No. 21 Connecticut beats Temple 68-55
PHILADELPHIA -- Shabazz Napier had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as No. 21 Connecticut denied Temple its second consecutive upset against a nationally ranked team with a 68-55 victory Thursday night.
Ryan Boatright added 14 points and DeAndre Daniels had 13 for the Huskies (21-5, 9-4 American Athletic Conference), who won their fourth in a row despite shooting 2 for 13 from 3-point range.
Quenton DeCosey scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Temple (7-18, 2-11), at one point scoring all of his team's points for more than a 13-minute stretch. He grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
The Owls shot just 33 percent from the field.
Napier, UConn's leading scorer, helped ice the game down the stretch, shooting 11 for 11 from the free throw line for the game. The senior guard had an acrobatic three-point play to give the Huskies a 52-38 lead with 6:47 left.
The Owls went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal before DeCosey made a runner with 5:49 left to bring Temple within 52-40.
North Carolina rallies to beat No. 5 Duke 74-66
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Marcus Paige scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including two big baskets in the final 2 1/2 minutes, to help North Carolina beat No. 5 Duke 74-66 on Thursday night in the rivalry's weather-delayed game.
Senior Leslie McDonald added a season-high 21 points for the Tar Heels (19-7, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rallied from 11 down in the second half to snap a two-game home losing streak to the Blue Devils (21-6, 10-4).
It was North Carolina's eighth consecutive win and by far its most impressive during the run that has helped the Tar Heels dig out from an 0-3 ACC start.
When it was over, UNC students and fans stormed to midcourt to celebrate a win that was came eight days later than they had hoped due to a winter storm that forced the game's postponement last week.
No. 13 Michigan State beats Purdue 94-79
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Gary Harris scored 25 points, Adreian Payne added 23 and No. 13 Michigan State hit a school-record 17 3-pointers in a 94-79 victory against Purdue on Thursday night.
Harris and Payne combined to make 10 3-pointers for the Spartans (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten), who made 13 3s in the first half.
Kendall Stephens had 19 points and Ronnie Johnson added 17 for the Boilermakers (15-11, 5-8), who have lost two of three.
Payne scored eight points to open the second half, including a 3-pointer, to give the Spartans a 57-43 lead.
Denzel Valentine converted a three-point play and made two free throws before connecting with Harris on an alley-oop pass to give Michigan State a 66-47 lead with 14:07 remaining.
Payne scored eight of Michigan State's first 10 points of the game, making two free throws and two 3-pointers. The Spartans shot 63.6 percent from the field, were 8 of 11 from the free throw line, and did most of their damage from 3-point range. They had just one 2-point field goal in the first half.
No. 22 Memphis beats Rutgers 64-59
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michael Dixon Jr. scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and No. 22 Memphis led from start to finish in a 64-59 victory against Rutgers on Thursday night.
The Tigers (20-6, 9-4 American Athletic), coming off an overtime loss at No. 21 Connecticut on Saturday, got 11 points from Joe Jackson and 10 each from Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols.
Kadeem Jack had 18 of his 22 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (10-17, 4-10), while Myles Mack and Malick Kone had 10 points apiece.
Memphis beat the Scarlet Knights 101-69 in their first meeting on Feb. 4.
Memphis scored the game's first seven points and led by 11 three times. The last was 32-21 early in the second half.
The closest Rutgers got was 62-59 on a 3-pointer by Jerome Seagears with 4 seconds left, and Geron Johnson followed with two free throws to seal it.
The victory extends Memphis' school record of 20-win seasons to 14 in a row and the Tigers improved to 36-4 after a loss under head coach Josh Pastner. Rutgers has lost three consecutive and 10 of 13.
BYU upsets No. 25 Gonzaga 73-65
PROVO, Utah -- BYU beat No. 25 Gonzaga 73-65 on Thursday night in large part because it found ways to prevent the Bulldogs from making 3-pointers. The Cougars held Gonzaga to 22.2 percent shooting (4 of 18) from beyond the arc. Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell, Jr. combined for three 3-point field goals in 13 attempts.
Anson Winder earned a rare start and responded with 17 points. Matt Carlino added 15 points and Eric Mika chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds to help the Cougars (19-10, 11-5 WCC) snap a five-game losing streak to Gonzaga (23-5, 13-2).
Sam Dower had 14 points and Pangos added 13 for the Bulldogs, who shot 40.7 percent (22 of 54) from the field and could not overcome 16 turnovers. BYU scored 18 points off those miscues.
