A key battle between two ranked teams in the Big 12 Conference came down to the wire as No. 14 West Virginia pulled away to defeat No. 7 Texas Tech 82-71 Tuesday night at Lubbock, Texas.
Making a start in place of the injured Taz Sherman, West Virginia's Sean McNeil scored a career-high 26 points. Miles McBride produced 18 of his 20 points in the second half, and Derek Culver added 15 points and eight rebounds to lift the Mountaineers (14-5, 7-3 Big 12).
Mac McClung led Texas Tech (14-6, 6-5) with 17 points but fouled out in the closing minute. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 13 but struggled to hit shots all night, finishing 3 of 14 overall and 1 of 7 from outside the 3-point arc.
No. 11 Alabama 81, South Carolina 78
John Petty Jr. broke out of a mild scoring slump by producing 20 points and the Crimson Tide held on to defeat South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
The win snapped a two-game road losing streak for the league-leading Crimson Tide (16-5, 11-1 SEC), which had lost to nationally ranked Oklahoma and Missouri their past two trips. The Gamecocks (5-8, 3-6) lost for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Jahvon Quinerly scored 13 points, Joshua Primo added 12 and Jaden Shackelford had 10 for the Crimson Tide. AJ Lawson led South Carolina with 21 points. Keyshawn Bryant and Justin Minaya added 16 and 15, respectively, for the Gamecocks, and Seventh Woods scored 11.
No. 13 Texas 80, Kansas State 77
Andrew Jones didn't score in the first 17 minutes of the game, but he finished with 24 points as the Longhorns escaped with a victory over the Wildcats at Manhattan, Kan.
Texas (12-5, 6-4 Big 12) had lost three straight and four of five coming into the game. Kansas State (5-16, 1-11) has lost 11 in a row.
Greg Brown had 17 points, Courtney Ramey added 14 and Matt Coleman III scored 10 for the Longhorns. The Wildcats were led by Nijel Pack with 22 points while Mike McGuirl added 18.
No. 19 Creighton 63, Georgetown 48
Christian Bishop had 17 points and nine rebounds and Mitch Ballock added 14 points as the Bluejays topped the Hoyas in Washington, avenging a loss to Georgetown last week.
Winning for the fifth time in six games, Creighton (15-5, 11-4 Big East) never trailed and led by as many as 24 points while collecting a season-high 19 steals, including four apiece from Ballock and Denzel Mahoney.
Jamorko Pickett registered 16 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Hoyas (5-10, 3-7). Jahvon Blair had eight points and five assists.
--Field Level Media