No. 6 Louisville blows out Missouri State 90-60
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Montrezl Harrell had 17 points and eight rebounds, and No. 6 Louisville manhandled Missouri State 90-60 on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals (10-1) took control early and never let up against the Bears (8-2). They combined dominant rebounding and offensive accuracy during a 15-0 first-half run for a 19-4 lead in the first meeting between the schools since 2006.
Harrell was among four Cardinals with at least eight rebounds each, a combination that alone outdid MSU in Louisville's 51-30 domination of the boards. They also outscored the Bears 46-28 inside and held them to 38 percent shooting to close a 5-0 home stand.
Senior guard Russ Smith added 11 points and eight assists, while freshman Terry Rozier had 11 points and eight rebounds. Forwards Stephan Van Treese and Mangok Mathiang combined for 17 rebounds for Louisville, which shot 34 of 66 from the field (52 percent).
No. 5 Michigan State routs North Florida 78-48
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Adreian Payne scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half and fifth-ranked Michigan State rolled to a 78-48 victory against North Florida on Tuesday night.
Branden Dawson added 12 points and Denzel Valentine scored 11 for the Spartans, who were ranked No. 1 in the country before a loss to North Carolina on Dec. 4. Michigan State (9-1) narrowly avoided an upset against Oakland last weekend before routing an overmatched North Florida team.
Jalen Nesbitt scored 11 points for the Ospreys (5-7), who have also lost big to Ohio State and Indiana this season.
Michigan State led 50-19 at halftime after shooting 71 percent and holding North Florida (5-7) to 7 of 32 from the field.
No. 7 Oklahoma State beats Delaware St 75-43
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Le'Bryan Nash had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 7 Oklahoma State to a 75-43 win against Delaware State on Tuesday night.
Markel Brown added 14 points for the Cowboys (10-1), Stevie Clark had nine points, and Marcus Smart and Michael Cobbins finished with eight apiece.
Kendall Gray led the Hornets (2-9) with 12 points and eight rebounds. Kendal Williams added 11.
Oklahoma State led 30-16 at halftime and went on an 18-2 to start the second half to pull away from Delaware State, which fell to 0-9 against Big 12 Conference opponents.
It was the Cowboys' fourth consecutive win since a 73-68 loss to Memphis on Dec. 1, and the third game in a row they held an opponent under 20 points in the first half. The Hornets hit 6 of 25 shots over the first 20 minutes and were 15 for 53 for the game.
No. 11 Wichita State holds on 72-67 against Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Cleanthony Early scored 26 points and Fred VanVleet made two free throws with 11 seconds left to lift No. 11 Wichita State to a 72-67 victory against Alabama on Tuesday night.
Early scored nine consecutive points for Wichita State (11-0) during one late stretch and the Shockers extended the program's best start, answering every time the Crimson Tide (5-5) threatened to overtake them.
Rodney Cooper's 3-pointer brought Alabama to 65-64 with 1:57 remaining. VanVleet responded with a basket and Darius Carter scored on a putback with 37 seconds remaining after Trevor Releford hit two free throws. Alabama collected a long rebound but Retin Obasohan's 3-pointer missed, forcing Alabama to foul.
VanVleet iced the game at the line.
Early made 7 of 11 from the field and hit all 11 free throw attempts. The Shockers were 25 of 27 from the line.
Trevor Releford led Alabama with 22 points.
No. 13 Oregon beats UC Irvine to move to 10-0
EUGENE, Ore. -- The return of Dominic Artis has given Oregon a bounty of talented players, a problem coach Dana Altman is happy to have.
Artis, last year's starting point guard, returned from a nine-game suspension to score five points and grab eight rebounds in the No. 13 Ducks' 91-63 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday night.
The Ducks improved to 10-0 for the first time since 2006-07, when they started 13-0 and went on to win the Pac-10 and advance to the Elite Eight.
Altman said the addition of Artis to Oregon's deep roster is a ''great problem'' to have. ''It's a long season, and you have all kinds of adversity,'' he added.
No. 16 Florida beats No. 15 Memphis 77-75
NEW YORK -- Casey Prather scored 22 points, including Florida's last eight of the game, and the 16th-ranked Gators beat No. 15 Memphis 77-75 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
Prather made two free throws with 27 seconds left to give Florida (8-2) a 77-73 lead. Shaq Gooodwin made two free throws with 19 seconds left to bring Memphis (7-2) within 77-75.
Florida's Scottie Wilbekin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 17 seconds left giving the Tigers a chance for the tie or win.
After calling a timeout with 10.8 seconds to go, Memphis' Joe Jackson drove to the basket but his shot was partially blocked and the clock ran out.
Dorian Finney-Smith added 14 points for the Gators and Wilbekin and Michael Frazier II both had 11.
Jackson had 17 points for Memphis, which had a six-game winning streak snapped, while Geron Johnson had 13 and Chris Crawford and David Pellom both had 12.
