No. 7 Florida tops Georgia, sets home-winning mark
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Michael Frazier II scored a career-high 21 points and No. 7 Florida handled Georgia 72-50 on Tuesday night, setting a school record for consecutive home wins.
The undermanned Gators won their 25th in a row at the O'Connell Center, topping the previous mark set between March 2006 and November 2007. Two-time national champions Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah did most of the heavy lifting in that streak.
This group, which has four seniors who have lost in three consecutive regional finals, barely acknowledged their achievement. They have loftier goals.
And if Frazier continues to play like he did against the Bulldogs, Florida (14-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) certainly could improve its chances of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Frazier made 7 of 16 shots, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range. His previous high was 20 points in a loss to Wisconsin early this season.
Juwan Parker led Georgia (8-7, 2-1) with 13 points while Marcus Thornton added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Dorian Finney-Smith scored 14 points for Florida. while Will Yeguete added 12 and Pat Young 10.
Hoosiers upset No. 3 Wisconsin 75-72
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Kevin ''Yogi'' Ferrell scored 25 points on Tuesday night, leading Indiana to a stunning 75-72 upset against previously unbeaten Wisconsin.
The third-ranked Badgers (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten) were trying to become the first team ever to win 13 consecutive games against the Hoosiers (12-5, 2-2).
Wisconsin started the night as one of Division I's four remaining unbeaten teams and it looked like it would stay that way when the Badgers took a 10-point lead with 13:27 to play.
But the Hoosiers, playing their best game of the season, answered with 12 consecutive points to take a 54-52 lead with 9 minutes left.
Indiana led 70-65 with 2:03 remaining but still had to fend off Wisconsin's late challenge. Ferrell made two free throws with 18.3 seconds left to give Indiana the three-point lead and both of Wisconsin's potentially tying 3-pointers came up short.
Traevon Jackson led the Badgers with a career-high 21 points.
No. 5 Wichita State beats Bradley 72-50
WICHITA, Kan. -- Fred VanVleet had 22 points and seven rebounds and No. 5 Wichita State remained undefeated with a 72-50 victory against Bradley on Tuesday night.
Darius Carter added 11 points for the Shockers (18-0, 5-0 Missouri Valley Conference), who extended school records for winning streak and best start to a season in the first game as a top 5 team since 1981.
After overcoming a 19-point, second-half deficit in its last game, Wichita State took any mystery out of this game pretty quickly.
Walt Lemon scored 12 points, Tyshon Pickett added 11 and Omari Grier had 10 for Bradley (6-12, 1-4). Those three were a combined 12 of 37 from the field.
The Shockers' two leading scorers, Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker, combined for just 13 points in 40 minutes, and it didn't really matter.
Qualls' dunk lifts Arkansas past Kentucky in OT
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Michael Qualls slammed home a thundering two-hand dunk with .2 seconds remaining in overtime to send Arkansas to an 87-85 victory against No. 13 Kentucky on Tuesday night.
The win ends a two-game losing streak for the Razorbacks (12-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference), who have now won three in a row at home against the Wildcats.
Qualls, who finished with 18 points, flew in from the baseline as time was winding down and corralled Ky Madden's 3-point miss for the dunk - sending the season-high Bud Walton Arena crowd of 18,619 into a frenzy.
Madden had 18 points for Arkansas, while Alandise Harris finished with 12 and Bobby Portis 11.
James Young led Kentucky (12-4, 2-1) with 23 points, while Julius Randle had 20 and Aaron Harrison 16.
No. 19 Cincinnati rallies to 69-58 win against Temple
CINCINNATI -- Sean Kilpatrick emerged from his 3-point shooting slump Tuesday night, and Justin Jackson had a double-double, rallying No. 19 Cincinnati from a late deficit to a 69-58 victory against short-handed Temple.
Cincinnati (16-2, 5-0) remained alone atop the American Athletic Conference with its ninth consecutive win. The Bearcats are 13-0 at home this season.
After Temple (5-10, 0-5) went ahead 47-45 with 7:24 to go, Kilpatrick hit consecutive 3s that started a 12-point run and put the Bearcats in control. He finished with 23 points, matching his season high. Jackson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots, one shy of his career high.
The Owls have lost five in a row and remain alone at the bottom of the AAC. They dressed only eight players Tuesday night because of injuries. Dalton Pepper led the Owls with 21 points.
McDermott scores 28 for No. 20 Creighton
OMAHA, Neb. -- Doug McDermott scored 24 of his 28 points in the first half and No. 20 Creighton defeated fellow Big East newcomer Butler 88-60 on Tuesday night for its 10th consecutive win.
The Bluejays (15-2, 5-0) closed the first half on a 32-6 run to lead 53-24, and Butler (10-7, 0-5) never got closer than 25 points the rest of the way.
Creighton, back in the Top 25 for the first time since late November, blew open the game after Alex Barlow's 3-pointer pulled the Bulldogs within 21-18. McDermott scored 13 points during the Bluejays' decisive spurt, finishing it with a jumper that put him in the top 25 on the NCAA all-time scoring chart. He has 2,644 career points.
Austin Chatman added 10 points for the Bluejays, who subbed freely throughout the second half.
Kellen Dunham scored 12 points and Khyle Marshall added 11 for Butler.
No. 22 Pitt beats Ga Tech; still perfect in ACC
ATLANTA -- Talib Zanna scored 22 points, James Robinson added 16 and No. 22 Pittsburgh pulled away in the second half, remaining perfect in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 81-74 victory against Georgia Tech on Tuesday night.
The Panthers (16-1, 4-0) trailed 35-32 at halftime but quickly seized control after the break for their sixth consecutive win. Georgia Tech (10-7, 1-3) called a couple of quick timeouts, trying to stem the onslaught, but the Yellow Jackets were overpowered in the lane and couldn't prevent another victory by the conference newcomer.
Giving Pitt a bit of a scare in the final minute, Georgia Tech got as close as 78-74 before the Panthers sealed it at the free throw line. It was their closest victory of the season, the first 15 coming by an average of 17.8 points.
Trae Golden led Georgia Tech with 22 points.
Kansas State beats No. 25 Oklahoma 72-66
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Marcus Foster scored 18 points, Nino Williams made four clinching free throws in the closing seconds and Kansas State held on to beat No. 25 Oklahoma 72-66 on Tuesday night.
Shane Southwell added 16 points for the Wildcats (13-4, 3-1 Big 12), who rallied from a 62-56 deficit with just more than 5 minutes to play to turn back the streaking Sooners.
Ryan Spangler had a career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Buddy Hield scored 12 points for Oklahoma (13-4, 2-2), but it wasn't enough to offset a lousy night by Cameron Clark.
The Big 12's leading scorer, Clark was held to two points on 1-for-9 shooting. He was stripped of the ball with 24.5 seconds left and the Sooners trailing 67-64.
The turnover forced Oklahoma to foul, and Williams made both free throws. Je'lon Hornbeak missed a 3-pointer at the other end and the Sooners fouled Williams, and again he knocked down both foul shots to help seal the game.
