Jahmai Mashack’s buzzer-beater gives No. 5 Tennessee 79-76 win over No. 6 Alabama

By Canadian Press on March 1, 2025.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — 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.

NO. 1 AUBURN 94, NO. 17 KENTUCKY 78

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Miles Kelly scored a season-high 30 points to lead No. 1 Auburn to a win over No. 17 Kentucky.

The Tigers (27-2, 15-1 SEC) have six straight victories and won the SEC regular-season title outright when No. 5 Tennessee edged No. 6 Alabama 79-76 later Saturday. Auburn posted video on X of its players celebrating on the team bus after watching Tennessee’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it.

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.

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.

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.

NO. 3 FLORIDA 89, NO. 12 TEXAS A&M 70

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Will Richard made six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Thomas Haugh added 17 points and No. 3 Florida handed 12th-ranked Texas A&M a fourth consecutive loss.

Alijah Martin had 14 points for the Gators, who bounced back from a midweek loss at unranked Georgia and moved a step closer to securing a double bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament in two weeks.

Texas A&M (20-9, 9-7 SEC) could fall out of the AP Top 25 college basketball poll. Florida (25-4, 12-4), meanwhile, improved to 14-1 at home this season.

Florida trailed by six early but started hitting from long range to close the gap and build a double-digit lead. Richard had the hot hand and scored 17 points in the second half, thanks mostly to five 3s. His 3 with 4:52 remaining was a dagger.

The Gators made 14 of 33 from behind the arc, nine more than the Aggies.

Pharrel Payne and Zhuric Phelps led Texas A&M with 16 points apiece.

NO. 4 HOUSTON 73, CINCINNATI 64

HOUSTON (AP) — 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 win over Cincinnati.

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.

NO. 7 ST. JOHN’S 71, SETON HALL 61

NEW YORK (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored 21 points and No. 7 St. John’s beat Seton Hall to clinch its first outright regular-season Big East title since 1985.

The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2) improved to 18-0 at home as they played in front of their third straight sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden and with coach Rick Pitino sporting a white suit for the second straight season.

St. John’s moved the game to MSG after it was initially scheduled to be played on campus but opted not to cut down the nets to celebrate. After finishing off the win, a montage of highlights played while the team was presented with the trophy for clinching the title as confetti was rained and Pitino gave a brief speech thanking the fans and said: “We’re just getting started.”

Zuby Ejiofor added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storm shot 43.4% and struggled until the final minutes.

Dylan Addae-Wusu scored 18 for Seton Hall (7-22, 2-16), which is concluding its worst season since 1982-83. Isaiah Coleman added 15 for the Pirates.

NO. 10 TEXAS TECH 78, KANSAS 73

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — JT Toppin had 21 points to lead No. 10 Texas Tech to a win over Kansas.

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.

NO. 13 CLEMSON 71, VIRGINIA 58

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Ian Schieffelin scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half to help the Tigers come from behind and beat the Cavaliers.

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.

VANDERBILT 97, NO. 14 MISSOURI 93, OT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chris Manon had 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as Vanderbilt beat No. 14 Missouri in overtime 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.

NO. 16 MARYLAND 68, PENN ST. 64

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Derik Queen had 23 points, Ja’kobi Gillespie scored 19 to lead the Terrapins over the Nittany Lions.

Selton Miguel added 17 points for the Terrapins (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten), who overcame a 36-30 halftime deficit to snap a seven-game losing streak in Happy Valley.

Ace Baldwin Jr. had 18 points and D’Marco Dunn scored 14 for the Nittany Lions (15-15, 5-14), who needed to win out and get help in the standings to make the 15-team Big Ten Tournament.

NO. 19 LOUISVILLE 79, PITTSBURGH 68

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Chucky Hepburn scored a career-high 37 points to lead No. 19 Louisville to a victory over Pittsburgh.

Terrence Edwards Jr. added 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals (23-6, 16-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 51.1% from the field (23 for 45) and went 11 for 21 (52.4%) from 3-point range.

Jaland Lowe led Pittsburgh (16-13, 7-11) with 16 points and Zack Austin added 15.

Hepburn, a senior transfer from Wisconsin, scored more than 30 for the second time this season. The point guard had 24 points and shot 6 for 6 from 3-point range in the first half, making them all in a span of six possessions. His last 3 gave Louisville a 39-29 lead with 1:05 left before halftime.

In the second half, Hepburn did it from the free-throw line, going 9 for 13. Overall, he shot 13 for 17, the fourth time he has made that many in a game this season.

The Panthers stuck around, using an 8-0 run to take a 62-59 lead on Austin’s 3-pointer with 7:39 remaining. However, the Cardinals answered with a 9-0 run to go up 68-62 with 3:34 left after a layup by Hepburn.

NO. 21 MARQUETTE 76, GEORGETOWN 61

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kam Jones scored 13 points and had a career-high 13 assists for his fifth double-double as No. 21 Marquette easily topped Georgetown.

David Joplin had 17 points and Ben Gold added 15 as Marquette (22-7, 13-5 Big East) led by as many as 28 in the second half for its second straight lopsided win after overpowering Providence 82-52 on Tuesday.

Jones, who has scored in double-figures in 45 straight games, had nine of Marquette’s 11 first-half assists, helping the Golden Eagles to a 39-22 lead at the break.

Micah Peavy had 15 points and Curtis Williams 14 for Georgetown (16-13, 7-11). Jordan Burks had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hoyas, who shot 34.5% for the game, finished the first half by missing 17 of their final 19 shots.

NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, LSU 69

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Josh Hubbard scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half to help No. 24 Mississippi State beat LSU.

Riley Kugel had 12 points for Mississippi State on 5-for-6 shooting. The Bulldogs (20-9, 8-8 SEC) trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and were down 37-35 at halftime.

Mississippi State reached 20 wins for the third consecutive season under coach Chris Jans.

Cam Carter scored 23 points for LSU (14-15, 3-13), and Damion Collins finished with 10. Derek Fountain had nine points on 4-for-4 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.

Carter went 5 for 10 from 3-point range. The rest of the team went 4 for 26 from deep.

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The Associated Press

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