Top 25 roundup: OT win gives No. 2 Alabama outright SEC title

 

[March 02, 2023]  No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point, second-half deficit to clinch the Southeastern Conference regular-season title outright with a 90-85 overtime victory over Auburn on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Jahvon Quinerly collected a season-high 24 points and added six assists for Alabama, which trailed 66-49 with 10:27 left before ending regulation on a 26-9 run to send the game into overtime tied at 75.

Noah Clowney added 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for the Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 SEC), who earned their second outright conference regular-season crown in the past three seasons.

After Auburn pulled to within 87-85 with 35 seconds left, Jaden Bradley split a pair of free throws with 22.4 seconds remaining. Clowney blocked K.D. Johnson's layup with 11 seconds left, and Miller made two free throws to secure the win with 6.1 seconds to go. Johnson scored 21 points to lead Auburn (19-11, 9-8), which has dropped six of its past eight games.

No. 22 TCU 75, No. 9 Texas 73

Damion Baugh scored 24 points and dished out nine assists as the Horned Frogs never trailed in a win over the Longhorns in Fort Worth, Texas.

Emanuel Miller added 20 points and 10 rebounds for TCU (20-10, 9-8 Big 12), which built a 16-point lead late in the first half and then held off a Texas comeback in the second half.

Sir'Jabari Rice scored 16 points for the Longhorns (22-8, 11-6), who fell into a tie for second in the conference with Baylor and Kansas State, with Kansas having clinched the outright title. Tyrese Hunter added 15 points.

No. 10 Gonzaga 104, Chicago State 65

Drew Timme scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting in his final college home game to help the Bulldogs rout the Cougars in nonconference play at Spokane, Wash.

Nolan Hickman had 15 points on a career-best five 3-pointers, Rasir Bolton also scored 15 points and Malachi Smith recorded 14 points and nine rebounds for Gonzaga (26-5). Timme moved into seventh on the West Coast Conference's all-time scoring list with 2,175 points.

Jahsean Corbett recorded 22 points and seven rebounds for Chicago State (11-19), which had a three-game winning streak halted. Wesley Cardet added 16 points as the Cougars fell to 3-19 on the road.

No. 11 Kansas State 85, Oklahoma 69

Keyontae Johnson had 16 points, Desi Sills added 15 and Markquis Nowell had 11 points and 10 assists as the trio of Wildcats seniors closed out their home careers with a victory over the Sooners on Senior Night in Manhattan, Kan.

Nae'Qwan Tomlin led the Kansas State with 19 points as the Wildcats finished the season 16-1 at home.

Oklahoma (14-16, 4-13 Big 12) was led by Milos Uzan with 20 points and Otega Oweh with 18.

No. 14 UConn 88, DePaul 59

Adama Sanogo scored 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting as the Huskies blew out the Blue Demons in Hartford, Conn.

Four players scored between 10 and 12 points for UConn (23-7, 12-7 Big East) in the team's fourth consecutive win. Sanogo's layup opened the scoring. After Umoja Gibson tied the score with a foul-line jumper, the Huskies went on a 27-0 run to put the game out of reach within the first 10 minutes.

Senior Nick Ongenda had a career-high-tying 17 points and six rebounds to lead DePaul (9-21, 3-16), which lost its 11th straight game.

No. 19 Xavier 94, No. 20 Providence 89

Souley Boum dropped a season-high 33 points, Colby Jones scored a career-high 29 and the Musketeers knocked out the host Friars.

Xavier (22-8, 14-5 Big East) completed the sweep of the season series, handed Providence its first home loss all year and secured the No. 2 seed in next week's Big East tournament.

The Musketeers led by as many as 22 points in the first half, saw the advantage cut to two early in the second and managed to keep the Friars at bay by shooting 18-for-25 (72 percent) from the floor after halftime. Ed Croswell and Bryce Hopkins scored 17 points apiece to lead Providence (21-9, 13-6).

Ohio State 73, No. 21 Maryland 62

Freshman Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double and five other Buckeyes scored in an upset of the Terrapins in Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes (13-17, 5-14 Big Ten) won their second straight after a nine-game losing streak and a stretch of 14 losses in 15 games. Justice Sueing scored 16 points for Ohio State, which went 20 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Maryland (20-10, 11-8) fell to 1-8 on the road in Big Ten play. Julian Reese had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Donald Carey scored 14 for Maryland. The Terrapins' leading scorer on the season, Jahmir Young, had nine points, after shooting 4 of 13 from the field.

Vanderbilt 68, No. 23 Kentucky 66

Jordan Wright capped a season-best 23-point outing with a turnaround jumper with 2.6 seconds left to give the Commodores a memorable victory at Rupp Arena on Senior Night for the Wildcats in Lexington, Ky.

Tyrin Lawrence recorded 21 points and seven rebounds as the Commodores (17-13, 10-7 SEC) halted a 14-game losing streak against the Wildcats. Vanderbilt also ended a 14-game skid at Rupp Arena by producing its first win in the facility since the 2006-07 campaign.

Oscar Tshiebwe recorded 21 points, 20 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Wildcats (20-10, 11-6), who had a four-game winning streak halted. Antonio Reeves scored 14 points and Jacob Toppin collected 10 rebounds for Kentucky.

Notre Dame 88, No. 25 Pitt 81

The Fighting Irish saved their best for head coach Mike Brey's last home game as they held off a rally to beat the Panthers in South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame (11-19, 3-16 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a seven-game losing streak as graduate students Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan led the way with 20 points apiece. Fellow grad students Nate Laszewski (14 points), Trey Wertz (14 points) and Dane Goodwin (12 points) also hit double figures in their final home game.

Pittsburgh (21-9, 14-5) cut a 20-point second-half deficit to five but missed a chance to clinch a share of its first conference title since the 2010-11 Big East season. Nike Sibande, Nelly Cummings and Jamarius Burton scored 19 points apiece.

--Field Level Media

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