The Bum's College Hoops For January Rated Games -Trends - News !!

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15

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Preview: Red Storm (7-11) at Bulldogs (12-4)
Date: January 16, 2016 12:00 PM EDT

Even after Andrew Smith's basketball career at Butler ended in 2013, he remained an influential part of the program right up until his death from cancer this week.

Looking to halt their early Big East woes, the No. 23 Bulldogs can use Smith's legacy as inspiration Saturday while trying to extend a school-record losing streak for visiting St. John's to nine games.

A member of Butler's national runner-up teams in 2010 and 2011, the 6-foot-11 Smith started 103 games and scored 1,147 points in his four seasons with the Bulldogs. Smith was diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma early in 2014, but still spent time with the Bulldogs (12-4, 1-3) last season and was in attendance for their 74-68 win over then-No. 9 Purdue on Dec. 19 at nearby Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

"It meant so much to our players (for him to be at that game), those who played with him and those who got to know him through this experience," coach Chris Holtmann said.

Holtmann, who joined Butler's staff the season after Smith left, said he called the former forward prior to this season and asked if he wanted the program to do anything for him. He told Holtmann to have a good season.

"We're going to do our best to do that," Holtmann said after learning of the 25-year-old's passing Tuesday.

Leading scorers Kellen Dunham (15.3 points per game) and Roosevelt Jones (14.6) are the only current Bulldogs who played with Smith, but his presence and fight against cancer inspired the entire program.

"When I talk to (former Butler coach) Brad (Stevens) and those who were here with him, what they always bring up is the fact that he was tough, he made his teammates better and he was a good person," Holtmann said.

Sporting a uniform patch in honor of Smith and paying tribute with a video at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday, the Bulldogs need to display some of that toughness after falling 60-55 to No. 11 Villanova on Sunday. Butler set season lows for points, field-goal percentage (35.8) and assists (six).

Though each of the Bulldogs' league defeats have come against ranked opponents, two were at home, and they shot 38.9 percent in those losses. They've averaged 68.5 points in Big East play after scoring 89.9 and shooting 51.2 percent in nonconference action.

"If something like this beats us down, we aren't ready to play in the Big East," Holtmann said. "We have to get a lot better."

Butler didn't have an easy time beating a DePaul team that's also winless in the league, but the Bulldogs played well in that 77-72 victory Jan. 5. They shot 49.0 percent, had 17 assists and scored 24 points off 17 Blue Demons turnovers.

Last in the Big East with an average of 67.6 points, St. John's (7-11, 0-5) lost 93-73 to Georgetown on Wednesday to set a school record with an eighth consecutive defeat. The Red Storm haven't dropped their first six league games since going 0-10 in 2003-04.

"It hurts," said senior swingman Ron Mvouika, who has averaged 15.7 points and shot 55.6 percent in the last three contests. "It feels like the world is on your shoulders. But we'll figure things out and at some point we'll break through."

Dunham totaled 49 points and hit half of his 28 shots while Butler swept last season's two-game series from the Red Storm.

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Preview: Wolfpack (10-7) at Tar Heels (15-2)
Date: January 16, 2016 12:00 PM EDT

An efficient offense is one of the reasons North Carolina is off to its best start in ACC play in 15 seasons, but coach Roy Williams wouldn't mind seeing some improvement on the defensive end.

What better way to start than shutting down the league's leading scorer?

The fifth-ranked Tar Heels seek a ninth straight victory when Anthony "Cat" Barber and struggling North Carolina State visit Chapel Hill on Saturday.

North Carolina (15-2, 4-0) hasn't started this well in the conference since winning its first 11 in 2000-01, three years before Williams took over. The Tar Heels rank second in the nation in points per game at 87.5 and seventh in field-goal percentage at 50.2.

They've shot at least 50 percent in five straight, including last Saturday's 84-73 win at Syracuse.

'It means we're 4-0 this year with this year's team. That's what it means,' Williams said. 'All that other stuff is nice. The players noticed it. They said something about it in the locker room. I didn't realize it."

Brice Johnson had 39 points and 23 rebounds in a 106-90 win at Florida State on Jan. 4 before finishing with 16 points and a career-high eight assists against the Orange.

Justin Jackson also scored 16 for North Carolina, which ranks first in adjusted offense according to kenpom.com. Kennedy Meeks returned after missing seven games with a bruised left knee and had eight points in 14 minutes. Marcus Paige went 1 of 8 from the floor and finished with three points, but the preseason ACC co-player of the year added eight assists.

Williams is more focused on the Tar Heels putting together a full effort defensively. They've allowed a 20-point scorer in each of the last three and are allowing an average of 71.8 points, which ranks 13th in the 15-team ACC.

Barber is averaging an ACC-best 22.5 points, including 26.0 over his previous seven games before finishing with 16 in Wednesday's 85-78 loss to Florida State. He'll certainly be looking to expose the North Carolina defense as much as possible.

"The last couple of games, we've had players who have gotten a lot of points against us in the first half," UNC guard Joel Berry told the team's official website. "We've had to put an emphasis on guarding them better in the second half. But we know we're going to have to play that way defensively for the entire game. We can't make silly mistakes. We haven't played our best defensive game yet."

N.C. State (10-7, 0-4) had dropped 21 of the previous 23 meetings and 11 straight in Chapel Hill before Barber scored 16 points there in a 58-46 victory in the last meeting Feb. 24.

Pulling off another upset appears to be a more difficult task. The Wolfpack are off to their worst ACC start since dropping their first eight in 1996-97 and have shot 37.2 percent from the field during a four-game skid.

Each of the first three defeats came by five points or fewer, though. Abdul-Malik Abu scored a career-high 21 points and added 13 rebounds against the Seminoles, but N.C. State's 12 turnovers were its most in nine games.

Picking up that first league victory could be a chore. After this contest, the Wolfpack play at No. 20 Pittsburgh on Tuesday before hosting ninth-ranked Duke next Saturday.

'We have stretches where we're really good,' coach Mark Gottfried said. 'We have stretches where we're not so good. That's just part of a young group growing up, but you've got to grow up at some point.'

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Preview: Buckeyes (12-6) at Terrapins (15-2)
Date: January 16, 2016 12:00 PM EDT

Melo Trimble saved Maryland during its first true test in Big Ten play before having one of his worst games in a disheartening loss.

Suddenly the third-ranked Terrapins look vulnerable, but a return home could help rectify their problems.

Maryland shoots for a 23rd consecutive home victory when Ohio State visits Saturday.

Trimble's 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining gave the Terps (15-2, 4-1) a 63-60 win over Wisconsin last Saturday, capping a 21-point effort that extended Maryland's winning streak to nine.

It also improved to 15-0 in games decided by six points or fewer over the last two seasons, but that run ended Tuesday. Trimble, who averages a team-high 14.1 points, went 1 of 7 from the field as the sophomore finished with a career-low two points in a 70-67 loss at Michigan.

Rasheed Sulaimon shot 3 for 10 and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, as Maryland finished 6 of 24 from beyond the arc. The Terps relied heavily on their outside game in the first 20 minutes before nearly rallying to win in the second half by going inside to Diamond Stone, Robert Carter and Jake Layman.

Stone finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Layman added 18 and 10, giving Maryland two players with a double-double for the first time since 2010.

'I think we settled for too many jump shots,' Stone said. 'I think we need to be more aggressive. If we go hard to the hole we're either making a shot or we're getting fouled.'

The 70 points were the most Maryland has allowed in 10 games, and Michigan shot 47.2 percent after the previous nine opponents combined to hit 38.5 percent. The Wolverines' 12 3-pointers tied for the most the Terps have allowed in their last 32 games.

'I think we gave them confidence in the first half. We let them get too many open 3s,' Layman said. 'Second half I think we played a little better on defense, contested a lot more shots. But yeah, they hit some tough shots.'

Maryland likely is looking forward to returning home after a pair of tough road contests. It has won 22 in a row at the Xfinity Center since losing to Virginia on Dec. 3, 2014, and has won all 11 conference games there since joining the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes (12-6, 4-1), though, are coming off Wednesday's strong second-half performance against Rutgers, setting a season high for points and shooting 49.3 percent in a 94-68 home victory after trailing by two at halftime.

Freshman JaQuan Lyle had his first triple-double with 16 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Keita Bates-Diop, Jae'Sean Tate and Kam Williams had 14 points apiece, while leading scorer Marc Loving added 12.

"I'm making shots and creating for my teammates," said Lyle, who had a season-high 29 points in a loss to Indiana on Sunday. "It comes from confidence from them. They believe in me every day in practice, going hard. With Keita, Marc, Jae'sean and Trevor (Thompson) making plays the lane is just really opening up for me."

Loving scored 19 off the bench and Tate added 16 in an 80-56 rout of Maryland at home in the only meeting last season. Trimble went 0 of 8 from the field in the worst shooting performance of his career and finished with three free throws.

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Preview: Tigers (8-8) at Gamecocks (15-1)
Date: January 16, 2016 1:00 PM EDT

South Carolina coach Frank Martin is anxious to see how his team responds to its first loss of the season.

Missouri's Kim Anderson likely wishes his concerns were that simple.

Saddled by recruiting sanctions and coming off the most lopsided defeat at its current home, the beleaguered Tigers try to turn the page in Saturday's visit to the No. 19 Gamecocks.

It's been a rough week for the Missouri program. Hours after the Tigers were dealt a 94-61 home loss to Arkansas on Tuesday, the university announced it will issue a self-imposed ban from this year's postseason and vacate all 23 wins from the 2013-14 campaign for multiple NCAA infractions under previous coach Frank Haith.

The Tigers also stripped themselves of two scholarships, including one this season, and will impose recruiting limitations through 2016-17.

More penalties from the NCAA may be forthcoming that would further impede the progress Missouri (8-8, 1-2 SEC) has made in Anderson's second season. The Tigers finished 9-23 overall and 3-15 in the SEC after the former Missouri star player replaced Haith, now at Tulsa, for 2014-15.

"I hurt for our kids more than anything and for our only senior Ryan Rosburg in particular, but I am confident we will overcome this and be stronger as a team and as a staff because of it," Anderson said. "We are committed to representing this great university and state with honor and integrity and that's what we are going to do."

Martin's rebuilding effort has started to reap benefits in his third season at South Carolina (15-1, 2-1), an also-ran in the SEC for most of the past decade. Those strides weren't evident, however, in Wednesday's 73-50 loss at Alabama in which the Gamecocks produced easily their lowest point total of the season.

Averaging 80.2 points coming in, South Carolina shot just 35.8 percent, committed 18 turnovers and couldn't stop the Crimson Tide's Riley Norris, who went 8 of 11 from 3-point range for a career-high 27 points.

"We got outrebounded, we got beat to every ball, we couldn't guard the ball (and) we were late on rotations. Bad day at the office," Martin said.

The Gamecocks finished 3 of 18 from 3 and have shot just 27.6 percent from beyond the arc over their last five games. They hit 40.9 percent over their first 11.

Missouri is in a greater funk, shooting 37.5 percent over its three conference games. The Tigers were 3 of 15 on 3-pointers while allowing Arkansas to connect on 62.7 percent of their field-goal attempts in their worst loss in the 11-year history of Mizzou Arena.

"I'm embarrassed," Anderson said. "I thought we had played pretty well the other night against Auburn (a 76-61 win last Saturday), but (Tuesday) we didn't respond very well early in the game.'

Missouri, 7-1 when holding opponents under 40 percent, looks to end a 15-game road losing streak in SEC play and a nine-game skid against ranked teams dating to a victory over No. 18 UCLA on Dec. 7, 2013.

The Tigers won their first three matchups against South Carolina since joining the SEC in 2012 before losing both meetings last season, including a 63-54 defeat in the SEC tournament first round.

South Carolina's Sindarius Thornwell compiled 32 points and 12 assists in the two wins but was held to a season-low two points by Alabama. Thornwell averaged 19.7 in the previous three games.

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Preview: Wildcats (15-2) at Hoyas (11-6)
Date: January 16, 2016 1:00 PM EDT

Villanova coach Jay Wright knows the rest of the Big East is gunning for his first-place Wildcats.

And although Wright's team isn't playing as well as he'd like heading into a road meeting with a longtime rival, Villanova continues to rack up wins against conference opponents.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats will put their 20-game Big East winning streak on the line against Georgetown on Saturday at the site of their last conference loss, Washington's Verizon Center.

Villanova (15-2, 5-0) hasn't dropped a Big East game since a 78-58 blowout loss to Georgetown at the downtown D.C. arena last Jan. 19, when the Wildcats were ranked No. 4 and sitting atop the conference.

Almost a year later, the Wildcats are again leading the Big East after beating Marquette 83-68 on Wednesday night for their 36th consecutive win at The Pavilion.

Villanova blew an early 16-point lead and trailed by one at halftime, but pulled away over the final 10 minutes. Kris Jenkins led the way with 20 points and Jalen Brunson scored 14.

"You can see teams really fired up to play us," Wright said. "Marquette, they brought it, man. They weren't going to go away."

The Wildcats shot 52 percent in the second half after hitting 38.7 in the first. The conference's top-ranked defense held the Golden Eagles to 29.6 percent in the second half.

Villanova enters Saturday with a seven-game overall winning streak and a one-game lead on the Hoyas but plenty of room for improvement. Wright's team has shot a combined 40.7 percent over the past three games with more turnovers (36) than assists (34).

"We are not playing great," the coach griped after the Marquette win. "But we are playing together."

Georgetown (11-6, 4-1) is coming off a 93-73 rout of St. John's on Wednesday, its fifth win in six games. Senior D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, the Big East's third-leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, matched his career high with 33.

"He's been doing that for four years and, just as important, he also been throwing a lot of good passes," coach John Thompson III said. "I think he understands where everyone is and where he is and he can score. At the end of the day, one thing this kid can do is put the ball in the basket. He's a scorer."

Smith-Rivera, who also leads Georgetown with 4.4 assists per game, had just two Wednesday but shot 11 of 16 from the field, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers.

"My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open," he said. "I usually distribute more, but today was about being in the right spot at the right time."

The Hoyas are sixth in the conference in field-goal shooting at 44.8 percent but hit 51.9 percent against St. John's, its best performance in nearly two months.

Villanova has won four of five against Georgetown, including a 69-53 victory Feb. 7 in the last meeting. Smith-Rivera went cold in that one, shooting 1 for 7 for two points after scoring 17 in the Jan. 19 win.

Wildcats forward Daniel Ochefu, third in the Big East with 8.6 rebounds per game, left Wednesday's win in the second half after falling hard on his tailbone. Ochefu's status against Georgetown is unknown, though the senior said on Twitter he is "fine."

Villanova guard Josh Hart, the Big East's fifth-leading scorer (15.5 ppg), matched a season low with 10 points Wednesday and shot 4 for 12. He was the only Villanova player to score in double digits in both games against Georgetown last season.

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Preview: Horned Frogs (9-7) at Jayhawks (14-2)
Date: January 16, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

Kansas had to work overtime to maintain its No. 1 ranking just over a week ago. It appears that the Jayhawks won't get to enjoy it much longer.

Looking to bounce back from a loss that seems likely to cost it the top spot, the Jayhawks could take their frustrations out on visiting TCU on Saturday - especially after their coach recently questioned their focus.

A snowstorm and traffic gridlock prevented Kansas (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) from arriving at the arena until an hour before playing at West Virginia on Tuesday, but the Jayhawks had bigger problems once they made it. They committed a season-high 22 turnovers and seemed to struggle against the No. 11 Mountaineers' personnel and style of play, falling 74-63.

'The game in a nutshell is that they were so much more aggressive and quicker,' coach Bill Self said. 'They were way more athletic than we were and played above the rim. We didn't do any of that.'

Kansas was held to its lowest point total of the season while being outscored 40-10 in bench points. It was also outscored 33-13 at the free-throw line as West Virginia repeatedly drove to the basket.

Perry Ellis had 21 points for the Jayhawks, but the rest of the team shot 12 of 34.

'We couldn't get stops,' Ellis said. 'They were getting anything they wanted driving down the lanes and that really hurt us. It shows we definitely have a lot to work on and I feel like we can get better and learn from this.'

Self expects it - and apparently also wants to see a little self-awareness.

"Without being too negative, I think we are a little too full of ourselves," he said after Tuesday's game. "I don't think we played hungry tonight or at Texas Tech (last) Saturday (in a 69-59 win). We knew this would be a fight and I didn't think we showed as much competitive juice as West Virginia did."

The loss probably isn't good news for TCU, which certainly won't be facing a team lacking motivation. Along with wanting to get back on track - as well as on Self's good side - the Jayhawks are looking to extend their 34-game home winning streak and 25-game run at Allen Fieldhouse in Big 12 play.

The most recent of those was a 109-106 triple-overtime victory over No. 2 Oklahoma on Jan. 4 in what was effectively a showdown for the No. 1 spot in the poll the following week.

Even a lopsided win over TCU, though, likely won't be enough to keep Kansas atop the rankings next week. The Horned Frogs (9-7, 1-3) have dropped seven in a row to Top 25 opponents and a staggering 32 straight such games on the road since Nov. 28, 1998.

They weren't able to build on last Saturday's one-point win over Texas, losing 82-54 at No. 22 Baylor on Wednesday.

'We took some ill-advised shots,' coach Trent Johnson said. "Bad offense leads to good offense for a team that talented, and that physical. ... We're not good enough to deviate from the plan. Obviously, we all know that.'

TCU shot 40.4 percent from the field while allowing the Bears to hit 63.3. Baylor went 15 of 19 on foul shots to 5 of 8 for the Frogs.

Karviar Shepherd scored a team-high 13 points for TCU, which had only one other player reach double figures.

'We're not very good,' Johnson said. 'We're certainly not in that class.'

The same could be said about TCU in comparison to Kansas, though the last three meetings have been surprisingly close. The Jayhawks won them by a total of 17 points as part of a six-game winning streak in the series.

The most recent was in the conference tournament quarterfinals March 12, when the Frogs gave Kansas a scare before falling 64-59.

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Preview: Eagles (7-9) at Panthers (14-2)
Date: January 16, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon seems less concerned with how poorly his team played in their most recent defeat and more focused on making sure they're able to bounce back.

A visit from Boston College should help.

The No. 20 Panthers can rebound from one of the worst losses in Dixon's 13 years at the helm with a 10th straight victory over the visiting Golden Eagles on Saturday.

Looking nothing like a team that had won 10 in a row, averaged 85.3 points and shot 49.7 percent coming in, Pittsburgh (14-2, 3-1 ACC) was severely humbled with Thursday's 59-41 loss at No. 21 Louisville. The Panthers shot a season-worst 28.6 percent, went 1 of 11 from 3-point range and scored their fewest points since a 62-39 loss against Rutgers in January 2012.

They committed more turnovers (11) in the first half than they averaged (10.7) coming in and finished with a season-high 19 that led to 21 points for the Cardinals.

"I can't think of anything we did well, so we are disappointed by our performance," Dixon said. "But that happens. I'm sure every team goes through it and we are going to respond in a good way and get ready for Saturday."

Though Pitt produced its fifth-lowest point total since 1954-55, it held Louisville to its second-worst shooting performance (41.2 percent) and lowest-scoring game of the season. However, the Panthers didn't have an answer for 6-foot-10 sophomore Chinanu Onuaku, who matched a season high with 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Leading scorer and rebounder Michael Young (17.5 points, 6.9 rebounds per game) provided one of the few positive aspects for Pitt with 18 points and eight boards.

"I think we just didn't play well and it falls upon us," Dixon said. "I think every team has a game when they don't feel that they played well - it is how you respond afterwards."

The coach has good reason to believe his team is capable of responding the right way. Pitt is 6-0 against Boston College (7-9, 0-3) under Dixon and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings. Jamel Artis (15.7 ppg) scored 24 and Young added 22 as the Panthers beat the Eagles 71-65 last season in the first meeting at Pittsburgh since January 2004.

Olivier Hanlan had a season-high 39 points in that contest for Boston College, but he's playing professionally in Lithuania, and leading scorer Eli Carter (16.7) is the only current Eagles player to reach 20 this season.

A loser in 31 of 39 ACC games, Boston College has averaged 52.7 points and shot 36.4 percent while dropping its first three league contests by an average of 22.3. Second-to-last in the conference in 3-point shooting at 32.6 percent, the Eagles are 14 for 53 (26.4 percent) from long distance in the last two games.

"We're just not playing well," coach Jim Christian said after his team shot 31.9 percent in Wednesday's 62-40 loss at Syracuse. "We haven't shot the ball well in a couple of games. Guys are trying, they're just in a funk right now."

Freshman Jerome Robinson (11.6 ppg) averaged 14.8 points in four games prior to recording a season-low two against the Orange.

Boston College has lost 10 straight against Top 25 teams.

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Preview: Fighting Irish (11-5) at Blue Devils (14-3)
Date: January 16, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

Its first three ACC games seemingly helped Duke build confidence, though the latest might have reminded the Blue Devils of just what they are: young and shorthanded.

While a return to Cameron Indoor Stadium should help, Saturday's game comes against a Notre Dame team that's had No. 9 Duke's number since joining the league two years ago.

Duke (14-3, 3-1) blew out the Fighting Irish by 30 points in Durham last season, but Notre Dame (11-5, 2-2) won the other two meetings and has taken three of four overall. The latest was a 74-64 victory in an ACC tournament semifinal March 13 which exacted some revenge for that 90-60 loss at Duke about a month earlier.

The Blue Devils look much different than the team that went on to win a national championship a year ago. They opened conference play with three victories to extend their winning streak to five, but Wednesday's 68-63 loss at Clemson shined a light on some glaring issues they face without senior forward Amile Jefferson.

Duke has run with largely a six-man rotation since Jefferson was lost indefinitely to a fracture in his right foot in mid-December, and early foul trouble against the Tigers showed just how short the team's bench is.

Freshman Chase Jeter fouled out and fellow first-year player Brandon Ingram played the entire second half in foul trouble, which had a big effect on Duke's aggressiveness.

"If there's only so much lead in your pencil, you have to be careful how many words you write," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "But that's the game and you've got to be really smart. It's tough for a young team to be really smart."

Duke has started Ingram and freshman Derryck Thornton alongside sophomore Grayson Allen, junior Matt Jones and senior Marshall Plumlee in seven of its previous eight games since Jefferson was injured.

The first time Krzyzewski started that lineup was a 77-75 overtime loss to Utah on Dec. 19 in which the Blue Devils shot 29.9 percent, but they have averaged 87.5 points since on 50.7 percent. That group combines with Luke Kennard for 98.7 percent of the team's points in the last eight games.

Duke has won 17 straight at home and is 58-1 in Durham since Nov. 9, 2012. One of those wins was the rout of then-No. 10 Notre Dame on Feb. 7 when the Blue Devils were ranked fourth.

The Fighting Irish were led by the since departed Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, but coach Mike Brey - an assistant to Krzyzewski for eight years - said it was the beginning of Demetrius Jackson's leadership role.

Jackson, now the clear leader for the Irish, is averaging a team-high 17.1 points - nearly five more than last season. The junior guard has averaged 19.8 points while Notre Dame has split its first four conference games.

"On nights when my shot's not going in, I'm still trying to help the team win by rebounding, assisting, playing defense and leading with my voice," he said. "Whatever it is the team requires from me, I try to do that."

Though he made only 2 of 11 shots Wednesday against Georgia Tech, Jackson converted 13 of his 14 free throws and finished with 18 points, a season-high nine rebounds and eight assists to help the Fighting Irish to a 72-64 win.

Notre Dame, which is 2-1 in true road games, shot 38.9 percent - its first time under 48.2 in nine games since Dec. 2. However, the Irish limited the Yellow Jackets to 33.3 percent, the second time they've held an opponent to that number in the last three.

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Preview: Aggies (14-2) at Bulldogs (9-5)
Date: January 16, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

It's been 30 years since Texas A&M won its first five conference games. Standing in the way is a Georgia team that has come out on top in every meeting since the Aggies joined the SEC.

The 15th-ranked Aggies look to accomplish that feat and also extend their longest winning streak in five years when they visit the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Texas A&M (14-2) beat visiting Florida 71-68 on Tuesday to move to 4-0 in SEC play. It's the school's first 4-0 conference start since it was in the Big 12 in 2006-07, and the Aggies last opened 5-0 in league play in 1985-86, when they were a member of the Southwest Conference.

The victory over the Gators gave Texas A&M a seven-game winning streak, its longest since taking 13 straight in 2010-11, but it didn't come easy. Florida never led in the final 20 minutes but tied it twice and had a potential tying basket bounce off the rim at the buzzer.

'When you get later down in conference the games are going to get even tougher, and this game right here is going to prepare us for the end of the season and for other games past that,' said senior swingman Jalen Jones, who scored 26 and leads the Aggies with 17.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Jones is averaging 23 points in conference play and senior guard Danuel House has totaled 45 points in the past two for the Aggies, whose last three wins have come by a combined eight points.

'It feels very great for our confidence,' Jones said. 'We feel like we're the best team in the SEC and we just try to play like that every night.'

Texas A&M hasn't been at its best against Georgia (9-5, 2-2) since joining the SEC for the 2012-13 season, dropping all four meetings while averaging 50.3 points.

Jones and House were held to a combined 20 points in last season's 62-53 home loss, with Kenny Gaines scoring 15 to lead the Bulldogs.

Gaines, a senior guard, is third on Georgia this season with a career-high 14.8 points per game, and he's coming off a 23-point performance in Wednesday's 81-72 win over Tennessee - the Bulldogs' sixth in a row at home.

That output was topped by junior guard J.J. Frazier, who scored 28. Gaines and Frazier combined to hit 10 of the team's season-high 12 3-pointers with leading scorer Yante Maten (16.3) being held to 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

'At times we try to call ourselves the Splash Brothers,' Gaines said with a smile, referring to the nickname made famous by long-range shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

Gaines and Frazier also teamed up to score the final 23 points during a 25-6 run after the Volunteers led by nine early in the second half.

'We calmed down,' Maten said. 'We were playing overly excited in the first half. We were trying to make a lot of home-run plays but I think in the second half we just played like we play. We stopped trying to rush and the ball went in.'

Georgia has lost eight straight against Top 25 opponents since beating No. 21 Missouri 70-64 in overtime Jan. 8, 2014.

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Preview: Musketeers (15-1) at Golden Eagles (12-5)
Date: January 16, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

Xavier didn't dwell after Edmond Sumner was injured in its only loss of the season, and the results showed.

The seventh-ranked Musketeers are set to welcome their point guard back Saturday when they visit Marquette looking for a fourth straight victory.

Sumner, who averages 11 points and 3.1 assists, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket in the opening minutes of Xavier's 95-64 loss at Villanova on Dec. 31. After he was taken off the court on a stretcher, the Musketeers (15-1, 3-1 Big East) never found a rhythm as Villanova shot 63.2 percent and hit 13 3-pointers.

Coach Chris Mack went with a conventional look in the first game without Sumner as forward James Farr had eight points and 10 rebounds in an 88-69 victory over then-No. 16 Butler on Jan. 2, and sophomore J.P. Macura has started the last two games, totaling 20 points in wins over St. John's and DePaul.

Macura had 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in Tuesday's 84-64 triumph over DePaul, and while he's likely to get the start Saturday, Mack is eager to work Sumner into the mix.

"He's not going to play 40 minutes on Saturday," Mack said at his press conference Thursday. If he plays, and we're expecting he will, we'll play him as much as we can without running him down. He creates shot for teammates, put pressure on the defense because he can get into the paint.

"More importantly, he gets his hands on a lot of basketballs, he leads our team in deflections, he's terrific in ball screen defense in using his size."

Xavier hasn't missed a beat without Sumner - it held all three opponents under 40 percent shooting and averaged 82 points, above its season mark of 80.4. While the Musketeers own a Big East-leading plus-10.8 rebounding advantage, Mack is wary of a Marquette frontcourt that features standout 6-foot-10 freshman Henry Ellenson and fellow 6-10 forward Luke Fischer.

"You don't find guys his size, especially as freshman, able to do the things he can do," Mack said of Ellenson, who is averaging team highs of 15.7 points and 9.8 rebounds. "He's one of the best rebounders in our league, he can push it, doesn't have to outlet the ball, play like a guard in that sense.

"He shoots the ball, he's got that Nowitzki-type game from 15 to 17 feet, he affects the game defensively because he's so big. He's just a very, very skilled 6-10 kid."

Ellenson has reached double figures in all but one game and had 12 points and eight rebounds in Marquette's 83-68 loss at No. 6 Villanova on Wednesday. In some ways, the Golden Eagles (12-5, 2-3) played like a typical youth-laden team starting three freshmen - they fell behind by 16 early, scrambled to take a one-point halftime lead and then struggled offensively in the second half when the Wildcats pulled away.

"They really converged, we had wide-open shots,' coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We just didn't make them."

Fellow freshman Haanif Cheatham scored 17 points but was 4 of 14 from the field. He's averaged 16 the last three games by getting to the foul line consistently, sinking 19 of 26.

Xavier has won four of five between the teams since joining the Big East in 2013 and won 64-44 at Milwaukee while sweeping last season's series.

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Preview: Bears (13-3) at Red Raiders (11-4)
Date: January 16, 2016 3:00 PM EDT

Baylor is discovering plenty of sources of offense, a good sign for a team playing in a conference with so many high-octane attacks.

Texas Tech is not one of them.

After struggling through their first three road games, the 22nd-ranked Bears want to show their last one was more indicative of how they'll perform in unfriendly environments as they meet the Red Raiders on Saturday.

All four of Baylor's road games have been against ranked opponents. The first three were losses to Oregon, Texas A&M and Kansas, outscored by an average of 17 points while scoring 67.3 per game on 38 percent shooting. Last Saturday at then-No. 13 Iowa State, however, the Bears (13-3, 3-1 Big 12) shot 52.3 percent in a 94-89 victory.

"We haven't been very good on the road, but... the teams we've faced have had a lot to do with us not having success on the road," coach Scott Drew said.

Reserve Jonathan Motley scored a career-high 27 on 13-of-15 shooting in Ames after totaling 22 points in his previous five games. Another bench player stepped up Wednesday, with Terry Maston scoring a career-best 17 in an 82-54 home victory over TCU.

"Big thing has been our bench the past two games, I believe that is 87 points for us and 18 points for the opponents the last two games, that's pretty good numbers," Drew said.

Maston is averaging 11.8 points in five games since Christmas after previously scoring 5.1 per game.

"We are feeding him spinach at pregame," Drew joked.

The Bears have had a different leading scorer in all four Big 12 games en route to their best start in conference play since 2012-13.

"As a team we feel real good getting ready to go to Lubbock," senior Rico Gathers said. "We are 3-1, this is probably one of our best starts since I think my freshman year. Our confidence is real high."

Gathers, the Big 12 leader with 10.7 rebounds per game, exemplifies Baylor's unselfishness. He's averaged 10.3 points in the last seven, getting far fewer shot attempts after previously scoring 15.7 per game.

Baylor leads the country with 21.7 assists per game. Lester Medford has 11 in back-to-back games and is among the national leaders with 7.1 per contest. Even 6-foot-8 senior Taurean Prince, the Bears' top scorer, is averaging 3.1 assists - two above his career mark.

They've helped the Bears average 81.9 points, still trailing the Big 12's other four ranked teams. Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Iowa State all rank among the top 10 teams nationally in scoring.

Texas Tech (11-4, 1-3) averages 74.6 points but hasn't surpassed 70 during its current three-game losing streak, shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 24.5 percent on 3-pointers. The Red Raiders are among the less accurate 3-point shooting teams at 30.4 percent and make 5.1 per game, worst among all major conference programs.

None of the Texas Tech starters scored in double figures and they combined to shoot 11 of 34 in Tuesday's 83-70 road loss to Kansas State.

"I thought we got outworked in some areas, but again, we battled and we have a lot of things to work on defensively," coach Tubby Smith told the program's official website.

Top scorer Devaugntah Williams has averaged 7.3 points on 7-of-32 shooting during the three-game skid.

Williams averaged 21.5 points in two meetings with Baylor last season, hitting 11 of 17 from 3-point range, but has made one of his last 14 attempts.

The Bears have won seven of the past eight meetings, including three straight. Prince averaged 23 points in last season's series.

Texas Tech has lost 16 consecutive road games and 29 straight in ranked opponents' arenas.

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Preview: Wildcats (13-3) at Tigers (7-8)
Date: January 16, 2016 4:00 PM EDT

Kentucky coach John Calipari has become a bit perplexed as to why his team can't seem to put a full 40 minutes of solid basketball together.

That hasn't been much of an issue when the 14th-ranked Wildcats have faced Auburn over the past 16 years.

Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee hope to lead a consistent effort Saturday when visiting Kentucky looks to extend the SEC's longest active winning streak against a single opponent.

The Wildcats (13-3, 3-1) have alternated between impressive and puzzling performances over the past three weeks. After allowing host LSU to shoot 49.2 percent in an 85-67 loss Jan. 5, they held Alabama to 34.6 percent in last Saturday's 77-61 road win.

Kentucky held Mississippi State to 37 points in the first 21:34 on Tuesday before letting the Bulldogs match that total over the final 9:26. The squad allowed an uncharacteristic 52.9 field-goal percentage - its highest in almost two years - in an 80-74 home win.

"I'm not sure (what's wrong), but we're just coming prepared every day ready to work," Poythress told the team's official website. "Just trying to play as well as we can."

The senior forward has been a model for those up-and-down results. He finished with four points against LSU, scored a career-high 25 at Alabama and had six Tuesday.

Lee totaled 21 points and 19 rebounds against Mississippi on Jan. 2 and Alabama but scored a combined two while pulling down 11 boards versus LSU and Mississippi State.

Tyler Ulis had eight points against Alabama before bouncing back with 21 on Tuesday. Jamal Murray has been the most steady with three straight 20-point performances.

"The whole thing is wanting, relishing in the responsibility," Calipari said. "I relish that responsibility of having to come every day and do what I do. But it's hard. It's not easy."

Calipari is warning his team that extending an 18-game winning streak in this series won't be easy at Auburn Arena, even though the Tigers (7-8, 1-3) have suffered three straight double-digit defeats since beating Tennessee in their conference opener.

Kentucky will have to keep an eye on Kareem Canty, who finished with 16 points in Tuesday's 75-57 loss at Vanderbilt. The junior guard is 1 for 11 from 3-point range in his last two games but averaged 20.9 points and made 43.7 percent from 3 in his prior eight.

"(Canty), this kid, he's just letting it go, and if he has a big night, we'll probably say, 'Who's next on the schedule?'" Calipari said. "But they're going to shoot balls and they play loose. When you're at home â?? and you know they're ready for us. It's just how it is."

Auburn, though, is struggling offensively with a combined 34.7 field-goal percentage while shooting 11 for 45 (24.4 percent) from beyond the arc in its last two.

Tyler Harris hopes to regroup after finishing with eight points on 4-of-13 shooting Tuesday. He averaged 20.7 points and shot 59.5 percent in his previous three.

The Tigers, who haven't beaten the Wildcats since January 2000, will be short-handed as Tahj Shamsid-Deen (shoulder) is out for the rest of the season and fellow guard T.J. Dunans (knee) may also not return.

"We said we can't focus on winning right now," coach Bruce Pearl said on the Auburn radio broadcast. "Let's focus on playing hard. ... Our roster is, obviously, challenged."

Kentucky's Dominique Hawkins (ankle) is day to day after missing the last three games.

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Preview: Cyclones (12-4) at Wildcats (11-5)
Date: January 16, 2016 4:00 PM EDT

(AP) - Iowa State is on the verge of falling out of the Big 12 race before it even really begins.

Iowa State's surprising 1-3 start in league play has put it in a precarious spot heading into Saturday's game at Kansas State (11-5, 1-3).

The 17th-ranked Cyclones (12-4) are already three games behind league-leading and No. 11 West Virginia, and two behind No. 1 Kansas, second-ranked Oklahoma and No. 22 Baylor.

A loss to the Wildcats might prove to be a fatal blow to their title hopes.

'I've been through this same situation before. Obviously it's a different city, different state, different team,' first-year coach Steve Prohm said. 'If you don't have great kids, you can't get through it. But we've got great kids ... we've got character and we've got talent. So we'll get through.'

The shaky start in the Big 12 can be traced largely to a lack of defense and depth.

Iowa State still hasn't lost its ability to score with ease. But the Cyclones, who insisted they would focus more heavily on defense under Prohm, have let opponents get way too comfortable at times.

Iowa State let Baylor score 60 points in the second half last Saturday, blowing an 11-point lead in the final 14 minutes of a 94-89 home loss. The Cyclones gave Texas a ton of open looks Tuesday and the Longhorns won 94-91 in overtime after hitting 13 3-pointers.

Iowa State allows 75 points per game and an opponent field-goal percentage of 43.3 - both worst in the Big 12.

'There's a bunch of words I can use for that one,' star Georges Niang said when asked about Iowa State's defensive identity. 'We lost it. I think we're working to get that back.'

Still, one of the biggest culprits of bad defense is tired legs - and no team in the country pushes its starters more than the Cyclones.

Iowa State is essentially using seven players after senior Naz Mitrou-Long decided in December to sit out the rest of the season because his hips hadn't healed from offseason surgery.

The Cyclones are the only team in the country with five starters all averaging at least 29 minutes, according to STATS. The cumulative minutes played for Iowa State's starting five, 163.4 out of 200 per game, are also first among Power Five schools.

Prohm - who has already cut back on working his top players much beyond an hour in practice - said Thursday that he expects reserves Deonte Burton and Hallice Cooke to get more minutes in the weeks ahead.

'I think (you have to be) smart about their bodies,' Prohm said. 'We'll be a little bit smarter and sharper about that. We'll get these guys rest. They're experienced. They'll be game ready.'

The conventional notion for winning the Big 12 regular-season title has been for teams to sweep their nine league home games and go 5-4 on the road. If Iowa State falls to the Wildcats, it would need to win its final 13 conference games - including trips to Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor and Monday's home game with Oklahoma - just to reach 14-4.

'This isn't the first (measure) of adversity we've faced. We're ready to fight back and keep climbing. There are no quitters in this locker room,' Niang said. People 'are going to be in for a surprise.'

Kansas State surprised the No. 12 Cyclones last Feb. 28, using a late 22-9 run to win 70-69 and extend its home win streak in the series to three.

The Wildcats enter this one after snapping a three-game skid with an 83-70 win over visiting Texas Tech on Tuesday. They shot a season-high 56.4 percent and made a season-best 10 3s, with Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown combining to hit seven of them.

Kansas State shot 40.1 percent and went 14 for 64 (21.9 percent) from long range in the first three conference games.

'We came in tonight feeling like this was a very important game,' leading scorer Wesley Iwundu said. 'Every game is important, but this one was really, really important. This is a two-game homestand, so we have to protect home court and win these games.'

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Preview: Mountainers (15-1) at Sooners (14-1)
Date: January 16, 2016 4:00 PM EDT

Talk about a 1-2 punch.

After disposing of No. 1 Kansas at home for the third straight season Tuesday, 11th-ranked West Virginia now heads to Oklahoma to play Buddy Hield and the No. 2 Sooners on Saturday with a rare opportunity to knock off the two top ranked teams in the same week.

It could catapult a Mountaineers squad that was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 into the nation's top 10 next week.

Maybe higher.

"Honestly, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention," coach Bob Huggins said Friday. "We're trying to do what we've been doing, just stay on an even keel."

Beating the top teams in the Top 25 in back-to-back games has happened before.

The last time it occurred came in the 2008 Final Four, when Kansas defeated No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Memphis to win the national championship, according to STATS.

In 1989, Kansas was unranked when it pulled off the feat in the regular season, defeating No. 2 LSU and No. 1 UNLV.

And two days apart in 1990, Oklahoma beat a pair of No. 1s - Missouri on a Sunday, and Kansas on a Tuesday after the new poll came out. West Virginia lost to top-ranked Temple twice over a five-day span in 2008.

After falling to West Virginia on Tuesday, Kansas coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks beat Oklahoma 109-106 in triple-overtime Jan. 4, has some advice for the Sooners (14-1, 3-1) and Mountaineers (15-1, 4-0).

"I tell you, the Sooners better play," Self said. "I'll tell you, West Virginia better play. Because both teams are good. It should be a fun game. There's going to be a lot of games like that in our league."

West Virginia has made significant improvements since being embarrassed by Kentucky 78-39 in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals in March.

After losing guards Juwan Staten and Gary Browne to graduation, Tarik Phillip and Jaysean Paige have stepped up in reserve roles.

Paige had a career-high 26 points against Kansas, whose bench was outscored 40-10. Paige has improved his scoring average from 5.6 a season ago to 13.4, which is second to Devin Williams' 14.7.

"His game has grown a lot," Huggins said. "Jaysean came in here thinking he was a 3-point shooter. Everybody was like, 'You've got to start driving the ball, because you're our best athlete.'"

The Mountaineers' only loss came to then-No. 10 Virginia 70-54 last month in the Jimmy V Classic in New York. West Virginia has won eight straight since, six by double digits.

"We can't say that we haven't worked for it," Williams said. "We just want to show that we can compete with anybody in the country."

West Virginia's offense is far from pretty to watch. The Mountaineers shot 33.3 percent against Kansas but got 15 offensive rebounds and forced 22 turnovers.

West Virginia is second in the nation in forced turnovers, part of a full-court defensive mentality dubbed "Press Virginia." It is first in offensive rebounds.

"It just shows you don't always have to make shots," Huggins said. "You can do some other things. You've got to get more possessions than the other people have when you don't shoot it very well."

Hield is coming off a career-worst 10-turnover game while scoring 26 in Wednesday's 74-72 win at Oklahoma State and doesn't expect Saturday's game against the Mountaineers to be a breeze.

"I just have to be more relaxed and I'll be fine," said Hield, second in the nation with 26.6 points per game. "I've got good teammates and good coaches around me, so I'll be more relaxed. We've got a good West Virginia team coming up, so we have to be ready for that, and I'm sure they'll come out attacking."

At least for a few days, West Virginia has first place to itself.

And for now, Huggins could care less.

"Fourteen more hard, hard games," he said.

These teams split two meetings last season, with each winning at home, as Hield scored 21 in both. Oklahoma has taken five of seven matchups since West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012-13.