ATLANTA — Kon Knueppel scored 18 points, Cooper Flagg celebrated his 18th birthday by chipping in 13 and No. 5 Duke romped to an 82-56 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
The Blue Devils (10-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by double figures much of the game and dominated the second half against the Yellow Jackets (5-7, 0-2).
Even though the game was in Atlanta, it sounded more like Cameron Indoor Stadium with all the blue-clad Duke fans roaring for their team.
They certainly had plenty to cheer about. Knueppel led Duke’s fabulous freshmen class, which also got 15 points from Khaman Maluach.
Baye Ndongo led Georgia Tech with 14 points.
No. 7 FLORIDA 99, NORTH FLORIDA 45
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Will Richard scored a career-high 26 points, three teammates notched double-doubles and No. 7 Florida remained undefeated with a victory over North Florida
Richard made 9 of 12 shots from the floor, including 6 of 8 shots from 3-point range, and finished with five rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Sam Alexis chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds. Alex Condon had 12 points and 10 boards. And Thomas Haugh finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Florida.
The Gators (12-0) extended their best start since beginning the 2005-06 season with 17 consecutive wins. They won this one with relative ease, scoring the first 10 points of the game and closing the first half with a 14-0 run.
The Ospreys (7-6) lost for the fourth time in six outings in December and played their second straight game without leading scorer Josh Harris (ankle).
Jasai Miles and Liam Murphy led North Florida with 13 points apiece.
No. 9 MARQUETTE 72, XAVIER 70
CINCINNATI — Kam Jones scored 20 points and David Joplin added 19 as No. 9 Marquette overcame a late rally by Xavier.
Marquette (11-2, 2-0 Big East) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Musketeers fought back with a 12-0 run to take a 64-63 lead with 2:07 left.
Jones made one of two free throws to put Marquette ahead 72-70 with 3.6 seconds left. Conwell went to floor but no foul was called on Chase Ross as the buzzer sounded.
Marcus Foster led Xavier (8-5, 0-2 Big East) with 16 points.
No. 11 UCONN 78, BUTLER 74
INDIANAPOLIS — Alex Karaban scored 21 points, including two late 3-pointers, and No. 11 UConn won its sixth straight game, beating Butler.
Liam McNeeley added 17 points and Hassan Diarra 12 for the Huskies (10-3, 2-0 Big East)
Andre Screen and Patrick McCaffery each scored 17 points and Pierre Brooks added 13 points for the Bulldogs (7-6, 0-2).
Butler used an 8-0 run to tie it at 63-all but could never get the lead. McNeeley’s three-point play put UConn ahead 66-63 with 4:18 remaining.
Diarra sank a shot-clock jumper to give UConn a 71-67 lead with 1:34 left. After McCaffery’s two free throws closed the gap to 71-69, Karaban hit a 3-pointer to make it 74-69 with 59 seconds to go.
McCaffery’s driving layup closed the lead to 76-74 with 8.3 seconds left, but McNeeley’s two free throws to ice the game.
No. 15 HOUSTON 87, TEXAS A&M-CC 51
HOUSTON — Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points, L.J. Cryer added 17 and No. 15 Houston beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for its fourth straight win.
Sharp had 15 points in the first half as Houston (8-3) led 46-27 after shooting 61% and going 8 of 13 on 3-pointers. The Cougars finished shooting 49% and made a season-high 14 of 29 from 3.
Terrance Arceneaux scored 13 points, and Milos Uzan had 12 points and six assists as Houston extended its nation-best home winning streak to 29 games.
Garry Clark had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Damarion Dennis scored 10 points for the Islanders (7-6). Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 32%.
No. 20 MICHIGAN ST. 86, FAU 69
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Coen Carr had career highs of 17 points and eight rebounds, lifting No. 20 Michigan State to a victory over Florida Atlantic.
The Spartans (10-2) have won five straight and eight of nine.
The Owls (7-6) had won three straight, averaging 87-plus points in those games.
Florida Atlantic’s Tre Carroll scored 24 points and Baba Miller had 12.
Michigan State got off to a rough start and the Owls took advantage, leading for four-plus minutes before Carr made a pair of crowd-pleasing dunks.
Carr shot 7 of 9, including a 3-pointer, and made both of his free throws in a performance that surpassed his previous career highs in points and rebounds set in a win over then-No. 12 North Carolina last month at the Maui Invitational.
MISSISSIPPI ST. 79, No. 21 MEMPHIS 66
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Riley Kugel scored 19 points and KeShawn Murphy added 13 points and nine rebounds to lead Mississippi State past No. 21 Memphis.
Josh Hubbard also had 13 points and Cameron Matthews added 12 points and six assists as the Bulldogs (11-1) built an early 20-point lead and were never really threatened in winning their fifth straight.
PJ Haggerty led Memphis (9-3) with 24 points and Tyrese Hunter finished with 19.
The Mississippi State defense caused a 36% shooting day for the Tigers, including 8 of 27 from outside the arc. Memphis also added 18 turnovers.
No. 25 CLEMSON 73, WAKE FOREST 62
CLEMSON, S.C. — Chase Hunter had 16 points and Jake Heidbreder 15 as No. 25 Clemson bounced back from two straight losses to beat Wake Forest and start ACC play 2-0 for the second time in three seasons.
The Tigers (10-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost a pair of non-conference games in overtime to Memphis and South Carolina. But Clemson opened a double-digit lead in the first half and held off the Demon Deacons (9-4, 1-1).
Wake Forest trailed by 15 points in the first half, but cut the lead to 44-41 on Hunter Sallis’ three-point play with 15:51 to play. The Tigers followed with a 19-6 burst the next eight minutes to extend the lead back to double digits.
Sallis finished with 26 points to lead Wake Forest.
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