No. 20 Clemson ends skid vs UNC, tops No. 19 Tar Heels
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) Marcquise Reed had 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer after No. 20 Clemson blew a 16-point lead, and the Tigers ended a 10-game losing streak to North Carolina with an 82-78 victory over the 19th-ranked Tar Heels.
The Tigers (18-4, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) were up 44-28 at the half and looked like they would cruise to their first win over the Tar Heels (16-7, 5-5) since January 2010. Instead, Cameron Johnson and Joel Berry II rallied UNC back, with Berry's jumper tying it at 74 with 2:03 to play.
That's when Reed struck with his 3 from the left side to put Clemson ahead for good. Reed rebounded Johnson's miss moments later, and Elijah Thomas made an inside shot to go up 79-74.
North Carolina has its first three-game losing streak since the 2013-14 season.
NO. 6 XAVIER 73, ST. JOHN'S 68
NEW YORK (AP) - Trevon Bluiett scored 14 points to lead No. 6 Xavier over St. John's.
Bluiett was one of four players in double-figure scoring for the Musketeers (20-3, 8-2 Big East). Kerem Kanter and Quentin Goodin each had 13 points, and J.P. Macura added 11.
Despite a 31-point performance from Shamorie Ponds, the Red Storm (10-13, 0-11) dropped their 11th straight. Marvin Clark II added 19 points, and Bashir Ahmed had 12.
In the final 2:29, Bluiett made four free throws, and Kanter and Kasier Gates each converted layups. Kanter was aided by a defensive goaltending call on Tariq Owens, which led St. John's coach Chris Mullin to complain to senior associate commissioner Stu Jackson after the game.
NO. 11 AUBURN 79, MISSISSIPPI 70
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Bryce Brown scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead No. 11 Auburn over Mississippi.
Auburn (20-2, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) beat Ole Miss for the second time this season. Brown made 9 of 16 shots from the field, including three 3-pointers.
Mustapha Heron added 16 points for the Tigers. Jared Harper had 13 points and seven assists.
Ole Miss (11-11, 4-5) lost for the first time at home during conference play. The Rebels were led by Deandre Burnett, who scored 16 points. Terence Davis, Markel Crawford and Devontae Shuler each added 11.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA 98, BAYLOR 96
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Trae Young scored 31 of his 44 points in the second half to help No. 12 Oklahoma hold off Baylor.
Young, a freshman guard who leads the nation in scoring and assists, made 11 of 20 field goals and 16 of 19 free throws. It was his fourth game this season with at least 40 points, and the third time in the past six games he has scored that many.
Rashard Odomes scored 18 points, Brady Manek had 16 and Khadeem Lattin added 15 for the Sooners (16-5, 6-3 Big 12).
Manu Lecomte scored 29 points and Nuni Omot scored 23 for Baylor (12-10, 2-7), which lost its fourth straight.
NO. 17 OHIO STATE 71, INDIANA 56
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Jae'Sean Tate scored 16 points and No. 17 Ohio State took control early in cruising to a win over Indiana.
Kaleb Wesson added 14 points and Keita Bates-Diop had 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Buckeyes (19-5, 10-1 Big Ten) bounced back from last week's buzzer-beater loss to Penn State that dropped them three places in the AP Top 25 poll.
Devonte Green scored 20 for the Hoosiers (12-11, 5-6), who have lost three in a row and four of five. Indiana, playing its fourth game in eight days, shot just 36.4 percent from the floor after hitting better than 50 percent of its shots the past three games.
The Hoosiers struggled on defense, too. They had trouble stopping Wesson when he went to the basket in the lane. Ohio State scored 40 points in the paint.
NO. 21 KENTUCKY 83, VANDERBILT 81, OT
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Quade Green's layup with five seconds remaining gave No. 21 Kentucky an overtime victory against Vanderbilt.
Kentucky (17-5, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) overcame a 57-46 deficit with 9 + minutes left to tie it on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's two free throws with three seconds left. The freshman then opened OT with a jumper, PJ Washington made two free throws and Kevin Knox hit a 3-pointer for a 78-74 lead.
Vanderbilt (8-14, 2-7) rallied for a 79-78 edge before Knox finished a three-point play, and that was answered by Clevon Brown's layup. After Green found open space for the winning layup, Peyton Willis fired a 3-pointer that bounced off the rim and sparked a dog pile at midcourt for the Wildcats.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 30 points for Kentucky, while Knox had 18 and Green 12.
NO. 22 RHODE ISLAND 85, MASSACHUSETTS 83
AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Jeff Dowtin had 19 points and 10 assists, and No. 22 Rhode Island escaped with a win over Massachusetts after the Minutemen botched an intentional missed free throw in the final seconds.
The Rams (18-3, 10-0 Atlantic 10) led by three with 1.8 seconds left when UMass' Luwane Pipkins went to the free-throw line. Pipkins made the first shot and missed the second on purpose, but he was called for a lane violation while grabbing the rebound after throwing the ball off the front of the rim.
Rhode Island has won 13 straight games.
Jared Terrell led the Rams with 21 points and fueled a 21-2 run in the first half, capped by E.C. Matthews' 3-pointer with under eight minutes left. Rhode Island led 44-41 at halftime.
Pipkins paced the Minutemen (10-13, 3-7) with 27 points. He came in as the A-10's third-leading scorer at 19.9 points per game.
GEORGIA 72, NO. 23 FLORIDA 60
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Yante Maten scored 20 points and Georgia recovered after blowing a halftime lead to beat No. 23 Florida.
Florida (15-7, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) began the night in second place in the SEC, one game behind No. 11 Auburn.
Georgia (13-8, 4-5) had lost three straight and five of six.
The Gators recovered after trailing 37-32 at halftime to lead 48-43. Florida opened the second half with a 12-2 run that included two 3-pointers by Jalen Hudson and a jam by KeVaughn Allen for a 44-39 edge.
Georgia regrouped and led 55-51 following a three-point play by Maten and stretched the lead to 60-53 on a 3-pointer by Maten.
