Cavaliers

Arizona and Virginia rightfully lay claim to proud college basketball traditions, whether you&rsquo;re talking about the Wildcats winning the national championship in 1997, the Cavaliers doing it 22 years later or the many stars the programs have sent to the NBA and overseas.
They also have developing reputations for NCAA Tournament&nbsp;disappointments.
The&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/princeton-stuns-arizona-5955-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stunning loss by second-seeded Arizona</a>&nbsp;to No. 15 seed Princeton on Thursday, and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pegues-three-gives-no-13-seed-furman-6867-win-over-virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fourth-seeded Virginia&rsquo;s collapse</a>&nbsp;in the closing seconds against Furman, were merely the latest examples of their humiliating March heartbreaks.
The Wildcats have been bounced by teams seeded worse than them in five consecutive NCAA tourney trips, while the Cavaliers were bumped by a No. 13 seed for the second straight year and&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/ncaa-tournament-umbc-no-1-seeds-march-madness-df6c353dc4ff76ec99278efd69a8b454" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five years to the day since becoming the only No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed.</a>
&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t take away from what these guys have done and what we&rsquo;ve experienced over the years, but you wanted it when you felt like you had it, and that was a tough one,&rdquo; Cavs coach Tony Bennett acknowledged after the 68-67 loss to the Paladins, who essentially won by cashing in a turnover with a deep 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left on the clock.
Bennett knows as well as anyone that agonizing notoriety is easy to earn and brutally difficult to overcome.
Doesn&rsquo;t matter that the names and faces change from year to year.
The Cavaliers were Final Four favorites when they arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, for their&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/umbcs-legacy-no-1-can-mean-oneanddone-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-round game against UMBC in 2018</a>. Forty painful minutes later, they were saddled with&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/umbcs-legacy-no-1-can-mean-oneanddone-in-march-madness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lopsided 74-54 loss</a>&nbsp;and the ignominity of becoming the first men&rsquo;s team &mdash; after 135 wins by a No. 1 seed &mdash; to lose to one of the four lowest-seeded teams in the tournament.
Most hoops fans remember the upset vividly, perhaps more than the national title the Cavs won a year later.
&ldquo;I would just say everybody at this level is good,&rdquo; Virginia guard Isaac McKneely offered by way of explanation. &ldquo;I know there&rsquo;s the seeding and all that, but everybody can beat everybody, as obviously you&rsquo;ve seen.&rdquo;
If misery loves company, the Wildcats can relate.
Since losing in the regional final to Wisconsin in 2015, Arizona has been knocked out of the opening round three times despite being seeded sixth or better each time &mdash; the first two with Sean Miller on the sideline and the most recent, a 59-55 defeat on Thursday in which No. 15 seed Princeton scored the final nine points, with Tommy Lloyd running the show.
The run of disappointments began with a loss to No. 11 seed Wichita State in 2016. It continued against No. 11 seed Xavier in a regional semifinal the next year. The fourth-seeded Wildcats lost to No. 13 seed Buffalo in 2018 and, as a trendy title pick as a No. 1 seed last year, fell to fifth-seeded Houston in another regional semifinal.
Just how easy can the stink of an upset loss settle on even the bluest of bluebloods?&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-kansas-alabama-12476411b0da681b21df9281a8332196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just ask Kansas.</a>
Two years after playing for the 2003 national championship, the Jayhawks were dumped by No. 14 seed Bucknell and No. 13 seed Bradley in consecutive years. Their still-new coach, Bill Self, came to rue the &ldquo;Killer B&rsquo;s,&rdquo; and not even a run to the Elite Eight could shake the questions about whether he could get it done in Lawrence.
He could, of course. The Jayhawks won the 2008 title and are&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-north-carolina-tar-heels-mens-basketball-kansas-jayhawks-mens-basketball-sports-kansas-40ab6459e3d3ee23ad12c649db44f78e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the defending national champions</a>.
Winning a national title is about the only thing missing from the resume of Gonzaga coach Mark Few, but it might take one for the Bulldogs to shake an uneasy March reputation for underachievement. They have been a No. 1 seed on five occassions, and twice reached the title game, but have become known as much for their losses as their wins.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been in enough of those 1-16 games and you&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Holy smokes,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Few, whose team plays Grand Canyon on Friday night. &ldquo;Last year, I walked out for the tip and Georgia State, I think they were bigger than us at dang-near every position. And I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;This is a 16-seed?&rsquo; I think that&rsquo;s kind of where we are right now.&rdquo;
Plenty of schools have positive reputations come March.
Princeton has been known as a giant killer ever since its backdoor-cutting, first-round upset of UCLA&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sacramento-kings-nba-sports-march-madness-mens-e32cb5ff7350f08c976ccc96f0a78dca" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under Pete Carril</a>&nbsp;in 1996, when current coach Mitch Henderson was playing for the Tigers. And while they beat UNLV as a No. 5 seed two years later, the Tigers had failed to reach the second round for another 25 years &mdash; until Thursday&rsquo;s win over Arizona.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be some comparisons from some of you, I&rsquo;m sure, to Coach Carril. I want to be really clear that this group did this,&rdquo; Henderson said. &ldquo;That was a really long time ago. This group did something special for its university, for the fans, for the former players and for one another. Very similar way that you see in the tournament, they just came together and did it.&rdquo;

Arizona and Virginia were eliminated by underdogs on Thursday, the latest examples of their humiliating March Madness heartbreaks.

Arizona, Virginia add to reputations for March sadness

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark sat in the locker room watching video on his phone, trying to figure out how Virginia could have avoided another early exit from the NCAA Tournament.
Five years to the day after losing as a No. 1 seed to 16th-seeded UMBC, the Cavaliers were eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team again Thursday &mdash; this time, falling 68-67 to 13th-seeded Furman.
Virginia hasn&rsquo;t won an NCAA Tournament game since its 2019 triumph over Texas Tech for the title. Clark&rsquo;s bad pass was intercepted by Garrett Hien in the closing seconds, leading to a wide-open 3-pointer that JP Pegues sank without hesitation.
Clark starred as a freshman on Virginia&rsquo;s 2019 national title-winning team. His long career with the Cavaliers had a much more unsatisfying conclusion.
So, what would he have done differently?
&ldquo;Call timeout, maybe could have threw it to Armaan (Franklin) on the right wing maybe,&rdquo; Clark said. &ldquo;He was open. Couldn&rsquo;t see. It was a good trap.&rdquo;
Coach Tony Bennett wasn&rsquo;t surprised Clark patiently answered questions from reporters.
&ldquo;This is part of the game. I&rsquo;ve used this line before, but when you step between the lines, you take the good and you take the hard with it. You try to handle them both with dignity and respect,&rdquo; Bennett said.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve loved coaching him in his career. He had the most amazing assist to get us to a Final Four. We would not be in this spot without him, all the success,&rdquo; Bennett added. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had an unbelievable career. You always look to that last moment, and there&rsquo;s so many what-ifs and who knows.&rdquo;
Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South Region, where they will play fifth-seeded San Diego State (28-6) on Saturday. The Aztecs held off No. 12 seed Charleston 63-57.
&ldquo;All year we&rsquo;ve been saying that this team just knows how to win. ... It&rsquo;s an unbelievable moment,&rdquo; Furman coach Bob Richey said.
&ldquo;This game is &mdash; interesting might be the word I&rsquo;d use,&rdquo; Bennett said. &ldquo;You feel like, we got it, we got it, and then all of a sudden in a moment&rsquo;s notice, it changes at the end. That&rsquo;s tough.&rdquo;
Furman earned its first tournament berth since 1980 by beating Chattanooga for the Southern Conference title, capping a season-long quest to redeem itself after losing the league&rsquo;s automatic berth to the Mocs in overtime on a 35-foot buzzer-beater last year.
&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t help but go back when I saw the shot in the air to a year ago. It&rsquo;s just a reminder, like we said it all year, count on joy, and you don&rsquo;t know timing of things. ... This team has persevered, and they did it today,&rdquo; Richey said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a microcosm of what they learned, and they just keep reliving the lesson and keep finding ways.&rdquo;
In the aftermath of last year&rsquo;s disappointment, Jalen Slawson and his best friend, Mike Bothwell, both decided to return for their fifth seasons with the Paladins. Slawson took over the game when Bothwell fouled out with just over six minutes remaining, scoring nine consecutive points to turn a 54-48 deficit into Furman&rsquo;s first lead of the game, 57-54, with 5:02 to go.
Slawson, the Southern Conference player of the year, finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
&ldquo;I told Mike that we weren&rsquo;t going to let today be his last time putting a jersey on, and I know if roles were reversed, the same thing would have happened,&rdquo; Slawson said. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t have to just be me. But the game was up there for the taking, and these guys told me they believed in me and told me I was being a little bit passive, told me to be a little bit more aggressive.&rdquo;
The winning shot was Pegues&rsquo; only 3 of the game.
&ldquo;As soon as I saw it go into Garrett Hien&rsquo;s hands, I was like, I want the ball. I feel like those are moments I&rsquo;ve created my whole life, and I feel like I&rsquo;m built for,&rdquo; Pegues said. &ldquo;I had full belief that it was going in, and it did.&rdquo;
Reece Beekman&rsquo;s deep 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Virginia (25-8) was eliminated in the first round as the higher-seeded team for the third time in its past four NCAA tournaments. The Cavaliers were also a No. 4 seed two years ago, when they were beaten by 13th-seeded Ohio.
Kadin Shedrick led the Cavaliers with 15 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Beekman scored 14 and Isaac McKneely added 12.
Marcus Foster scored 14 points and Pegues and Bothwell both finished with 11 for Furman.
WHAT&rsquo;S GOING ON
Pegues&rsquo; shot sent shock waves throughout the tournament.
Gradey Dick was shooting free throws late in the first half in Des Moines, Iowa, when the crowd roared, startling the Kansas freshman. Fans were reacting to the final seconds of the Furman-Virginia game being shown on the center-court video board. Dick made the first free throw, turned around and looked up at the video board to see what the commotion was about, and then sank the second. Another loud roar went up when time expired on the Furman upset, but it didn&rsquo;t disrupt Kansas&rsquo; win over Howard because the teams were in a timeout.
UP NEXT
Furman: The Paladins made six appearances in the tourney between 1971 and 1980. Their only other victory came against South Carolina in 1974. Slawson doesn&rsquo;t see any reason why the Southern Conference champions can&rsquo;t win again.
&ldquo;This team has done a great job making history all year,&rdquo; Slawson said, &ldquo;so you know, Saturday is going to be another chance to make history.&rdquo;

Making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 43 years, the Paladins (28-7) advanced to the second round in the South Region.

Pegues’ three gives No. 13 seed Furman 68-67 win over Virginia

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 10 assists, and No. 6 Marquette clinched its first outright Big East championship by beating Butler 72-56 on Tuesday night.
The victory was the fifth in a row and 10th in 11 games for the surprising Golden Eagles (24-6, 16-3), picked ninth by the league&rsquo;s coaches in the preseason poll.
Marquette, which had already secured a share of its first Big East title since 2013, had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 14 points and Oso Ighodaro had 12 for the Golden Eagles, who will be the top seed in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden &mdash; an event Marquette has never won.
Jayden Taylor scored 13 and Jalen Thomas had 10 for Butler (14-16, 6-13), which finished 4-6 in Big East home games.
NO. 3 KANSAS 67, TEXAS TECH 63
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 21 points in his Allen Fieldhouse farewell, fellow senior Kevin McCullar Jr. added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.
Dajuan Harris had 16 points for the Jayhawks (25-5, 13-4), who would capture the outright crown if ninth-ranked Texas loses to No. 22 TCU on Wednesday night. Otherwise, the Jayhawks &mdash; now with an NCAA-leading 64 conference championships &mdash; would need to beat the Longhorns in a head-to-head showdown Saturday in Austin.
De&rsquo;Vion Harmon had 15 points to lead Texas Tech (16-14, 5-12), which was just 3 of 16 from the 3-point line. Kevin Obanor added 14 points, Fardaws Aimaq had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Pop Isaacs finished with 11 points.
NO. 12 TENNESSEE 75, ARKANSAS 57
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 16 points and Tennessee earned its second consecutive win.
Despite the victory, the Volunteers (22-8, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) may have sustained a significant loss. Three minutes into the game, sophomore point guard Zakai Zeigler, who brings energy on offense and defense, went down with an injury to his left knee. The extent of the injury wasn&rsquo;t immediately known, but he did not return.
Santiago Vescovi, who took over the role of point guard for Zeigler, added 14 points and Josiah-Jordan James scored 11.
Anthony Black and Davonte Davis each scored 13 for the Razorbacks (19-11, 8-9). Nick Smith Jr. scored 14 and Ricky Council 11.
NO. 13 VIRGINIA 64, CLEMSON 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Jayden Gardner had 12 points and nine rebounds, Armaan Franklin and Isaac McKneely each scored 12, and Virginia stopped a two-game skid.
The Cavaliers (22-6, 14-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for second place in the league with No. 16 Miami with one game remaining.
PJ Hall led the Tigers (21-9, 13-6) with 19 points and Hunter Tyson had 17. Clemson got within 59-55 with 33 seconds left, but Virginia made five free throws and had a steal, sending the Tigers to their fifth loss in eight games.
IOWA 90, NO. 15 INDIANA 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Kris Murray scored 26 points, Tony Perkins flirted with the first triple-double in Iowa history and the Hawkeyes defeated Indiana.
Perkins had 23 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high eight assists for Iowa (19-11, 11-8 Big Ten).
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers (20-10, 11-8) with 26 points and 13 rebounds. He became the school&rsquo;s career rebounding leader with 1,096 &mdash; on a night the Hoosiers lost their fourth in a row in the series.
BOISE STATE 66, NO. 18 SAN DIEGO STATE 60
BOISE, Idaho (AP) &mdash; Max Rice scored 26 points and reeled off 12 straight points in a 14-0 run to close out the game and Boise State remained perfect at home in conference play.
The Broncos (23-7, 13-4 Mountain West Conference) avenged a 20-point loss to San Diego State on Feb. 3. It was the Broncos&rsquo; first win over a ranked team this season. Tyson Degenhart scored 14 for Boise State, while Naje Smith added 10.
San Diego State (23-6, 14-3), which had already claimed a share of the conference crown with its buzzer-beating win over New Mexico on Saturday, failed to hold onto a late nine-point lead. Matt Bradley paced San Diego State with 16 points, and Micah Parrish chipped in 11.
NO. 24 TEXAS A&amp;M 69, MISSISSIPPI 61
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tyrece Radford scored 13 points as Texas A&amp;M erased an early 12-point deficit to beat Mississippi.
Wade Taylor IV added 12 points and seven assists and Julius Marble scored 10 for the Aggies, who went 13 of 16 from the free-throw line in the second half to stave off the Rebels&rsquo; attempt at a late rally.
Texas A&amp;M (22-8, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) trailed 20-8 after seven minutes but took a 29-26 lead on Taylor&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 4:06 left in the first half. The Aggies never trailed again.
Matthew Murrell made 8 of 11 from 3-point range and scored 26 points to lead Ole Miss (11-19, 3-13).

The Golden Eagles had not won an outright regular-season crown since doing so in Conference USA in 2003.

No. 6 Marquette clinches first outright Big East title

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; With Boston College clutching a double-digit lead over No. 6 Virginia late in the second half, the Conte Forum security staff huddled in a tunnel just off the court to prepare for the onslaught of fans that was all but inevitable.
The crowd knew. The Virginia players knew. Everyone in the building knew the Eagles were on the verge of the biggest win of coach Earl Grant&rsquo;s tenure.
&ldquo;I think they sensed, &lsquo;Boy, I think we&rsquo;re going to get these guys,&rsquo;&rdquo; Virginia coach Tony Bennett said after BC beat the cold-shooting Cavaliers 63-48 on Wednesday night to send the sellout crowd streaming onto the court in celebration.
&ldquo;As this thing wore on, you could feel the crowd get into it,&rdquo; said Bennett, whose team shot a season-low 32% from the field against the BC defense. &ldquo;They put us on our heels. It was a lot for some of our guys. We&rsquo;ve got to learn from that, because of what we&rsquo;ve got coming up.&rdquo;
Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points and Jaeden Zackery had all 12 of his points in the second half for BC (14-15, 8-10 Atlantic Coast Conference). It was the Eagles&rsquo; third win over a ranked team this season, but the first over one in the top 10 since beating top-ranked Duke in 2017.
&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re moving in the right direction,&rdquo; said Grant, who is in his second year since moving to Chestnut Hill from the College of Charleston. &ldquo;I thought the night was a great test. We were excited about the challenge; we were excited going into it. We knew it would be hard, but we wanted to see what we were.&rdquo;
Jayden Gardner scored 16 points for Virginia (21-5, 13-4), which fell into a second-place tie with Pittsburgh in the ACC, one-half game behind Miami. The Cavaliers, who had been as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25, had won four in a row and 11 of their previous 12 games.
Armaan Franklin, the Cavaliers&rsquo; leading scorer, and fellow guard Reece Beekman combined to go 4 of 18 from the field and miss all six of their 3-point tries. Virginia finished 4 of 21 (19%) from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers also shot 67% from the free-throw line, including back-to-back misses by Ryan Dunn that earned all 7,000 in attendance a free order of cheesy bacon fries.
That was all the encouragement the crowd needed.
And the players fed off it, too.
&ldquo;The program is going up,&rdquo; Zackery said. &ldquo;Coming in against ranked teams, we feel like that motivates us more because, honestly, at that point, we don&rsquo;t have anything to lose. They&rsquo;re the ones that are ranked. We just come in, play our best.&rdquo;
Virginia led early before BC took the lead for good midway through the first half, using an 11-2 run to open a 26-17 advantage. The Eagles made it a 13-point game early in the second.
Gardner hit back-to-back baskets midway through the second to make it 44-37, but Isaac McKneely missed a 3-pointer that could have made it a four-point game. Zackery responded by driving the lane, bouncing off a defender and rolling it in off the rim before giving a double-armed flex in celebration.
Then, after Kihei Clark missed a layup, Zackery hit a 3-pointer to give BC a 49-37 lead, earning a congratulatory shoulder-squeeze from big man Quinten Post. Bennett called timeout, but the Cavaliers never again got within single digits.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia had beaten Boston College four times in a row and needed only to keep moving up to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The setback against a sub-.500 team will be damaging.
Boston College had already beaten Virginia Tech and Clemson this season when they were ranked. The Eagles haven&rsquo;t beaten three ranked teams in a season since 2008-09.
UP NEXT
Virginia: At North Carolina on Saturday.
Boston College: At Wake Forest on Tuesday.

Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points and Jaeden Zackery had all 12 of his points in the second half for the Golden Eagles in the upset.

No. 6 Virginia goes cold, Boston College wins 63-48

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to end the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s nine-win streak.
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners (12-9) had lost three straight, but against the Crimson Tide shot 58% from the field.
Rylan Griffen led Alabama (18-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller, who came in averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 75, CINCINNATI 69
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Jarace Walker had a career-high 25 points and seven rebounds, and Houston rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Cincinnati.
Walker, who scored 13 points in the second half, was 10 of 14 from the field. J&rsquo;Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 13 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 American Athletic Conference).
Houston has won at least 20 games in eight straight seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Landers Nolley II had 24 points, including 6 3-pointers. Vicktor Lakhin added 15 points, and David DeJulius had 14 points and nine assists for Cincinnati (14-8, 5-4).&nbsp;
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 10 TEXAS 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead Tennessee over Texas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee (18-3), which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half.
Sir&rsquo;Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas (17-4). Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
NO. 5 KANSAS STATE 64, FLORIDA 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, Markquis Nowell flirted with the first triple-double in Kanas State history, and the Wildcats beat Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Nae&rsquo;Qwan Tomlin also had 11 points. The Wildcats improved to 18-3 to match the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history.
Johnson struggled from the field, going just 5 of 16 and even getting stuffed by the front of the rim during a windmill dunk on a second-half fast break. But it was nevertheless a special night for the senior forward, who collapsed on the Gators&rsquo; sideline due to a heart condition during a game against Florida State just over two years ago.
Colin Castleton scored 13 points for the Gators (12-9). Myreon Jones and Will Richard had 11 apiece.
NO. 6 ARIZONA 95, WASHINGTON 72
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona used a big second-half run to pull away to win its fourth straight.
Tubelis topped 20 points for the first time in five games and his rebound putback while being fouled with 4:29 remaining gave the Wildcats a 78-63 lead and sent Washington fans headed for the exits.
Kerr Kriisa added 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and Courtney Ramey scored 14 for the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12).
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 25 points and Keyon Menifield added 21. But the Huskies (13-10, 5-7) suffered from too many scoring droughts and didn&rsquo;t have an answer for Arizona&rsquo;s 19-1 run in the early stages of the second half.
NO. 7 VIRGINIA 76, BOSTON COLLEGE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner scored 18 points each and Virginia used a big first-half run to take control over Boston College for its sixth straight victory.
The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 18-15 before starting an 18-4 run over the next 11 minutes. Virginia put the game away with a 16-4 second-half spurt.
Quinten Post scored 24 to lead the Eagles (10-12, 4-7) and Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points.
Virginia&rsquo;s Isaac McKneely finished with 12 points and Reece Beekman had 11 and eight assists.
NO. 9 KANSAS 77, KENTUCKY 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self.
Wilson made 9 of 18 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds for Kansas (17-4), which finished even with Kentucky at 49% shooting. K.J. Adams Jr. added 17 points, Dick had 13 and McCullar 11 with 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks edged Kentucky 34-29 on the glass.
Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each added 14 for Kentucky (14-7), which had won its previous four.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 81, NO. 11 TCU 74, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) &mdash; Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an overtime victory.
Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs&rsquo; bench.
Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O&rsquo;Bannon had 10.
Davis&rsquo; 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the second half gave the Bulldogs a 66-64 advantage. Emanuel Miller scored with 32 seconds remaining and then both teams missed chances to win in regulation.
MISSOURI 78, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 61
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 20 points, and D&rsquo;Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri take down Iowa State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri (16-5) with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points and DeAndre Gholston scored 10.
Jaren Holmes led Iowa State (15-5) with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14.
The Tigers&rsquo; 78 points were a season-high for an Iowa State opponent in regulation; the Cyclones are 0-3 this season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
CREIGHTON 84, NO. 13 XAVIER 67
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) &mdash; Arthur Kamula scored 20 points, Creighton&rsquo;s four other starters finished in double-figures and the Bluejays earned their fourth straight Big East win.
Creighton (13-8, 7-3) steadily built a double-digit lead throughout the game and made 34 of its 60 field goal attempts (56.7%) before a sold-out crowd.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points, Baylor Scheierman had 14, Trey Alexander finished with 13 and Ryan Nembhard added 11 for the Bluejays, who avenged a 90-87 loss at Xavier on Jan. 11.
Zach Freemantle led Xavier (17-5, 9-2) with 18 points, followed by Colby Jones and Adam Kunkel with 13.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 82, PORTLAND 67
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Julian Strawther had a career-high 40 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Gonzaga pulled away down the stretch for its 16th consecutive victory over Portland.
Anton Watson added 17 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast Conference).
Strawther is the first player to reach 40 points for the Zags since Kyle Wiltjer had 45 against Pacific in 2016.
Portland (11-13, 3-5) was led by Moses Wood with 19 points. Juan Sebastian Gorosito, a freshman, finished with a career-high 17 points.
WEST VIRGINIA 80, NO. 15 AUBURN 77
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a furious late rally from Auburn to win an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup.
The Mountaineers (13-8) have won two straight for the first time in a month. Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points for the Mountaineers.
Charles Barkley cheered on his alma mater from a courtside seat, but Auburn (16-5) couldn&rsquo;t overcome another slow start. The Tigers have lost two straight for the first time in two years.
Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points. Johni Broome added 15 and Allen Flanigan scored 13.
NO. 16 MARQUETTE 89, DEPAUL 69
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; David Joplin went 8 for 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points, Tyler Kolek had 24 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds, and Marquette defeated DePaul.
Marquette has won eight of its last nine games, and moved into a tie with No. 13 Xavier atop the Big East.
Marquette (17-5, 9-2) pulled away in the second half. Oso Ighodaro had 10 points, making all five of his shots, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 13 and had 8 rebounds.
Umoja Gibson scored 25 points for DePaul (9-13, 3-8) on 8-of-12 shooting.
NO. 17 BAYLOR 67, ARKANSAS 64
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Keyonte George scored 24 points, including seven in a row down the stretch, and Baylor beat Arkansas in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Baylor (16-5) fell behind by as many as eight points in the second half after an early 11-point lead. But the Bears closed it out after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left.
LJ Cryer added 20 points and Jalen Bridges had 10 for the Bears, who won their sixth game in a row despite shooting a 34% (20 of 59) from the field. They offset the season-worst shooting from the field by making 21 of 24 free throws, including two by Cryer with 10 seconds left and two by George with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for Arkansas (14-7). Davonte Davis had 16 points, but missed the front end of a 1-plus-1 with 2.3 seconds left, though Joseph Pinion got the ball in the right corner only to miss wildly on a 3-pointer as time ran out.
HOFSTRA 85, NO. 18 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 81
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aaron Estrada scored 25 points and Darlinstone Dubar added 18 as Hofstra ended College of Charleston&rsquo;s 20-game winning streak.
The Pride (15-8, 8-2 Colonial Athletic Association) were down 28-20 early before rallying past the Cougars (21-2, 9-1), who had not lost since falling to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11.
Tyler Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Hofstra.
Ante Brzovic finished with 18 points to lead Charleston.
PITTSBURGH 71, NO. 20 MIAMI 68
PITTSBURGH (AP) &mdash; Blake Hinson tipped in a Jamarius Burton miss with 31 seconds remaining and Pittsburgh rallied past Miami.
The Panthers (15-7, 8-3 ACC) held the Hurricanes (16-5, 7-4) scoreless over the final 2:26 while closing on an 11-0 run to beat a ranked team for the third time this season to bolster its increasingly impressive NCAA tournament resume.
Hinson finished with 21 points for Pitt. Burton had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Panthers stunned Miami in front of a rare sell-out crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
Jordan Miller led the Hurricanes with 18 points. Isaiah Wong added 14 but Miami committed three of its 12 turnovers in the final 35 seconds as the Panthers stormed back.
NO. 21 FAU 70, W. KENTUCKY 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and Florida Atlantic remained undefeated at home.
The victory extended FAU&rsquo;s winning streak to a program-record 20 games, which is now the nation&rsquo;s longest. The Owls&rsquo; 21 victories on the season ties their Division I record set in 2010-11. Western Kentucky (11-11, 3-8 Conference USA) has lost five straight.
Alijah Martin scored eight while grabbing seven rebounds for the Owls (21-1, 11-0).
Jordan Rawls led all scorers with 17 for W. Kentucky. Dayvion McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each had 16.
NO. 22 SAINT MARY&rsquo;S (CAL) 57, BYU 56
PROVO, Utah (AP) &mdash; Logan Johnson had 14 points and freshman Aidan Mahaney scored all 10 of his points, including a fade-away jumper just before the buzzer, in the second half and Saint Mary&rsquo;s (Cal) won its 10th in a row.
Mitchell Saxen had 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Saint Mary&rsquo;s (19-4, 8-0 West Coast Conference). Alex Ducas scored 12 points and Augustas Marciulionis added 10.
Dallin Hall was fouled on a driving lay-up attempt with 10.2 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to give BYU a 56-55 lead but Mahaney took the inbounds pass, probed the defense before he drove the lane, stopped near the right block and pivoted away from the basket before hitting the winning jumper over the out-stretched arm of defender Fousseyni Traore.
Hall scored a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting but made just 3 of 6 from the free-throw line for BYU (14-10, 4-5). Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 24 CLEMSON 82, FLORIDA STATE 81
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Chase Hunter drove the lane and drew a foul, sinking the free throw, to help Clemson escape with a win over Florida State.
Hunter Tyson scored 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting for Clemson (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which halted an eight-game road losing streak to Florida State. Hunter finished with 25.
Matthew Cleveland scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Florida State (7-15, 5-6), which made a season-high 13 3-pointers. Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. each hit four 3-pointers for the Seminoles. Freshman forward Baba Miller had his best game, scoring 11 points and pulling down four rebounds in 20 minutes.

A recap of Saturday's action in men's college hoops includes five upsets in the AP top 15.