Jan 13, 2018 6 min read

LUBBOCK, Texas – Freshman Zhaire Smith cradled the inbounds pass as the final eight-tenths of a second ticked off the clock and the frenzied Texas Tech fans rushed the court.

The Red Raiders will savor this moment, even if the rough-and-tumble Big 12 is just getting started.

Keenan Evans scored 20 points, Brandone Francis had a career-high 17 and No. 8 Texas Tech won the first-ever Top 10 matchup on its home court, beating second-ranked West Virginia 72-71 on Saturday.

The Mountaineers (15-2, 4-1 Big 12) couldn’t hold an 11-point lead in the final 13 minutes and had their nation-leading 15-game winning streak stopped.

They were the last team in the Big 12 with a perfect league record. Now Texas Tech (15-2, 4-1) is part of a four-way tie atop arguably the nation’s toughest conference – with 13 league games to go.

Jevon Carter scored 28 points – one off his career high – for West Virginia, which was denied its first 5-0 start in its sixth season in the Big 12. Esa Ahmad added 18 in his season debut following an NCAA academic suspension.

Georgia Tech 69, Pitt 54: Georgia Tech opened with 13 unanswered points against Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon and never looked back, defeating the Panthers 69-54.

After the initial onslaught, Pitt made one free throw, but the Yellow Jackets went right back to scoring, extending their lead to 21-1 before the Panthers made a field goal.

After a 14-2 Pitt run in the middle of the first half closed the gap, the Yellow Jackets again came out strong after halftime. Abdoulaye Gueye made two baskets as part of a 9-2 run and finished with a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds.

Center Ben Lammers scored 11 points with 16 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Georgia Tech (10-7, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated on the inside, outrebounding the Panthers 39-20 and outscoring them in the paint 40-16.

Pitt (8-10, 0-4) got within 10 points in the second half, but after Shamiel Stevenson missed a layup, Georgia Tech rattled off 13 straight points.

Stevenson and Jared Wilson-Frame each scored nine points for the Panthers.

Michigan 82, No. 4 Michigan State 72: Moritz Wagner scored a career-high 27 points, lifting Michigan to an 82-72 victory over No. 4 Michigan State on Saturday.

The Wolverines (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) have won eight of nine games this season and two straight against their rivals.

The Spartans (16-3, 4-2) are struggling, losing two of three games with an overtime win over Rutgers in between the setbacks.

Zavier Simpson made a go-ahead layup with 14:28 left, the 13th lead change in an intense game with 11 ties. He helped the Wolverines pull away in the final minutes with enough free throws to keep a cushion. Simpson finished with 16 points, taking advantage of a game plan that called for him and his teammates to drive toward the basket against a shot-blocking team.

No. 5 Purdue 81, Minnesota 47: Vincent Edwards scored 25 points in 29 minutes on 9-for-14 shooting for fifth-ranked Purdue, and the Boilermakers easily beat undermanned Minnesota 81-47 for their 13th consecutive victory.

Isaac Haas pitched in 14 points and five rebounds for Purdue (17-2, 6-0), which produced its best Big Ten start since going 8-0 to begin conference play in the 1989-90 season. This is the fourth 6-0 start in the Big Ten in Boilermakers history. They’re tied for the program’s best record at the 19-game overall mark since 1987-88.

Jordan Murphy had 10 points and four rebounds for the Gophers (13-6, 2-4).

No. 9 Oklahoma 102, TCU 97: Trae Young scored 29 of his 43 points after halftime, and No. 9 Oklahoma defeated No. 16 TCU 102-97 in overtime.

Young, the freshman who leads the nation in scoring and assists, also had 11 rebounds and seven assists. Brady Manek added 22 points for the Sooners (14-2, 4-1 Big 12), who made a school-record 19 3-pointers.

Jaylen Fisher had a career-high 22 points and Vlad Brodziansky added 21 for TCU (13-4, 1-4), which lost its second overtime game of the week. TCU lost to Texas in double-overtime on Wednesday after Fisher missed what would have been the go-ahead layup in the closing seconds.

TCU’s losses are by a combined 11 points, and three have been in overtime.

Duquesne 101, La Salle 94: Mike Lewis II scored 11 of his 24 points in the third overtime, Tarin Smith, who finished with 21 points, forced a critical La Salle turnover late in the second overtime, and Duquesne beat the Explorers 101-94 in triple overtime.

After La Salle’s Pookie Powell hit two free throws to make it 92-all with 2:29 remaining, Lewis scored all of Duquesne’s points in a 9-2 run to close the game. The Explorers (7-11, 1-4 Atlantic 10) missed five of their final six field-goal attempts.

Jamir Moultrie hit a 3 to give La Salle a 73-67 lead early in the first overtime and two free throws by Amar Stukes pushed the lead to four points with 13 seconds left. Tarin Smith hit two foul shots and then deflected a pass which Castro-Caneddy threw off the backboard, as he fell to the ground, and Kellon Taylor’s putback with 4.2 seconds to go forced the third OT.

Jordan Robinson finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Williams Jr. added 10 points and 13 boards, for Duquesne (13-5, 4-1).

Robert Morris 81, Fairleigh Dickinson 75: Dachone Burke scored 25 points and Leondre Washington scored 14 points and Robert Morris held off Fairleigh Dickinson 81-75 .

Jahlil Jenkins made a layup with 3:55 left and Fairleigh Dickson trailed 71-70. Matty McConnell made 1 of 2 free throws before Kaleb Bishop tied it at 72.

Burke made two free throws with 2:24 left to give Robert Morris (11-8, 5-1 Northeast Conference) the lead for good. Jenkins made a free throw and Burke’s dunk made it 76-73. Washington made 3 of 4 from the foul line to protect the win.

After Jenkins’ layup, Fairleigh Dickinson (5-12, 2-4) missed all three of its shot attempts, missed 3 of 8 from the free throw line and committed two turnovers.

Mike Holloway Jr., scored 24 points with 13 rebounds, Noah Morgan and Jenkins each scored 12 and Elyjah Williams scored 10 for the Knights.