils have won back-to-back games following a six-game losing streak.
Jaiden Delaire tied his career high with 21 points and Oscar da Silva had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Stanford (10-6, 6-4).
Arizona 71, California 50
TUCSON — James Akinjo had 13 of his 20 points in the second half, and Arizona cruised to a win over California.
The Wildcats (13-4, 7-4 Pac-12) won their fourth of the last five games and their ninth straight over the Golden Bears (7-12, 2-10).
Jordan Brown and Azuolas Tubelis added 12 points each, and Bennedict Mathurin scored 10. Akinjo had a pair of three-pointers and eight assists. Arizona was six of 13 from beyond the arc and 27 of 52 from the field.
Cal lost its fourth in a row. Matt Bradley had 21 points, making seven of 10 from the field and five of six from three-point range. Aside from Bradley, the Golden Bears made 11 of 37 from the field (30%). Joel Brown added 10 points.
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