Jarace Walker tallied 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists as No. 5 Houston handed No. 2 Virginia its first loss, 69-61, Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.
Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark added 13 points each, while Jamal Shead had 11 points and four assists. The Cougars (11-1) used their signature defense to limit the Cavaliers to 41.7 percent shooting from the floor and 27.3 percent from 3-point range. Houston shot 49 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from beyond the arc.
In its first ever nonconference game at home against a top-5 team, Virginia (8-1) was led by Kadin Shedrick, who scored 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting. Jayden Gardner added 13 points and six rebounds.
Playing on a sore hamstring, one of the Cavaliers’ top threats, Reece Beekman, scored just four points in 34 minutes.
No. 1 Purdue 69, Davidson 61
Zach Edey’s 29 points and 16 rebounds powered the newly minted No. 1 Boilermakers past the stubborn Wildcats in Indianapolis.
Caleb Furst and Braden Smith also had double-doubles for Purdue (11-0). Furst finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Smith posted 10 points and 12 rebounds. Fletcher Loyer scored 14 points, including 9 of 10 on free throws.
Sam Mennenga led Davidson (7-4) with 14 points and Foster Loyer, Fletcher’s brother, had 11 points.
No. 3 UConn 68, Butler 46
Adama Sanogo collected 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Huskies survived their second-worst shooting performance of the season and remained unbeaten with a victory over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis in the Big East opener for both teams.
UConn (12-0, 1-0 Big East) is off to its best start since winning its first 19 games in the 1998-99 season. Sanogo posted his second double-double of the season and made 13 of 21 shots as UConn grabbed a season high in rebounds, which included 18 offensive boards, while outrebounding Butler 54-30.
Manny Bates scored 16 points and Chuck Harris added 12 for Butler (8-4, 0-1), which shot a dreadful 29.6 percent. No other Bulldogs had scoring totals in double figures.
No. 15 Gonzaga 100, No. 4 Alabama 90
Drew Timme had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead six Bulldogs in double figures as they defeated the Crimson Tide in the C.M. Newton Classic in Birmingham, Ala.
Timme shot 12 of 18 from the field and added four assists while Anton Watson added 17 points and five rebounds. Malachi Smith chipped in 12 points and five steals. The Bulldogs (9-3) won their fourth straight game.
Alabama (9-2), which had a four-game winning streak snapped, was led by freshman Brandon Miller with a game-high 36 points. Jaden Bradley added 18 points and four assists, while Noah Clowney chipped in nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
No. 9 Arizona 75, No. 6 Tennessee 70
Azuolas Tubelis scored 19 points and Pelle Larsson made a key three-point play late as the Wildcats held off the Volunteers in Tucson, Ariz.
Tubelis led the nation’s top-scoring team by making 7 of 11 shots from the field and pulling down nine rebounds, while post partner Oumar Ballo had eight boards and 18 points, including two free throws with 26.8 seconds to go for a 73-67 lead.
The inside game was just enough for Arizona (10-1) to overcome a career-high 21 points from Tennessee sophomore Zakai Zeigler. The Volunteers (9-2) played without Josiah-Jordan James due to ongoing knee problems that have limited him to five games.
No. 8 Kansas 84, No. 14 Indiana 62
Gradey Dick recorded 20 points, six rebounds and five steals to lead the Jayhawks past the Hoosiers in nonconference action at Lawrence, Kan.
Dick went 4 of 5 on 3-point shots and was 8 of 12 overall as the Jayhawks (10-1) won their fourth consecutive game. Kevin McCullar contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds and five steals, while KJ Adams and Jalen Wilson added 11 points apiece. Dajuan Harris had 10 points, 10 assists and three steals.
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 13 points and a career-high nine blocked shots for Indiana (8-3), which lost its second straight game. Only Steve Downing, who had 10 against Michigan on Feb. 23, 1971, had more rejections in a game for the Hoosiers. Jalen Hood-Schifino (2-for-11 shooting) and Race Thompson had 11 points apiece.
No. 10 Arkansas 76, Bradley 57
Freshman Jordan Walsh scored a season-high 18 points and the Razorbacks extended their winning streak to seven games by beating the Braves in North Little Rock, Ark.
Walsh had 16 of his points in the first half and made all seven of his field goal attempts before fouling out with 7:06 remaining, due to technical and flagrant fouls. Ricky Council IV, the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer with a 19.2 scoring average, added 16 points, and Anthony Black tallied 15 for the Razorbacks (10-1).
Rienk Mast posted his season high with 17 points to lead the Braves (7-4). Duke Deen and Malevy Leons also were in double figures with 11 points each for Bradley, which had its winning streak snapped at four games.
No. 16 UCLA 63, No. 13 Kentucky 53
Jaime Jaquez Jr. collected 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals to fuel the Bruins’ victory over the Wildcats in New York.
Jaquez made 9 of 19 shots from the floor to send the Bruins (10-2) to their seventh straight win. Tyger Campbell and Jaylen Clark each scored 15 points for UCLA, which shot 45.8 percent from the floor and took advantage of 18 Kentucky turnovers. Clark also had four steals.
Freshman Chris Livingston scored a season-high 14 points off the bench, and Sahvir Wheeler added 11 to pace Kentucky. Oscar Tshiebwe recorded eight points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Wildcats (7-3), who saw their four-game winning streak come to a halt.
No. 17 Mississippi State 68, Nicholls 66
Tolu Smith sparked an early second-half run with 10 of his 15 points and the Bulldogs remained unbeaten after they eked out a win over the Colonels in Starkville, Miss.
Down 30-27 at the break, the Bulldogs (11-0) ran their offense through the 6-foot-11 Smith, who notched four field goals and two free throws within the first five minutes after the break. Nicholls (5-6) whittled the lead to two with 2.8 seconds left, and after stealing the inbounds pass, Pierce Spencer missed a 3-point attempt as time expired.
Smith added eight rebounds and two steals, and Tyler Stevenson and Dashawn Davis scored 14 points apiece for Mississippi State, one of six undefeated teams in the nation. Latrell Jones had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Colonels, while Marek Nelson and Caleb Huffman each had 12 points.
No. 18 Illinois 68, Alabama A&M 47
Matthew Mayer scored a game-high 21 points and the Fighting Illini survived a scoring drought of nearly nine minutes in the second half to stop the Bulldogs in nonconference play at Champaign, Ill.
Terrence Shannon Jr. added 18 for the Fighting Illini (8-3), who nearly blew a 17-point second half lead before overpowering their Southwestern Athletic Conference foe in the final 10 minutes.
Garrett Hicks scored 13 points and reserve Messiah Thompson added 12 for the Bulldogs (4-7), who rattled off 16 straight points and pulled within 38-37 after Dailin Smith canned a pair of foul shots with 10:54 left.
North Carolina 89, No. 23 Ohio State 84 (OT)
The Tar Heels rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to defeat the Buckeyes in New York on Saturday behind 28 points and 15 rebounds by Armando Bacot.
Caleb Love scored four of his 22 points in overtime for the Tar Heels (8-4), who have won three straight. He had three points in the first half. RJ Davis added 21 points. Love’s basket to open overtime put the Tar Heels ahead to stay.
Freshman Brice Sensabaugh hit a jumper with two seconds left in regulation to give Ohio State a 79-77 lead, before Pete Nance sent the game to overtime with his shot at the buzzer. Sensabaugh had a career-high 22 points for the Buckeyes (7-3). Bruce Thornton had 17 and Justice Sueing 16.
No. 24 Virginia Tech 74, Grambling 48
Sean Pedulla scored 21 points and led the Hokies’ perimeter attack in walloping the Tigers in Blacksburg, Va.
Hunter Cattoor had 13 points, with all of his field goals coming via four 3-pointers, and Justyn Mutts added 11 points for the Hokies (11-1), who overcame an early 10-point hole and won their sixth consecutive game.
Carte’are Gordon’s 12 points and Cameron Christon’s 10 paced Grambling (6-4), which had defeated Colorado and Vanderbilt from power conferences but couldn’t pull off another of those conquests. The Tigers committed 19 turnovers.
No. 25 Miami 91, St. Francis (Pa.) 76
Isaiah Wong collected 22 points, a career-high 10 assists and five rebounds to lead the Hurricanes past the visiting Red Flash.
Sophomore Bensley Joseph, making his first career start, posted 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Hurricanes (11-1) improved to 8-0 at home. Wooga Poplar, another Miami sophomore, scored a career-high 20 points.
St. Francis (3-9) fell to 0-6 on the road. Red Flash forward Josh Cohen, the only player in the country who has scored at least 40 points twice this season, finished with a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds. St. Francis also received 25 points from freshman Landon Moore.
-Field Level Media
