Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack drained a long 3-pointer at the buzzer as the No. 5 Volunteers rallied past the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide 79-76 in a Southeastern Conference battle on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn.
Vying with Alabama for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Volunteers (24-5, 11-5) trailed 76-72 with 36 seconds remaining, but Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier was fouled as he made a layup, and when he missed the free throw, Mashack was fouled on the rebound. Tennessee tied it on Mashack’s two free throws with 30.3 seconds left.
After forcing a five-second violation under the Alabama basket with 3.8 seconds left, Mashack, who totaled 11 points, six rebounds and three steals, got the ball, took four dribbles and sank a shot from halfway between the 3-point arc and midcourt for the winner.
Lanier and Jordan Gainey had 18 points apiece as Tennessee won its fourth straight game against the Crimson Tide (23-6, 12-4) and fourth overall. Mark Sears scored a game-high 24, and Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway had 13 and 11, respectively, as Alabama lost for the third time in five outings.
No. 1 Auburn 94, No. 17 Kentucky 78
Miles Kelly made a career-best nine 3-pointers and scored a season-high 30 points as the Tigers put away the Wildcats for their first win in Lexington, Ky., in 37 years.
Chad Baker-Mazara matched his season high of 22 points and had three steals in the Southeastern Conference matchup. Tahaad Pettiford scored 21 points as the Tigers (27-2, 15-1 SEC) clinched at least a share of the regular-season title.
Koby Brea scored 21 points and Andrew Carr added a season-best 20 for the Wildcats (19-10, 8-8), who are 5-7 over their past dozen games. The Wildcats dropped to 14-3 at home this season.
No. 2 Duke 100, Florida State 65
The Blue Devils withstood a first-half injury to star freshman Cooper Flagg in a blowout of the Seminoles in Durham, N.C.
Isaiah Evans poured in 19 points and Flagg, despite missing most of the first half with a cut on his face, ended up with 16 points for Duke (26-3, 17-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which holds a one-game lead over Clemson and Louisville in the league standings.
Jamir Watkins had 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and reserve Jerry Deng posted 12 points for Florida State (16-13, 7-11), which lost its third straight game.
No. 3 Florida 89, No. 12 Texas A&M 70
Will Richard scored a game-high 25 points and canned six of Florida’s 14 3-pointers as the Gators bounced back from an upset loss, beating the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference matchup in Gainesville, Fla.
Thomas Haugh added 17 points for Florida (25-4, 12-4 SEC), which tied Alabama for second place in the conference going into the regular season’s final week.
Zhuric Phelps scored 16 points and Pharrel Payne added 14 for the Aggies (20-9, 9-7), who have lost four straight games. Texas A&M converted just 39 percent of its field goal attempts.
No. 4 Houston 73, Cincinnati 64
L.J. Cryer scored 20 points to lead a balanced attack as the Cougars topped the visiting Bearcats to capture their second straight Big 12 outright regular-season title. Houston is the first team to win two titles in its first two years in a major conference since Idaho did it in 1921-23 in the Pacific Coast Conference, which became the Pac-12.
Terrance Arceneaux contributed 10 points off the bench for the Cougars (25-4, 17-1), who beat the Bearcats for the 12th straight time and captured their 21st win in their last 22 games.
Day Day Thomas scored 19 points for the Bearcats (17-12, 7-11) despite foul trouble limiting him to 19 minutes. Jizzle James collected 18 points and five assists for Cincinnati, which had averaged 76.4 points in winning five of its previous seven games.
No. 7 St. John’s 71, Seton Hall 61
RJ Luis Jr scored 21 points as the Red Storm survived several shaky stretches before clinching their first outright Big East regular-season title since 1985 with a victory over the Pirates in New York.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) improved to 32-5 in their past 37 games since coach Rick Pitino ranted about his team’s lack of athleticism following a 68-62 loss to Seton Hall on Feb. 18, 2024. Zuby Ejiofor added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Former Red Storm guard Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 18 points and Isaiah Coleman added 15 for the Pirates (7-22, 2-16), who missed 9 of 11 from 3-point range and 12 of 21 free throws.
No. 9 Iowa State 84, No. 22 Arizona 67
Milan Momcilovic scored 17 points and made 4 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc, and the Cyclones posted a win over the Wildcats in a Big 12 Conference matchup in Ames, Iowa.
Tamin Lipsey finished with 15 points and eight assists for Iowa State (22-7, 12-6), which snapped a two-game skid. Curtis Jones and Nate Heise scored 12 points apiece.
Jaden Bradley scored 18 points to lead Arizona (19-10, 13-5). KJ Lewis scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Caleb Love finished with 10 points, missing 13 of 15 shots from the field.
No. 10 Texas Tech 78, Kansas 73
JT Toppin scored 21 points to lead the Red Raiders to a win over the Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan.
Toppin made 9 of 15 attempts from the field before fouling out with 1:47 remaining. The 6-foot-9 forward scored 18 points in a first-half burst that helped Texas Tech take an 11-point halftime lead. Christian Anderson finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range for Texas Tech, which is just 2-20 all time at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
KJ Adams Jr. led Kansas (19-10, 10-8) with 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting. Hunter Dickinson added 18 points. Kansas connected on 29 of 60 attempts (48.3 percent) from the field but finished just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range.
No. 13 Clemson 71, Virginia 58
Ian Schieffelin collected 21 points and 13 rebounds to propel the Tigers to a come-from-behind victory over the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va.
Viktor Lakhin produced 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Tigers (24-5, 16-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) came from 10 points down in the second half to win their sixth straight game. Jaeden Zackery contributed 12 points and hit the lone 3-pointer for Clemson, which made 47.3 percent of its shots overall — including 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Isaac McKneely scored 16 points and Andrew Rohde added 12 to go along with five assists for Virginia (14-15, 7-11). Dai Dai Ames provided 12 points as the Cavaliers made 42.3 percent of their shots overall and 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) from distance.
Vanderbilt 97, No. 14 Missouri 93 (OT)
Chris Manon amassed 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jason Edwards added 17 points — 15 after halftime — as the Commodores came from behind to beat the Tigers in the Southeastern Conference clash in Nashville.
The Tigers led by nine at halftime but Vanderbilt (20-9, 8-8 SEC) rallied to tie the game and then went ahead 71-69 when Jaylen Carey hit a layup with 3:56 to play. A.J. Hoggard had 21 points and Tyler Nickel had 12 for Vanderbilt, which has won three straight games, all against ranked teams.
Missouri’s Caleb Grill led all scorers with 28 points while Mark Mitchell added 20 and Tamar Bates and Anthony Robinson II hit for 16 each. The Tigers (21-8, 10-6) have dropped two of their past three.
No. 16 Maryland 68, Penn State 64
Derik Queen scored 23 points to highlight the Terrapins’ win over the Nittany Lions in University Park, Pa.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 19 points and Selton Miguel notched 17 for the Terrapins (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten), who rebounded nicely from Wednesday’s crushing, last-second loss to Michigan State. Maryland has won nine of its last 11 games. Julian Reese shot just 2-of-10 for four points for Maryland, but he contributed 15 rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
The Nittany Lions (15-15, 5-14) have lost two straight following a brief two-game winning streak. Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 18 points, while D’Marco Dunn chipped in 14 for Penn State.
No. 19 Louisville 79, Pittsburgh 68
The Cardinals needed a career game from Chucky Hepburn to get a home victory over the Panthers, and Hepburn delivered in style.
Louisville (23-6, 16-2 ACC) remained in the conference title race due to a couple of explosive Hepburn-led runs. Pittsburgh (16-13, 7-11) lost an excellent opportunity to post a resume-boosting win in the opening game of March.
Hepburn finished with a career-high 37 points, shooting 9-for-11 overall, including 6-for-6 from 3-point range, and sinking 13 of 17 free throws. Terrence Edwards Jr. added 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals. Pitt was led by an all-around game from Jaland Lowe, who tallied 16 points, 10 boards and five assists. Zack Austin added 15 points.
No. 21 Marquette 76, Georgetown 61
David Joplin scored 17 points with nine rebounds, Kam Jones added 13 points with a career-high 13 assists, and the Golden Eagles ended a three-game road losing streak by knocking off the Hoyas in Washington, D.C.
Ben Gold added 15 points as Marquette (22-7, 13-5 Big East) won for the fourth time in its past five games and moved into a tie for second place in the conference standings with Creighton.
Micah Peavy scored 15 points and Curtis Williams Jr. added 14 as Georgetown (16-13, 7-11) lost its third consecutive game, while seeing a three-game home winning streak come to an end. Jordan Burks had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 23 Saint Mary’s 74, Oregon State 64
Augustas Marciulionis recorded 25 points and seven assists to lead the Gaels past the Beavers in West Coast Conference play at Moraga, Calif.
Fellow seniors Luke Barrett (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Mitchell Saxen (12 points, 11 rebounds) made key contributions as the Gaels (27-4, 17-1 WCC) closed out the regular season with their seventh consecutive victory.
Saint Mary’s is the No. 1 overall seed for the upcoming WCC tournament. Oregon State will be the No. 5 seed. Parsa Fallah scored 14 points for the Beavers (20-11, 10-8), who lost their second straight game.
No. 24 Mississippi State 81, LSU 69
Josh Hubbard scored 30 points and the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half to defeat the Tigers in Southeastern Conference play in Starkville, Miss.
Riley Kugel added 12 points and Mississippi State (20-9, 8-8 in the SEC) outscored LSU (14-15, 3-13) 46-32 in the second half. Cam Carter scored 23 points and Daimion Collins added 10 to lead LSU.
Hubbard made a 3-pointer and two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 55-50 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the game. They went ahead by 13 with 6:27 left, but the Tigers crept within eight points with five minutes left. Mississippi State’s Cameron Matthews made a steal and fed Kugel for a dunk that pushed the lead back to nine with 2:41 left.
No. 25 BYU 77, West Virginia 56
Fousseyni Traore scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench and the Cougars exploded in the second half to rout the Mountaineers in the Big 12 Conference game in Provo, Utah.
Egor Demin added 15 points for BYU (21-8, 12-6 Big 12), which tied No. 9 Iowa State for fourth in the conference with two games left. The Cougars, who have won six straight games by an average of 14.5 points, also got 13 points from Richie Saunders.
Javon Small scored 15 points for the Mountaineers (17-12, 8-10), who have alternated wins and losses over the last five games to remain squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. West Virginia made just 33.3 percent of its field goals, including 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from the 3-point line.
–Field Level Media
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