February 19th, 2025

No. 1 Auburn defeats No. 2 Alabama 94-85 in top-ranked matchup

By Canadian Press on February 15, 2025.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — 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).

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.

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.

NO. 3 FLORIDA 88, SOUTH CAROLINA 67

GAIINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Denzel Aberdeen scored 22 points, Thomas Haugh added 20 — career highs for both players — and No. 3 Florida beat South Carolina despite playing without two frontcourt players.

The Gators (22-3, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) led by four at halftime and started the second half with a 12-1 run to open up a comfortable lead. The Gamecocks (10-15, 0-12) never recovered.

Florida center Micah Handlogten, playing in his first game since gruesomely breaking his left leg in the SEC title game 11 months ago, finished with two points, three rebounds and five assists in his return.

The Gators were without starting forward Alex Condon (right ankle) and backup Sam Alexis (left ankle). Those injuries were among the reasons Handlogten gave up a redshirt season to play in 2025. He also hopes to contribute to what is shaping up to be a special season.

Florida guard Alijah Martin returned after missing two games with a hip pointer and scored 11 points. He had three of the team’s 14 3-pointers.

Jacobi Wright led the way for South Carolina with 13 points.

NO. 5 TENNESSEE 81, VANDERBILT 76

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler scored 22 points, all in the second half, as the Volunteers rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat the Commodores.

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).

NO. 6 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 win over No. 13 Arizona.

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.

NO. 16 WISCONSIN 94, NO. 7 PURDUE 84

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — John Tonje scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half and Max Klesmit added 17 points and six assists to help the Badgers beat the Boilermakers.

Tonje scored 10 straight points during a key second-half stretch that gave Wisconsin a lead it never relinquished.

The Badgers (20-5, 10-4 Big Ten) won their fourth straight despite losing backup guard Kamari McGee late in the first half when a replay review resulted in a Flagrant 2 call and an ejection after McGee’s hand hit Trey Kaufman-Renn below the waist as he tried to guard Purdue’s (19-7, 11-4) Braden Smith.

NO. 8 TEXAS A&M 69, ARKANSAS 61

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Wade Taylor IV scored 18 points as the Aggies extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over the Razorbacks.

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.

NO. 10 IOWA STATE 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 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.

NO. 11 MICHIGAN STATE 79, ILLINOIS 65

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jaxson Kohler had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Tre Holloman scored 14 points and No. 11 Michigan State rallied to beat Illinois giving the Spartans’ Tom Izzo the most conference wins in Big Ten history.

Izzo moved past late Indiana coach Bobby Knight with his record 354th conference victory.

Jase Richardson contributed 11 points and Coen Carr had 10 for the Spartans (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten), who outscored Illinois 42-24 in the second half. They finished with a 15-point run as the Illini missed their last 18 shots over the final 8 1/2 minutes.

Morez Johnson Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis each scored 17 points for Illinois (19-7, 9-7).

NO. 12 TEXAS TECH 93, OKLAHOMA STATE 55

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — JT Toppin had 32 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 12 Texas Tech rout Oklahoma State.

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 82, NO. 15 KENTUCKY 78

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Freshman Tre Johnson scored 32 points, and senior Tramon Mark had 26, season bests for both, and Texas defeated No. 15 Kentucky, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Texas (16-10, 5-8 Southeastern Conference) trailed 69-64 with less than four minutes remaining before making a 14-1 push. Johnson and Mark scored 12 of the 14 for a 78-70 lead with 34 seconds remaining.

Johnson converted just 1 of 8 3-point attempts but made 10 baskets inside the line and 9 of 10 free throws. Mark made three 3-pointers.

Otega Oweh led Kentucky (17-8, 6-6) with 20 points. Amari Williams had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Kentucky, an adept 38% team on 3-pointers, hit just 6 of 24 against Texas.

NO. 22 MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 19 MISSISSIPPI 71

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

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.

NO. 21 MISSOURI 87, GEORGIA 74

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Anthony Robinson II scored 15 points, including seven in a decisive 15-0 run in the second half, leading No. 21 Missouri past Georgia.

Caleb Grill also scored 15 points and Mark Mitchell added 14 as Missouri (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) enjoyed a dominant second half after trailing 41-38 at halftime.

Freshman Asa Newell led Georgia (16-10, 4-9) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs suffered their third straight loss as they failed to improve their NCAA Tournament hopes.

Newell enjoyed a resurgence after he was held to a season-low six points while making only one shot from the field in Tuesday night’s 69-53 loss at Texas A&M.

NO. 23 CLEMSON 72, FLORIDA ST. 46

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Dillon Hunter scored a career-best 17 points as the Tigers jumped out to a big lead and put away the Seminoles.

Ian Schieffelin had 14 points and 12 rebounds as Clemson (21-5, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its third straight game. Clemson has won six straight in the series with Florida State.

Jamir Watkins scored 12 points for Florida State (15-10, 6-8). But the Tigers held the Seminoles well below their season-low point total, with the previous low (57) coming at Clemson in January.

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The Associated Press

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