January 18, 2025; United States, Lexington, Kentucky; During the first half at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Centre, Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) shoots the ball against centre Amari Williams (22) and guard Koby Brea (4) of the Kentucky Wildcats. Required Credit: Imagn Images/Jordan Prather
Against No. 8 Kentucky in a fierce SEC game at Lexington, Kentucky, No. 4 Alabama defeated them 102-97 behind a season-high 25 points and 11 rebounds from Grant Nelson. For the ninth time in their last ten games, the Crimson Tide (15-3, 4-1 SEC) prevailed thanks to 24 points and nine assists from Mark Sears. It was the 12th time in 72 visits to Lexington that Alabama had won. For the first time in six tries this season, Kentucky (14-4, 3-2) lost to a team in the Top 15 despite 21 points from Otega Oweh before fouling out.
Amari Williams scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds before fouling out for the Wildcats, while Lamont Butler finished with 17 points and eight assists.
No. 23 Georgia 68, No. 1 Auburn 70 As the visiting Tigers defeated the Bulldogs in SEC play, Tahaad Pettiford scored a season-high 24 points off the bench. The Tigers (17-1, 5-0 SEC), who led almost all the way, won their tenth consecutive game despite only shooting 39.3 percent from the field thanks to 13 points each from Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly. Georgia (14-4, 2-3) was led by Asa Newell, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrin Lawrence and Blue Cain both scored 12 points as the Bulldogs, who had a 45.6 percent shooting percentage, suffered their second consecutive defeat.
In the closing seconds, Georgia had opportunities but failed to capitalise. Newell missed a layup as the buzzer sounded, and Dakota Leffew missed a game-tying three with seven seconds remaining.
No. 2, West Virginia 64 Iowa State 57 Javon Small led the Mountaineers to victory over the Cyclones in a Big 12 Conference game at Morgantown, West Virginia, with 27 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Amani Hansberry scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for West Virginia (13-4, 4-2) in front of a sold-out crowd on “Jerry West Day.” The Mountaineers hosted his family members and held a service in memory of the late West, a Mountaineers alum.
With 18 points from Curtis Jones, Iowa State (15-2, 5-1) halted their 12-game winning streak. Joshua Jefferson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Keshon Gilbert finished with 13 points. The Cyclones only made one of their 17 shots from beyond the arc, despite shooting 43.9 percent overall. Third Boston College 63, Duke 88
As the Blue Devils dominated the second half to thrash the Eagles at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, freshman Cooper Flagg put on a show upon his return to New England, scoring 28 points. Isaiah Evans scored 16 points off the bench and Tyrese Proctor added a season-high 20 points as the Blue Devils (16-2, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for the 12th time in a row.
Duke extended a six-point advantage to 13 points in the second half with a strong 7-0 run. Chad Venning led Boston College (9-9, 1-6), which has dropped four straight games, to 19 points on 7-for-11 field goal shooting. The score for Donald Hand Jr. was 12. No. 5: Texas 60, Florida 84 Alijah Martin scored.
At the break, the Gators (16-2, 3-2 SEC) had a seven-point lead. With eight minutes remaining, Walter Clayton Jr. made a 3-pointer to open their 15-2 rally in the second half. After losing to Missouri at home on Tuesday, the Gators recovered thanks to 19 points from Clayton and 11 points and 12 rebounds from Alex Condon. In the second half, Florida made 58.1 percent of their shots from the field.
With 16 points, Tre Johnson led the Longhorns (12-6, 1-4), followed by Ze’Rik Onyema (12 points and 10 rebounds), Tramon Mark (12 points), and Arthur Kaluma (10 points and 10 rebounds). It was Texas’ third matchup with a club in the top five of the AP poll in the last two weeks. Tennessee 75, Vanderbilt 76 In Nashville, Tennessee, the host Commodores defeated the Volunteers thanks to 18 points from Jason Edwards and a double-double from Jaylen Carey.
Off the bench, Carey scored 14 points and pulled down 10 boards for Vanderbilt (15-3, 3-2 SEC), which also received 13 points from Tyler Nickel. It was the Commodores’ second consecutive victory. Zakai Zeigler led the Volunteers (16-2, 3-2) with 16 points and 10 assists, while Chaz Lanier ended with 17 points.
Tennessee, whose two-game winning streak was ended, also had 16 points from Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic. No. 7 Marquette 57, Xavier 59 The Musketeers managed to fend off the host Golden Eagles in Milwaukee thanks to a double-double from Zach Freemantle.
For the first time since the 2008–09 season, Xavier kept Marquette from opening Big East play 7–0, led by 14 points and 10 rebounds by Freemantle. With 14:56 remaining, the Musketeers (12-7, 4-4 Big East) led 45-26 after scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the second half, apparently sealing the victory.
With 1:11 remaining, Kam Jones’ layup gave Marquette (15-3, 6-1) a late comeback, bringing them within 58-55. With eight seconds remaining, a horde of Golden Eagles wrapped up Ryan Conwell, forcing a jump ball, and the Golden Eagles, trailing by two, eventually recovered possession of the ball.
However, Marquette was unable to make a last-ditch effort as time was running out, allowing Xavier to win by a shocking margin. The ninth Kansas State 74, Kansas 84 The Lawrence, Kansas-born Zeke Mayo scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half as the home Jayhawks took a significant lead and went on to defeat the in-state rival Wildcats. This was Mayo’s first “Sunflower Showdown” game.
In Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas State has dropped 19 consecutive games. Star forward KJ Adams was sidelined for Wednesday’s Kansas (13-4, 4-2 Big 12) game due to a partially torn right shoulder. Dajuan Harris scored 15 points and Hunter Dickinson scored 25 for Kansas. Kansas State (7-10, 1-5 Big 12) has dropped eight of nine games and five in a row. Up until Saturday, it hadn’t scored over 70 points since the first of those nine games. Coleman Hawkins led the Wildcats with 15 points. 13 was David N’Guessan’s.
Houston 69, UCF 68, No. 10 J’Wan Roberts finished with 21 points, including the game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds left, to help the Cougars defeat the Knights in Orlando, Florida, for their tenth consecutive victory.
With 55.9 seconds remaining, UCF’s Keyshawn Hall missed two free throws, leaving the Knights behind 67-66. Hall then drove the lane for a basket at the other end to give UCF a 68-67 lead after Houston (14-3, 6-0 Big 12) missed the front end of a one-and-one. UCF was unable to make another attempt with a shot (12-5, 3-3).
In addition, Roberts scored the game’s last eight points for the Cougars and pulled down nine of Houston’s 42 rebounds. After coming off the bench, Ja’Vier Francis scored a season-high 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Moustapha Thiam, a freshman, led UCF with a career-high 18 points, five rebounds, and three blocks.
Texas A&M 68, LSU 57, No. 11 In College Station, Texas, the Aggies overcame the cold-shooting Tigers thanks to 13 points from Zhuric Phelps. Wade Taylor IV, an All-Southeastern Conference guard, scored 12 points after missing three games due to an unexplained injury, and Henry Coleman III contributed 10 points for the Aggies (14-4, 3-2 SEC), who led in points off turnovers (19-4) and points in the paint (32-18).
The Tigers (12-6, 1-4) were outscored 38-27 in the second half and shot 36.2 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from outside the arc overall. Cam Carter led the team with 16 points and Jordan Sears added 11 points. No. 13 Oregon 58, No. 17 Purdue 65 Trey Kaufman-Renn led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Conference victory on the road in Eugene, Oregon, with 23 points and 11 rebounds, stifling the Ducks in the second half.
Purdue (15-4, 7-1) won its seventh consecutive game despite subpar shooting thanks to 15 points, seven assists, and four steals from Braden Smith. They just made 2 of 12 3-pointers and only 33.9 percent of their shots from the field. Purdue’s foul shooting and ability to stop the Ducks, who only shot 36% from the field, more than made up for it.
Nate Bittle led Oregon (15-3, 4-3), which saw a three-game winning run ended, with 18 points and six blocks. Although he only made four of twelve field goals, Jackson Shelstad contributed fifteen points. No. 14 UConn 63, Creighton 68 at Big East competition at Storrs, Connecticut, Jamiya Neal helped the visiting Bluejays defeat the Huskies by scoring 17 of his game-high 24 points in the first half.
For the Bluejays (12-6, 5-2), who had a nine-point lead with seven minutes remaining in regulation, Neal made three 3-pointers and went 10 of 16 from the field. As Creighton won for the fifth time in six games, Steven Ashworth (12 points, nine assists) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (16 points, 10 rebounds) each went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the second half.
Solo Ball and Hassan Diarra both scored 15 points, but UConn (13-5, 5-2) fell for just the second time in 11 games. Mississippi State 84, No. 15, No. 21 Ole Miss 81 (OT) The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels in Starkville, Mississippi, thanks to a game-high 21 points by Riley Kugel. For the Bulldogs (15-3, 3-2 SEC), Josh Hubbard scored 10, Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 11 rebounds, RJ Melendez scored 12, and Keshawn Murphy contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Rebels were led by 20 points from Jaemyn Brakefield, 18 from Sean Pedulla, 15 from Matthew Murrell, and 10 from Jaylen Murray (15-3, 4-1). Gonzaga 99, Santa Clara 103, No. 16
In a high-scoring victory in West Coast Conference play at Spokane, Washington, Tyeree Bryan set career highs of 35 points and seven 3-pointers, and the Broncos defeated the Bulldogs away from home for the first time in eighteen years. For the first time since February 12, 2007, the Broncos (13-7, 5-2 WCC) won in Spokane thanks to 20 points from Adama Bal and 17 points from Christoph Tilly on 7-of-9 shooting. The Broncos shot 53.7 percent overall and made 18 of 38 3-point attempts.
For the Bulldogs (14-6, 5-2), Nolan Hickman made a career-high six treys and tied his career high of 24 points. Ryan Nembhard contributed 16 points and a career-high 15 assists, while Graham Ike scored 21 points. 24th 84 Wisconsin, 69 USC In a Big Ten matchup, the Badgers defeated Southern California in Los Angeles behind a game-high 28 points from John Blackwell.
Wisconsin (15-3, 5-2), which has won seven straight after a three-game losing streak, added 18 points from Max Klesmit. The Badgers made 13 of 15 free throws and 81.4 percent from inside the arc, but they were only 8 of 29 from 3-point range (32.1 percent). Rashaun Agee added 15 points and Saint Thomas scored 19 for USC (11-7, 3-4), which had won two in a row. The ball was turned over sixteen times by the Trojans. Wisconsin led by 19 points in the second half, but with 10:44 left, USC narrowed the gap to three points, 55-52. With 4:04 remaining, the Badgers regained the lead, 76-60.
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