LAWRENCE, Kan. — Keion Brooks scored 27 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had a double-double as No. 12 Kentucky manhandled No. 5 Kansas 80-62 on Saturday night.
The Wildcats grabbed a big halftime lead in Allen Fieldhouse and cruised to improve to 24-10 all-time in the series. Kansas had won four of the past five coming in. The last Kentucky win in Allen Fieldhouse was in 1985.
Tshiebwe had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Kentucky (17-4), which also got 12 points from Kellan Grady and 11 from Jacob Toppin.
More from WholeHogSports: Full coverage of Arkansas' win over West Virginia
Kansas (17-3) was led by Ochai Agbaji, who had 13 points, 10 in the second half. But the two-time reigning Big 12 Player of the Week was held well below his Big 12-leading 21.3 points per game. Christian Braun also had 13 points.
Kentucky dominated the boards, owning a 41-29 rebounding edge, including 12-7 on the offensive end.
Kansas used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 62-48 early in the second half when Kentucky missed seven straight shots, but the Jayhawks never got any closer.
Kentucky used an 8-0 run early to grab the lead and then held Kansas at bay. Kentucky led by 12 at the 10:29 mark, with their points spread among seven different players. More telling, the Wildcats held a 13-4 advantage on the boards.
The Kentucky lead grew to as many as 20 when Kellan Grady hit a three-pointer with 2:31 left in the half and the Wildcats led 51-31 at the break, Kansas’ largest halftime deficit of the season. They trailed Kansas State by 16 a week earlier but rallied for a 78-75 win.
Kentucky shot 61.8% (21 of 34) in the first half, while Kansas was just 13 of 33 (39.4%) and Agbaji was held to just three points.
Alabama upsets Baylor
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After an embarrassing loss in its last outing to Georgia, a squad winless in the Southeastern Conference, Alabama was a team with several questions and no answers.
Against No. 4 Baylor in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday, the Crimson Tide may have gotten their spark back.
The Crimson Tide used a 14-2 run early in the second half and another big surge down the stretch to pull off an 87-78 win.
Jaden Shackelford scored 19 points and had nine rebounds for Alabama (14-7), which has now beaten three teams that reached the Final Four last season. Along with the defending champion Bears, the Crimson Tide knocked off then-No. 1 Gonzaga in early December and topped Houston a week later.
The Crimson Tide led by four points with under three minutes to play, then freshman J.D. Davison scored seven of his 14 points to seal the win.
Jahvon Quinerly scored 20 points for Alabama, Juwan Gary had 15 and Keon Ellis 11.
Quinerly had eight points late in the second half, helping spark Alabama after getting called for a charge. It also resulted in a double-technical foul on Quinerly and Baylor’s James Akinjo.
Baylor (18-3) played without its leading scorer, LJ Cryer, who's had foot soreness. Akinjo, who was the Bears’ top scorer two weeks ago before a back injury limited his minutes, had just eight points and didn’t hit his first basket until midway through the second half.
Jeremy Sochan scored 17 for Baylor and Adam Flagler had 16, going 4 of 8 from three-point range.
The Bears had won 36 straight non-conference games dating to 2019. They also had won 14 road games in a row overall.
Alabama used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take a 57-42 lead with about 13 minutes left. Noah Gurley blocked a dunk attempt by Flo Thamba, and Ellis hit a three-pointer on the other end to break it open.
Mathew Mayer scored 12 points and Kendall Brown 10 for Baylor.
Auburn tops OU for 17th straight win
AUBURN, Ala. — Jabari Smith and Auburn made much easier work of their second game as the nation's top-ranked team.
Smith bounced back from a rough shooting night with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Walker Kessler scored 21 to lead No. 1 Auburn to an 86-68 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Tigers (20-1) built a big lead, lost most of it and then dominated the final minutes for their nation-leading 17th consecutive win. The Sooners (13-8) visited as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Smith was just 2-of-15 shooting for five points in a 55-54 win over Missouri Tuesday. The freshman, a potential No. 1 overall draft pick, and Kessler took over this one.
The 7-foot-1 Kessler was 9 of 11 from the floor, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. He also hit his fourth and fifth three-pointers of the season.
K.D. Johnson scored 13 after producing the last five points in the Missouri win.
Jordan Goldwire led Oklahoma with a career-high 19 points. Umoja Gibson scored 14 points and Tanner Groves had 13.
Auburn pushed a 12-point halftime lead to 14 coming out of the locker room.
Oklahoma whittled it down to 50-47 on Gibson's baseline layup with 12:24 to play. Gibson also fueled the aborted comeback with a three-pointer, drawing a foul and converting the four-point play at the foul line.
It was all Auburn from there, including Kessler's second 3.
LSU loses again
FORT WORTH, Texas — Chuck O'Bannon and TCU had a deep response to 19th-ranked LSU's pressure in a comeback performance.
O'Bannon scored 16 of his career-high 19 points after halftime, including three consecutive three-pointers from basically the same spot, and the Horned Frogs held off the slumping Tigers 77-68 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
TCU (14-4), coming off an embarrassing 23-point home loss to Texas, had its largest lead at 50-34 with 15:59 left after O’Bannon’s third consecutive 3 in a 76-second span from the right wing.
Even though LSU (16-5) was able to cut that deficit to one with a 20-5 run over the next 6 1/2 minutes that Tari Eason began with six consecutive points, the Tigers were never able to take the lead. They lost for the fourth time in five games.
Mike Miles had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Frogs. Damion Baugh added 14 points.
Eason had 16 points to lead four players in double figures for LSU, while Darius Days had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Eric Gaines added 14 points and Brandon Murray 10.
LSU followed O’Bannon’s three consecutive three with a 10-0 run, and got within 55-54 on Murray’s three-pointer from the top of the key with 9:36 left.
But O’Bannon stretched the lead back to nine, with three free throws after being fouled on another attempted three-pointer to make it 65-56. That came right after his follow-up inside of a Miles miss.
The Tigers' full-court pressure forced TCU into a 10-second turnover before they took a 24-23 lead with 5:14 left in the first half on a long field goal by Murray. The Frogs then had to use a timeout to avoid another turnover trying to get the ball across midcourt.
Murray's shot initially credited as a three-pointer, but was changed to a two-pointer on a replay review during a media timeout a couple minutes later. By that point, at the 3:55 mark, TCU had gone ahead to stay after scoring seven points in a row.
Francisco Farabello made a three-pointer from the left corner, then at the other end of the floor drew a charging foul against Shareef O’Neal. The Frogs were up 30-24 after reverse layup by Micah Peavy and a floater by Miles.
Iowa State pulls away from Mizzou
AMES, Iowa — Izaiah Brockington scored 15 points and Tyrese Hunter added 14 as No. 23 Iowa State defeated Missouri 67-50 on Saturday as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Brockington converted all eight of his free throw attempts and made three three-pointers for the Cyclones (16-5).
DaJuan Gordon led Missouri (8-12) with 15 points. Amari Davis scored 11.
Iowa State shot 58.3% in the second half and forced 18 Missouri turnovers for the game. The Cyclones seized control with a 15-0 run in the second half, building a 49-34 advantage.
Brockington, Caleb Grill and Aljaz Kunc hit consecutive three-pointers during the scoring spree, pulling Iowa State out of an early funk.
Missouri missed 10 of its first 11 shots in the second half.
Missouri began Saturday shooting 27.2% from three-point range but hit three of its first six shots from behind the arc. Ronnie DeGray III hit the Tigers' third three-pointer, capping a 9-2 run that gave Missouri a 25-20 lead.
The Cyclones made just one of their first 10 three-point tries and shot 34% overall in the first half.
That didn't prevent Iowa State from heading into halftime with an 8-0 run and 32-29 lead.
Ruffin leads Ole Miss over K-State
OXFORD, Miss. — Daeshun Ruffin scored 13 of his 17 in the second half and Ole Miss defeated Kansas State 67-56 as part of Saturday's Big 12/SEC challenge.
Luis Rodriguez added 10 points for the Rebels (11-10), who shot 45%, 15% better than Kansas State.
Mark Smith collected his fifth double-double this season, scoring 18 of his 20 points in the second half and grabbing 16 rebounds for the Wildcats (10-10), who lost their third straight. Nijel Pack scored 18 points, making six of Kansas State's 11 three-pointers, and had seven assists.
Leading by six at halftime, Ole Miss began the second half with a 7-0 run capped by Rodriguez's three-pointer. Smith responded with seven unanswered points and scored 15 straight. But even after his run ended with eight minutes remaining, the Rebels had a 10-point lead thanks in large part to Ruffin's second-half production.
A Ruffin basket put Ole Miss up by 13 with six minutes to go and the Wildcats wouldn't get closer than nine thereafter.
Ole Miss grabbed the lead seven minutes into the game with a 7-0 run. Another 7-0 run extended the Rebels' lead to 10 before Luke Kasubke converted a four-point play for Kansas State at the end of the half to trail 30-24. Kasubke's three-pointer came after the Wildcats had missed nine straight shots, finishing at 26% for the half.
The Rebels were plus-10 on the boards, 15 of 20 from the free-throw line to the Wildcats’ 7 of 8 and had a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Texas survives Vols' wild comeback
AUSTIN, Texas — Timmy Allen's free throw with 6 seconds left sent Texas to a 52-51 win over No. 18 Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday night after the Volunteers rallied from 17 points down in the second half.
Allen missed his first attempt, then made his second to give the Longhorns the lead. After calling timeout, Tennessee scrambled to get the ball up court for Josiah-Jordan James' three-point attempt that bounced off the rim before Texas swatted away the rebound.
The Texas win spoiled the return party for Tennessee coach Rich Barnes, who led the Longhorns program for 17 seasons from 1998-2015 and has the most wins in school history with 402.
Courtney Ramey scored 18 to lead Texas (16-5), which looked to be in total control midway when he made a three-pointer and then a scoop layup that made it 51-37 with 4:49 to play.
Tennessee then stormed back and consecutive three-pointers from James and Zakai Zeigler got them within six. Victor Baileý's flying tip-in off a missed Ziegler three-pointer tied it at 51-51,
Tennessee had a chance to take the lead but Santiago Miscovi missed a three-point attempt late in the shot clock. Texas won the rebound before Allen drew the foul for the winning free throw.
Zeigler scored 12 points to lead Tennessee (14-6), which nearly stole the victory for Barnes in his first return to Austin since he was fired in 2015.
Texas rolled out the welcome mat for the coach who led the program to 16 NCAA Tournaments in 17 years and a Final Four in 2003, with a rare sellout crowd and a video tribute before tipoff. Longhorns players, who were still in junior high the last time Barnes was in the building, wore warm-up shirts with “Thank You Coach Barnes” and a photo of him cutting down the nets after a big victory.
Texas Tech routs Mississippi State
LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech dominated on both ends of the court, proving to be even better than what Mississippi State coach Ben Howland watched on film preparing for the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Adonis Arms had 16 points and seven assists for the 13th-ranked Red Raiders, who stayed undefeated at home with an overwhelming 76-50 victory Saturday night. Texas Tech shot a season-high 61.7% from the field and had 20 assists on its 29 made baskets, while the Bulldogs had a season-high 22 turnovers in their lowest-scoring game this season.
Kevin Obanor added 13 points while Mylik Wilson had 12 and Bryson Williams 10 for the Red Raiders (16-5), who are 13-0 at home this season. Marcus Santos-Silva had nine rebounds.
Mississippi State (13-7), coming off an overtime loss at No. 12 Kentucky, never led again after Arms made the first of his three three-pointers less than three minutes into the game.
Bulldogs leading scorer Iverson Molinar, a focus for the option-filled Tech defense, had a team-high 12 points, but that was nearly seven below his season average that was tied for second in the SEC. He also had a team-high five turnovers.
Arms made a jumper with 7:18 left in the first half to put the Red Raiders up 21-15, and start a half-ended stretch when they made eight of their last 10 shots for a 37-22 lead. Arms also had two three-pointers and three assists in that span.
Florida rallies past Oklahoma State
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tyree Appleby scored 13 of his season-high 21 points in the second half as Florida rallied after the break and beat Oklahoma State 81-72 on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
After trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, Florida outscored Oklahoma State 49-27 in the second, shooting 50% (9 of 18) from the floor and forcing 12 turnovers. The Gators also made five three-pointers, were 26-of-32 (81%) shooting from the line and blocked six shots after halftime.
Appleby finished 5 of 10 from the floor with three three-pointers. Phlandrous Fleming Jr. added 14 points for Florida (13-8), which ended a two-game skid. Kowacie Reeves had 11 points and Anthony Duruji 10.
Isaac Likekele scored 14 points and Bryce Thompson had 12 for Oklahoma State (10-10).
The Cowboys led 32-16 with 6:28 remaining in the first half and built a 45-32 halftime advantage. They shot 63% (19 of 30) from the floor and were 7 of 10 from long range. Keylan Boone and Thompson each had nine points on three three-pointers.
But in the second half, the Cowboys shot 7 of 24 (29%). Boone took just one shot and missed.
Myreon Jones' three-pointer gave Florida its first lead of the second half, 58-56, with 8:38 remaining. The Gators pushed it to 72-63 with 1:46 left.
The Gators are 4-0 against the Cowboys in a series that dates to 1993.