No. 8 Kansas hangs on to beat Texas Tech 64-63

Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — Kansas coach Bill Self felt more than a little fortunate that his No. 8 Jayhawks pulled out a 64-63 win against a very tough Texas Tech team.

Andrew Wiggins’ layup with 2 seconds left lifted Kansas to victory on Tuesday night.

“I think sometimes you could say they were a little lucky,” he said of the Red Raiders. “They threw some in at the end of the shot clock that maybe weren’t the highest percentage shots, and we were a little lucky that the ball just happened to bounce to Wigs there at the end. That’s part of it.

“We’ve been unlucky and we’ve been lucky before, and they usually balance out over time.”

The freshman finished with 19 points, and Joel Embiid matched his career high with 18 to lead the Jayhawks (20-6, 11-2). Kansas reached 20 wins for the 25th consecutive season, and 11 conference victories for the 20th straight year.

Texas Tech’s Robert Turner sank two free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Red Raiders up 63-62, but Kansas brought the ball up and got it inside to Wiggins for the win.

Jordan Tolbert scored 16 points and Dejan Kravic added 13 to lead Texas Tech (13-13, 5-8).

The Jayhawks own a two-game lead in the Big 12 after Texas fell 85-76 at Iowa State on Tuesday night.

“It’s big, it’s big, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we win Saturday,” Self said of Kansas’ home game against the Longhorns. “That’s the game that would give us some serious breathing room, although we’ve got a little bit now, and it was big tonight.

“I wasn’t banking on them losing, all I wanted to do was win two games this week, and if we were able to do that then it would be a great week.”

The score was tied nine times and the lead changed 13 times.

“I was impressed with Tubby (Smith’s) team and how hard they played and how well they defended, how well they rebounded,” Self said. “They’re going to get better. The guy knows how to win. He’s a proven winner. Those kids played hard.”

Kansas held an early 10-point lead but Texas Tech started hammering the ball inside to make the game tight.

“There wasn’t much to say,” Smith said of his team. “They’re down, they’re despondent because it’s a tough loss. They felt like they played well enough to get the win, but you’ve always have to finish the game the right way.”

Tolbert made a bucket as the shot clock expired with 2:51 left to put the Red Raiders up 59-55. But Wayne Seldon, Jr. hit a clutch 3-pointer to pull within 59-58. Turner answered with a basket, and Embiid sank two free throws to make it 61-60 with 1:22 remaining.

On the Red Raiders’ next possession, a scrum led to Kansas getting the ball. Embiid dunked it to put the Jayhawks up 62-61.

Turner then made his free throws, and Kansas called a timeout to draw up the play to Wiggins.

Kansas scored 22 points from the free throw line, and Texas Tech netted only nine.

Texas Tech came out after halftime and hit four of its first five shots. Kansas made only one basket in four attempts, allowing the Red Raiders to take their first lead since early in the game, 37-32.

Jordan Tolbert capped Texas Tech’s 8-2 run.

But the Red Raiders’ effective defense also created foul trouble. With more than 13 minutes remaining, Jaye Crockett, Kravic and Kader Tapsoba each had three fouls.

Texas Tech sent the Jayhawks to the line often in the second half. Five free throws — by Jamari Traylor and Wiggins — on three possessions pulled Kansas within 46-45 with about 11 minutes remaining. But the Jayhawks regained the lead for the first time in 11 minutes, 52-51, on a pair of free throws by Naadir Tharpe with 7:14 remaining.

But with Kravic back in, and after a turnover by Tharpe, the 7-foot senior tied the game at 53 on a layup with 5:34 left.

No. 5 DUKE 68, GEORGIA TECH 51

ATLANTA — Jabari Parker had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 5 Duke rolled past Georgia Tech 68-51 on Tuesday night.

Rodney Hood sank four 3-pointers and scored 14 points for Duke, which never trailed and led by double figures for the final 28 minutes. The Blue Devils (21-5, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won four straight and nine of 10.

Duke is in a hectic run of four games in eight days. The Blue Devils will play at North Carolina on Thursday before facing No. 1 Syracuse on Saturday. The stretch began with a win at Maryland on Saturday.

Robert Carter Jr. led Georgia Tech (13-13, 4-9 ACC) with 13 points. Kammeon Holsey had 12, and Chris Bolden added 10.

Duke, which has lost twice on the road to unranked conference opponents Notre Dame and Clemson, was 3-3 in ACC road games before Tuesday.

No. 6 SAN DIEGO ST. 60, UTAH ST. 45

SAN DIEGO — Matt Shrigley scored 15 points, including four 3-pointers, and San Diego State used a stifling defense to beat Utah State for its 12th straight home victory.

Josh Davis added 12 points and Skylar Spencer 10 for the Aztecs (23-2, 12-1 Mountain West Conference), who play their much-anticipated first game of the season against New Mexico on Saturday night. The Lobos are in second place in the MWC going into their game at UNLV on Wednesday night.

Utah State (15-11, 5-9) would have tied its season low of 42 points if not for a 3-pointer by Viko Noma’aea with 29 seconds left. SDSU held the Aggies to 34 percent shooting and led by double digits since the 10:56 mark of the first half.

No. 8 KANSAS 64, TEXAS TECH 63

LUBBOCK, Texas — Andrew Wiggins’ layup with two seconds left lifted Kansas over Texas Tech.

The freshman finished with 19 points, and Joel Embiid added 18 to lead the Jayhawks (20-6, 11-2). Kansas earned 20 wins for the 25th consecutive season and 11 conference victories for the 20th straight year.

Texas Tech’s Robert Turner sank two free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Red Raiders up 63-62 but Kansas brought the ball up and got it inside to Wiggins for the win.

Jordan Tolbert scored 16 points and Dejan Kravic added 13 to lead Texas Tech (13-13, 5-8).

No. 9 VILLANOVA 82, PROVIDENCE 79, 2OT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Ryan Arcidiacono had a three-point play with 3.6 seconds left in the second overtime to lift Villanova to a win over Providence.

Arcidiacono led the Wildcats (23-3, 11-2 Big East) with 21 points. JayVaughn Pinkston had 20 and James Bell 17. Villanova moved into a tie for first atop the Big East with Creighton.

Bryce Cotton led the Friars (17-10, 7-7) with 22 points despite shooting just 6 of 20. Kadeem Batts finished with 21 and 11 rebounds, but fouled out on Arcidiacono’s game-winning basket. Josh Fortune added 16 points and Tyler Harris 15.

After missing shots at the end of regulation and OT, Arcidiacono drove to the basket, banking in a shot as he was fouled.

LaDontae Henton’s 3 from the left corner bounced off the front of the rim as the horn sounded, allowing Villanova to escape with the win.

No. 11 LOUISVILLE 80, SOUTH FLORIDA 54

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Russ Smith scored 19 points and Louisville overcame foul troubles to run away from South Florida.

Luke Hancock added 16 points and Montrezl Harrell added 14 points despite four fouls as the Cardinals (22-4, 11-2 American Athletic Conference) won their tuneup before Saturday’s rematch at first place and No. 7 Cincinnati. Louisville’s fifth consecutive lopsided win also completed a season sweep of the Bulls (12-15, 3-11).

Doing so required surviving a second-half stretch with Harrell and Wayne Blackshear sidelined with four fouls each, not to mention cold shooting after a 54-percent first half. Both later returned to help the Cardinals steadily pull away, with Harrell adding a late basket-shaking dunk.

Freshman Terry Rozier scored 13 points for Louisville, which shot 48 percent.

Victor Rudd had 27 points but was USF’s only double-digit scorer on a night it shot 49 percent from the field.

No. 14 VIRGINIA 57, VIRGINIA TECH 53

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Justin Anderson and Joe Harris made consecutive 3-pointers to cap Virginia’s rally from an 11-point, second-half deficit in a victory over Virginia Tech.

The Cavaliers (22-5, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed most of the game but outscored the Hokies 23-6 after falling behind 40-29 with just more than 14 minutes remaining. It was Virginia’s 10th victory in a row, matching the school’s best start in ACC play since the 1980-81 team was also 13-1.

Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia with 12 points, and London Perrantes had 11.

The Hokies (9-16, 2-11), who ended a 10-game losing streak in their previous outing on Saturday against Miami, got 13 points each from Joey Van Zegeren and Devin Wilson. They lost their fifth in a row in the series.

No. 17 IOWA STATE 85, No. 19 TEXAS 76

AMES, Iowa — Melvin Ejim scored 25 points and DeAndre Kane added 22 to help Iowa State beat Texas for its fifth victory in six games.

Georges Niang had 20 points for the Cyclones (20-5, 8-5 Big 12), who clinched their third straight 20-win season under coach Fred Hoiberg.

Iowa State outscored Texas 25-12 late in the second half to pull away and move within a game of the second-place Longhorns in the Big 12. They were keyed by Ejim, who had his second-best scoring game of the season.

Isaiah Taylor had 26 points to lead the Longhorns (20-6, 9-4), who’ve followed up a seven-game winning streak by splitting their last four.

No. 18 KENTUCKY 84, MISSISSIPPI 70

OXFORD, Miss. — Julius Randle had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Aaron Harrison added 17 points and Kentucky beat Mississippi.

Kentucky (20-6, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) dominated throughout most of the game, going on a 15-0 run midway through the first half to take a 25-11 lead that proved insurmountable.

It was Randle’s 14th double-double of the season. Kentucky was active in the paint and had several alley-oop dunks, jumping over the Rebels’ overmatched defense. The Wildcats had seven dunks in the first half alone.

Ole Miss (16-10, 7-6) lost its third straight game and has almost completely fallen out of the picture for an at-large NCAA tournament berth. The Rebels had a bad shooting night and were steamrolled on the boards.

Jarvis Summers led Ole Miss with 22 points and Anthony Perez added 21.