Brea, Kentucky hand No. 6 Florida first loss

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Koby Brea scored 23 points and hit seven 3-pointers off the bench to lead No. 10 Kentucky over No. 6 Florida 106-100 on Saturday, handing the Gators their first loss of the season.

The Gators (13-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had cut an 80-69 Kentucky lead to 89-87 on Walter Clayton Jr.’s free throws with 4:40 remaining, but Lamont Butler hit a 3 as the shot clock wound down and added two free throws to help the Wildcats (12-2, 1-0) hang on.

Clayton scored 33 points, 12 of those in Florida’s 18-9 run before Butler’s 3 with 3:42 left. Alijah Martin scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to rally Florida after Kentucky took a 52-42 halftime lead.

Butler finished with 19 points and eight assists as Kentucky placed six players in double digits.

The Gators used offensive rebounding to take an early lead in the game and then battle their way back in the second half. They had 15 offensive rebounds leading to 31 second chance points.

In the first 10 minutes, Kentucky was outrebounded 12-2 and trailed 20-11. Over the rest of the first half, Kentucky held a 16-9 rebounding edge and a 10-point halftime lead.

Florida had cut the Kentucky lead to one at 70-69 when coach Todd Golden took a 30-second timeout. The Wildcats scored the next 10 points.

Florida had held its previous four opponents to 20% shooting on 3-pointers, giving up about five 3s per game. Kentucky shot 48% and made 14 3s.

Both teams play Tuesday night: Florida hosts top-ranked Tennessee while Kentucky goes on the road to Georgia.

No. 1 TENNESSEE 76, No. 23 ARKANSAS 52

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Chaz Lanier scored 29 points to lead the Volunteers over the Razorbacks on Saturday and tie for the best start to a season in program history.

The Volunteers (14-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) are tied with the 1922-23 team for the best start, according to the school.

Igor Milicic Jr. had 13 points and 18 rebounds. Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 7 assists.

Tennessee nearly shot better from 3-point range (38.5%, 10 of 26) than from the field (39.1%, 27 of 69).

No. 2 AUBURN 84, MISSOURI 68

AUBURN, Ala. — Johni Broome scored 24 points and had seven rebounds and four blocks, and No. 2 Auburn opened Southeastern Conference play with an 84-68 win over Missouri on Saturday.

Auburn (13-1, 1-0) shot 10 for 21 from 3-point range, with seven different Tigers hitting at least one triple.

Chaney Johnson and Chad Baker-Mazara each scored 13 points each for Auburn, while Denver Jones added 10 points and seven assists.

Marques Warrick had 19 points to lead Missouri (11-3, 0-1) and Marcus Allen had nine.

Missouri Coach Dennis Gates’ defense has relied on forcing turnovers at a high rate this season, but it was unable to stick to that formula against Auburn’s strong ball security for most of this one.

Auburn: Bruce Pearl has built this season’s squad on balance and depth, and it was on full display Saturday. Five Tigers scored double-digit points.

No. 3 IOWA STATE 74, No. 25 BAYLOR 55

AMES, Iowa — Keshon Gilbert had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 3 Iowa State to a 74-55 win over No. 25 Baylor on Saturday in the Cyclones’ Big 12 home opener.

Gilbert had his first double-double of the season and the fourth of his career for the Cyclones (12-1, 2-0 Big 12), who won their ninth straight game.

Milan Momcilovic scored 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, with all his field goals coming from 3-point distance. He also shot 3 for 4 from the line. Curtis Jones finished with 14 points off the bench and added four steals for Iowa State.

Jeremy Roach scored 16 points, Josh Ojianwuna added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Robert Wright finished with 10 points off the bench for Baylor (9-4, 1-1 Big 12), which had its four-game winning streak halted.

No. 4 DUKE 89, SMU 62

DALLAS — Duke standout freshman Cooper Flagg had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Blue Devils, playing without coach Jon Scheyer, extended their winning streak to eight games with an 89-62 victory at Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer SMU on Saturday.

Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel each had 14 points for the Blue Devils (12-2, 4-0).

Wake Forest transfer Boopie Miller had 21 points for SMU (11-3, 2-1), which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped. Samet Yigitoglu, a 7-foot-2 freshman from Istanbul, had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Matt Cross had 11 points.

Scheyer didn’t travel with the team and missed a game for the first time in three seasons as Duke’s head coach. Associate head coach Chris Carrawell was the acting coach.

Duke came in with the league’s top scoring defense and throttled the ACC’s highest-scoring team. The Mustangs were averaging more than 87 points a game for first-year coach Andy Enfield.

The Mustang shot 34% from the field (23 of 67) and their only lead was 3-2 after Cross made a 3-pointer on their first shot.

The Blue Devils had quick responses each time SMU appeared to be making a run. The first was after an early 10-point lead was trimmed to 18-16. Flagg then had a jumper and a 3-pointer. … Duke was in Texas for the first time since losing to N.C. State in an Elite Eight game played at the NBA Dallas Mavericks’ arena about 5 miles away.

With a sellout crowd, even with students not back from winter break, the Mustangs couldn’t generate any Moody magic for an early signature win with Enfield.

No. 14 HOUSTON 86, BYU 55

HOUSTON — Emanuel Sharp had 18 points, Terrance Arceneaux scored 15 and No. 14 Houston beat BYU 86-55 on Saturday for its sixth straight win.

Mylik Wilson had 12 points as Houston (10-3, 2-0 Big 12) shot 49% overall and 47% on 3-pointers. The Cougars have won 30 straight home games.

Houston outrebounded BYU 37-24.

Trevin Knell had 12 points and Richie Saunders scored nine for BYU (10-3, 1-1), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. BYU shot 37.5% overall and 33% on 3-pointers.

NEBRASKA 66,

No. 15 UCLA 58

LINCOLN, Neb. — Brice Williams scored 16 points, Andrew Morgan added 12 off the bench and Nebraska beat No. 15 UCLA 66-58 on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) won their 20th straight home game to match the school record.

The Huskers took the lead midway through the second half and turned back the Bruins (11-3, 2-1) as they tried to come back.

The Bruins were within 61-58 in the last 30 seconds, but Sam Hoiberg made two free throws and Juwan Gary blocked Dylan Andrews’ layup to help preserve the win.

Tyler Bilodeau led UCLA with 15 points and Lazar Stefanovic added 10. Sebastian Mack, who scored nine points, made his first start of the season in place of the injured Eric Dailey Jr.

ARIZONA 72, No. 16 CINCINNATI 67

CINCINNATI — Jaden Bradley had 15 points, including two free throws that helped Arizona clinch a 72-67 win over No. 16 Cincinnati on Saturday.

Carter Bryant added 14 points and Caleb Love scored 12 as Arizona (8-5, 2-0 Big 12) won it’s second straight game.

Cincinnati (10-3, 0-2) lost for the second straight game. Dan Skillings Jr. scored 18 points and had two steals.

The Bearcats were down 19 points with just over 17 minutes remaining. They tied it at 64 with 58 seconds left on Skillings’ layup. That was as close as they’d get to a comeback win.

Dillon Mitchell added 13 points for the Bearcats.

Arizona averaged about 97 points in its seven wins coming into this game, including three games over 100. It averaged 70 in its five losses. The 72 points are the Wildcats’ third-lowest point total of the season.

Cincinnati started the season 6-0, but has dropped three of its last seven games.

No. 17 MISS. ST. 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 50

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Josh Hubbard scored 21 points and Claudell Harris had 17 points and nine rebounds as No. 17 Mississippi State beat South Carolina 85-50 on Saturday in the SEC opener for both teams.

Mississippi State (13-1) opened the game with a 15-2 run and limited South Carolina to 18 points in the first half. That was the lowest point total allowed by the Bulldogs in SEC play under coach Chris Jans. The Bulldogs closed out the first half with a 10-0 outburst and led 43-18 at the break.

Riley Kugel scored 12 points and KeShawn Murphy contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots as Mississippi State won its seventh straight game.

No. 24 MISSISSIPPI 63, GEORGIA 51

OXFORD, Miss. — Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 15 points apiece and ignited a decisive second half rally as the Rebels defeated the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed 28-26 at halftime, but opened the second half with an 11-2 burst in less than four minutes, started by consecutive jumpers by Murrell and capped by consecutive baskets by Brakefield to build a 37-30 lead.

Georgia (12-2, 0-1) never led again but pulled within 45-43 on a Blue Cain jumper with six minutes remaining. Ole Miss responded with a 3-pointer by Brakefield and a Davon Barnes jumper and were never seriously threatened again.