Overtime free throws help No. 2 Houston beat Bears
WACO, Texas (AP) — The only cheers Houston guard L.J. Cryer heard in his return to Baylor came when he missed a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game for the second-ranked Cougars.
Cryer, who as a freshman three years ago was part of Baylor's only national championship, made six free throws in overtime and finished with 15 points as No. 2 and Big 12-leading Houston beat the 11th-ranked Bears 82-76 on Saturday after blowing a 16-point halftime lead.
“I was expecting the boos and stuff like that, like not welcoming,” said Cryer, who had no turnovers while playing nearly 43 minutes.
“Really proud of L.J.,” Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. “L.J. was in a tough environment today . ... He showed his maturity because he just played solid.”
The Cougars (24-3, 11-3 Big 12) never trailed in regulation and appeared to win the game on a long 3-pointer by Jamal Shead at the buzzer. But replay showed the ball was still in his hands when the clock ran out.
All six of Cryer's free throws came in overtime, the first two with 3:06 left to put the Cougars back ahead to stay after falling behind for the first time. After playing 70 games the past three seasons for Baylor before transferring to Houston, he got booed loudly every time he touched the ball early.
Emanuel Sharp had 18 points to lead the Cougars. J'Wan Roberts had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Shead had 12 points and 10 assists.
“Everybody contributed to this win, we're all responsible for this win,” Shead said. “This was a really good team win.”
Ja'Kobe Walter scored a gamehigh 23 points for Baylor (19-8, 8-6), and RayJ Dennis had 21. Jalen Bridges had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Jayden Nunn scored 11 points.
The Bears didn't tie the game for the first time until Yves Missi, their 7-foot freshman, made a layup while being fouled with 4.4 seconds left in regulation to make it 69-all. Roberts rebounded Missi's missed free throw, and Shead was just a tick late in ending the game without overtime.
Baylor opened the second half with a 12-0 run while Houston missed its first eight shots. Bridges scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, including nine in a row for the Bears in the final 5 1/2 minutes of regulation.
The Cougars led 41-25 at halftime after scoring 13 points off 11 Baylor turnovers. They made 10 of 11 shots in one stretch, which Roberts started by assisting on consecutive baskets before ending it with a jumper that made it 27-10.
“We just felt like they brought it to us in the first half. They're easily the most physical team that we've played so far and I feel like we were a little bit taken back,” Bridges said. “And we just came out in the second half trying to punch them back.”
NO. 4 ARIZONA 91, WASHINGTON 75
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love scored 28 points to eclipse 2,000 for his career and Arizona bounced back from its first home loss of the season.
The Wildcats (21-6, 12-4 Pac12) lost at McKale Center for the first time this year Thursday night, falling 77-74 to No. 21 Washington State.
Arizona's Oumar Ballo controlled the paint after a quiet first half, finishing with 14 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Wildcats turned back every Washington challenge.
Koren Johnson led the Huskies (15-13, 7-10) with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
NO. 6 IOWA STATE 71, WEST VIRGINIA 64
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Tamin Lipsey had 14 points and six assists to lead Iowa State to its 16th straight victory at home.
Curtis Jones added 12 points for the Cyclones (21-6, 10-4 Big 12).
Kobe Johnson and Kerr Kriisa each scored 12 points for West Virginia (9-18, 4-10). The Mountaineers committed 23 turnovers, which Iowa State converted into 29 points.
NO. 10 NO CAROLINA 54, VIRGINIA 44
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Cormac Ryan scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and North Carolina moved into first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Armando Bacot added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels (21-6, 13-3), who moved into the top spot alone because No. 8 Duke lost earlier in the day at Wake Forest. The victory also ended an eightgame losing streak at John Paul Jones Arena for North Carolina.
Jordan Minor had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (20-8, 11-6), who could not recover from a 15-minute stretch in the first half during which they missed 22 of 23 field goals tries, leading to a 16-4 North Carolina run.
NO. 17 KENTUCKY 117, NO. 13 ALABAMA 95
LEXINGTON, Ky (AP) — Justin Edwards scored a season-high 28 points and Antonio Reeves added 24, leading No. 17 Kentucky to a 117-95 win over No. 13 Alabama on Saturday.
Edwards, a freshman, had his previous high scoring game against Vanderbilt on Feb. 6, when he finished with 17 points. Against Alabama, he was 10 for 10 from the field and 4 for 4 from 3-point distance. His only miss came at the free throw line, where he finished 4 for 5.
Zvonimir Ivisic came off the bench to score 18 points for the Wildcats (19-8, 9-5 SEC). Kentucky shot 63% from the field, 54% from 3-point distance and finished a point short of its highest scoring game of the season, a 118-82 win over Marshall on Nov. 25.
Rylan Griffen scored 21 points and Mark Sears added 20 for Alabama (19-8, 11-3), which shot 56% from the field and turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 29 points by Kentucky.
The conference showdown between the pair of highly ranked teams and the two top scoring offenses in the nation got off to a quick start. Alabama held a 29-28 lead with 9:39 left in the first half before Kentucky went on a 20-2 run over the next six minutes, seizing control of the game and carrying a 58-42 lead into halftime.
NO. 20 SO CAROLINA 72, MISSISSIPPI 59
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — B.J. Mack scored 17 points and South Carolina snapped a twogame skid.
The victory helped the Gamecocks (22-5, 10-4 SEC) hold on to their spot among the top four teams in the conference, giving them a shot at earning the double-bye in the conference tournament. They have three regular-season games left.
Moussa Cisse scored 13 points, Jaemyn Brakefield added 12 and Allen Flanigan 11 for the Rebels (19-8, 6-8), who shot 33% from the field and 3 for 16 from 3-point distance.
UCF 75, NO. 23 TEXAS TECH 61
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Darius Johnson had 16 points and five assists, Jaylin Sellers scored 15 points and UCF held Texas Tech scoreless for more than eight minutes in the second half.
The win, keyed by a 20-3 second-half run, was the third by the Knights (14-12, 5-9 Big 12) over a ranked opponent at Addition Financial Arena in their first season in the Big 12.
“We became too much of a perimeter-oriented team and a jump-shooting team,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “That's not who we are. We want to ground and pound. We want to touch the paint and play inside-out with our bigs. It took us some time to kind of find our way.”
Darrion Williams led the Red Raiders (19-8, 8-6) with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Kerwin Walton added 18 points.
NO. 24 FLORIDA 77, VANDERBILT 64
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Will Richard scored 21 points and Florida won for the eighth time in 10 games.
Walter Clayton Jr. had 19 points for the Gators (19-8, 9-5 Southeastern Conference), who shot 46.7% from the field and 37.5% from 3-point range. Tyrese Samuel had 15 points. Zyon Pullin had two points and had his run of 23 consecutive games with double-digit scoring halted.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 15 points and Ezra Manjon and Evan Taylor each had 10 for Vanderbilt (7-20, 2-12) .
KANSAS STATE 84, NO. 25 BYU 74
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Arthur Kaluma had a careerhigh 28 points and 10 rebounds as Kansas State beat BYU.
Kaluma was one of five players to score in double-figure for Kansas State (16-11, 6-8 Big 12), which had lost seven of its last eight games. Tylor Perry scored 16 points, David N'Guessan and Cam Carter each had 12, and Will McNair 11.
Jaxson Robinson scored 15 points to lead BYU (19-8, 7-7), which has gone 3-3 in its last six games. Noah Waterman and Spencer Johnson each scored 12 points, and Foussey Traore added 10.
ARKANSAS STATE 95, SOUTH ALABAMA 78
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Derrian Ford scored 23 points as Arkansas State beat South Alabama 95-78 on Saturday night.
Ford added six rebounds for the Red Wolves (15-14, 10-6 Sun Belt Conference). Freddy Hicks was 3 of 4 shooting and 7 of 8 from the free throw line to add 14 points. Julian Lual had 13 points and shot 6 for 13, including 1 for 5 from beyond the arc.
Samuel Tabe led the way for the Jaguars (14-15, 6-10) with 27 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Millender added 27 points for South Alabama.