No. 1 Gonzaga rallies past Creighton in 1st true road game
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Zach Norvell Jr. scored 23 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, and top-ranked Gonzaga wiped out an early double-digit deficit and beat Creighton 103-92 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (8-0), who took over the No. 1 ranking this week after beating Duke in the Maui Invitational, overcame a boisterous crowd of more than 18,000 at the CHI Health Center to win in their first true road game.
Norvell was held in check the first 20 minutes but came out strong after halftime as he did in last year's win over Creighton in Spokane, Washington.
The Bulldogs held Creighton (6-2) scoreless for nearly four minutes in the middle of the second half while going on a 12-0 run to go up 84-73.
Brandon Clarke added 27 points and 10 rebounds and Rui Hachimura added 22 and 11 boards for the Bulldogs.
Ty-Shon Alexander led the Bluejays with 27 points. Damien Jefferson had 15 and Martin Krampelj scored 10.
NO. 2 KANSAS 90, STANFORD 84, OT
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lagerald Vick hit the tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, and then had eight of his 27 points in overtime to lead Kansas over Stanford.
Daejon Davis hit two free throws with 13.3 seconds left to push Stanford's lead to 75-72 after driving in and drawing a foul by Dedric Lawson. Devon Dotson then found Vick for the tying 3 with just 7 seconds left.
Vick then opened overtime with another 3, and followed it with a dunk that set the Allen Fieldhouse crowd into a frenzy. He kept it going the next time down, hitting his seventh 3 to make it an eight-point game.
Lawson finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Udoka Azubuike had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Jayhawks.
KZ Okpala had 22 points and eight rebounds for Stanford. Davis added 19 points and eight boards, and Isaac White had 15 points on five 3s.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman RJ Barrett had 26 points, seven rebounds and a season-high seven assists in Duke's rout of Stetson.
Cameron Reddish scored 23 points and Zion Williamson finished with 17 to help the Blue Devils (7-1) win their second straight.
Barrett played just 17 minutes, but that was long enough to challenge for Duke's first triple-double in nearly 13 years.
Abayomi Iyiola scored 19 points to lead the Hatters (1-8), who have lost eight straight and were 2 of 23 from 3-point range.
NO. 5 NEVADA 73, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 61
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan Caroline scored 22 points and No. 5 Nevada took control with a dominant second half to beat Southern California and equal its 8-0 start from last season.
Tre'Shawn Thurman added 14 points and nine rebounds and Caleb Martin had 12 points for the Wolfpack, who outscored USC 39-26 over the final 20 minutes.
It marked a major turnaround from the first half, when the Trojans shot 50 percent from the field and led by as many as seven points.
Nick Rakocevic had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Trojans (5-3) as their three-game winning streak ended.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN 76, NO. 19 PURDUE 57
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 21 points as part of a balanced offense and Michigan was stingy on defense as it routed a third ranked team this season.
The Wolverines (8-0) are off to their best start since winning the first 16 games of the 2012-13 season. They were coming off an 84-67 win over No. 11 North Carolina, and they beat then-No. 8 Villanova 73-46 on its home court last month.
The Boilermakers (5-3) have lost three of their last four games.
Michigan's Jon Teske matched his career high with 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Purdue's Carsen Edwards scored 19 on 7-of-21 shooting and Ryan Cline added 15 points.
NO. 10 KENTUCKY 78, UNC GREENSBORO 61
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Reid Travis scored 22 points, Keldon Johnson added six of his 13 points during a 14-2 second half run and Kentucky won its seventh straight.
The Spartans seemed poised to take control with a 55-50 edge with 13:08 remaining before Kentucky (7-1) had consecutive three-point plays by Travis and Ashton Hagans for a 56-55 lead.
Demetrius Troy's jumper put UNCG (7-2) back ahead but that was the last lead.
Francis Alonso had 22 points but just three after halftime as UNCG had its six-game winning streak end.
MARQUETTE 83, NO. 12 KANSAS STATE 71
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Markus Howard scored 45 points and went 19 of 21 from the foul line, and Marquette used tight defense to hand Kansas State its first loss.
Sacar Anim added 16 points for the Golden Eagles (6-2), who didn't back down from the physical Wildcats. Marquette outrebounded Kansas State 34-25 and kept attacking the rim in holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
Howard's productive day from the field (11 of 17) helped Marquette overcome 20 turnovers.
Playing its first true road game against its toughest foe of the young season, Kansas State (6-1) saw its defense falter. Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed scored 12 points apiece for the Wildcats.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 94, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE 40
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Ahmed Hill scored 24 points to lead Virginia Tech past Central Connecticut State.
Hill's game was part of a record-setting evening for the Hokies (6-1), who set a school record by making 18 3-pointers against the Blue Devils (4-5). Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 18 points for Virginia Tech, hitting two 3-pointers, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Ty Outlaw each hit three 3-pointers.
Joe Hugley led the Blue Devils (4-5) with 13 points. They only shot 25.9 percent (14 of 54).
HOUSTON (AP) — Armoni Brooks had 22 points and nine rebounds, Nate Hinton added 14 points and Houston beat Oregon to win its 20th straight home game.
Brooks was 7 of 14 from the field, including 6 of 13 on 3-pointers, to lead Houston (6-0), which shot 33 percent from the field. Corey Davis had 12 points for Houston, which was opening its new $60 million Fertitta Center.
Bol Bol had 23 points and seven rebounds and Will Richardson added 16 points for the Ducks (4-3), who lost their second straight after falling at home to Texas Southern on Monday.
NO. 20 TEXAS TECH 78, MEMPHIS 67
MIAMI (AP) — Tariq Owens had 13 points and 11 rebounds and tied a career high with eight blocks, Jarrett Culver scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Texas Tech rallied to beat Memphis at the HoopHall Miami Invitational.
Deshawn Corprew scored 12 points and Brandone Francis added 10 for Texas Tech, which has won all seven of its games this season by double digits. Owens had seven of his blocks in the second half to help the Red Raiders' comeback.
Tyler Harris scored 17 points, and Kyvon Davenport added 13 for Memphis (3-4). The Tigers missed 17 of their final 21 shots.
NO. 21 BUFFALO 85, SAN FRANCISCO 81
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Nick Perkins scored 22 points, Jeremy Harris added 15 with eight rebounds and Buffalo held off San Francisco in the title game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic.
C.J. Massinburg scored 15 points, making 5 of 6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to close out the win, and Montell McCrae added 11 points as Buffalo (7-0) won the matchup of unbeatens to continue its best start since 1930.
Frankie Ferrari scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half for San Francisco (7-1), which had won its first six games for the first time since 1980.
NO. 23 VILLANOVA 85, LA SALLE 78
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Eric Paschall scored 27 points, Phil Booth had 19 and Villanova held off La Salle's upset bid.
Villanova (6-2) remained the class of the city and won its 23rd straight in the Big 5, round-robin play among five Philadelphia Division I basketball teams. The Wildcats haven't lost a city series game since Dec. 5, 2012 against Temple.
They got a pretty good scare against winless La Salle (0-8), who got 17 points from Traci Carter and 15 from Isiah Deas. The Wildcats could never really shake the Explorers until the waning moments and each team hit 12 3-pointers.
NO. 24 MARYLAND 66, PENN STATE 59
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Freshman Jalen Smith scored 16 points, Bruno Fernando had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Maryland opened Big Ten play by slipping past Penn State.
Anthony Cowan Jr. chipped in with 15 points, including two clutch 3s in the closing minutes. The last of those long-range jumpers, hoisted as the shot clock expired, made it 64-59 with 34 seconds left.
Maryland (7-1, 1-0) held on to secure a bounce-back victory following a 76-71 loss to No. 4 Virginia earlier in the week.
Lamar Stevens scored 19 for Penn State (4-3, 0-1), Josh Reaves had all 17 of his points in the first half and Rasir Bolton finished with 15.