TOP 25 MEN
NO. 3 IOWA 85, NORTHWESTERN 71
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Jarrod Uthoff dominated the first half.
Peter Jok owned the second one -- and Iowa posted yet another Big Ten blowout.
Jok had 22 of his 26 points in the second half to help third-ranked Iowa cruised past Northwestern 85-71 on Sunday.
Uthoff scored 23 points for the Hawkeyes (17-4, 8-1 Big Ten), who sent Northwestern to its fifth consecutive loss.
He shook off his season-low nine points in Thursday's defeat at No. 8 Maryland with 19 in the first half as Iowa went up by 16.
Jok followed with three consecutive three-pointers and Iowa rolled to its seventh league victory by at least 10 points.
"It's just great to see him come back the way we expect him to play," Coach Fran McCaffrey said of Uthoff, the Big Ten's leading scorer entering the game.
Tre Demps had a season-high 30 points for Northwestern (15-8, 3-7). Bryant McIntosh, the Wildcats' leading scorer at 15 points per game, was held to just four.
The Wildcats looked strong in nonconference play, and a 3-2 start in the Big Ten had some wondering if they were poised for a rare run for an upper division finish.
Blowout losses to Indiana and Michigan changed that thinking.
Iowa had it nearly as easy against the free-falling Wildcats.
The Hawkeyes shook off a sluggish start with a 14-0 run, highlighted by a tough inside score from emerging freshman Ahmad Wagner, to go up 28-18 midway through the first half.
Fellow freshman Nicholas Baer drilled a three-pointer to make it a 15-point game, and Uthoff spun nearly 360 degrees for an open bank shot to give Iowa a 42-24 lead.
Northwestern briefly got back within nine. But another bank shot from Uthoff -- and those three Jok three-pointers -- helped turn the final 10 minutes into a rout. Iowa led by as many as 29 before Northwestern made a late run against the Hawkeyes' backups.
"When he gets in a groove like that, you've got to load him up," McCaffery said of Jok.
Northwestern has lost seven of its last 10 after winning 10 straight to end 2015.
No. 6 VILLANOVA 68, ST. JOHN'S 53
NEW YORK -- Villanova didn't look like the No. 6 team in the country in the first half against St. John's on Sunday.
The Wildcats, the first place team in the Big East, had a terrible opening 20 minutes but righted themselves in the second half for a victory over the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden.
Josh Hart had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kris Jenkins added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Villanova (18-3, 8-1) which handed St. John's (7-15, 0-9) its 12th consecutive loss.
Villanova, which came in third in the conference at 46.4 percent from the field, shot 7 for 30 (23.3 percent), including 2 for 10 from three-point range in the first half. It was the Wildcats' worst first half shooting this season. They shot 26.7 percent (8 of 30) in a 78-55 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma in Hawaii.
Villanova had 11 turnovers, matching its season average of 10.9 for 40 minutes. And yet the Wildcats still managed a 28-27 halftime lead despite not having starting center Daniel Ochefu, who is in concussion protocol.
Durand Johnson had 13 points to lead the Red Storm.
No. 8 MARYLAND 66, OHIO STATE 61
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Melo Trimble scored 20 points to lead No. 8 Maryland (19-3, 8-2 Big Ten) past Ohio State (14-9, 6-4).
Jake Layman had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins.
The Buckeyes went ahead 51-50 on Kam Williams' jumper with 6 minutes left but Trimble hit two foul shots to regain the Maryland lead and the Terrapins secured the victory with six free throws in the final 25 seconds.
In other Top 25 men's games Sunday, No. 12 Michigan State (19-4, 6-4 Big Ten) tied a school record with 17 three-pointers in a 96-62 victory over Rutgers (6-16, 0-9) in East Lansing, Mich. Bryn Forbes scored all 18 of his points in the first half, and Denzel Valentine finished with 20 points. Mike Williams scored 18 points for Rutgers. ... Fred VanVleet scored 32 points and Connor Frankamp added 10 to lead No. 22 Wichita State (16-5, 10-0 Missouri Valley Conference) past Evansville (18-5, 7-3) 78-65 in Evansville, Ind. The Shockers have won 11 consecutive games since starting the season at 5-5. Evansville was led by D.J. Balentine with 18 points. ... A.J. Burgett made his first career start since 2014 and responded with a career-high 14 points to help No. 25 Notre Dame (15-6, 6-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rout Wake Forest (10-11, 1-8) 85-62 in South Bend, Ind. V.J. Beachem added 15 points for the Fighting Irish. Devin Thomas had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Demon Deacons, who never led.
Sports on 02/01/2016