Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules

Coral Gables, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Syracuse saw its perfect season hanging in the balance after Davon Reed’s three-point play put Miami-Florida up one with just over eight minutes left. But Syracuse’s stout defense held the Hurricanes without a field goal over the next seven-plus minutes, and the Orange escaped BankUnited Center with a 64-52 victory on Saturday. C.J. Fair led the Orange (19-0, 6-0 ACC) with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tyler Ennis netted 14 points, including seven during Syracuse’s 18-5 game- closing run. Jerami Grant also tallied 14 points to go with eight boards for the Orange, who matched the 1999-2000 squad for the second best start in school history. Reed paced the Hurricanes (10-9, 2-5) with 16 points off the bench, while Rion Brown registered 13 points and eight rebounds for Miami, which has lost two straight.

Final Score: (21) Michigan 80, (3) Michigan State 75

East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – With three straight wins over top-10 opponents, the Michigan Wolverines are sure to get a big jump in the polls come next week. The latest triumph was one the Maize and Blue will savor for the next few days. Nik Stauskas and Derrick Walton, Jr. both scored 19 points to power the No. 21 Wolverines to an 80-75 road victory over third-ranked Michigan State. It was just a week ago that the Wolverines upended then-No. 3 Wisconsin. Then came a 75-67 win at home over No. 10 Iowa Wednesday night. Caris LeVert posted 17 points in Michigan’s ninth straight victory. The Wolverines (15-4, 7-0 Big Ten) are winning despite being without the services of Mitch McGary, who remains sidelined following back surgery. Gary Harris had 27 points for the Spartans (18-2, 7-1), whose only other defeat came Dec. 4 against North Carolina. Alvin Ellis III added 12 points and Keith Appling scored 10 and had 10 assists, as the Spartans had their 11-game winning streak broken. The Wolverines were behind 60-58 with over four minutes left, but went ahead for good by scoring the next 10 points.

Final Score: (4) Villanova 94, Marquette 85 (OT)

Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) – James Bell scored 30 points to lead the No. 4 Villanova Wildcats to a 94-85 overtime win over the Marquette Golden Eagles. Coming off its worst loss in the Jay Wright era, a 96-68 drubbing against Creighton on Monday, Villanova (17-2, 6-1 Big East) never trailed in a strong bounce-back effort Saturday. Marquette’s Todd Mayo was fouled by Ryan Arcidiacono shooting a 3-pointer, and Mayo made each attempt to tie the game at 77-77 with 5.2 seconds left in regulation. Tony Chennault then raced the length of the floor and laid it in as time expired, but the bucket was waived off as the baseline official called a charge. Davante Gardner, who drew the foul, had his left foot in the restricted area when Chennault came crashing into the lane and Wright went ballistic on the Villanova sideline. The Wildcats didn’t allow the foul call at the end of regulation to affect them in the extra session. Arcidiacono opened the scoring in overtime with a pair of free throws and JayVaughn Pinkston added a three-point play 18 seconds later to give the visitors an 82-77 lead. Villanova maintained the advantage for the remainder of overtime and hit its free throws down the stretch to close out the win. Arcidiacono netted 20 points with 11 assists in the win, while Darrun Hilliard II had 20 points and Pinkston added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats. Gardner paced Marquette (11-9, 3-4) with 29 points to go along with 13 rebounds and Mayo added 18 points off the bench in defeat.

Final Score: (5) Wichita State 78, Drake 61

Des Moines, IA (SportsNetwork.com) – Cleanthony Early poured in 19 points and fifth-ranked Wichita State remained unbeaten with a 78-61 domination of Drake Saturday night. Ron Baker scored 14 and Nick Wiggins had 11 for the Shockers (21-0, 8-0 MVC), who continued the best start to a season in school history. Next up for Wichita State is a home game Tuesday against Loyola-Chicago. Aaron Hawley had 16 points and Chris Caird scored 15 for Drake (11-9, 2-6), which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Jordan Daniels tallied 12 points in defeat.

Final Score: (6) Florida 67, Tennessee 41

Gainesville, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Michael Frazier II scored 17 points and Scottie Wilbekin added 13 as No. 6 Florida cruised to a 67-41 dismantling of Tennessee on Saturday. Casey Prather added 12 points and Patric Young finished with 10 for the Gators (17-2, 6-0 SEC), winners in 11 straight. Jarnell Stokes had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Jeronne Maymon added eight points and seven boards for the Volunteers (12-7, 3-3), who shot a miserable 26.8 percent (15-for-56) from the field, including a woeful 5.3 percent (1- for-19) from 3-point range.

Final Score: (7) San Diego State 74, Utah State 69 (OT)

Logan, UT (SportsNetwork.com) – Xavier Thames had a career-high 31 points, including 10 in overtime, and seventh-ranked San Diego State won its 17th consecutive game by edging Utah State, 74-69, Saturday night. Winston Shepard added 10 points for the Aztecs (18-1, 7-0 MWC), whose only loss came to current No. 1 Arizona, on Nov. 14. Spencer Butterfield, who put the game into overtime by draining a 3-pointer in the closing seconds, led the Aggies with 19 points. Jalen Moore added 16 points and seven rebounds for Utah State (12-7, 2-5 MWC), which lost its third straight game. Preston Medlin went 4- of-7 from 3-point range and scored 12 in defeat.

Final Score: (8) Kansas 91, TCU 69

Fort Worth, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – After beating four Top 25 opponents in as many games, eighth-ranked Kansas avoided a letdown against TCU and cruised to a 91-69 road win. Freshman Andrew Wiggins scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Jayhawks (15-4, 6-0 Big 12), who shot 57.4 percent and held a 40-24 rebounding advantage. Freshman Joel Embiid finished with 14 points and three blocks, while Perry Ellis grabbed a personal-best 14 rebounds. Brandon Parrish had 15 points and Amric Fields scored 13 with seven boards for TCU (9-10, 0-7), who stunned then-No. 5 Kansas at home Feb. 6 last season.

Final Score: (9) Wisconsin 72, Purdue 58

West Lafayette, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Frank Kaminsky scored 16 points to lead every Wisconsin starter in double figures as the No. 9 Badgers defeated Purdue 72-58. Traevon Jackson and Sam Dekker each scored 15 points, Ben Brust tallied 11 points, and Josh Gasser added 10 for Wisconsin (17-3, 4-3 Big Ten), which snapped a three-game losing streak. Terone Johnson and Bryson Scott each scored 10 points to lead the Boilermakers (13-7, 3-4), who have lost two straight on the heels of a three-game conference winning streak.

Final Score: (10) Iowa 76, Northwestern 50

Evanston, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Gabriel Olaseni had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the 10th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes’ 76-50 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats. Roy Devyn Marble also tallied 14 points for the Hawkeyes (16-4, 5-2 Big Ten), who bounced back from a 75-67 loss at Michigan on Wednesday. Mike Gesell added 11 points, six assists and two steals. Drew Crawford ended with 20 points for the Wildcats (10-11, 3-5), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Tre Demps had 11 points. Northwestern’s defense came into Saturday’s game allowing just 51.0 points per game over its previous four contests.

Final Score: (11) Oklahoma State 81, West Virginia 75

Stillwater, OK (SportsNetwork.com) – Le’Bryan Nash scored 29 points and No. 11 Oklahoma State beat West Virginia 81-75 on Saturday. Markel Brown, who made a game-winning 3-pointer to lift the Cowboys over the Mountaineers 73-72 on Jan. 11 in Morgantown, scored 15 in this one, including two on a highlight- reel 360 dunk in the first half. Oklahoma State (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) bounced back from a loss last Saturday at Kansas and picked up its 12th straight home win. Eron Harris had 21 points and Juwan Staten scored 19 to lead West Virginia (11-9, 3-4), which has dropped four of its last five. Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 4-1, with all four wins coming in Big 12 games. West Virginia’s only win over the Cowboys came in 1958 in a neutral-site meeting in Lexington, Ky.

Final Score: (14) Kentucky 79, Georgia 54

Lexington, KY (SportsNetwork.com) – Aaron Harrison scored a team-high 15 points to help the No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats to a 79-54 rout of the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. Julius Randle tallied 14 points with nine rebounds, James Young added 13 points, and Willie Cauley-Stein totaled eight points, six blocks, and six steals for Kentucky (15-4, 5-1 SEC), which has won three straight since losing an 87-85 overtime thriller to Arkansas. Brandon Morris paced Georgia (10-8, 4-2) with 15 points and Marcus Thornton was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 10 points. Georgia had its two-game winning streak snapped in defeat.

Final Score: (16) Iowa State 81, (22) Kansas State 75

Ames, IA (SportsNetwork.com) – Melvin Ejim posted 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 16 Iowa State took an 81-75 victory over 22nd-ranked Kansas State on Saturday. Georges Niang had 18 points, and Matt Thomas gave 14 points for the Cyclones (15-3, 3-3 Big 12), who had lost their last three games. Marcus Foster scored 20 points with five rebounds, and Shane Southwell had 14 point and seven boards for the Wildcats (14-6, 4-3), who have lost their past two games.

Final Score: (18) Duke 78, Florida State 56

Durham, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Rodney Hood had 18 points and nine rebounds and No. 18 Duke easily beat Florida State 78-56 on Saturday as Mike Krzyzewski reached another coaching milestone. Krzyzewski joined Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim as the only coaches in NCAA history with 900 wins at one school. Jabari Parker had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Blue Devils (16-4, 5-2 ACC) and Rasheed Sulaimon and Andre Dawkins scored 11 apiece. Duke has won four in a row overall since starting 1-2 in conference play and ran its home winning streak to 28 games, the best in the country. Okaro White scored 14 points to lead Florida State (14-5, 4-3), which has lost two of its last three.

Final Score: (20) Pittsburgh 83, Maryland 79

College Park, MD (SportsNetwork.com) – Lamar Patterson poured in a game-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists as No. 20 Pittsburgh held on for an 83-79 win over Maryland at Comcast Center. Talib Zanna added 16 points and seven rebounds, James Robinson scored 13 and Cameron Wright chipped in 12 for the Panthers (18-2, 6-1 ACC), who will host Duke on Monday. Dez Wells scored a team-high 19 points and also had four steals and Jake Layman added 18 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Terrapins (11-9, 3-4), losers in four of their last five.

Final Score: Texas 74, (24) Baylor 60

Waco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Isaiah Taylor poured in a game-high 27 points to lead Texas to a 74-60 win over No. 24 Baylor at the Ferrell Center. Jonathan Holmes added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns (16-4, 5-2 Big 12), who have won five straight overall, including a school record three in a row over ranked opponents. Cameron Ridley contributed eight points and 14 rebounds in the victory. Gary Franklin scored 14 and Taurean Prince had 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for Baylor (13-6, 1-5), which has now lost five of its last six since conference play began. Cory Jefferson added eight points and nine rebounds for the hosts.

Final Score: (25) Oklahoma 74, Texas Tech 65

Lubbock, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Buddy Hield had a game-high 18 points to help No. 25 Oklahoma outlast Texas Tech, 74-65, at United Spirit Arena. Cameron Clark totaled 17 points and Jordan Woodard had 15 points and eight assists for the Sooners (16-4, 5-2 Big 12), who have won three straight. Ryan Spangler added seven points and 10 rebounds for the visitors. Jaye Crockett and Jordan Tolbert scored 14 points apiece for Texas Tech (10-10, 2-5), which has lost five of its last seven. Alex Foster contributed eight points and eight boards off the bench in the setback.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball