Noah Clowney scored 16 points, including the go-ahead layup with 1:12 remaining, to lift No. 8 Alabama to a 71-65 victory over host and top-ranked Houston on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide’s second win over the AP poll’s top-ranked team in as many months made them the first with multiple wins over the season’s top-ranked team before Jan. 1 since Duke in 1965-66. Alabama (8-1) beat then-No. 1 North Carolina 103-101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27. Duke knocked off then-No. 1 UCLA on Dec. 10 and 11 in 1965.
The Crimson Tide rallied from a 15-point deficit with 17:13 left to hand the Cougars (9-1) their first loss of the season. Clowney added a game-high 11 rebounds, while Jaden Bradley added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Mark Sears added 11 points for Alabama.
Houston was led by Jamal Shead with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Tramon Mark added 10 points. J’Wan Roberts chipped in nine points and nine rebounds, with Marcus Sasser adding nine points on just 2-of-11 shooting.
No. 2 Texas 88, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 43
Christian Bishop had 16 points and nine rebounds, both season highs, and Brock Cunningham added a career-best 13 points as the Longhorns swamped the Golden Lions in Austin, Texas.
Dylan Mitchell added 13 points for Texas (7-1), as 10 of the 12 players who took the court scored at least four points. The Longhorns earned a 52-18 edge in points in the paint and a 49-8 advantage in bench scoring.
Chris Greene led the Golden Lions (3-8) with 14 points while Kylen Milton added 13. Arkansas-Pine Bluff shot 33.3 percent from the field and just 19.2 percent after halftime.
No. 4 Purdue 65, Nebraska 62 (OT)
Fletcher Loyer scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Boilermakers to an overtime win over the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb.
Zach Edey had 11 points and 17 rebounds for Purdue (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which won despite shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from beyond the arc.
Keisei Tominaga scored 19 points off the bench, while Derrick Walker (10 rebounds) and Emmanuel Bandoumel each scored 14 points for Nebraska (6-5, 0-2), which shot 31.9 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from the 3-point line.
No. 5 UConn 114, Long Island 61
Jordan Hawkins made a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead the Huskies over the Sharks in Storrs, Conn.
Freshmen Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban scored 21 and 19 points, respectively. Clingan, who played 15 minutes, pulled down 11 rebounds. Adama Sanogo (16 points) and Nahiem Alleyne (11) also chipped in for UConn (11-0), which shot 62.5 percent from the field and made 14 shots from 3-point range.
Jacob Johnson scored 19 points, RJ Greene added 17 and Quion Burns had 11 and seven rebounds for Long Island (1-7).
No. 6 Kansas 95, Missouri 67
Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Jayhawks routed the Tigers in Columbia, Mo.
Kevin McCullar scored 21 points and had five steals for the Jayhawks (9-1). KJ Adams scored 19 points and Gradey Dick had 16 points and five assists.
Nick Honor and D’Moi Hodge led the Tigers (9-1) with 15 points each. Noah Carter scored 12 points and DeAndre Gholston added 11.
No. 9 Arkansas 88, Oklahoma 78
Ricky Council IV scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and the Razorbacks rallied to defeat the Sooners in the Crimson and Cardinal Classic in Tulsa, Okla.
Recovering from a nine-point first-half deficit to lead by three at the break, the Razorbacks (9-1) steadily pulled away — leading by as many as 16 — and collected their fifth consecutive victory. The Sooners (7-3) cut the deficit to 10 in the final three minutes, but Anthony Black and Council punctuated Arkansas’ victory with dunks.
Council made 10 of 15 field goals to go along with five assists. Freshman Nick Smith Jr. had 21 points and Jordan Walsh 12. Makhi Mitchell had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. For Oklahoma, Grant Sherfield posted 23 points, Milos Uzan had 15 and Jalen Hill added 11.
No. 10 Arizona 89, No. 14 Indiana 75
Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points and Oumar Ballo had a double-double as the Wildcats held off the Hoosiers in the first-ever meeting between the programs at the Las Vegas Clash.
The Wildcats (8-1) squandered most of a 19-point first-half lead. They had to withstand multiple charges from the Hoosiers, who pulled within three points about midway through the second half and had an 11-2 run to make it 76-71 with 5:11 to go in a high-intensity game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Race Thompson led five Indiana (8-2) players in double figures, scoring 16 points and making 4 of 7 shots from 3-point range. He entered the game having made only three 3-pointers all season. Xavier Johnson had 11 points and 11 assists.
Memphis 82, No. 11 Auburn 73
Kendric Davis scored a season-high 27 points and DeAndre Williams added 16 as the visiting Tigers dealt their namesake their first loss of the season at the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta.
Davis shot 9 of 19 from the field, including 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, to go along with nine rebounds and six assists for Memphis (8-2). Williams went 7 of 13 from the field and added 11 rebounds and three assists in Memphis’ sixth straight win.
Auburn (8-1) was led by K.D. Johnson, who had 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range, and Wendell Green Jr., who added 14 points and five assists. Auburn shot 24 of 63 (38.1 percent) from the field, including 6 of 24 (25 percent) from beyond the arc, in addition to getting outscored 50-24 in the paint.
No. 15 Duke 82, Maryland Eastern Shore 55
Tyrese Proctor and Dariq Whitehead poured in 15 points apiece and the Blue Devils overpowered the Hawks on a historic day for the program at Durham, N.C.
Duke sent out an all-freshman starting lineup for the first time in the storied program. The Blue Devils (10-2) played without junior guard Jeremy Roach, who missed a game for the first time in his career. He sat out because of a toe injury. Whitehead made his first start, joining classmates Proctor, Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell and Dereck Lively II in the starting unit.
Troy Hupstead came off the bench and was the leading scorer for Maryland Eastern Shore (3-7) with 12 points. Zion Styles had 11 points, and Da’Shawn Phillip finished with 10 points.
No. 16 Kentucky 69, Yale 59
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 12 straight points early in the second half to put the Wildcats ahead decisively before finishing with a season-high 28 in a nonconference win over the Bulldogs in Lexington, Ky.
Tshiebwe ended the day two points shy of his career high, set last year. He was 13 of 18 from the field and added 12 rebounds to help the Wildcats improve to 7-2. Antonio Reeves and Sahvir Wheeler each chipped in 10 points.
Jack Molloy scored 14 points for the Bulldogs (8-3), who dropped their second straight game. EJ Jarvis added 12 and August Mahoney tallied 10, but it wasn’t enough to help Yale score a big road victory.
Penn State 74, No. 17 Illinois 59
Jalen Pickett and Andrew Funk scored 20 points apiece as the Nittany Lions smashed the Fighting Illini in Big Ten action in Champaign, Ill.
Seth Lundy added 16 points and seven rebounds for Penn State (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten), while Myles Dread chipped in 15 points. Pickett rounded out his strong performance with seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.
Matthew Mayer led the Illini’s offensive attack with 14 points, while Skyy Clark notched 11 points and seven boards for Illinois (7-3, 0-2).
No. 19 UCLA 87, Denver 64
Jaylen Clark scored 24 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 to help the Bruins extend their winning streak to five games with a victory over Denver in a nonconference game at Los Angeles.
Clark sank 10 of 13 shots, and Jaquez was 9 of 11 as the Bruins (8-2) shot 48.1 percent overall and 24 percent (6 of 25) from 3-point range. Ten different UCLA players scored.
Touko Tainamo finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Justin Mullins scored 14 points for the Pioneers (8-3).
Saint Mary’s 68, No. 22 San Diego State 61
Aidan Mahaney scored 20 points and Alex Ducas had 17 to lead the Gaels to a win against the Aztecs at the Jerry Colangelo Classic in Phoenix.
Logan Johnson added 15 points for Saint Mary’s (8-3). Mitchell Saxen, the leading scorer (13.9 points per game) on the season for the Gaels coming in, did not score in the first half before finishing with six points. Matt Bradley scored 13 points, Keshad Johnson had 12 points and Lamont Butler finished with 11 points for the Aztecs (7-3).
Ducas sank a 3-pointer with 5:37 left for a 59-50 lead, his first points of the second half, but San Diego State continued to hang around, scoring the next six points to pull within 59-56 with 2:39 remaining. The Aztecs had a chance to get even closer but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:13 left before the Gaels went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line over the final 1:10 to keep San Diego State from getting any closer.
–Field Level Media