Trevon Bluiett scored 20 points, and No. 24 Xavier overcame its sloppy passing and pulled away to its fourth straight victory, 72-61 over DePaul on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
The Musketeers (18-6, 8-3 Big East) kept it close with 19 turnovers, a symptom of their lack of depth at point guard. RaShid Gaston dominated the closing minutes of the first half as Xavier finally gained control. Gaston tied his season high with 14 points overall.
DePaul (8-16, 1-10) trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half as it lost its seventh straight. Freshman Brandon Cyrus led the Blue Demons with a career-high 18 points.
Xavier got the early lead by making 3s — 5 of 7 to open the game — and then went inside for dunks in the final 3 minutes of the first half. Gaston had nine points during a closing 12-5 spurt that put the Musketeers in control 41-34 at the break.
No. 6 Baylor 72, Oklahoma State 69
Johnathan Motley scored 24 points to help No. 6 Baylor hold off Oklahoma State 72-69 on Wednesday night in Stillwater, Okla.
The Bears led by 13 points with 4:13 to play, but Oklahoma State’s pressure defense made it a game. The Cowboys could have taken the lead in the final minute, but Baylor’s Jo Lual-Acuil blocked Jawun Evans’ layup. After Baylor’s Manu Lecomte made two free throws with 14 seconds to play, Evans and Phil Forte missed 3-point attempts that could have tied the game for Oklahoma State.
The Bears (21-3, 8-3 Big 12), who had lost their previous two games, trail conference leader Kansas by one game. Baylor also defeated the Cowboys 61-57 in Waco on Jan. 7.
Jeffrey Carroll scored 20 points and Evans added 16 for the Cowboys (15-9, 4-7). Oklahoma State had won five straight and were coming off an 82-75 win at then-No. 7 West Virginia.
No. 14 Florida State 95, North Carolina State 71
Jonathan Isaac scored 21 points and No. 14 Florida State defeated North Carolina State 95-71 on Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
Isaac, who had only two points in last Sunday’s 48-point win over Clemson, scored the first seven points as the Seminoles (21-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) led throughout. It is the 6-foot-10 freshman forward’s third game of 20 points or more this season.
Dwayne Bacon added 19 points and Michael Ojo had 11 for FSU, which has won 18 straight at home and at one point led by as many as 26 points in the second half.
Terry Henderson led N.C. State (14-11, 3-9) with 17 points while Maverick Rowan and Abdul-Malik Abu added 16 apiece.
North Carolina State’s Dennis Smith Jr., who is fifth in the conference in scoring (19.2 points per game), was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season and matched a season-low with eight points.
Ohio State 70, Rutgers 64
Kam Williams had 23 points and Trevor Thompson added 15 points and 13 rebounds as Ohio State beat Rutgers 70-64 on Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio.
Williams hit a 3-pointer and a subsequent foul shot to break a 62-62 tie at 1:05 after Rutgers had overcame a 12-point deficit. After Ohio State’s Jae-Sean Tate missed a pair of foul shots, Rutgers’ Deshawn Freeman tipped in a rebound to cut the lead to two, but the Scarlet Knights ran out of time.
Corey Sanders led Rutgers with 17 points but fouled out with just under five minutes left in the game. The Scarlet Knights (13-12, 2-10) lost their 10th Big Ten game of the season against a pair of conference wins.
Ohio State (15-10, 5-7 Big Ten) won its second straight and is still holding out hope it can get back to the NCAA Tournament after missing the cut last season.
With the game tied at 10 with 13:23 left in the first half, Ohio State went on a 10-2 run, led by as many as 11 and held a 33-27 advantage at halftime. Tate had 11 points in the first 20 minutes, missing just one shot, but he wouldn’t score again, missing the two foul shots down the stretch.
The Buckeyes prevailed despite turning the ball over 15 times, leading to 19 Rutgers points.
Northern Iowa 49, Southern Illinois 41
Klint Carlson scored 14 points with eight rebounds and Bennett Koch scored 12 points with eight boards as Northern Iowa eked out a low-scoring, wire-to-wire win over Southern Illinois 49-41 on Wednesday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Jeremy Morgan hit a 3-pointer, Koch added a pair of free throws, and Northern Iowa opened the second half with a 5-0 run to gain some separation as Southern Illinois missed its first three shots. The Panthers (12-12, 7-6 Missouri Valley Conference) led by as many as 11 after halftime.
Leo Vincent scored nine points to lead Southern Illinois (14-12, 7-6) and Sean O’Brien eight as the Salukis made only 30 percent of their shots (18-60). Leo was 3 of 11 and O’Brien 4 of 14. Northern Iowa blocked four shots (Morgan with two), and had eight steals and 34 defensive rebounds to hamper Southern Illinois’ shooting.
The Panthers held a 41-35 edge on the boards overall.
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