Kentucky clinches SEC

Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Freshman Anthony Davis again found himself with the ball and only a few seconds left to react. The 6-foot-10 forward squared up, burying a long jumper that buoyed his national player of the year push in one superb sequence.

Davis scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-11 shooting, and No. 1 Kentucky beat Vanderbilt 83-74 on Saturday to win the Southeastern Conference regular season title for the 45th time.

“Whatever they gave me, I fed off of it,” Davis said. “I don’t think I had a lob today and we still came out and executed the way we wanted to.”

The Wildcats (28-1, 14-0) have won 51 straight at home and are on a 20-game winning streak overall. Kentucky trailed at halftime, however, and needed a late surge to put away the scrappy Commodores.

Davis, who had 11 rebounds and five blocks, hit an 18-foot jumper as the shot clock expired with 1:06 left. Terrence Jones added a dunk, and Davis blocked Lance Goulbourne’s shot with 31 seconds to go to put the game away and maybe the question of who is the nation’s best player.

“It’d be great to get the award, but at the same time my main focus is to win a national championship,” Davis said.

If history is any indication, the Wildcats may be on the right track if they finish a perfect season in the SEC with wins on Thursday night against Georgia and on the road against Florida next Sunday.

Only two teams since 1956 have finished league play undefeated — Kentucky in 1996 and 2003. The 1996 team went on to win a national title, and the ’03 group lost in the regional finals to Marquette.

This team, which starts three freshmen and two sophomores, expects to play for a national title in April and hasn’t lost since a buzzer-beating shot at Indiana on Dec. 10.

That’s why there was no prolonged on-court celebration of yet another conference crown.

“It’s just another step to the main goal,” Jones said. “It’s just something we have to do to continue to get better and to improve. We take it, but we’re not happy or satisfied with it.”

Kentucky’s fellow freshmen also chipped in. Point guard Marquis Teague scored 16 points, and forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out for the Wildcats, who trailed at halftime at home for just the second time this year.

Jeffery Taylor scored 19 points for Vanderbilt (20-9, 9-5), and John Jenkins added 15 of his 18 points in the second half as Vanderbilt proved to be a big test, taking a 37-36 halftime lead.

NO. 2 SYRACUSE 71, CONNECTICUT 69

STORRS, Conn. — Fab Melo’s follow-up dunk with 31 seconds left lifted Syracuse over Connecticut and clinched the Big East regular-season title for the Orange.

C.J. Fair blocked a shot by Roscoe Smith just before the buzzer to preserve the victory for Syracuse (29-1, 16-1) which has won nine in a row since its only loss of the season Jan. 21 at Notre Dame. Kris Joseph had 21 points to lead the Orange.

Jeremy Lamb had 19 points and Andre Drummond added 17 points and 14 rebounds for UConn (17-11, 7-9), which overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to tie the game with 47 seconds to go.

The win was the first for Syracuse at Gampel Pavilion, where the Orange had been 0-4.

NO. 4 KANSAS 87, NO. 3 MISSOURI 86, OT

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Thomas Robinson made a three-point play in the closing seconds of regulation, and Tyshawn Taylor’s made two free throws with 8.3 seconds left in overtime for Kansas in the final scheduled regular-season matchup with Missouri.

The Tigers, who blew a 19-point second-half lead, never got a potential winning shot off in the final seconds. Michael Dixon was boxed in by Robinson as he tried to get to the basket, and the buzzer eventually sounded on the 105-year-old rivalry.

Robinson finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Kansas (24-5, 14-2), which wrapped up at least a share of its eighth straight Big 12 title. Taylor added 24 points, seven in overtime.

Marcus Denmon had 28 points to lead Missouri (25-4, 12-4), which heads off to the Southeastern Conference next season. Ricardo Ratliffe finished with 22 points, Dixon had 17 and Kim English 11.

Robinson took a feed in the post and backed down Dixon, getting the leaner to go as he was undercut for the foul. His free throw with 16.1 seconds left tied the game at 75.

The Tigers had the final possession, clearing the lane for Phil Pressey to drive to the rim. But Robinson swatted his shot to force overtime.

NO. 5 DUKE 70, VIRGINIA TECH 65, OT

DURHAM, N.C. — Austin Rivers scored 23 points and Seth Curry added 19 for Duke.

Miles Plumlee added 15 rebounds and two free throws with 9.6 seconds left for the Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2), who made 6 of 8 foul shots in the final minute of overtime to win their sixth straight and remain atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Dorenzo Hudson, one of three players with 16 points for the Hokies (15-14, 4-10), pulled them to 64-63 with a deep jumper with 1:19 left in overtime.

Mason Plumlee’s free throw with 51.1 seconds left made it a two-point game, and he had a hand in Hudson’s face during his jumper that would have tied it.

After Rivers’ free throw with 19.4 seconds left made it 66-63, Erick Green missed a layup and Miles Plumlee’s free throws made it a five-point game.

Green and Cadarian Raines also scored 16 points for the Hokies, who were just 7 of 16 from the free throw line.

NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 62, NEBRASKA 34

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Draymond Green had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help Michigan State beat Nebraska for its seventh straight victory.

Undefeated at home this season, the first-place Spartans (24-5, 13-3 Big Ten) lead No. 8 Ohio State by 1 games and No. 11 Michigan by two games with three games left in the regular season.

NO. 7 NORTH CAROLINA 54, NO. 25 VIRGINIA 51

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Tyler Zeller scored 20 points, including a critical dunk with 13.3 seconds left and the shot clock winding down, as North Carolina swep5t the season series.

John Henson added 15 points, including 11 in the second half, as the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2) kept pace with No. 5 Duke for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Jontel Evans had 13 points and Joe Harris added 12 for Virginia (21-7, 8-6), which played much of the game with leading scorer and ACC player of the year candidate Mike Scott in foul trouble. Scott scored just six points, more than 11 below his average, and missed 10 of 13 shots.

Harrison Barnes had a poor shooting day for the Tar Heels, missing 12 of 15 shots. He scored seven points.

NO. 9 GEORGETOWN 67, VILLANOVA 46

WASHINGTON — Freshman Otto Porter had 15 points and six rebounds in his second start of the season and Jason Clark had 15 points and six rebounds for Georgetown.

The victory moves the Hoyas (21-6, 11-5) into sole possession of fourth place in the Big East, one-half game ahead of Cincinnati and South Florida, who play Sunday. The top four teams get a double-bye in the conference tournament

PURDUE 75, NO. 11 MICHIGAN 61

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Terone Johnson scored a career-high 22 points and Robbie Hummel added 17 to help Purdue hand Michigan its first home loss of the season.

Michigan (21-8, 11-5 Big Ten) entered 15-0 at the Crisler Center but couldn’t finish off the third unbeaten home season in school history. Trey Burke and Zack Novak led the Wolverines with 12 points each, while Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10.

The Boilermakers (19-10, 9-7) won for the fourth time in five games, improving their postseason resume.

GEORGIA 76, NO. 12 FLORIDA 62

ATHENS, Ga. — Freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18 points and Gerald Robinson added 15 as Georgia snapped Florida’s three-game winning streak.

The Gators, who never led in the game, trailed by double digits most of the second half. They whittled the lead to five points on Kenny Boynton’s 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining.

Georgia (13-15, 4-10 Southeastern Conference) scored the next six points as Dustin Ware and Donte’ Williams both made two free throws and Caldwell-Pope followed with a breakaway dunk to make it 73-62.

Bradley Beal had 19 points for Florida (22-7, 10-4), which had won 10 of 12 overall and had taken of 15 of 17 against Georgia, including three straight.

They held the Bulldogs to 48 points in a 22-point victory in Gainesville on Jan. 10, but Georgia got 12 points from Nemanja Djurisic and 11 each from Williams and Ware.

NO. 13 BAYLOR 70, OKLAHOMA 60

WACO, Texas — Pierre Jackson scored 18 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer that started Baylor’s game-deciding spurt.

The game was tied for the 12th time before Jackson’s 3 put the Bears (24-5, 11-5 Big 12) up 49-46 with 10:48 left. That started a 13-2 run that was capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Brady Heslip, who had 16 points.

Jackson and Heslip both had four 3-pointers.

Quincy Miller had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bears, whose 11th Big 12 victory matched the most in school history.

Steven Pledger had 21 points for Oklahoma (14-14, 4-12), which led 34-31 at halftime.

Oklahoma went 0 for 12 on 3-pointers, ending a streak of 510 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer. Baylor, the league’s top-shooting team from beyond the arc, has made a 3-pointer in 648 consecutive games.

NO. 14 MURRAY STATE 69, TENNESSEE TECH 64

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Isaiah Canaan scored 18 points and Murray State beat Tennessee Tech to finish the season undefeated on the road for the first time in school history.

The victory capped the best regular season ever for the Racers (28-1, 15-1 Ohio Valley Conference), who were the last Division I team to lose this season. Their 28 victories surpassed the 2009-10 team, which won 27 games in the regular season and finished with 31 victories overall.

TCU 83, NO. 18 NEW MEXICO 64

FORT WORTH, Texas — Amric Fields scored eight consecutive points for TCU in a 48-second span during the tiebreaking run and the Horned Frogs upset another ranked team at home, beating New Mexico.

TCU (17-11, 7-5 Mountain West Conference) has won eight consecutive home games, the last two over Top 25 teams.

NO. 19 WICHITA ST. 81, DRAKE 58

WICHITA, Kan. — Ben Smith scored 18 points to lead Wichita State.

Garrett Stutz added 15 points and Toure Murry chipped in 14 for Wichita State (26-4, 16-2), which had already clinched the Missouri Valley regular season championship.

ST. JOHN’S 61, NO. 20 NOTRE DAME 58

NEW YORK — Moe Harkless had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead St. John’s to its first win over a ranked team in 11 games this season.

D’Angelo Harrison added 15 points for St. John’s (13-16, 6-10 Big East), while Amir Garrett had 11, including the drive that gave the Red Storm a 61-58 lead with 8.9 seconds to play.

NO. 21 UNLV 68, AIR FORCE 58

LAS VEGAS — Chace Stanback scored 21 points to lead UNLV.

Stanback scored 13 points in the first half for UNLV (24-6, 8-4 Mountain West), including his first three 3-point attempts. He had eight rebounds and finished 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Michael Lyons scored 18 points and Kyle Green added 17 for Air Force (13-13, 3-9), which missed 11 of its first 13 shots and scored four points in the game’s first 10 minutes.

SAINT JOSEPH’S 82, NO. 22 TEMPLE 72

PHILADELPHIA — Langston Galloway scored 22 points while Carl Jones and Ronald Roberts each added 18 to lead Saint Joseph’s past Temple.

Halil Kanacevic added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks (19-11, 9-6 Atlantic 10), who snapped the Owls’ 11-game winning streak.

NO. 24 SAN DIEGO STATE 74, COLORADO STATE 66

SAN DIEGO — Jamaal Franklin matched his career high with 31 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds for San Diego State, which beat Colorado State to pull into a tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference with New Mexico and UNLV.

Franklin scored 13 of SDSU’s final 16 points in the last 4:25.