BATON ROUGE -- P.J. Washington scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and No. 17 Kentucky held off feisty LSU 74-71 on Wednesday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped his 18-point night with two free throws with 16 seconds left, and Kevin Knox had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (12-2, 2-0 SEC), who survived their first true road test this season.
Duop Reath had 24 points and 11 rebounds for LSU (9-4, 0-1), which missed two three-point attempts that could have tied it in the final seconds.
Tremont Waters had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but his attempt to tie the game with a late three was off-balance and way off-target. The ball deflected out of bounds off Kentucky, giving LSU 0.8 seconds to get off one more shot, but Brandon Sampson's right corner bounced off the far rim as time expired.
Kentucky trailed 36-31 at halftime, but Washington asserted himself in the second half with an array of power moves, getting free along the baseline for three dunks in a three-minute span to help Kentucky move in front. He also got the roll and the call when he collided with Sampson under the hoop on a fast break, completing a three-point play that gave Kentucky a 67-65 lead.
Gilgeous-Alexander also came through late, hitting a driving scoop as he was fouled to put Kentucky ahead 71-67 with 1:22 left.
Kentucky scored the game's first seven points capped by Knox's three, but LSU began to chip away, thanks in no small part to a defensive effort that produced 11 first-half Wildcat turnovers.
The Tigers tied it at 18-18 after Reath hit a three and layup in succession. Reath scored 13 points in the first half, when Waters scored 10.
LSU led by as many as five in the first half when Aaron Epps, who finished with 13 points, hit a left-wing three to make it 36-31, a score that stood until halftime.
The Tigers went 5 of 11 from three-point range in the first half, but missed their first eight attempts from deep in the second half, giving Kentucky more chances to use its athleticism in transition. LSU came in 7-0 when leading at halftime, but protecting a five-point halftime lead against a team like Kentucky was going to require a better performance down the stretch.
The Wildcats did not block a shot or attempt a free throw in the first half, reflecting a style of play that was too passive for Coach John Calipari's liking. That changed in the second half, when the Wildcats scored 30 points in the paint, blocked 3 shots and attempted 13 free throws.
In other Top 25/SEC games Wednesday, Trae Young fell one rebound short of a triple-double to help No. 7 Oklahoma defeat Oklahoma State 109-89. Young, the nation's leader in scoring and assists, finished with 27 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. Freshman forward Brady Manek scored a season-high 28 points for Oklahoma (12-1, 2-0 Big 12). Thomas Dziagwa scored a career-high 19 points and Jeffrey Carroll added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma State (10-4, 0-2). ... De'Andre Hunter scored 14 points and No. 8 Virginia put the defensive clamps on Virginia Tech in a 78-52 victory. Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy added 13 points each and Devon Hall had 12 for the Cavaliers (13-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 14 points to lead the Hokies (11-4, 0-2). ... Josh Okogie scored a season-high 30 points, Jose Alvarado added 12 points and Georgia Tech (7-7, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) upset No. 15 Miami 64-54. Dewan Huell, with 13 points, was the only player to score in double figures for Miami (12-2, 1-1). ... Braian Angola scored 20 points and C.J. Walker added 18 as No. 24 Florida State held off No. 12 North Carolina for an 81-80 victory. Terrence Mann added 17 points and nine rebounds for Florida State (12-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Joel Berry II led the Tar Heels (12-3, 1-1) with 28 points. ... Isaac Haas scored 14 points and Dakota Mathias finished with 13 to help No. 13 Purdue pull away from Rutgers 82-51. The Boilermakers (14-2, 3-0 Big Ten) have won 10 consecutive overall and 17 consecutive home games. Geo Baker had 11 points to lead the Scarlet Knights (10-6, 0-3). Mike Williams added 10. ... Donte Grantham scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Marcquise Reed hit two key free throws to help No. 25 Clemson beat Boston College 74-70 in its first game in the national rankings in nearly eight years. Reed finished with 17 points for the Tigers (13-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Jerome Robinson led Boston College (10-5, 1-2) with 28 points, scoring 26 in the second half. ... Graduate student Juwan Parker came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points and claim a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Georgia to a 71-60 victory over Mississippi. Yante Maten scored 15 points and Derek Ogbeide 14 for Georgia (10-3, 1-1). Breein Tyree led Ole Miss (8-6, 1-1) with 17 points.
SOUTHLAND MEN
SAM HOUSTON STATE 82, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 76
Guards Jamal Williams and Marcus Harris scored 15 points each as Sam Houston State (7-8, 1-1 Southland Conference) had 4 players score 10 or more points in Wednesday's victory over the University of Central Arkansas (7-9, 1-2) at Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.
The Bears jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half after DeAndre Jones' layup made it 21-11 with 11:28 left, but the Bearkats were slowly able to chip at the lead. A layup by Williams with 5:07 left in the half trimmed UCA's lead to 30-29, but the Bears built the lead back up to eight late in the half before settling for a 39-36 halftime lead.
A jumper by Jordan Howard five minutes into the second half gave UCA a 49-39 lead, but the lead crumbled over the next five minutes. Harris hit 3 three-pointers and Williams had a tip-in to give Sam Houston State its first lead since early in the first half at 53-51 with 11:59 remaining. Central Arkansas kept the game within reach, but never got closer than 57-56 with 8:37 left after a layup by Matthew Mondesir.
Howard led the Bears with 25 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the floor, while Mathieu Kamba had 11 points and Thatch Unruh added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Delaney scored 14 points for the Bearkats, while Christopher Galbreath Jr. added 11.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 69,
SAM HOUSTON STATE 44
Forward Mekaylan Hicks, a freshman from El Dorado, scored 15 points to lead the University of Central Arkansas to a victory over Sam Houston State on Wednesday at the Farris Center in Conway.
The Sugar Bears (10-4, 3-0 Southland Conference) used a 7-0 run and a 5-0 run to build a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. A 14-0 run in the second quarter gave UCA a 34-9 lead with 2:38 left in the first half before a layup from Sam Houston's Jenniffer Oramas ended the run with 2:22 left. Oramas hit two free throws with 12 seconds left that cut the UCA lead to 37-15 at halftime.
Central Arkansas used a 7-0 run midway through the third quarter to increase its lead to 48-18 with 6:20 left in the quarter after Hicks hit two free throws. The Sugar Bears led 51-32 at the end of three quarters and were never threatened in the fourth.
Forward Taylor Baudoin scored 13 points for UCA while Kierra Jordan added 10. Oramas and Akarian Morgan scored 14 points each to lead Sam Houston State (3-8, 0-2).
Sports on 01/04/2018