No. 3 Texas 69, Baylor 60
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Freshman Tristan Thompson had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Texas held off a furious rally by LaceDarius Dunn and Baylor to remain undefeated in the Big 12.
Dunn scored 22 points in the second half as Baylor cut an 18-point deficit to three in the final 2 minutes. Texas led 65-60 when Dunn’s 3-pointer rattled in and out of the rim with about 25 seconds left and Texas’ Gary Johnson made two free throws to put the game away.
Texas (22-3, 10-0) could have settled the game much earlier, but went 22 of 37 from the free throw line.
Baylor (16-8, 6-5) was the first Big 12 team to stay within 10 points of Texas this season.
No. 7 BYU 72, Utah 59
PROVO, Utah — Jimmer Fredette scored 23 points, fill-in starter Charles Abouo added 22 and BYU pulled away late from rival Utah in their final regular-season meeting as Mountain West Conference foes.
Fredette, who leads the nation in scoring, had 17 points in the final 9 minutes and 12 in a row to help the Cougars (24-2, 10-1 MWC) take control after the game was tied at 48. He finished 6 of 19 from the field.
Abouo, a junior from the Ivory Coast who entered with a season high of 13 points, scored 17 in the first half alone. He also finished with 10 rebounds.
Jackson Emery scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime for BYU. The school’s career steals leader added six to his total.
Will Clyburn had 16 points for the Utes (10-15, 3-8 MWC).
The Cougars have won five straight and nine of 10 against the Utes, who are moving to the Pac-12 next season. BYU is joining the West Coast Conference for all sports but football.
No. 8 Notre Dame 78,
South Florida 55
TAMPA, Fla. — Jack Cooley came off the bench during an early 22-0 run and finished with a career-high 18 points to lead Notre Dame.
The victory is the seventh straight for the Fighting Irish (21-4, 10-3), who have won three straight Big East road games for the first time in 10 years.
Cooley made his first nine shots — giving him a stretch of 14 consecutive field goals over two games — before missing a 15-footer in the closing minutes.
Carleton Scott scored 13 points and Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis had 12 apiece for Notre Dame, which had six players score in double figures.
Shaun Noriega led South Florida (8-18, 2-11) with a career-best 23 points.
No. 16 Louisville 73,
No. 12 Syracuse
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kyle Kuric scored 23 points, Preston Knowles added 22 and Peyton Siva dropped in the clinching free throws in the final moments to lead Louisville.
The Cardinals (19-6, 8-4 Big East) continued their mastery of the Orange (20-6, 7-6) behind some hot 3-point shooting and just enough defense to beat Syracuse for the seventh straight time.
Brandon Triche led the Orange with a season-high 21 points and Scoop Jardine had 20 points and four assists but Syracuse couldn’t quite erase a 20-point second-half deficit to lose for the sixth time in its last eight games.
The Orange pulled within three points twice in the final 1:37 but Louisville survived thanks to clutch free throws from Siva and Chris Smith.
No. 17 Florida 61, Tennessee 60
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Erving Walker hit a driving, go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left and Florida overcame a six-point halftime deficit to beat Tennessee.
Walker led the Gators with 16 points and Kenny Boynton and Vernon Macklin each added 12 for Florida (20-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference), which has won four straight and seven of eight.
Melvin Goins missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer for Tennessee.
Scotty Hopson scored 22 points for the Volunteers (15-10, 5-5), who lost their third consecutive game and second in a row since coach Bruce Pearl returned from an eight-game SEC suspension for lying to NCAA investigators about a secondary violation.
No. 23 Vanderbilt 81,
No. 18 Kentucky 77
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins scored a career-high 32 points, including six 3-pointers.
With the win, the Commodores (18-6, 6-4) swept a three-game homestand that will keep them tied for second in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division. They came into Saturday tied with Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, two losses behind Florida.
Kentucky (17-7, 5-5) dropped to 1-5 on the road in the SEC this season and to the bottom of the East.
Jenkins had Vanderbilt’s first 30-point game against the Wildcats since Mike Rhodes on Jan. 19, 1980, with the Commodores’ first 30-point game since A.J. Ogilvy had 33 at LSU on March 4, 2009.
Terrence Jones led Kentucky with 25 points and Brandon Knight had 20.
