Top 25 basketball roundup: No. 22 WVU drops No. 2 Ohio State

[December 30, 2019]  Freshman Miles McBride scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to help No. 22 West Virginia upset No. 2 Ohio State 67-59 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Sunday.

Kaleb Wesson had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Buckeyes, who committed 22 turnovers.

The Mountaineers (11-1) trailed 37-31 at the half but scored six straight points to go from down one to a 52-47 lead, their biggest to that point, with 8:38 left on a rebound bucket and foul shot by Jermaine Haley.

Andre Wesson later put the Buckeyes (11-2) up 54-53 with a 3-pointer before Derek Culver countered with a basket to put West Virginia ahead 55-54 with 3:31 to go, and the Mountaineers never trailed again.

No. 5 Kansas 72, Stanford 56

Isaiah Moss came off the bench to contribute 17 points, netting four 3-pointers as the Jayhawks smothered the host Cardinal in Palo Alto, Calif.

Kansas (10-2) recovered from its first road defeat, a 56-55 loss to Villanova on Dec. 21 that caused the Jayhawks to become the fifth team this season to drop from No. 1 in the polls. Coach Bill Self, after telling the media he was looking to find ways to help Kansas finish games after they blew a late lead against Villanova, watched his team start strong instead.

The Jayhawks held the Cardinal (11-2) without a field goal for almost the first 12 minutes and built a quick lead they never relinquished. Stanford came in as the Pac-12 leader in scoring defense, allowing 57.7 points on average, and often gave Kansas fits despite the Jayhawks' 81.9-point average that ranked first among Big 12 teams. But it was rendered moot when the Cardinal missed their first 14 shots and did not connect until the 8:08 mark of the first half.

No. 6 Oregon 98, Alabama State 59

Chris Duarte scored a career-high 31 points as the Ducks never trailed in crushing the Hornets in Eugene, Ore.

The Ducks (11-2) won their fifth straight game and finished 8-0 at home in nonconference play. They head into their Pac-12 Conference schedule beginning Thursday at Colorado. Duarte made 12 of 15 shots -- including 6 of 9 from 3-point range -- and added six assists and five rebounds.

Brandon Battle's 14 points and nine rebounds led Alabama State (1-12), which scored just four points in the first nine minutes of the game as the Ducks jumped out to a 19-4 lead.

No. 8 Auburn 86, Lipscomb 59

Forward Danjel Purifoy shook a recent scoring slump with a season-high 17 points, and senior center Austin Wiley posted his eighth career double-double to lead the Tigers over the Bisons in Auburn, Ala.

With LSU handing Liberty its first loss earlier in the day, the Tigers (12-0) are one of two undefeated teams in the country. San Diego State is 13-0 after its win over Cal Poly on Saturday. The Tigers are off to their best start since the 1998-99 team won its first 17 games.

Auburn guard Jamal Johnson matched his season high with 14 points, and freshman forward Isaac Okoro had 14 points and a season-high three blocks.

No. 11 Michigan 86, UMass Lowell 60

Center Jon Teske scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds and the Wolverines never trailed as they rolled past the River Hawks at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Teske made 11 of 14 field-goal attempts and 3 of 4 free throws. Eli Brooks supplied 15 points for the Wolverines (10-3), who have won two straight following a two-game losing streak. Point guard Zavier Simpson contributed nine points, six rebounds and 10 assists. Austin Davis added seven points off the bench.

Michigan played without forward Isaiah Livers, who suffered a groin injury during the team's previous game, an 86-44 win over Presbyterian on Dec. 21. UMass Lowell (6-9) has lost three consecutive games, all by double-digit margins.

No. 13 Maryland 84, Bryant 70

The Terrapins outrebounded the Bulldogs 48-16 and snapped a two-game losing streak with a win at College Park, Md.

It was the first win for the Terrapins (11-2) since Dec. 7, when they edged Illinois by one point at home in their Big Ten opener. Since then they had dropped games at Penn State and Seton Hall, watching their Associated Press ranking drop from No. 3.

Chol Marial, a 7-foot-2 freshman who had missed the first 12 games after having surgery on both shins in September, made his long-awaited debut against Bryant (8-5) and finished with six points, five rebounds and a block in 14 minutes, his first two baskets coming on putback dunks.

West Virginia Mountaineers guard Brandon Knapper (2) defends Ohio State Buckeyes forward Kaleb Wesson (34) during the first half at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

No. 14 Michigan State 95, Western Michigan 62

The Spartans were without their best player, but the team didn't need Cassius Winston to close out nonconference play in proper fashion.

With Winston out after suffering a bone bruise to his left knee in practice on Friday, Michigan State used a 25-0 run in the first half to grab the momentum before cruising to an easy victory at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.

Winston was a game-time decision but it was clear midway through the first half he wouldn't be needed. It was the first missed game of the senior's career and ended a string of 56 straight starts. Sophomore Foster Loyer got his first career start and made the most of it, scoring 16 points and handing out six assists, both career highs.

No. 16 Virginia 65, Navy 56

Braxton Key scored 15 points and the Cavaliers matched their season high with eight 3-pointers in a victory against the Midshipmen in nonconference action in Charlottesville, Va.

Mamadi Diakite added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers (10-2). Kihei Clark had 10 points and a career-high 13 assists, Casey Morsell scored 10 and Jay Huff chipped in nine points and four blocks.

The Midshipmen (6-5) put up a fight, wiping out an eight-point halftime deficit with a 12-3 run to start the second half. Cam Davis scored 19 points and Evan Wieck added 13 points and eight boards for Navy.

No. 20 Penn State 90, Cornell 59

Mike Watkins had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, and Lamar Stevens also added 19 points as the Nittany Lions had little trouble with the Big Red.

Myreon Jones added for the Nittany Lions, who improved to 11-2 and won their 13th consecutive home game, dating to last season. Jamari Wheeler left the game halfway through the first after taking an elbow to the face from Cornell's Dean Noll. Noll was assessed a flagrant 1 foul but Wheeler never returned.

Jimmy Boeheim led struggling Cornell with 17 points on 5-of-19 shooting. Terrance McBride added 12 for the Big Red, who fell to 1-10 and dropped their 10th in a row after winning their season opener against Binghamton.

No. 23 Texas Tech 73, Cal State Bakersfield 58

Jahmi'us Ramsey and Kyler Edwards scored 20 points each and the host Red Raiders broke away over the final 10 minutes to top the Roadrunners in Lubbock, Texas.

The Red Raiders (9-3) led just 44-41 with 12:54 to play but then forged a 13-2 run capped by a Ramsey steal and dunk to push their advantage to 57-43 with 9:01 remaining. CSU Bakersfield pulled to within 10 points twice but never any closer

The win pushed Texas Tech's winning streak to four games and extended its nonconference winning run at home to 54 games. Justin Edler-Davis paced the Roadrunners (6-9) with 10 points.

No. 25 Iowa 93, Kennesaw State 51

Luka Garza pumped in 23 points on just 11 shots Sunday as the Hawkeyes sprinted past the overmatched Owls in Iowa City.

Garza added a game-high eight rebounds in only 23 minutes as Iowa (10-3) never trailed and led by double figures for most of the game's final 28 minutes. Ryan Kriener came off the bench to score 20 points and Joe Wieskamp added 18.

The Hawkeyes riddled the Owls (1-12) from all over the floor. They shot nearly 60 percent from the field, drawing 27 assists on 39 made baskets. Garza, Kriener and Wieskamp canned a combined 26 of 33 field-goal tries against a defense that entered the game allowing opponents to make 46 percent from the field.

--Field Level Media

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