No. 8 Kansas uses balanced scoring attack to beat No. 4 Houston 78-65
Sun, Feb 4, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Hunter Dickinson scored 20 points to lead four Kansas players in double figures as the No. 8 Jayhawks beat No. 4 Houston 78-65 on Saturday.
Kansas (18-4, 6-3 Big 12) got 17 points each from Kevin McCullar and Johnny Furphy, and KJ Adams added 10 points as the Jayhawks became the first team this season to score more than 72 points against the Cougars.
Houston (19-3, 6-3) was led by L.J. Cryer with 24 points. J'Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp each scored 11 points.
Houston came into the game with the nation's best scoring defense at 52.9 points per game allowed. The Jayhawks hit 53 points with 14:17 left in the second half on a layup by Dickinson.
Kansas extended its 15-point halftime lead to 20 in the second half. Houston closed within 10 at at 68-58, but could not get closer.
NO. 1 UCONN 77, ST. JOHN'S 64
NEW YORK (AP) - Cam Spencer scored 23 points, freshman Stephon Castle had a season-best 21 and UConn pulled away from St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
Tristen Newton added 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the defending national champion Huskies (20-2, 10-1 Big East), playing without injured forward Alex Karaban, won their 10th straight game.
The winning streak began Dec. 23 with a 69-65 victory over St. John's at home.
Daniss Jenkins scored 19 for the scuffling Red Storm (13-9, 5-6), who have dropped five of six after opening 4-1 in conference play during their first season under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. Leading scorer Joel Soriano was held to six points on 2-of-6 shooting and four rebounds - well below his season averages.
NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA 93, NO. 7 DUKE 84
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Armando Bacot had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Harrison Ingram added 21 points, 13 rebounds and four steals as North Carolina beat rival Duke.
ACC scoring leader RJ Davis faced constant defensive attention before coming on late to score 17 points despite 5-of-14 shooting as UNC (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved to the top of the conference standings.
Freshman Jared McCain had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils (16-5, 7-3), while star big man Kyle Filipowski added 22 points but only five rebounds in his marquee matchup with Bacot inside.
NO. 5 TENNESSEE 103, NO. 10 KENTUCKY 92
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Josiah-Jordan James scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half, and Zakai Zeigler also added 26 points in Tennessee's win over Kentucky.
Zeigler made all five of his field goal attempts for 13 points before halftime, including three from long range, helping the Volunteers (16-5, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) lead throughout.
Reserve Rob Dillingham had a career-high 35 points with six 3-pointers before fouling out late for Kentucky (15-5, 5-4), which dropped its second in a row and third in four games. Antonio Reeves had 21 and Reed Sheppard 16 in his second consecutive start at point guard in place of injured D.J. Wagner (ankle).
NO. 9 MARQUETTE 91, GEORGETOWN 57
WASHINGTON (AP) - Kam Jones scored a career-high 31 points, Tyler Kolek had 17 points and eight assists and Marquette won its sixth straight game.
David Joplin scored 15 points and Oso Ighodaro added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Marquette (17-5, 8-3 Big East) forced 19 turnovers and outscored the Hoyas 35-5 in points off turnovers.
Rowan Brumbaugh scored 12 points to lead Georgetown (8-13, 1-9), which lost its sixth straight game. The 34-point loss is the largest home Big East defeat for the Hoyas.
NO. 18 BAYLOR 70, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 68
WACO, Texas (AP) - Jayden Nunn made the go-ahead layup with 2 seconds remaining and Baylor overcame coach Scott Drew's first career ejection to beat Iowa State.
The Bears hung on for the victory when Milan Momcilovic's banked 3-pointer by the Cyclones was ruled to be shot after the final buzzer.
Nunn finished with 16 points and RayJ Dennis had 18 points and seven rebounds for Baylor (16-5, 5-3 Big 12).
Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points to lead Iowa State (16-5, 5-3).
CINCINNATI 75, NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 72
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Simas Lukosius scored 16 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 21 seconds left, and Cincinnati dealt Texas Tech its first home loss this season.
The 14-footer by Lukosius was the 14th and final lead change of the game, which also had eight ties. That gave the Bearcats (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) a 73-72 lead right after Pop Isaacs made a long defended step-back 3-pointer to put the Red Raiders ahead for the final time.
Isaacs, who finished with a game-high 22 points for Texas Tech (16-5, 5-3), missed a potential go-ahead jumper with nine seconds left. Dan Skillings Jr. grabbed the rebound and passed ahead to breaking John Newman III for a slam dunk, though Isaacs had a longer than half-court shot ricochet off the front rim as time expired.
Skillings had 14 points and Newman 11 for Cincinnati. Aziz Bandaogo had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Robert Jennings had 14 points for the Red Raiders, and Kerwin Walton had 12.
NO. 16 AUBURN 91, MISSISSIPPI 77
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Jaylin Williams scored 16 points and Auburn erased a 13-point deficit in the first half with a dominating second half to defeat Mississippi.
Johni Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara each scored 15 points, with 27 of those 30 combined points coming in the second half. Denver Jones and K.D. Johnson scored 11 points apiece as Tre Donaldson added 10 points for the Tigers (18-4, 7-2 SEC).
Allen Flanigan scored 20 points, Matthew Murrell had 18 and Jaemyn Brakefield 15 for Ole Miss (18-4, 5-4).
SAN DIEGO STATE 81, NO. 17 UTAH STATE 67
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Jaedon LeDee had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead San Diego State past Great Osobor and Utah State, pulling the defending Mountain West champion Aztecs within one game of the Aggies.
LeDee scored nine points in the second half of the showdown between the top two scorers and rebounders in the league. Osobor had 17 points and seven rebounds.
The Aztecs (17-5, 6-3 Mountain West) beat the Aggies (19-3, 7-2) for the fifth straight time. Jay Pal scored 16 points, Micah Parrish added 14 and Darrion Trammell 12.
Mason Falslev scored 16 and Darius Brown II 13 for Utah State.
NO. 20 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 102, TULSA 70
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - Johnell Davis scored 24 points, Alijah Martin and Vladislav Goldin each scored 18 and Florida Atlantic won its seventh consecutive game.
Nick Boyd finished with 13 and Bryan Greenlee added 11 for Florida Atlantic (18-4, 8-1 American Athletic Conference), which remained tied with Charlotte and South Florida atop the league standings.
PJ Haggerty scored 25 and Carlous Williams added 16 for Tulsa (12-9, 3-6). The Golden Hurricane scored 27 points in the first half, then needed only 10 minutes of the second half to score their next 27 - but trailed by double digits most of the way. Tulsa was 4 for 28 from 3-point range.
NO. 22 BYU 86, WEST VIRGINIA 73
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Fousseyni Traore had a season-high 24 points and nine rebounds to lead BYU past West Virginia.
Richie Saunders added 17 points and Jaxson Robinson scored 15 for the Cougars (16-5, 4-4 Big 12), who earned their second road win in five trips this season.
Kerr Kriisa scored a season-high 23 points for West Virginia (8-14, 3-6). Jesse Edwards added 16 points and RaeQuan Battle scored 14.
UCF 74, NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 63
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Jaylin Sellers shot 13 for 14 from the line and scored 20 points, Antwann Jones hit three early 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and UCF coach Johnny Dawkins earned his 300th coaching victory.
Darius Johnson added 14 points and eight assists for UCF (13-8, 4-5 Big 12), which never trailed and built a 17-point lead in the game. The Knights shot 28 for 32 from the line in the game and blocked 12 shots in the win.
Le'Tre Darthard hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points, Rivaldo Soares added 11 and Jalen Moore 10 for the Sooners (16-6, 4-5).
NO. 24 ALABAMA 99, MISSISSIPPI STATE 67
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Mark Sears scored 21 points and Alabama maintained its spot atop the Southeastern Conference standings.
Aaron Estrada scored 15 points and Mouhamed Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson each scored 14 for Alabama (16-6, 8-1).
Dioubate added eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks, while Estrada had eight rebounds and three assists.
Tolu Smith III had 23 points and five rebounds for Mississippi State (14-8, 3-6). Shakeel Moore scored 10 points and Shawn Jones Jr. 10.
TEXAS 77, NO. 25 TCU 66
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Max Abmas scored 19 of his 21 points after halftime, including the last 13 for Texas in a win over TCU.
Abmas put the Longhorns (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) ahead to stay with a three-point play with 3:25 left that broke a 64-all tie. That layup and free throw started a personal 11-0 run that included two 3-pointers, and he added a pair of free throws in the final minute.
Dylan Disu had 15 points for Texas, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Dillon Mitchell had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Emanuel Miller had 15 points for the Horned Frogs (16-6, 5-4). Avery Anderson added 13, while Trevian Tennyson and Jakobe Coles each had 10.
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