Top 25 roundup: No. 1 Purdue hits century mark in rout

 

[December 22, 2023]  Zach Edey scored 18 points on just eight shot attempts as No. 1 Purdue cruised to a 100-57 nonconference rout of Jacksonville in West Lafayette, Ind.

Lance Jones added 16 and Trey Kaufman-Renn chipped in 15 points for the Boilermakers (11-1), who looked the part in the beginning of their second stint as the top-ranked team in the country. Purdue converted 51.5 percent of its field-goal tries and drew assists on 25 of its 35 made buckets.

Robert McCray V scored a game-high 22 points for the Dolphins (8-5) but also committed nine of their 22 turnovers. No one else was in double figures for Jacksonville, which made just 36.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and collected only five assists. Purdue consistently turned Dolphin mistakes into points. It scored 21 points off their turnovers and earned a 13-4 advantage in fast-break points.

The Boilermakers led by 18 points at halftime and didn't mess around to start the second half. They rattled off the first 12 points -- Edey contributing a three-point play and two free throws to the spurt -- for a 57-27 cushion with 17:01 left after Kaufman-Renn hit a short jumper.

No. 3 Houston 72, Texas State 37

Emanuel Sharp scored a game-high 17 points and the Cougars forced 27 turnovers while cruising to a home victory over the Bobcats.

Sharp shot just 2-for-10 from the floor but finished 11-for-11 from the free-throw line for the Cougars (12-0). Ja'Vier Francis added 13 points and five rebounds while Jamal Shead chipped in 11 points for the Cougars, who played their first game without Terrance Arceneaux (Achilles surgery) and the second half without leading rebounder J'Wan Roberts, who aggravated a knee injury in the first half.

The Cougars also held Texas State (6-6) without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the second half before Bobcats guard Jordan Mason sank a jumper that sliced the deficit to 49-24. That concluded a span of just over 10 minutes without a field goal for the Bobcats, who shot 28.9 percent from the floor.

No. 8 Tennessee 65, Tarleton State 46

Zakai Zeigler scored 13 points to fuel the Volunteers to a victory over the visiting Texans in Knoxville, Tenn.

Santiago Vescovi collected 12 points and seven rebounds and Josiah-Jordan James added 10 of each for the Volunteers (9-3), who overcame a lackluster shooting performance to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games. Tennessee shot just 36.4 percent from the floor (20 of 55) and 32.0 percent from 3-point range (8 of 25).

Tarleton State's Devon Barnes scored 12 points and Lue Williams and KiAndre Gaddy each had 10. Gaddy also had seven rebounds and four blocks for the Texans (8-4), who have lost two in a row following a six-game winning streak. Tarleton State did itself no favors by making just 2 of 22 on its 3-point attempts.

No. 9 Kentucky 95, Louisville 76

Antonio Reeves scored 22 of his season-high 30 points in the first half and the Wildcats took down the in-state rival Cardinals to win their third consecutive game away from home.

Tre Mitchell scored 18 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks for Kentucky (9-2), who rebounded from an 80-73 loss to UNC-Wilmington at home Dec. 2 with victories over Penn, then-No. 9 North Carolina and now Louisville. Justin Edwards had 13 points for the Wildcats and Reed Sheppard scored 11 points with 11 assists.

Kentucky improved to 39-17 all-time against Louisville and 13-3 since John Calipari became the Wildcats' head coach. Skyy Clark had 20 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield added 16 points with 11 rebounds for Louisville (5-7), who lost for the fourth time in their past five. It was Huntley-Hatfield's third consecutive double-double.

--Field Level Media

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