Top 25 roundup: No. 12 Kentucky hands No. 8 Miami first loss

 

[November 29, 2023]  Freshman reserve Reed Sheppard was outstanding on both sides of the floor with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals as No. 12 Kentucky knocked off No. 8 Miami 95-73 on Tuesday night as part of the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge in Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats (6-1), who won their fourth straight game, also got 18 points from Antonio Reeves plus 14 points and seven assists from Tre Mitchell.

The only negative for Kentucky happened in the first half, when starting guard D.J. Wagner left the game due to a leg injury. He did not return.

Miami (5-1) was led by Norchad Omier (20 points, six rebounds) and Wooga Poplar (19 points, eight rebounds). However, Matthew Cleveland and Nijel Pack, who entered the game averaging a combined 32.8 points, were held to five and two points, respectively.

No. 1 Purdue 99, Texas Southern 67

Braden Smith recorded 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help the Boilermakers roll to a wire-to-wire victory over the Tigers in West Lafayette, Ind.

Zach Edey had 15 points and six rebounds and Lance Jones also scored 15 points for the Boilermakers (7-0). Smith left the contest with 10:32 remaining just one rebound shy of the second triple-double in Purdue history.

Zytarious Mortle had 25 points to pace Texas Southern (0-7).

No. 3 Marquette 93, Southern 56

Tyler Kolek scored 16 points and Kam Jones added 15 as the Golden Eagles cruised past the Jaguars in Milwaukee.

Stevie Mitchell added a season-high 11 points for Marquette (6-1). Eleven Golden Eagles scored as the team shot 49.2 percent.

Southern (1-6) was led by Jordan Johnson's 21 points. It was a breakout performance for Johnson, who had been averaging just 3.5 points and 11 minutes per game.

No. 5 Kansas 71, Eastern Illinois 63

Hunter Dickinson collected 25 points and 13 rebounds to lift the Jayhawks to a victory over the Panthers in Lawrence, Kan. Dickinson made his first seven shots and finished 11-for-15.

Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 18 points and K.J. Adams Jr. added 10 for the Jayhawks (6-1), who were unable to shake the pesky Panthers (3-5) until late in the second half.

Tiger Booker scored 20 points off the bench and Nakyel Shelton and Kooper Jacobi each had 14 for Eastern Illinois, which fell to 0-5 on the road this season.

No. 9 Baylor 108, Nicholls 70

Langston Love poured in a career-high 23 points while going 8 of 10 from the floor as the Bears remained undefeated with an easy victory over the Colonels in Waco, Texas.

RayJ Dennis added 14 points and a game-high 10 assists for Baylor (7-0), which never trailed. Jayden Nunn hit for 13 points and Caleb Lohner had 12.

Robert Brown III led Nicholls (3-5) with 17 points, with Micah Thomas hitting for 16 and Jamal West Jr. scoring 15.

No. 11 Gonzaga 81, Cal State Bakersfield 65

Ryan Nembhard scored a game-high 22 points to lead six Bulldogs in double figures as Gonzaga topped Cal State Bakersfield in Spokane, Wash.

Nolan Hickman added 13 for the Bulldogs (5-1), while Braden Huff came off the bench to chip in 12 points. Graham Ike contributed 11 points and six rebounds, and Dusty Stromer kicked in 10 points. Leading scorer Anton Watson was held to 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Kaleb Higgins scored 21 points for the Roadrunners (3-4) and Modestas Kancleris added 12 but it wasn't enough to help spring a major upset. Cal State Bakersfield committed just 10 turnovers but made only 40.3 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) from the 3-point arc.

Georgia Tech 67, No. 21 Mississippi State 59

Miles Kelly scored a game-high 22 points and added 12 rebounds to help lead the Yellow Jackets' upset of the visiting Bulldogs in Atlanta.

Georgia Tech (3-2) never trailed as first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire posted the first power-conference win in charge of the Yellow Jackets.

Mississippi State (6-1) was paced by reserve Josh Hubbard, who had 17 points. The Bulldogs struggled to find a rhythm on offense, connecting on just 20 of their 65 shots from the field (30.8 percent) and just seven of their 30 3-point tries (23.3 percent).

Clemson 85, No. 23 Alabama 77

PJ Hall scored 21 points and contributed to a torrid second-half shooting performance from the perimeter as the Tigers knocked off the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Joseph Girard III had 16 points while Chase Hunter added 15 points for the Tigers. Clemson (6-0) made eight 3-pointers in the second half. Girard finished with four treys for the game.

Mark Sears made four 3-pointers on his way to 23 points for Alabama (5-2). Aaron Estrada pumped in 16 points and Grant Nelson had 14, but the Crimson Tide took their second loss in the past three games.

--Field Level Media

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