Minnesota races past No. 20 Iowa 95-89
MINNEAPOLIS -- Austin Hollins scored a career-high 27 points on 8-for-10 shooting, DeAndre Mathieu had 19 points and seven assists and Minnesota bounced back from a monthlong slump with a 95-89 victory against No. 20 Iowa on Tuesday night.
Hollins made all seven of his free throws for the Gophers (18-11, 7-9 Big Ten), who won for just the third time in their past nine games by making 13 of their last 14 free throws in the final 70 seconds. Charles Buggs came off the end of the bench to score a career-high 13 points.
Roy Devyn Marble had only five of his 24 points in the second half for the Hawkeyes (19-8, 8-6), who have their first two-game losing streak of the season. All six of their previous defeats were by teams currently ranked in the top 22 of the latest Associated Press poll.
Aaron White added 21 points, and Josh Oglesby scored 16 in his first start of the season.
No. 1 Florida holds off Vanderbilt 57-54
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, and No. 1 Florida held off Vanderbilt 57-54 on Tuesday night to clinch at least a share of its second consecutive Southeastern Conference title and seventh overall.
Patric Young added 12 points for the Gators (26-2, 15-0 SEC), who continued the best season in school history by winning their 20th consecutive game, and now they will have a chance to claim their third SEC title in four years all to themselves with a win against LSU on Saturday.
The Commodores (15-12, 7-8) beat Florida 83-70 the last time the Gators came into Memorial Gym ranked No. 1, on Feb. 17, 2007. Coach Kevin Stallings only has seven healthy scholarship players right now, and they proved no match for Florida's smothering defense.
Kyle Fuller missed a tying 3 in the final seconds, and Dai-Jon Parker missed a putback attempt.
PEORIA, Ill. -- Ron Baker scored 15 points to lead four Wichita State players in double figures and the second-ranked Shockers became the first Division I team to reach 30-0 in the regular season with a 69-49 victory against Bradley on Tuesday night.
Wichita State is the 11th team to reach 30-0, the previous 10 all hitting the 30-win mark during postseason play. The last team to reach 30-0 was UNLV in 1990-91. The Runnin' Rebels went 34-0 that season before losing to Duke in the national semifinals.
The Shockers (30-0, 17-0 Missouri Valley Conference) has one more regular-season game, at home Saturday against Missouri State. The last team to finish a regular season unbeaten was Saint Joseph's in 2003-04 at 27-0. The next season, Illinois got to 29-0 before losing its regular-season finale at Ohio State.
No. 6 Duke beats Virginia Tech 66-48
DURHAM, N.C. -- Rodney Hood scored 21 points to help No. 6 Duke beat Virginia Tech 66-48 on Tuesday night.
Rasheed Sulaimon added 15 points for the Blue Devils (23-6, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who jumped to a 24-4 lead midway through the first half and never trailed - though they struggled to land a game-finishing blow on the Hokies.
Duke didn't shoot the ball particularly well and its outside shooting was streaky, but it still had relatively little trouble against a Virginia Tech team that has won just once since the start of the calendar year. The last-place Hokies (9-18, 2-13) had a strong start to the second half and got within seven points, but never seriously threatened what would have been an improbable comeback in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils finished the game shooting 39 percent, including 10 for 33 from 3-point range -- well below their ACC-leading 40.7 percent.
No. 14 Wisconsin beats Indiana 69-58
MADISON, Wis. -- Sam Dekker scored 16 points and No. 14 Wisconsin shrugged off a slow start to beat Indiana 69-58 on Tuesday night.
The Hoosiers (15-12, 5-9 Big Ten) held Wisconsin (23-5, 10-5) to its lowest point production in the first half this season, taking a 29-19 lead.
But the Badgers, who shot just 26 percent in the first half, opened the second half by outscoring the Hoosiers 9-2 in a span of just over 3 minutes and then used a 22-5 run to put the game away.
Yogi Ferrell scored 21 points to lead Indiana, while freshman Noah Vonleh added 18.
Traevon Jackson scored 14 points for the Badgers, while Ben Brust added 12.
No. 13 San Diego St. cruises to victory
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State breezed past San Jose State, 90-64, on Tuesday night as it won its 40th in a row against a California opponent.
Winston Shepard, Dwayne Polee II and JJ O'Brien each scored 12 points to lead a balanced Aztecs offense which saw four players reach double figures.
''I was really proud how we came out on offense and shared the ball better than we have in a game all season, and sometime to a fault,'' SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. ''But I rather it be that way. We did a great job of playing for others and trusting in others that if you give it up you will get it back.''
The Aztecs were also looking to rekindle their winning ways.
Coming off their third loss of the season, the Aztecs (24-3, 13-2 Mountain West) had an easy time against the overmatched Spartans (7-20, 1-14).
''We just didn't take care of the basketball and we game them opportunities,'' SJS coach Dave Wojcik said.
Neal and Kirk help New Mexico beat Utah State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Cullen Neal scored nine of his 12 points in a decisive run in the second half to help No. 25 New Mexico beat Utah State 67-58 on Tuesday night.
Cameron Bairstow had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos (22-5, 13-3 Mountain West) while Alex Kirk added 13 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Utah State led 47-39 with 11:29 left after Preston Medlin hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play.
But Neal started the long run with a 3-pointer and Kirk scored six consecutive points near the end the surge that left New Mexico holding a 62-52 lead.
The Lobos controlled the glass, holding a 46-30 edge, including 12-6 on the offensive end.
Medlin scored 19 to lead the Aggies (15-13, 5-10).
