Dixon leads Villanova to 68-66 win over No. 9 UConn

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Eric Dixon scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and Villanova held on for a 68-66 victory over No. 9 UConn on Wednesday night after the Huskies’ Alex Karaban missed two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

Wooga Poplar added 18 points for Villanova (11-5, 4-1 Big East), which led by as many as 12 points in the second half.

Solo Ball scored 16 points to lead UConn (12-4, 4-1). The Huskies had won eight in a row since dropping all three games in the Maui Invitational in November.

The Huskies played without star freshman Liam McNeeley, out with a right foot injury.

UConn had several chances to take the lead late, the last when Karaban was long on both free-throw attempts after being fouled by Jordan Longino. Karaban finished with 10 points.

No. 5 ALABAMA 88, SOUTH CAROLINA 68

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 22 points — hitting of 4 of 6 3-pointers — to help No. 5 Alabama beat South Carolina for its seventh straight victory.

Aden Holloway added 13 points for the Crimson Tide (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) in their 10th straight victory over the Gamecocks (10-5, 0-2).

Jacobi Wright led South Carolina (10-5, 0-2) with 20 points. Jamarii Thomas added 15.

No. 10 TEXAS A&M 80, No. 17 OKLAHOMA 78

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Zhuric Phelps scored a career-high 34 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining, and No. 10 Texas A&M rallied from 18 down in the second half to defeat No. 17 Oklahoma.

The Aggies (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) won their ninth straight while leading scorer Wade Taylor IV sat out with an undisclosed injury.

Oklahoma reserve Brycen Goodine had a season-best 34 points in 27 minutes. Jeremiah Fears scored 13 and Jalon Moore added 11 for the Sooners (13-2, 0-2), who have lost two in a row after a 13-0 start.

No. 11 KANSAS 74, ARIZONA ST. 55

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Zeke Mayo scored 23 points and No. 11 Kansas held Arizona State to 13 in the second half of their victory.

Hunter Dickinson added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Jayhawks (11-3, 2-1 Big 12), who started the second period with a 20-3 spurt that turned a six-point deficit into an 11-point lead at the second media timeout.

Kansas outscored the Sun Devils 38-13 after halftime.

Arizona State (10-4, 1-2) didn’t score its 10th point of the half until 3:09 remained. ASU was led by Alston Mason with 19 points. BJ Freeman had 10, and Jayden Quaintance added nine points and 11 rebounds.

No. 13 ILLINOIS 91, PENN ST. 52

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Ben Humrichous scored a season-high 21 points, Morez Johnson Jr. had a career-high 20 points along with 11 rebounds and No. 13 Illinois beat Penn State for its fifth straight victory.

Tre White also had 20 points to help Illinois (12-3, 4-1 Big Ten) win with scoring leader Kasparas Jakucionis sidelined by a bruised forearm.

Penn State star Ace Baldwin Jr. aggravated a back injury early in the first half and didn’t play in the second half. He didn’t score, missing all six of his shots.

Nick Kern Jr. had 13 points for the Nittany Lions (12-4, 2-3). Zach Hicks added 11.

No. 18 GONZAGA 92, SAN DIEGO 80

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Ben Gregg scored 23 points and Khalif Battle added 20 to lead No. 18 Gonzaga to its fourth straight win, over San Diego.

Graham Ike had a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 15 points for Gonzaga (13-4, 4-0 West Coast Conference). Ryan Nembhard added 11 points and as many assists, finishing with just two turnovers.

Kjay Bradley Jr. had 21 points to lead the Toreros (4-13, 1-3), who lost their third straight.

No. 23 MISSISSIPPI 73, ARKANSAS 66

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) —Malik Dia scored 21 points to lead No. 23 Mississippi to a win over Arkansas, the Rebels’ first win in Fayetteville since 2015.

Sean Pedulla scored 16 and Dre Davis 10. Pedulla and Dia made back-to-back buckets with less than nine minutes left to build Ole Miss’ lead to double digits after Arkansas (11-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) had cut it to six.

Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The rest of the Arkansas team shot just 32%.

Dia, Pedulla and Davis scored 14 straight points for the Rebels (13-2, 2-0) over a five-minute stretch midway through the second, outscoring the Hogs over that span by four to keep the lead at double digits.

The Razorbacks, who fell out of the Top 25 last week after a loss at Tennessee, have started 0-2 in league play for the second straight season.

The Associated Press