Broome leads No. 1 Auburn past No. 2 Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Johni Broome had 19 points and 14 rebounds and five teammates scored in double figures as No. 1 Auburn beat in-state rival and second-ranked Alabama 94-85 on Saturday in a matchup of top-ranked teams.

Mark Sears scored 18 points and Grant Nelson added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Alabama, which rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half, but failed to complete the comeback.

Denver Jones scored 16 points, Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly added 15 points apiece, Chaney Johnson had 14 and Tahaad Pettiford 13 for Auburn (23-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference).

Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway each scored 10 for Alabama (21-4, 10-2).

Starter Dylan Cardwell fouled out after playing just 12 minutes, and key bench player Baker-Mazara foul out with just over two minutes remaining. Johnson picked up much of the slack, playing 33 minutes, after averaging 23 minutes per game.

Before fouling out, Baker-Mazara scored consecutive baskets to give the Tigers the lead for good with about six minutes to play.

Auburn hosts Arkansas on Wednesday night, while Alabama plays at No. 21 Missouri the same night.

No. 3 DUKE 106, STANFORD 70

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Tyrese Proctor scored 23 points, Cooper Flagg contributed 19 points, six assists and five rebounds, and No. 3 Duke beat Stanford 106-70 on Saturday.

Khaman Maluach had 17 points, Sion James finished with 14 and Caleb Foster scored 10 for the Blue Devils (22-3, 14-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Duke shot a season-best 62.5% and hit 14 3-pointers. Proctor tied a career-high with five 3s while Flagg hit three.

Maxime Raynaud led Stanford (16-10, 8-7) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Oziyah Sellers added 11 points and Donavin Young 10.

Duke rolled into halftime up 49-34 and never trailed.

Since closing January with four straight wins, Stanford has dropped four of five games in ACC play to deal a major blow to its tournament hopes.

The Blue Devils have responded to their first conference loss against Clemson by outscoring their next two opponents by an average of 28.5 points.

Stanford tied it at 13-all, but never got any closer as Duke responded with eight straight points — including five by Flagg — in 64 seconds to reclaim momentum in a lopsided first half.

Stanford hosts California on Saturday and Duke visits Virginia on Monday.

No. 5 TENNESSEE 81, VANDERBILT 76

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler scored 22 points, all in the second half, and No. 5 Tennessee rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat Vanderbilt Saturday, 81-76.

Chaz Lanieradded 21, for the Volunteers (21-5, 8-5 Southeastern Conference).

Jason Edwards led the Commodores (17-8, 5-7) with 24 points. Jaylen Carey came off the bench to score 18 before fouling out with 4:13 left in the game.

Edwards and Carey had 10 points each as Vanderbilt jumped to a 44-31 lead at halftime. The Commodores were prolific down low. They held an advantage in points in the paint (20-12).

Last year, Dalton Knecht was good enough to help the Vols through the games in which shots weren’t falling. The 2022-23 and this season have been more challenging. Even though its defense is considered among the best in the country, Tennessee hasn’t found a consistent answer to a sluggish offense — which has resulted in occasional losses.

After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, Tennessee tied the game on a Zakai Zeigler 3-pointer with 9:41 left in the game.

Vanderbilt will travel to Kentucky Wednesday and Tennessee is off for the week before traveling to Texas A&M next Saturday.

No. 6 HOUSTON 62,

No. 13 ARIZONA 58

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Milos Uzan scored 19 points, L.J. Cryer added 15 and No. 6 Houston took firm control of the Big 12 Conference race with a 62-58 win over No. 13 Arizona on Saturday.

Coming off a 76-65 win at Baylor, the Cougars (21-4, 13-1 Big 12) trailed by seven midway through the second half, then held the Wildcats without a field goal for more than six minutes to go up seven.

The Wildcats (17-8, 11-3) fought back to close within 59-58 with a minute left, but Houston hit 3 of 4 closing free throws to win for the 17th time in 18 games. The Cougars have the nation’s longest active road winning streak at 11 straight and lead Arizona by two games in the Big 12, with No. 12 Texas Tech a half-game back of the Wildcats.

Caleb Love led Arizona with 17 points and seven assists but went 1 for 8 from 3-point range.

The Cougars and Wildcats went a combined 7 for 28 from the floor to open the game before Arizona used a 12-2 run to go up nine. Houston fought back with a short run of its own, pulling within 30-25 by halftime.

Cryer had five points in the first half before hitting consecutive 3s to cap a 12-0 run that put Houston up 53-48.

Arizona shot 5 for 23 from 3-point range, including 1 of 9 in the second half.

Houston plays at Arizona State on Tuesday. Arizona is at Baylor on Monday.

No. 10 IOWA 81, CINCINNATI 70

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Backup guard Curtis Jones made all 12 of his free throws and scored 22 points to help No. 10 Iowa State beat Cincinnati 81-70 on Saturday for its 20th victory of the season.

Joshua Jefferson added 13 points and three steals for the Cyclones (20-5, 10-4 Big 12). Milan Momcilovic had 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey added 11. Lipsey made all three three of his attempts from the field, two of them 3-pointers, and had four steals.

Jizzle James matched his career high with 25 points for the Bearcats (15-10, 5-9). Day Day Thomas added 13.

The Bearcats struggled to stay out of foul trouble. They they were called for 23 personal fouls and three technical fouls, with two players fouling out.

Iowa State had a 10-run midway through the second half to regain the lead.

Iowa State hosts Colorado on Tuesday night. Cincinnati is at West Virginia on Wednesday night.

No. 8 TEXAS A&M 69, ARKANSAS 61

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Wade Taylor IV scored 18 points and No. 8 Texas A&M extended its winning streak to five games with a 69-61 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

The game was tied with less than 10 minutes to go before the Aggies (20-5, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) used a 9-0 run to take a 59-50 lead with five minutes left. Taylor got things going with a 3-pointer and Andersson Garcia added four points in that stretch to help Texas A&M build the lead.

Karter Knox ended an Arkansas scoring drought of almost seven minutes with about 4 1/2 minutes left, but Jace Carter had a layup for the Aggies seconds later.

Zhuric Phelps had 12 points and nine rebounds for Texas A&M, which improved to 12-1 at home this season. Garcia finished with 11 points.

Knox led Arkansas (15-10, 4-8) with 17 points as the Razorbacks lost for the second time in three games. Zvonimir Ivisic, a 7-foot-2 sophomore, was limited to 13 points Saturday after combining for 52 points in the last two games.

Taylor’s 3-pointer started the big run and put the Aggies on top for good.

The Aggies visit No. 22 Mississippi State on Tuesday night and Arkansas hosts top-ranked Auburn on Wednesday night.

No. 12 TEXAS TECH 93, OKLAHOMA STATE 55

STILLWATER (AP) — JT Toppin had 32 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 12 Texas Tech rout Oklahoma State 93-55 on Saturday.

Christian Anderson added 16 points and Oklahoma City product Kevin Overton had 13 for Texas Tech (20-5, 11-3 Big 12), which has won four straight against the Cowboys.

The Red Raiders shot 48% from the field and made 16 of 37 3-point shots (43%,) They led by 19 points at halftime and outscored Oklahoma State 50-31 after the break.

Marchelus Avery scored 13 points to lead Oklahoma State (12-13, 4-10), which has lost six of its last eight. Abou Ousmane added eight points and for the Cowboys, who made 19 of 51 shots (35%).

Texas Tech closed the first half with a 31-15 run for a 43-24 lead and then opened the second period with a 17-6 run to make it 60-30 with nearly 15 minutes remaining.

Oklahoma State hosts UCF on Wednesday. Texas Tech is at TCU on Tuesday.

No. 16 WISCONSIN 94, PURDUE 84

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — When Wisconsin backup guard Kamari McGee was ejected late in the first half Saturday against Purdue, the 16th-ranked Badgers didn’t fret.

They found a way to overcome his absence.

Wisconsin kept its composure, used the ejection as motivation and rallied to beat No. 7 Purdue 94-84, handing the Boilermakers a second loss this season on their home court.

“I think the ejection actually threw more gas on our fire,” Badgers coach Greg Gard said. “I probably talked less in these huddles than I have all year because they were so engaged, so locked in with what we wanted to do.”

The Badgers (20-5, 10-4 Big Ten) needed Saturday’s victory to help them chase what they really crave — another regular-season conference championship. By beating the two-time defending Big Ten champs, the Badgers pulled within 1 1/2 games of No. 20 Michigan, within 1/2 game of No. 11 Michigan State and the Boilermakers and squarely in play for earning a double-bye in next month’s league tournament.

No. 22 MISS. STATE 81, No. 19 OLE MISS 71

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — R.J. Melendez had 17 points to lead No. 22 Mississippi State’s balanced offense for an 81-71 win over No. 19 Mississippi and a season sweep of its in-state rival on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs (18-7, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) got 14 points from Josh Hubbard, while Riley Kugel had 11, and Keshawn Murphy and Claudell Harris Jr. had 10 each.

Jaylen Murray scored 14 and Sean Pedulla had 13 for Ole Miss (19-7, 8-5).

Hubbard was 3 for 13 from the floor, but his teammates had his back as the Bulldogs shot 51.7% in the first half and 43% for the game.

The lead peaked at 67-48 with just under nine minutes left when Kugel got a steal and passed ahead to Shawn Jones Jr. for a layup.

Melendez left the game briefly after a flagrant foul by Jaemyn Brakefield at the 10:50 mark. That resulted in four free throws and possession for the Bulldogs who upped their lead to 62-46.