WVU Rolls Past Texas, 86-51
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MORGANTOWN (AP) -- Sixth-ranked West Virginia held onto a big lead for a change.
Jevon Carter scored 22 points and led a second-half burst that propelled the Mountaineers to an 86-51 victory over Texas on Saturday.
After surrendering double-digit leads in losses to No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 10 Kansas, West Virginia (16-3, 5-2 Big 12) broke the two-game losing streak in part by switching to a matchup zone defense to clog the scoring lane. The Mountaineers also kept from getting careless on offense.
"That's what we've been talking about all week," Carter said. "Texas Tech, we had a lead. Kansas, we had a lead. We blew them both. We knew no matter what, we had to come out and play as hard as we can" in the second half.
West Virginia made 65.5 percent (19 of 29) of its field goals after halftime, the first time in four games the Mountaineers shot better than 50 percent in a half.
"When you make shots, you like to play defense better," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We were flying around pretty good today. We tried to run the offense we're supposed to run, not whoever gets it shoots it."
West Virginia's James "Beetle" Bolden added 19 points, Daxter Miles Jr. scored 15 and Sagaba Konate had 10 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks.
After Texas played its best defense in weeks in a 67-58 win over Texas Tech on Wednesday night, the Longhorns fell apart against WVU.
Texas (12-7, 3-4) forced several turnovers and twice trimmed a double-digit deficit to eight points early in the second half. Both times the Longhorns couldn't sustain the pressure and the Mountaineers responded.
Carter scored seven points during a 15-0 run, and Miles' 3-pointer capped the rally for a 60-37 lead with 7:24 left.
West Virginia held Texas without a double-digit scorer for the first time this season. Mo Bamba, Kerwin Roach and Jacob Young each finished with nine points.
"I thought West Virginia's spirit, fight and energy was just by far superior today," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "We didn't respond to it well enough."
No. 1 VILLANOVA 81, UCONN 61
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Jalen Brunson scored 23 points and top-ranked Villanova routed former Big East rival UConn.
OKLAHOMA STATE 83
NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 81
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Trae Young scored 48 points, but missed a deep 3 at the buzzer in overtime as Oklahoma fell to Oklahoma State.
NO. 5 DUKE 81, PITTSBURGH 54
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Freshman Wendell Carter Jr. had 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting while Duke shot 52 percent in its win over Pittsburgh.
HOUSTON 73
NO. 7 WICHITA STATE 59
HOUSTON (AP) -- Seventh-ranked Wichita State lost its second straight game as Houston beat a Top 10 team for the first time in 22 years, with Rob Gray scoring 24 points.
IOWA STATE 70
NO. 8 TEXAS TECH 52
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Freshman Cameron Lard scored 18 points and Iowa State cruised past Texas Tech for its first win over a ranked opponent this season.
NO. 10 KANSAS 70, BAYLOR 67
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Malik Newman scored seven of his game-high 24 points in the closing minutes, Baylor turned the ball over on the final inbounds play and Kansas rallied to beat the Bears.
NO. 11 XAVIER 73
NO. 19 SETON HALL 64
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- JP Macura scored a season-high 27 points and Xavier handed Seton Hall its first loss at home by rallying from a 10-point second-half deficit.
NO. 12 CINCINNATI 86
EAST CAROLINA 60
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) -- Jacob Evans and Kyle Washington each scored 17 points, and Gary Clark had 14 points and 14 rebounds, lifting Cincinnati past East Carolina.
NO. 13 GONZAGA 75
SANTA CLARA 60
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- Zach Norvell Jr. scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, and Gonzaga bounced back from its first conference loss of the season to beat Santa Clara.
NO. 14 ARIZONA 73
STANFORD 71
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Rawle Alkins made a go-ahead layup with 38 seconds remaining, and Arizona held on for a comeback win over Stanford to take sole possession of first place in the Pac-12.
NO. 15 NORTH CAROLINA 80, GEORGIA TECH 66
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Luke Maye had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and North Carolina beat Georgia Tech.
NO. 20 CLEMSON 67
NOTRE DAME 58
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Gabe DeVoe had 17 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with 3:18 to go, and Clemson got its first-ever win over Notre Dame.
NO. 21 TENNESSEE 70
SOUTH CAROLINA 63
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Lamonte Turner matched his career high with 25 points, and Tennessee pounded the ball inside to get past South Carolina.
NO. 22 OHIO STATE 67
MINNESOTA 49
NEW YORK (AP) -- Keita Bates-Diop had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, leading Ohio State over Minnesota at Madison Square Garden for its seventh straight win.
KANSAS STATE 73
NO. 24 TCU 68
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Dean Wade scored 20 points and Kansas State beat TCU.
Sophomore Makol Mawien added a career-high 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting.
He had totaled just 13 points in Big 12 play this season for the Wildcats (14-5, 4-3).