No. 4 San Diego State tops New Mexico, claims Mountain West
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Junior forward Matt Mitchell had 22 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double and scored his 1,000 career point for No. 4 San Diego State, which beat New Mexico 82-59 Tuesday night to win the Mountain West Conference championship and remain the nation’s only undefeated team.
Yanni Wetzell added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Aztecs (25-0, 14-0 MWC), who clinched at least a share of the title in the first half when Utah State beat Colorado State, and then won it outright with a suffocating defense that held New Mexico (17-9 6-7) to just 26 points in the second half.
Malachi Flynn had 15 points and Jordan Schakel 11 for SDSU.
Mitchell, a junior forward from Riverside, scored his 1,000th career point on a bank shot early in the second half. That was part of a 9-2 run that expanded SDSU's 35-33 halftime lead to 44-35.
Vante Hendrix had 20 points for New Mexico.
NO. 6 DAYTON 81, RHODE ISLAND 67
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Obi Toppin scored 22 points and led an opening 17-point spurt as Dayton dominated a match-up of the Toppin brothers and the Atlantic 10's top teams.
Both teams brought double-digit winning streaks into a chippy game that included seven technical fouls. Dayton (22-2, 11-0) got the better of it in every way, winning its 13th in a row.
Toppin had a double-double with 10 rebounds. Jalen Crutcher scored 21 points, and Trey Landers matched his career high with 14 rebounds.
Fatts Russell had 19 points for Rhode Island (18-6, 10-2), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
NO. 9 MARYLAND 72, NEBRASKA 70
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Jalen Smith had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Eric Ayala scored 16 points and Maryland extended its winning streak to seven games and remained alone atop the Big Ten.
After the Terrapins (20-4, 10-3) let a 14-point lead dwindle to 71-70, Smith blocked a shot in the waning seconds and made a free throw on the other end to clinch it.
Donta Scott had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Maryland, and Anthony Cowan Jr. totaled 13 points and 10 assists. It was the first time since 2001 that three Terps registered double-doubles in the same game.
Haanif Cheatham scored 20 and Thorir Thorbjarnarson added 15 for Nebraska (7-17, 2-11), which has lost nine straight and is 0-9 on the road.
NO. 12 KENTUCKY 78, VANDERBILT 64
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points and Kentucky rallied from its biggest halftime deficit of the season.
Kentucky (19-5, 9-2) kept a piece of the lead atop the Southeastern Conference standings with Auburn and LSU. The Wildcats also won their eighth straight over Vanderbilt, though this was the fifth time in this streak that they've had to rally from a double-digit deficit. This time, they trailed by 14 during the first half and were down 36-27 at halftime.
Vanderbilt (9-15, 1-10) was looking to make Kentucky the second straight ranked team to come into Memorial Gym and lose within the past week after the Commodores upset then-No. 18 LSU.
NO. 13 PENN STATE 88, PURDUE 76
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Mike Watkins matched his season high with 19 points and Seth Lundy added a career-high 18 to lift Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) made a season-high 14 3-pointers for their seventh consecutive victory that also snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series. It was Penn State's first win at Mackey Arena since Feb. 18, 2006.
Trevion Williams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Purdue (14-11, 7-7), which had its three-game winning streak end.
MICHIGAN STATE 70, NO. 22 ILLINOIS 69
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Star guard Ayo Dosunmu crumbled to the floor clutching his left knee as Michigan State's Xavier Tillman threw down a huge dunk at the buzzer that lifted the Spartans over the Illini.
The severity of Dosunmu's injury wasn't immediately made available. The Illini's leading scorer had 17 points Tuesday and is averaging 15.8 per game.
Rocket Watts led the Spartans (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) with 21 points, and Tillman had 17. Aaron Henry and Cassius Winston added 13 and 12, respectively.
Andres Feliz scored 15 points and Kofi Cockburn added 11 for Illinois (16-8, 8-5).
NO. 25 LSU 82, MISSOURI 78
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Darius Days scored seven of his 20 points in the final five minutes as LSU rallied to beat Missouri.
LSU (18-6, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed by eight points midway through the second half before taking the lead for good at 72-69 on Days' 3-pointer with 4:43 remaining. Missouri (11-13, 3-8) stayed close over the final minutes.
