LEXINGTON, Ky. — Terrence Jones had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 1 Kentucky to a 77-62 victory over Mississippi on Saturday, the Wildcats’ 50th consecutive win at home.
The Wildcats (26-1, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) are 49-0 at home under head coach John Calipari as part of the nation’s longest active home winning streak.
Kentucky took an early 16-5 lead, but the Rebels took advantage of freshman center Anthony Davis sitting for much of the first half because of foul trouble.
Ole Miss forwards Terrance Henry and Murphy Holloway took the ball inside without the nation’s leading shot blocker looming. Henry, who had 16 of his 18 points in the first half, helped the Rebels (15-11, 5-7) take a 31-29 lead.
But the Wildcats hit three straight 3-pointers to take a 43-35 halftime lead, and they never trailed in the second half.
NO. 3 MISSOURI 71,
TEXAS A&M 62
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kim English scored 21 points and Marcus Denmon had a key 3-pointer late to lift Missouri over Texas A&M for its seventh straight win.
It was Missouri’s 12th win in Big 12 play, tying a school record for most in a season.
Texas A&M cut the lead to five on a 3-pointer by Elston Turner with 1:22 remaining, and a turnover by Phil Pressey on the next play gave A&M the ball back.
But Denmon hit a 3-pointer to make it 68-60 with 35 seconds left, and his two free throws seconds sealed the win for Missouri (25-2, 12-2).
Khris Middleton had 15 points to lead A&M (13-13, 4-10).
NO. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 74,
CLEMSON 52
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Harrison Barnes scored 24 points and Tyler Zeller added 14 to help North Carolina beat Clemson.
The Tar Heels (23-4, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 56-0 all-time against Clemson (13-13, 5-7) in Chapel Hill — a record for consecutive home wins over one opponent.
North Carolina led by 15 points in the first half and never let Clemson closer than six in the second before blowing it open late.
John Henson added 13 points for the Tar Heels, while Kendall Marshall had 13 assists.
NO. 10 GEORGETOWN 63,
PROVIDENCE 53
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark scored 13 points each and Georgetown shut down Providence’s shooters for the second time this season.
The Friars made just 14 of 54 field goals (25.9 percent). In the previous meeting Dec. 31, they hit only 13 attempts and shot 25.5 percent in a 49-40 loss.
Georgetown (20-5, 10-4 Big East) held Providence (13-15, 2-13) without a basket for a 14-minute stretch in the first and led 31-20 at the half. The Friars cut it to 36-32 before the Hoyas went on a run to open a 49-35 lead with 9:43 remaining.
NEW MEXICO 65,
NO. 11 UNLV 45
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Drew Gordon scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead New Mexico to its seventh straight victory with a win over UNLV.
It was the second win this week over a ranked team for the Lobos (22-4, 8-2 Mountain West), who beat No. 13 San Diego State 77-67 on Thursday.
Anthony Marshall had 18 points to lead UNLV (22-6, 6-4), which lost for the third time in four games.
NO. 12 MARQUETTE 79,
CONNECTICUT 64
HARTFORD, Conn. — Jae Crowder had 29 points and 12 rebounds to help Marquette beat UConn and remain in position for a double bye in next month’s Big East tournament.
Darius Johnson-Odom added 24 points for Marquette (22-5, 11-3 Big East), which won for the 10th time 11 games.
Johnson-Odom and Crowder combined for 29 first-half points as the Golden Eagles ran out to a 43-29 halftime lead.
UConn cut the deficit to four early in the second half, but could not stay with Marquette.
Jeremy Lamb had 19 points to lead Connecticut (16-10, 6-8).
AIR FORCE 58, NO. 13 SAN DIEGO ST. 56
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Michael Lyons scored 27 points and Air Force upset San Diego State when Xavier Thames’ off-balance 3-point attempt fell short at the buzzer.
The Falcons (13-11, 3-7 Mountain West) won for just the second time in 74 games against a Top 25 team. They also beat then-No. 22 UTEP on Feb. 15, 1992.
The short-handed Aztecs (20-6, 6-4) lost their third straight, something they hadn’t done since 2008, a span of 124 games. The Aztecs fell two games behind conference leader New Mexico, which upset No. 11 UNLV 65-45 earlier Saturday.
Chase Tapley scored 17 points, and Tim Shelton had 13 points and 11 rebounds for SDSU.
NO. 14 FLORIDA 98, ARKANSAS 68
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Erving Walker scored a career-high 31 points and Florida ended Arkansas’ perfect home record.
The Gators (21-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) shot a season-high 58.3 percent (28 of 48) from the field, hitting 13 of 23 from 3-point range.
Florida led 53-27 at halftime after connecting on 9 of 14 from long range.
Kenny Boynton had 25 points and Bradley Beal added 21 for the Gators.
The loss ends a 17-0 start to the season in Fayetteville for the Razorbacks (17-10, 5-7), who were led by BJ Young’s career-best 31 points.
NO. 16 MURRAY ST. 65, NO. 21 SAINT MARY’S 51
MURRAY, Ky. — Isaiah Canaan scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half as Murray State beat Saint Mary’s for its most convincing win over a nationally recognized opponent.
The Racers (26-1) have already clinched the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, but were still short of victories over quality opponents since beating Memphis in early December before hosting this Bracket Buster matchup with the Gaels.
Murray State jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never trailed, building a double-digit advantage early in the second half and cruising from there in front of a sold-out CFSB Center.
Matthew Dellavedova scored 17 for Saint Mary’s (23-5), which has lost three of four.
NO. 19 LOUISVILLE 90, DEPAUL 82, OT
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Russ Smith hit back-to-back baskets in overtime and Louisville rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat DePaul for its seventh win in eight games.
Kyle Kuric scored 25 points, Chris Smith added 20 and Russ Smith 16 to lead the Cardinals (21-6, 9-5 Big East), who trailed by 10 at the half.
DePaul (11-15, 2-12) has now lost 36 straight games against ranked opponents. The Blue Demons have lost 11 of their last 12.
Brandon Young scored 27 points and Cleveland Melvin chipped in with 14 points and 10 rebounds for DePaul.
NO. 20 FLORIDA ST. 76, N.C. STATE 62
RALEIGH, N.C. — Ian Miller scored 17 points and Bernard James had 12 to lead Florida State past North Carolina State.
Okaro White and Michael Snaer each finished with 10 points for the Seminoles (19-7, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by double figures for the entire second half.
Florida State won its third straight to remain atop the league standings and improved to 4-0 against the Tobacco Road schools in North Carolina.
C.J. Leslie scored 21 points to lead the Wolfpack (18-9, 7-5), but the rest of the team combined to shoot 9 of 44 in their second straight loss.
NO. 22 VIRGINIA 71, MARYLAND 44
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Mike Scott scored 25 points and Virginia took command with a 16-0 run early in the second half to beat Maryland.
Malcolm Brogdon added 14 points and Sammy Zeglinski 11 for the Cavaliers (20-6, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who ended their first two-game losing streak of the season.
Terrell Stoglin scored 14 points, all in the first half, and Nick Faust had 13 for Maryland (15-11, 5-7). The Terps stayed in the game by making seven 3-pointers in the first half, but managed just 13 points after halftime as they misfired on 19 of 24 shots.
Maryland missed all six of its shots from long range in the second half.
SAN FRANCISCO 66, NO. 24 GONZAGA 65
SAN FRANCISCO — Rashad Green scored on a short leaner with 3.3 seconds left to lift San Francisco to a win over Gonzaga.
Green finished with 16 points, Perris Blackwell added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Michael Williams scored 13 for the Dons (18-11, 8-7 West Coast Conference), who have beaten the Bulldogs each of the past three seasons at home.
Elias Harris had 21 points and 11 rebounds for Gonzaga (21-5, 11-3) but shot an off-balance airball from behind the 3-point line as time ran out. The loss dropped the Bulldogs a game behind No. 21 Saint Mary’s in the conference standings with two games remaining.
NO. 24 WICHITA ST. 91, DAVIDSON 74
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Joe Ragland scored 30 points and Wichita State shot a blazing 80 percent in the second half to break open a tight game and beat Davidson.
Ragland, a senior, hit 11 of 14 shots from the field and all five free throws to finish one point shy of his career high set earlier this season against UNLV.
Toure’ Murry scored 16 points and reserve Carl Hall added 13 points for the Shockers (24-4), who have won 22 of 24 to give coach Gregg Marshall his 300th career victory.
Despite persistent foul trouble that allowed him to play only 19 minutes, Jake Cohen scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting to lead Davidson (20-7).WW
