No. 3 Florida beats Mississippi St 62-51
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Casey Prather scored 16 points, Patric Young added 12 and No. 3 Florida beat Mississippi State 62-51 Thursday night for its 12th consecutive win.
The Gators (18-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) had a slow start on offense, but made up for it with suffocating defense. It was the 12th time this season Florida held an opponent to 60 points or fewer.
Florida's Michael Frazier II had just nine points, but his three 3-pointers helped the Gators keep a comfortable lead throughout most of the second half.
Mississippi State (13-7, 3-4) lost for the first time at home during conference play. The Bulldogs have lost four in a row to the Gators.
Colin Borchert scored 15 and Craig Sword 12 for Mississippi State.
Both teams had a rough night at the free-throw line. Florida was 8 of 19 (35.3 percent) and Mississippi State 1 of 6 (42.1 percent).
No. 10 Michigan handles Purdue 75-66
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. 10 Michigan beat Purdue 75-66 on Thursday night, extending its winning streak to 10.
Nik Stauskas scored 16 points and Derrick Walton added 14 for the Big Ten leaders. The Wolverines (16-4, 8-0) shot 61 percent from the field against a Purdue team that had held its previous five opponents under 42.
The Boilermakers (13-8, 3-5) were led by A.J. Hammons, who had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Michigan was coming off three consecutive wins against top-10 teams, and there was no letdown at home against Purdue.
No. 13 Cincinnati edges No. 12 Louisville 69-66
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Sean Kilpatrick scored 28 points, including six free throws down the stretch that helped No. 13 Cincinnati rally for a 69-66 victory versus No. 12 Louisville on Thursday night.
Unfazed despite blowing the last of two second-half leads, the first-place Bearcats (20-2, 9-0 American Athletic Conference) regrouped to hold the Cardinals to just two points during the final 5 minutes to win the conference showdown with a big hand from Kilpatrick.
Down 64-61, Kilpatrick made two from the line before Justin Jackson's tip-in gave Cincinnati the lead for good with 1:41 left. After Russ Smith's missed layup and Montrezl Harrell's turnover, Kilpatrick closed with four more free throws in the final 9 seconds to cap the Bearcats' 13th consecutive win that put them 2 1/2 games ahead of Louisville (17-4, 6-2).
Jackson and Shaquille Thomas each added 11 points for the Bearcats, who shot 49 percent (23 of 47).
