Arizona State tops No. 14 Oregon 77-72 for 6th win in a row
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Alonzo Verge Jr. scored 26 points, Rob Edwards added 24 and Arizona State beat No. 14 Oregon 77-72 on Thursday night for its sixth straight victory.
The Sun Devils (18-8, 9-4 Pac-12) continued their unexpected charge up the conference standings following a mediocre January. Every team in the Pac-12 has lost at least four league games.
Oregon (20-7, 9-5) bumbled its way through a big chunk of the game, clanking errant 3-pointers and giving up turnovers. But the Ducks used an 11-0 run to it at 54 with 7:17 left.
Arizona State responded with the next six points, which included a 3-pointer from Edwards, and never trailed again.
Payton Pritchard had 18 points for Oregon but fouled out with about two minutes left, badly hurting the Ducks' chances of a last-minute rally. Will Richardson also had 18 points and Chris Duarte added 10.
NO. 2 GONZAGA 71, SAN FRANCISCO 54
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Killian Tillie scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Gonzaga rallied to beat San Francisco for its 19th consecutive victory.
Filip Petrusev scored 16 points and Ryan Woolridge 12 for Gonzaga (27-1, 13-0 West Coast), which trailed at halftime.
Gonzaga outscored the Dons 49-23 in the second half for the win.
Charles Minlend scored 22 points and Khalil Shabazz 13 for San Francisco (17-11, 6-7), which lost 83-79 at home to Gonzaga on Feb. 1. The Dons have lost 18 straight to Gonzaga, dating to their last win in 2012.
With the win, Gonzaga clinched at least a share of an eighth consecutive regular-season WCC title.
No. 20 IOWA 85, No. 25 OHIO STATE 76
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Luka Garza scored 24 points and Iowa beat Ohio State.
Garza has scored 20 points or more in 12th consecutive games in Big Ten play, the longest streak for an Iowa player in 49 seasons and the most by any conference player in the last 20 years.
Bakari Evelyn came off the bench to score 15 points for the Hawkeyes (19-8, 10-6). Joe Wieskamp had 13 points, and Ryan Kriener added 12.
Freshman E.J. Liddell led Ohio State (17-9, 7-8) with a season-high 17 points.
No. 18 COLORADO 70, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 66
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — McKinley Wright IV had 15 points, including a floater in the lane in the final minutes, to help Colorado hold off Southern California.
Wright added six rebounds and seven assists, and Tyler Bey had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado (21-6, 10-4 Pac-12 Conference). The Buffaloes lead the conference by a game after Oregon fell at Arizona State.
Colorado has never won the Pac-12 regular-season title but took the 2012 conference tournament in coach Tad Boyle's second season.
Onyeka Okongwu had 21 points, Jonah Mathews added 17, and Nick Rakocevic had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans. They lost for the fourth time in six games.
No. 23 BYU 85, SANTA CLARA 75
PROVO, Utah (AP) — T.J. Haws had 28 points and nine assists in BYU's victory over Santa Clara.
Yoeli Childs added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jake Toolson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for BYU (22-7, 11-3 West Coast Conference). The Cougars won their seventh straight.
Josip Vrankic had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Broncos (18-10, 5-8).
No. 24 ARIZONA 89, OREGON STATE 63
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Josh Green scored 18 points and Nico Mannion had 12 of his 16 in the second half to help Arizona beat Oregon State.
Max Hazzard scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Zeke Nnaji added 13 points and seven rebounds for Arizona (19-7, 9-4 Pac-12).
Jarod Lucas scored 18 points for Oregon State (15-11, 5-9).