MILWAUKEE -- Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer shot a combined 10 of 16 from three-point range and No. 2 UConn defeated No. 8 Marquette 74-67 on Wednesday night, giving the Huskies their first road win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in a decade.
UConn (27-3, 17-2) hadn't defeated a ranked team in a true road game since 2014. The Huskies beat ranked Memphis teams at the FedEx Forum twice that year, in January and again two months later in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Memphis was technically the visiting team on its home floor during the AAC Tournament game as the lower seed.
This marked UConn's first road win over a top-10 team since a 93-82 triumph at No. 8 Marquette on Feb. 25, 2009.
Karaban scored 23 points while shooting 5 of 9 from beyond the arc to help UConn win for the 17th time in 18 games. Spencer went 5 of 7 on three-point attempts and had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Tristen Newton added 10 points, while Donovan Clingan had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Kam Jones scored 18 and Oso Ighodaro had 16 for Marquette (22-8, 13-6), which played a second consecutive game without 2023 Big East player of the year Tyler Kolek.
Kolek injured his oblique last week in a victory over Providence. Marquette has indicated Kolek also won't play in the Golden Eagles' regular-season finale Saturday at Xavier, though Coach Shaka Smart has expressed confidence the 6-3 guard will return at some point in the postseason.
UConn's three-point marksmanship enabled the Huskies to pull ahead for good about 12 minutes into the game. The Huskies took their biggest lead when Spencer hit a three-pointer to make it 70-56 with 7:54 remaining.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 67,
UCF 59
ORLANDO, Fla. -- L.J. Cryer scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lift No. 1 Houston to a come-from-behind victory over UCF and clinch at least a share of the regular-season Big 12 title in the Cougars' first season in the conference.
Houston (27-3, 14-3) led by nine points after a Cryer three-pointer with 2:18 to play. UCF (15-14, 6-11) closed to within four with just over a minute to play, and then Cryer hit another clutch shot to pull away for the win.
The Cougars trailed by as many as seven points and never led in the first half. They did not take their first lead until Jamal Shead drained a three-pointer to make it 45-42 with about 12 minutes to play in the second half.
Houston's defense stifled UCF throughout the second half, holding them to one field goal over nearly five minutes to take control of the game.
Shead finished with 16 points and eight assists. J'Wan Roberts had 12 points and seven rebounds. Cryer shot 9 of 17 from the floor, including 5 of 11 on three-pointers.
C.J. Walker led UCF with 15 points. Jaylin Sellers added 12 points.
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 66,
NO. 17 SOUTH CAROLINA 69
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Dalton Knecht had 26 points as No. 4 Tennessee withstood a late run by No. 17 South Carolina for a victory that wrapped up its first SEC regular-season title since 2018.
The Gamecocks (24-6, 12-5) cut a 14-point second-half deficit to 59-56 on Meechie Johnson's inside shot with 1:13 to go.
But the Volunteers (24-6, 14-3) hit seven foul shots the rest of the way to hold on and open a two-game cushion in the SEC with one to play.
Tennessee shared the regular-season title six years ago with Auburn. The last time the Vols had won it outright was 2008.
The game was billed as a showdown for the SEC lead and a full house turned out at the 18,000-seat arena for the chance to see South Carolina, picked last by the media in the SEC preseason poll, chase a title.
And the Gamecocks kept things close much of the first half, trailing 24-22 after Myles Stute's three-pointer with less than four minutes left before the break.
That's when Knecht took over. He had three-pointers on three of four possessions as Tennessee went on an 11-2 run over the final 3:29 of the period to lead 35-24 at the break.
NO. 6 IOWA STATE 68,
NO. 20 BYU 63
AMES, Iowa -- Tamin Lipsey scored 19 points and Curtis Jones added 18 to help No. 6 Iowa State finish the season undefeated at home for the first time in 23 years with a win over No. 20 Brigham Young.
The Cyclones (24-6, 13-4) completed their home schedule 18-0 and remained within a game of conference leader Houston heading in the final weekend.
BYU (21-9, 9-8) failed in its bid to knock off a top 10 team for the second time in as many weeks. The Cougars were led by Ricjie Saunders' 20 points.
Iowa State trailed 46-32 early in the second half before using an 11-0 run, highlighted by Lipsey's three-pointer, to tie the score at 56 with 7:52 left to play.
The Cyclones went ahead for good on Robert Jones basket, making the score 64-63 with 2:51 left.
NO. 15 KENTUCKY 93,
VANDERBILT 77
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rob Dillingham scored 23 points, including consecutive three-pointers just before halftime, Antonio Reeves added 20 in his home finale and No. 15 Kentucky rode 56% second-half shooting to pull away from Vanderbilt for its fourth victory in a row.
The Wildcats (22-8, 12-6) went back and forth with the Commodores (8-22, 3-14) for much of the first half before taking the lead for good just before the break as Reed Sheppard made the first of Kentucky's four consecutive three-pointers. Dillingham followed with a pair before Reeves capped the run with another from deep with three seconds remaining for a 45-40 edge.
Dillingham added seven consecutive points midway through the second half to help put Kentucky up 68-55. Another run built a 19-point cushion with 4:04 left and Kentucky went on to complete a season sweep of the Commodores.
Tyrin Lawrence had 23 points for the Commodores, who have dropped five of six.
Dillingham shot 5 of 6 with a three-pointer after halftime to finish 3 of 4 from long range and 9 for 15 overall. Kentucky was outshot 53% to 46% in the first half before improving to make 20 of 36 from the floor and finish at 51% while Vanderbilt converted just 38%.
D.J. Wagner added 11 points and Justin Edwards had 10 for Kentucky, which outrebounded Vandy 44-32.
NO. 22 UTAH STATE 90,
SAN JOSE STATE 70
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Darius Brown II scored 21 points on seven three-pointers, Mason Falslev had 20 points and No. 22 Utah State beat San Jose State to clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season title.
Great Osobor added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Javon Jackson had 15 points. Brown's hot shooting fueled Utah State's 53% clip from the floor and 59% mark from long distance. Brown made his first six three-point attempts before missing his first shot seven minutes into the second half. Falslev was 8 of 11 from the floor.
The Aggies (25-5, 13-4) can claim their first outright regular-season conference title with a win against New Mexico on Saturday.
Utah State has won 11 of the last 12 against San Jose State (9-22, 2-16). The Aggies have won six of seven overall, while the Spartans dropped their sixth in a row to end their regular season.
TOP 25 WOMEN
NO. 18 COLORADO 79,
OREGON 30
LAS VEGAS -- Frida Formann scored 17 points and 18th-ranked Colorado handed Oregon its worst loss of the season, in the opening game of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Quay Miller scored the first four points of the game and the Buffaloes had the last 13 points of the first quarter for a 26-7 lead.
Colorado (22-8), the fifth seed, plays fourth-seeded and 13th-ranked Oregon State in the quarterfinals today.
Tameiya Sadler had 11 points and Miller 10 for the Buffaloes, who shot 9 of 18 from 3-point range -- with Formann going 5 for 6 -- and shot 48% (33 of 69) overall. Colorado also had a 54-28 rebounding advantage.
The Ducks (11-21) shot just 19% (10 of 53), 1 of 13 from three-point range, to run their school-record losing streak to 14.
SUN BELT WOMEN
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 54, ARKANSAS STATE 41
Arkansas State’s season ended with a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday night in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.
Arkansas State star guard Izzy Higginbottom missed her fourth consecutive game with a finger injury and the Red Wolves lost their seventh straight game. Anna Griffin scored a game-high 15 points and collected seven rebounds to lead ASU (13-17). Mailyn Wilkerson finished with nine points off the bench and Crislyn Rose chipped in seven points for the Red Wolves.
Louisiana-Lafayette (16-13) forward Tamera Johnson scored a team-high 14 points and pulled down six rebounds. Brandi Williams finished with 10 points, while Destiny Rice converted 7 of 9 free throws and had nine points for the Ragin’ Cajuns.