No. 4 Houston clinches Big 12 regular-season title

HOUSTON — L.J. Cryer scored 20 points and No. 4 Houston clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season title for a second straight season with a 73-64 win over Cincinnati on Saturday.

Terrance Arceneaux added 10 points for Houston (25-4, 17-1 Big 12), which has won eight straight. The Cougars became the first team to win the regular-season championship in its first two years in a major conference since Idaho, which won the PCC in the 1921-22 and 1922-23 seasons. Houston joined the Big 12 in 2023.

The Cougars, who have won 12 straight over Cincinnati, shot 54% and owned a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Day Day Thomas scored 19 points and Jizzle James added 18 for Cincinnati (17-12, 7-11). The Bearcats shot 44% and were 6 of 20 on 3-pointers.

Trailing 10-2 with 13½ minutes left in the first half, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called timeout, and Cryer hit a jumper out of it to start a 18-2 run. Houston led 37-25 at the half.

Houston dominated the paint with a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Houston hosts Kansas on Monday, and Cincinnati hosts Kansas State on Wednesday.

OLE MISS 87, OKLAHOMA 84

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Sean Pedulla scored 26 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left, and Mississippi beat Oklahoma 87-84 on Saturday.

Sooners freshman Dayton Forsythe scored 23 of his career-high 25 points in the second half but in driving the baseline after Pedulla’s 3 he threw the ball over the backside of the glass for a turnover with 6.1 seconds remaining.

Jeremiah Fears was called for a flagrant-one foul on the inbounds to Matthew Murrell who made both free throws for an 87-84 lead with 3.9 to go. Oklahoma’s Mohamed Wague stole the inbounds pass and fed it to Duke Miles who got a piece of the backboard from 70 feet away.

Pedulla, who finished with five 3-pointers, scored 16 second-half points. Jaemyn Brakefield scored 16 points, Dre Davis 13 and Murrell and Malik Dia 10 each for Ole Miss (20-9, 9-7 SEC), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Forsythe made four 3-pointers for the Sooners (17-12, 4-12), who have lost seven of their last eight games, five of the losses coming against ranked teams. Miles added 15 points, Fears 13 and Sam Godwin 12. Leading scorer Jalon Moore had just two.

Neither team led by double figures in the second half. The Sooners scored nine straight for a one-point lead with just under three minutes remaining.

Ole Miss led by as many as 11 in the first half and was up 39-38 at halftime.

Oklahoma finishes the regular season with a home game against No. 14 Missouri on Wednesday and an away contest at Texas next Saturday. Ole Miss is host to No. 5 Tennessee on Wednesday and plays at No. 3 Florida next Saturday.

No. 7 ST. JOHN’S 71, SETON HALL 61

NEW YORK — The final horn sounded and St. John’s skipped cutting down the nets.

The players instead held the trophy after the No. 7 Red Storm clinched the program’s first outright Big East title since 1985 and posed for pictures on the court while confetti fell from the ceiling at Madison Square Garden in front of a sellout crowd.

Toward the end of the celebration following a 71-61 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday, coach Rick Pitino declared to the excited fans: “We’re just getting started.”

The celebration was modest because the Red Storm are eyeing other celebrations — such as their first Big East Tournament title since 2000 and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

“This is the answer to a prayer,” said St. John’s President the Rev. Brian Shanley. “This is what I hoped when we hired Rick that we would get back where we are right now – contending for a national championship. This is just the beginning in my book.”

For the first time since Chris Mullin led St. John’s to the Final Four when the team was nicknamed the Redmen and coached by coach Lou Carnesecca, the Red Storm are the outright regular-season champs. St. John’s hadn’t even won a share of the title since 1992 in the final season of Carnesecca’s storied career on the sidelines.

The drought was the longest in Big East history, though several schools exited without any conference titles before spending anywhere near 33 years in the league.

This year, St. John’s achieved the title in the same season Carnesecca died just a few weeks short of his 100th birthday on Nov. 30.

“We’re very proud of the fact that in the year that he passed because he led a great life, we can honor him with this championship,” Pitino said.

The Red Storm won the regular-season title after being picked fifth in the Big East preseason poll and adding Kadary Richmond to go along with returnees RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor, who emerged as stars.

“I came here to challenge myself and try to take my game to the next level and obviously try to win at the highest level, which coach Pitino knows how to do really well and trying to learn from him,” Luis said. “I think it’s just a surreal feeling.”

After transferring from UMass, Luis averaged 10.9 in 23 games last season while dealing with shin splints. Following offseason surgery, he’s a leading candidate for Big East player of the year and averaging 17.7 points.

No. 1 AUBURN 53, No. 17 KENTUCKY 78

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Miles Kelly scored a season-high 30 points to lead No. 1 Auburn to a 94-78 win over No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday.

The Tigers (27-2, 15-1 SEC) won their sixth straight game and clinched at least a tie for the SEC regular-season title. Auburn won in Lexington for the first time since a 53-52 triumph over then-No. 1 Kentucky in 1988.

Chad Baker-Mazara followed Kelly with 22 points and Tahaad Pettiford scored 21.

Koby Brea led Kentucky (19-10, 8-8) with 21 points. Andrew Carr had 20 points and Amari Williams had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Auburn gained control with a 14-2 run that turned a 7-6 advantage into a 21-8 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. Auburn closed out the first half with an 11-2 spurt for a 49-34 halftime lead.

The Wildcats committed 18 turnovers, with the Tigers scoring 21 points off those miscues. Kentucky had four straight turnovers in the first three minutes of the second half.

Kentucky hosts LSU and Auburn plays at No. 12 Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

No. 2 DUKE 100, FLORIDA STATE 65

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans scored 19 points and No. 2 Duke overcame freshman star Cooper Flagg’s injury scare to rout Florida State 100-65 on Saturday night.

Flagg sat out more than 11 minutes to end the first half, twice leaving the gym to be evaluated after he was struck in the face on a hard foul. Flagg was on the court for the first 12 minutes of the second half, when he racked up 12 of his 16 points.

Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach both had 14 points to help Duke (26-3, 17-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) maintain a one-game lead over Clemson in the league standings.

Jamir Watkins had 21 points and Jerry Deng added 12 points for Florida State (16-13, 7-11). The Seminoles have lost three straight and four of five.

Duke led 14-11 when Flagg departed. The Blue Devils built a 47-30 halftime lead.

Nearly four minutes into the second half, Flagg blocked a shot, resulting in a fast break and Knueppel’s three-point play for a 62-35 lead.

Duke had 12 assists on 16 first-half baskets without committing a turnover despite unusual lineup combinations.

Duke plays its home finale Monday night against Wake Forest. Florida State is at Virginia on Tuesday night.

No. 5 TENNESSEE 79, No. 6 ALABAMA 76

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Jahmai Mashack raced up the court and hit a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc at the buzzer to give No. 5 Tennessee a 79-76 victory over No. 6 Alabama on Saturday.

The Volunteers (24-5, 11-5 Southeastern Conference) got the final shot by forcing a five-second inbounds violation under Alabama’s basket with 3.8 seconds left.

Chaz Lanier and Jordan Gainey each scored 18 points for Tennessee. Zakai Zeigler had 15, and Mashack finished with 11.

Mark Sears led Alabama (23-6, 12-4) with 24 points. Labaron Philan had 13, and Aden Holloway added 11.

Sears had 12 points in the first half to help Alabama take a 42-38 lead.

With 3.8 seconds to play, Tennessee got the ball back on Alabama’s inbounds violation.

Alabama outrebounded the Vols 24-14 in the final 20 minutes, with a 13-7 advantage on the offensive end.

Both teams are in action Wednesday night. Alabama hosts Florida, and Tennessee is at Mississippi.

No. 10 TEXAS TECH 78, KANSAS 73

LAWRENCE, Kan. — JT Toppin had 21 points to lead No. 10 Texas Tech to a 78-73 win over Kansas on Saturday.

It was the second win at Allen Fieldhouse (2-22) in the school’s history.

Christian Anderson had 15 points and Darrion Williams scored 14 for Texas Tech (22-7, 13-5 Big 12).

KJ Adams Jr. had 21 points for the Jayhawks (19-10, 10-8), who had multiple runs of at least six points.

The Red Raiders used a 16-2 run early in the half to turn a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead. They led 48-37 at halftime.

The Red Raiders were not intimidated by Allen Fieldhouse and the raucous crowd. Despite being 1-21 all-time in the facility, the Raiders responded every time the Jayhawks made a run.

After Kansas came all the way back to tie the game at 73-all, Williams hit a 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders the lead for good.

Texas Tech outscored Kansas 45-12 from 3-point range.

Texas Tech will host Colorado on Wednesday night, while Kansas visits No. 4 Houston on Monday night.

No. 13 CLEMSON 71, VIRGINIA 58

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Ian Schieffelin scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half to help No. 13 Clemson come from behind to beat Virginia 71-58 on Saturday.

Schieffelin, coming off a 24-point outing against Notre Dame, also grabbed 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, as the Tigers (24-5, 16-2 ACC) stayed a game behind first-place Duke in the conference standings.

Isaac McKneely had 16 points for the Cavaliers (14-15, 7-11). Virginia had hit 10 or more 3-pointers in seven of its last 10 games before Saturday, but went 8 for 19 from beyond the arc.

Clemson trailed by five at the half, but used a 20-2 surge early in the second half to take the lead. Schieffelin scored nine points during that run, as the Tigers went ahead 47-39 with 11:27 to go.

VANDERBILT 97,

No. 14 MIZZOU 93, OT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Manon had 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as Vanderbilt beat No. 14 Missouri 97-93 in overtime on Saturday night for its third win in a row.

AJ Hoggard scored 21 points, Jason Edwards finished with 17 and Tyler Nickel added 12 for Vanderbilt (20-9, 8-8 Southestern Conference).

Caleb Grill scored 28 points to lead Missouri (21-8, 10-6). Mark Mitchell scored 20, and Anthony Robinson II and Tamar Bates had 16 apiece for the Tigers.

With 4:49 left in the first half Missouri turned a 25-24 deficit into a 38-29 halftime lead with a 14-5 run.

A layup by MJ Collins Jr. with 9:13 left in regulation gave the Commodores their first lead of the half at 57-56.

With four seconds left in regulation Nickel sank a 3-pointer to tie the game at 81-81. Hoggard scored seven points in overtime.

Vanderbilt hit 21 of 24 free thows, including 8 for 8 in the second half. Missouri made 28 of 35.

Missouri plays at Oklahoma on Wednesday.