HOUSTON (AP) — No. 8 Alabama rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to stun No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday, becoming just the second team to beat two top-ranked teams in the same season.
Noah Clowney had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jaden Bradley added 12 points and Mark Sears scored 11 points, including nine in the second half for the Crimson Tide (8-1). Alabama shot 50% from the field in the second half and 41% for the game. The Tide went 20 of 32 on free throws, including 15 of 21 in the second half.
The Crimson Tide beat North Carolina 103-101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27 and joins the 1990 Oklahoma team to take down two No. 1s in a season.
Jamal Shead had 19 points and six rebounds, and Tramon Mark scored 10 points before fouling out with 8:10 remaining for Houston (9-1). The Cougars shot 39% from the field, including going 1-of-8 to end the game. Houston was 3 of 13 on 3-pointers and 12 of 22 from the free-throw line.
The game was tied at 63 following a Marcus Sasser free throw with two minutes left. Then Clowney put the Tide up by two with a layup with 1:12 remaining, Shead missed a jumper with 48 seconds left and Brandon Miller made two free throws five seconds later to push the lead to four.
After Reggie Chaney missed two free throws, Miller made two more free throws to give Alabama a 69-63 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
NO. 5 UCONN 114, LONG ISLAND 61
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Freshman Donovan Clingan had a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead UConn over Long Island University.
It was Clingan’s second double-double of the season, and he was one of five UConn players who scored in double digits. Sophomore Jordan Hawkins had a team-high 22 points and was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers; freshman Alex Karaban turned in a career-high 19 points; Adama Sanogo added 16 points and Naheim Alleyne added 11.
The last time the Huskies (11-0) scored 100 points in regulation was when they opened the 2020 season with a 102-75 win against Central Connecticut State. It’s also the most points UConn has scored since beating Morehead State 129-61 during the 2005-06 season
Jacob Johnson scored 19 points for the Sharks (1-8) and R.J. Greene added 17.
NO. 2 TEXAS 88, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 43
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Christian Bishop scored 16 points and Texas held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 13 points in the second half while coasting to a win.
Texas rose to its highest ranking in more than a decade after a 6-0 start before dropping an overtime loss against No. 17 Illinois earlier in the week in New York City.
Freshman Dillon Mitchell scored 13 points for Texas (7-1), most of them coming on dunks. Brock Cunningham scored a career-high 13 on 5-of-5 shooting, which included three 3-pointers.
Chris Greene scored 14 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-8).
NO. 4 PURDUE 65, NEBRASKA 62, OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored a season-high 22 points and Braden Smith made four free throws in the last 28 seconds of overtime to give Purdue a hard-earned victory over Nebraska.
The Boilermakers (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) have won two straight to open conference play for the first time since 2017-18.
Zach Edey had 11 points and 17 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, but his quiet afternoon offensively allowed the Cornhuskers (6-5, 0-2) to keep things close throughout.
Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga, who had 12 of his 19 points after halftime, tied it 56-all with 9.1 seconds left, and the game went to overtime when Loyer was off the mark with a 3 just before the buzzer.
Walker and Emmanuel Bandoumel added 14 points apiece for the Huskers, and Walker had 10 rebounds.
NO. 9 ARKANSAS 88, OKLAHOMA 78
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Ricky Council IV scored 26 points and Nick Smith Jr. had 21 in Arkansas’ victory over Oklahoma.
Arkansas, which improved to 9-1 on the season, led by three at the break and gradually pulled away from the Sooners throughout the second half.
Oklahoma (7-3) had just three players in double figures, with Grant Sherfield leading the way with 23 points, including 3 of 6 3-pointers. He was followed by Milos Uzan with 15 points and Jalen Hill with 11. The Sooners shot 57.1% from the field.
Jordan Walsh added 12 points for the Razorbacks, who shot 59.3% from the field, and Mahki Mitchell had 10.
NO. 16 KENTUCKY 69, YALE 59
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Oscar Tshiebwe scored 28 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Kentucky over Yale.
The Wildcats (7-2) pushed their winning streak to four games in a tougher-than-expected contest against the Bulldogs (8-3) from the Ivy League. Yale opened the second half with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 33 before Tshiebwe scored 12 straight to help the Wildcats regain control.
Sahvir Wheeler and Antonio Reeves had 10 points each for Kentucky.
Jack Malloy led Yale with 14 points, followed by EJ Jarvis with 12 and August Mahoney with 10.
PENN STATE 74, NO. 17 ILLINOIS 59
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Andrew Funk and Myles Dread combined for 11 3-pointers to help Penn State beat Illinois.
Funk and Jalen Pickett led all scorers with 20 points each, Seth Lundy added 16 and Dread had 15 to give the Nittany Lions (7-1, 1-1 Big Ten) notched their first road Big Ten win against a top-20 team since beating No. 16 Michigan State in 2020.
Matthew Mayer led Illinois (7-3, 0-2) with 14 points, all in the first half.
Penn State shot 50% from long distance overall, and hit 6 of 9 3s in the first half. Funk made another 3 to extend the lead to double digits on the opening possession out of the break. Illinois pulled within five in the second half, but Funk and Dread made three more 3s in a span of 64 seconds.
NO. 19 UCLA 87, DENVER 64
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jaylen Clark scored 24 points and UCLA opened the second half with a 17-0 run in a blowout of Denver for its fifth straight victory.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting for the Bruins (8-2), who last week opened Pac-12 play with a pair of wins.
Denver (8-3) has six players who average double figures. Touko Tainamo scored 16 points as one of two starters in foul trouble.
UCLA’s defense forced the Pioneers into a season-worst 24 turnovers.
SAINT MARY’S 68, NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 61
PHOENIX (AP) — Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points, Alex Ducas added 17 and Saint Mary’s knocked off San Diego State in the Jerry Colangelo Classic.
Two of the nation’s best defensive teams got offensive early at the home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns before the Gaels (8-3) tightened up to take a nine-point second-half lead.
The Aztecs (7-3) took their turn clamping down to pull within 59-56, but Saint Mary’s quickly pushed the lead back to seven. Saint Mary’s hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to knock off the Aztecs a week after playing a close game again top-ranked Houston.
Matt Bradley had 13 points and Keshad Johnson added 12 to lead San Diego State, which shot 3 of 15 from the 3-point arc.
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