Dec 21, 2019; Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA; Villanova Wildcats forward Jermaine Samuels (23) controls the ball against Kansas Jayhawks guard Devon Dotson (1)and guard Ochai Agbaji (30) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
December 22, 2019
Jermaine Samuels hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 20.5 seconds remaining to lift No. 18 Villanova past No. 1 Kansas 56-55 on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Samuels scored 15 points, Collin Gillespie added 12 and the Wildcats improved to 9-2. Villanova made just 10 of 41 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Kansas became the fifth No. 1 team this season to be beaten, joining Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville.
Devon Dotson scored 15 points, Udoka Azubuike had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Ochai Agbaji had 11 points for the Jayhawks, who fell to 9-2 and had their nine-game winning streak snapped. Dotson missed a runner in the lane at the buzzer.
Villanova missed nine of its first 13 shots but trailed only 14-9 with 9:25 left in the first half. The game was tied at 23 after a hard-fought, defensive battle in the first half. The Jayhawks’ 23 points were their fewest in any half all season.
No. 2 Gonzaga 112, Eastern Washington 77
Filip Petrusev had a game-high 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds as the Bulldogs cruised past the Eagles in Spokane, Wash., in the first meeting between the nearby schools since 2011.
It was the Bulldogs’ 25th consecutive victory dating to 1990 against the Eagles, whose campus in Cheney is less than 20 miles from Gonzaga’s. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 35-5.
Guard Admon Gilder, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting for Gonzaga (13-1), which has won five consecutive games. Ryan Woolridge added 15 points and a game-high five assists. Jacob Davison scored 17 points, and Tyler Kidd had 16 for Eastern Washington (7-4), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
No. 5 Ohio State 71, No. 6 Kentucky 65
Freshman D.J. Carton had 15 points, and Kaleb Wesson had 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out late as the Buckeyes beat the Wildcats in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (11-1) also got 10 points from Kyle Young. Nate Sestina led the Wildcats (8-3) with 17 points. Tyrese Maxey had 15 points, and Ashton Hagans added 14 to go with nine assists.
Each team wanted to end a rough week on a good note. The Wildcats lost to Utah 69-66 on the same court on Wednesday. The Buckeyes were beaten for the first time on Sunday, 84-71 at Minnesota, before defeating Southeast Missouri State 80-48 on Tuesday.
No. 8 Oregon 84, Texas Southern 78
Payton Pritchard scored six straight points to take the lead in the final four minutes, then drained the game-clinching 3-pointer to lead the Ducks past the Tigers in Eugene, Ore.
Pritchard finished with 29 points, six assists and five rebounds for Oregon (10-2), which nearly suffered its second straight stunning upset loss to the Tigers (3-8) in 13 months. Texas Southern, which became just the fourth non-conference team to win at Matthew Knight Arena last year, led 69-68 with 4:23 left after Chris Baldwin sank two free throws.
Oregon also got 18 points from reserve Will Richardson and 13 from Chris Duarte. Baldwin paced the Tigers with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting, going 5 of 6 on 3-pointers. Tyrik Armstrong added 21 points and six assists, and John Jones scored 15 points.
No. 11 Memphis 77, Jackson State 49
Freshman Precious Achiuwa had 20 points and was one rebound short of his fifth double-double as host Memphis prevailed in a meeting of two teams both known as the Tigers.
Freshman D.J. Jeffries had 13 points and seven rebounds for Memphis (10-1), which extended its winning streak to eight in its first game since prized freshman and top NBA prospect James Wiseman withdrew from school.
Guard Tristan Jarrett had 20 points, Roland Griffin had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Jayveous McKinnis had seven points and 14 rebounds for Jackson State (3-9), which won at Portland on Thursday night but did not arrive in Memphis until 4 a.m. Saturday because of flight delays.
No. 12 Auburn 74, Lehigh 51
Guard J’Von McCormick ignited his team with a 3-point barrage on his way to 18 points as the Tigers struggled early but closed out the Mountain Hawks with a strong second half in Auburn, Ala.
Center Austin Wiley posted his sixth career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, but leading scorer Samir Doughty was held to a season-low six points for Auburn (11-0). Guard Jordan Cohen led Lehigh (3-8) with 18 points.
McCormick hit three consecutive 3-pointers in a 17-6 spurt that gave the Tigers a 65-47 cushion with under four minutes left after the Mountain Hawks had trimmed a 13-point deficit to 48-41 at the 7:56 mark.
No. 14 Michigan 86, Presbyterian 44
Guard Eli Brooks had 16 points, and the Wolverines snapped a two-game losing streak by romping past the Blue Hose in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Center Jon Teske supplied 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Michigan (9-3). David DeJulius contributed 12 points while Zavier Simpson notched nine points with nine assists. Cole Bajema also tossed in nine points against Presbyterian (2-10).
Michigan forward Isaiah Livers departed little more than three minutes into the game with a leg injury. He suffered the non-contact injury on a fast break. Livers made two free throws and then headed to the bench.
No. 15 Michigan State 101, Eastern Michigan 48
Senior guard Cassius Winston scored 21 points and handed out seven assists to lead the host Spartans to a victory over the Eagles in East Lansing, Mich.
Winston was one of five players in double figures for Michigan State (9-3) as sophomore Foster Loyer added a season-high 13 points. Sophomore Aaron Henry was on triple-double watch for a short time, scoring 12 points, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out six assists. Junior Xavier Tillman chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Marcus Bingham Jr. had 10 points and six rebounds.
Eastern Michigan (9-2) entered on a three-game winning streak but opened the game by making 1 of 19 shots and never recovered. The Eagles finished the game at 23.9 percent — 16 of 67, including 3 of 29 from 3-point range.
St. John’s 70, No. 16 Arizona 67
Junior wing LJ Figueroa scored 21 points, and the Red Storm held on to upset the Wildcats at the Al Attles Classic in San Francisco.
The Red Storm (11-2) built an early lead off their defense and survived cold shooting en route to their seventh consecutive victory. Rasheem Dunn added 14 points for St. John’s, which shot 35 percent for the game and 28 percent in the second half.
Freshman power forward Zeke Nnaji posted his fourth double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona (10-3), which lost its second in a row. Nico Mannion had 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
No. 17 Butler 70, Purdue 61
Sophomore forward Bryce Golden led four scorers in double figures with 14 points, lifting the Bulldogs over the Boilermakers at the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.
Forward Jordan Tucker and guard Aaron Thompson added 12 points apiece for Butler (11-1), while forward Sean McDermott had 11 points.
Sophomore forward Trevion Williams led Purdue (7-5) with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Aaron Wheeler added 11 points, and sophomore point guard Eric Hunter Jr. had 10 points and three assists before fouling out with 35 seconds left.
No. 19 Florida State 66, South Florida 60
The Seminoles used a late 17-1 run to rally past the Bulls in the annual Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla.
Florida State (10-2) rallied from an early 13-point deficit. The Seminoles also trailed by 10 points with 6:32 left in the second half when they made their big run. They used tenacious defense — forcing 24 turnovers and blocking 10 shots in the game — to fuel the comeback.
RaiQuan Gray, Trent Forrest and Anthony Polite each had a team-high 11 points for Florida State. South Florida (6-6) was led by 7-foot center Michael Durr, who had 15 points. Laquincy Rideau recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists and David Collins also scored 14 points for the Bulls.
No. 20 San Diego State 80, Utah 52
Malachi Flynn scored 16 points and dished out eight assists to lead the Aztecs to a rout of the Utes in the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Los Angeles.
Yanni Wetzell and Nathan Mensah added 14 points apiece for the Aztecs. San Diego State won its 12th straight game to open the season after shooting 49 percent from the field and outscoring Utah 42-10 in the paint.
Timmy Allen scored 21 points and collected six rebounds to lead the Utes. Utah trailed from start to finish while shooting 31.3 percent from the field and committing 17 turnovers.
No. 21 Tennessee 75, Jacksonville State 53
Jordan Bowden scored 19 points, and John Fulkerson added 16 as the Volunteers rebounded from a slow start to run away from the Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn., to give head coach Rick Barnes his 700th career win.
Despite a scoreless drought of more than seven minutes in the opening half and a three-point deficit with less than six minutes remaining before halftime, Tennessee (8-3) found its offense and ended a two-game losing streak.
Yves Pons scored 11 points with a career-high six blocked shots, Josiah-Jordan James scored 10 and Lamonte Turner had 11 assists as the Volunteers improved to 6-1 at home. It was their first ever meeting with Jacksonville State (4-8).
No. 24 Texas Tech 68, Texas Rio Grande Valley 58
The Red Raiders awoke from a halftime deficit behind Jahmi’us Ramsey’s 13 second-half points to top the Vaqueros in a non-conference game at Lubbock, Texas.
It was the 53rd consecutive win over a non-conference opponent at home for Texas Tech (8-3).
Ramsey, a freshman, returned to the starting lineup after missing four games with a hamstring injury. Through six games before Saturday, he was averaging 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. He finished with 15 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes against UTRGV (4-8), which held a 27-26 halftime lead.
No. 25 West Virginia 75, Youngstown State 64
The Mountaineers used strong defense late in regulation to fend off the Penguins, who hosted a Power Five conference opponent for the only time this decade.
West Virginia (10-1) was locked in a tight game midway through the second half, but its defense consistently thwarted every Youngstown State (7-6) rally.
Oscar Tshiebwe led West Virginia with 19 points, one of five Mountaineers to score in double figures. Darius Quisenberry led Youngstown State with 22 points.
–Field Level Media
