HOUSTON (AP) — No. 8 Alabama could have called it a day when it was trailing by double-figures early in the second half.
The Crimson Tide didn’t, and earned another marquee win this season.
Alabama rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to stun No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday, becoming just the second men’s team to beat two top-ranked teams in the same season.
Noah Clowney had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Jaden Bradley added 12 points and Mark Sears scored 11 points, including nine in the second half for the Crimson Tide (8-1). Alabama shot 50% from the field in the second half and 41% for the game. The Tide went 20 of 32 on free throws, including 15 of 21 in the second half.
“This is one of those character wins that shows that our guys are going to keep fighting no matter what the score is,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We could have easily given up down 15. The start of the second half wasn’t great. We made some changes with the bench guys. Hung in there, kept clawing away at the lead, finally able to take the lead and then we pulled away from them.”
The Crimson Tide beat North Carolina 103-101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27 and joins the 1990 Oklahoma team to take down two No. 1s in a season.
“Huge program win,” Oats said. “Not sure how many teams get the chance to play two No. 1 teams in nonconference, let alone beat them, but I think that shows where we’ve gotten this program to that we can play with anyone in the country at this point.”
Jamal Shead had 19 points and six rebounds, and Tramon Mark scored 10 points before fouling out with 8:10 remaining for Houston (9-1).
“That’s the No. 8 team in the nation,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “No shame losing to a really, really good Alabama team. Disappointing obviously. We haven’t lost a lot in this building.”
The Cougars shot 39% from the field, including going 1-of-8 to end the game. Houston was 3 of 13 on 3-pointers and 12 of 22 from the free-throw line.
“We just couldn’t guard,” Shead said. “We didn’t stand in front of the ball for like four or five straight possessions and that’s how they got back into it. And we just weren’t tough enough to finish it out.”
The game was tied at 63 following a Marcus Sasser free throw with two minutes left. Then Clowney put the Tide up by two with a layup with 1:12 remaining, Shead missed a jumper with 48 seconds left and Brandon Miller made two free throws five seconds later to push the lead to four.
After Reggie Chaney missed two free throws, Miller made two more free throws to give Alabama a 69-63 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
Trailing 57-49 with 8½ remaining, the Tide went on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 61-60 on a layup by Clowney with five minutes to go.
Houston used an 18-2 run to end the first half and start the second half to take a 44-29 lead with 17:13 remaining on a steal and layup by Jarace Walker, but Alabama responded with a 15-5 spurt to cut the led to five on a 3-pointer by Sears with 11 minutes left.
NO. 2 TEXAS 88, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 43
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Christian Bishop scored 16 points and Texas held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 13 points in the second half while coasting to a win.
Texas rose to its highest ranking in more than a decade after a 6-0 start before dropping an overtime loss against No. 17 Illinois earlier in the week in New York City.
Freshman Dillon Mitchell scored 13 points for Texas (7-1), most of them coming on dunks. Brock Cunningham scored a career-high 13 on 5-of-5 shooting, which included three 3-pointers.
Chris Greene scored 14 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-8).
NO. 4 PURDUE 65, NEBRASKA 62, OT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored a season-high 22 points and Braden Smith made four free throws in the last 28 seconds of overtime to give Purdue a hard-earned victory over Nebraska.
The Boilermakers (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) have won two straight to open conference play for the first time since 2017-18.
Zach Edey had 11 points and 17 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, but his quiet afternoon offensively allowed the Cornhuskers (6-5, 0-2) to keep things close throughout.
Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga, who had 12 of his 19 points after halftime, tied it 56-all with 9.1 seconds left, and the game went to overtime when Loyer was off the mark with a 3 just before the buzzer.
Walker and Emmanuel Bandoumel added 14 points apiece for the Huskers, and Walker had 10 rebounds.
NO. 5 UCONN 114, LONG ISLAND 61
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Freshman Donovan Clingan had a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead UConn over Long Island University.
It was Clingan’s second double-double of the season, and he was one of five UConn players who scored in double digits. Sophomore Jordan Hawkins had a team-high 22 points and was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers; freshman Alex Karaban turned in a career-high 19 points; Adama Sanogo added 16 points and Naheim Alleyne added 11.
The last time the Huskies (11-0) scored 100 points in regulation was when they opened the 2020 season with a 102-75 win against Central Connecticut State. It’s also the most points UConn has scored since beating Morehead State 129-61 during the 2005-06 season
Jacob Johnson scored 19 points for the Sharks (1-8) and R.J. Greene added 17.
NO. 6 KANSAS 95, MISSOURI 67
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jalen Wilson had 24 points and 10 rebounds, K.J. Adams Jr. scored a career-high 19 and Kansas routed Missouri in the Jayhawks’ first visit to their old Big 12 rival in more than a decade.
Kevin McCullar Jr. contributed 21 points and Gradey Dick had 16 for the Jayhawks (9-1), who romped past the Tigers last year in Lawrence but were making their first trip to Columbia since Feb. 4, 2012, the year Missouri departed for the SEC.
D’Moi Hodge and Nick Honor scored 15 apiece to lead the Tigers (9-1), who had been one of 10 remaining unbeatens in Division I men’s basketball at the start of the day. Noah Carter finished with 12 points and DeAndre Gholston had 11.
NO. 9 ARKANSAS 88, OKLAHOMA 78
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Ricky Council IV scored 26 points and Nick Smith Jr. had 21 in Arkansas’ victory over Oklahoma.
Arkansas, which improved to 9-1 on the season, led by three at the break and gradually pulled away from the Sooners throughout the second half.
Oklahoma (7-3) had just three players in double figures, with Grant Sherfield leading the way with 23 points, including 3 of 6 3-pointers. He was followed by Milos Uzan with 15 points and Jalen Hill with 11. The Sooners shot 57.1% from the field.
Jordan Walsh added 12 points for the Razorbacks, who shot 59.3% from the field, and Mahki Mitchell had 10.
NO. 10 ARIZONA 89, NO. 14 INDIANA 75
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points and Arizona defeated Indiana in the Vegas Clash.
The Wildcats (8-1) held off Indiana’s surge after the Hoosiers got within three points midway through the second half. Arizona responded with three straight 3s to build its cushion back to double digits.
Oumar Ballo had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Pelle Larsson scored 16 and Kerr Kriisa finished with 14.
Indiana (8-2) was led by Race Thompson with 16 points and nine rebounds. Miller Kopp scored 14, Tamar Bates added 13, and Xavier Johnson and Trayce Jackson-Davis each finished with 11.
MEMPHIS 82, NO. 11 AUBURN 73
ATLANTA (AP) — Kendric Davis scored a season-high 27 points and Memphis ended Auburn’s season-opening eight-game win streak.
The closest Auburn (8-1) got was an eight-point deficit on K.D. Johnson’s free throws with 3:04 left in the game.
Wendell Green Jr. and Johnson each finished with 14 points and Chris Moore had 12 for Auburn, which began the day as one of 10 unbeaten teams left in the nation.
DeAndre Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (8-2).
NO. 15 DUKE 82, MD.-EASTERN SHORE 55
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Tyrese Proctor and Dariq Whitehead each scored 15 points and Duke rolled past Maryland-Eastern Shore while using an all-freshman starting lineup for the first time in program history.
Kyle Filipowski added 14 points as Duke (10-2) won its fourth game in a row.
Troy Hupstead had 12 points, Zion Styles posted 11 points and Da’Shawn Phillip had 10 points for Maryland-Eastern Shore (3-7), which lost its third game in a row.
NO. 16 KENTUCKY 69, YALE 59
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Oscar Tshiebwe scored 28 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Kentucky over Yale.
The Wildcats (7-2) pushed their winning streak to four games in a tougher-than-expected contest against the Bulldogs (8-3) from the Ivy League. Yale opened the second half with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 33 before Tshiebwe scored 12 straight to help the Wildcats regain control.
Sahvir Wheeler and Antonio Reeves had 10 points each for Kentucky.
Jack Malloy led Yale with 14 points, followed by EJ Jarvis with 12 and August Mahoney with 10.
PENN STATE 74, NO. 17 ILLINOIS 59
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Andrew Funk and Myles Dread combined for 11 3-pointers to help Penn State beat Illinois.
Funk and Jalen Pickett led all scorers with 20 points each, Seth Lundy added 16 and Dread had 15 to give the Nittany Lions (7-1, 1-1 Big Ten) notched their first road Big Ten win against a top-20 team since beating No. 16 Michigan State in 2020.
Matthew Mayer led Illinois (7-3, 0-2) with 14 points, all in the first half.
Penn State shot 50% from long distance overall, and hit 6 of 9 3s in the first half. Funk made another 3 to extend the lead to double digits on the opening possession out of the break. Illinois pulled within five in the second half, but Funk and Dread made three more 3s in a span of 64 seconds.
NO. 19 UCLA 87, DENVER 64
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jaylen Clark scored 24 points and UCLA opened the second half with a 17-0 run in a blowout of Denver for its fifth straight victory.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting for the Bruins (8-2), who last week opened Pac-12 play with a pair of wins.
Denver (8-3) has six players who average double figures. Touko Tainamo scored 16 points as one of two starters in foul trouble.
UCLA’s defense forced the Pioneers into a season-worst 24 turnovers.
BYU 83, NO. 21 CREIGHTON 80
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rudi Williams scored 26 points and Brigham Young defeated Creighton in the Jack Jones Hoopfest.
The Cougars (6-5) ended up with five players in double figures, as they ended a two-game skid.
Jaxson Robinson, Gideon George and Fousseyni Traore each scored 11 points, while Richie Saunders finished with 10.
Creighton (6-4) continued its downward spiral, losing for a fourth straight after opening the season 6-0.
Arthur Kaluma, who fouled out for the Blue Jays, led them with 27 points. Baylor Scheierman produced a double-double for Creighton with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Trey Alexander scored 17 points and Ryan Nembhard had 11.
SAINT MARY’S 68, NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 61
PHOENIX (AP) — Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points, Alex Ducas added 17 and Saint Mary’s knocked off San Diego State in the Jerry Colangelo Classic.
Two of the nation’s best defensive teams got offensive early at the home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns before the Gaels (8-3) tightened up to take a nine-point second-half lead.
The Aztecs (7-3) took their turn clamping down to pull within 59-56, but Saint Mary’s quickly pushed the lead back to seven. Saint Mary’s hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to knock off the Aztecs a week after playing a close game again top-ranked Houston.
Matt Bradley had 13 points and Keshad Johnson added 12 to lead San Diego State, which shot 3 of 15 from the 3-point arc.
NO. 24 TCU 83, SMU 75
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mike Miles Jr. returned to the TCU lineup with 18 points and the Horned Frogs extended their winning streak to six with a win over SMU.
Miles was one of five players scoring in double figures for the Horned Frogs (8-1). Eddie Lampkin Jr., Micah Peavey and Emanuel Miller each had 11 points, and Chuck O’Bannon Jr. had 10.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 player of the year had missed Tuesday’s game because of illness.
Zach Nutall had 20 points for SMU (3-7), which lost its fourth consecutive game. Zhuric Phelps had 19 points, while Efe Odigie had 13 points and 11 rebounds.