Jordan Gainey drove the full length of the court and made a right-handed layup on the left side of the hoop at the buzzer to give No. 1 Tennessee a 66-64 nonconference win over Illinois in front of a sellout crowd Saturday afternoon in Champaign, Ill.
Gainey came off the bench to score 18 of his season-high 23 points in the second half for the Volunteers (10-0). Chaz Lanier scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half before fouling out with 3:42 remaining, while Igor Milicic Jr. had seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis scored 22 points for Illinois (7-3), but missed a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left, setting up Gainey’s game-winning layup. Tre White scored 11 points, and Kylan Boswell and Will Riley each added 10 for Tennessee, whose defense limited Illinois to 29 percent shooting.
Illinois tied the game for the seventh and final time on Jakucionis’ free throw. With Zakai Zeigler and Lanier both fouled out, the Volunteers passed the ball to Gainey, who raced down the middle of the court; his layup went in just as the buzzer sounded.
No. 2 Auburn 91, Ohio State 53
Johni Broome had 21 points, a career-best 20 rebounds, and also six assists as the Tigers dominated the Buckeyes in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta.
Broome, a top contender for national player of the year, controlled the game as Ohio State was missing 7-foot-1 center Aaron Bradshaw. Denver Jones added 14 points, shooting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc for Auburn (9-1), while Dylan Cardwell had 10 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Jakhi Howard scored 11 points, all in the second half.
Devin Royal (14 points) and Micah Parrish (10 points) led Ohio State (6-4) in scoring. Bruce Thornton, the team’s leading scorer, had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
No. 5 Kentucky 93, Louisville 85
Lamont Butler returned to the lineup in style, scoring a career-high 33 points to lead the Wildcats past the Cardinals in Lexington, Ky.
Butler had missed the last two games for Kentucky (10-1) due to an ankle injury. He went 10-for-10 from the field, including six 3-pointers, to prevent the undermanned Cardinals (6-5) from pulling off an upset.
Butler became the fourth player in Kentucky history to make 10 or more shots without missing. Louisville never led after the first minute but stayed competitive thanks to Chucky Hepburn, who scored 26 points, and Terrence Edwards Jr., who added 23. Edwards reached 20 points for the third straight game, all as a reserve.
Dayton 71, No. 6 Marquette 63
Zed Key and Javon Bennett each had 15 points and led a second-half comeback that helped Dayton erase a 13-point deficit and beat Marquette.
Key had four dunks in the second half for Dayton (9-2), who shot 55.6 percent from the field after halftime, improving from 36 percent in the first half, where they trailed 36-26. Enoch Cheeks added 14 points as Dayton’s defense held Marquette (9-2) to 35.7 percent shooting in the second half, while Dayton outscored them 21-10 in second-chance points.
Chase Ross scored 19 points, and star Kam Jones added 18 points for Marquette, which was the highest-ranked team to visit Dayton since No. 6 Pittsburgh lost there in December 2007.
No. 7 Alabama 83, Creighton 75
Mark Sears scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds to help Alabama beat Creighton at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Labaron Philon added 16 points and five rebounds, and Derrion Reid scored 12 points for Alabama (8-2). Grant Nelson grabbed 10 rebounds as Alabama dominated the boards with a 46-32 advantage.
Steven Ashworth had 20 points and nine assists, and Ryan Kalkbrenner added 18 points and seven rebounds for Creighton (7-4), who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
No. 18 UConn 77, No. 8 Gonzaga 71
Liam McNeeley scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds as UConn defeated Gonzaga in New York.
Tarris Reed Jr. added 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots, and Jaylin Stewart scored 10 points for UConn (8-3), who won their fourth straight game. UConn improved to 6-2 against Gonzaga, including an 82-54 victory in the Elite Eight of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Khalif Battle scored 21 points for Gonzaga (7-3), who lost their second straight game. Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and seven assists, while Michael Ajayi scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. Gonzaga star Graham Ike had just three points and no rebounds in 12 minutes of play due to foul trouble.
No. 9 Florida 83, Arizona State 66
Walter Clayton Jr. scored 25 points, and Florida used early 3-point shooting to defeat Arizona State in a Holiday Hoopsgiving game in Atlanta.
Will Richard added 16 points, and Alijah Martin contributed 15 for Florida (10-0), who tied the second-best start in program history. The last time they started 10-0 was in 1951-52.
Adam Miller led Arizona State (8-2) with 18 points, and Jay Quaintance scored 14 points with eight rebounds and four steals. Basheer Jihad added 13 points.
No. 10 Kansas 75, NC State 60
Zeke Mayo scored a season-high 26 points, and Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and 14 rebounds as Kansas defeated NC State in Lawrence, Kan.
Kansas (8-2) also got 15 points and six assists from Dajuan Harris. The win extended their streak to 13 consecutive victories over NC State.
NC State (7-4) was led by Ben Middlebrooks with 14 points and eight rebounds. Bradley Huntley-Hatfield added 12 points off the bench, and Marcus Hill scored 10 points.
No. 13 Oklahoma 80, Oklahoma State 65
Sam Godwin posted game highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Kobe Elvis added 15 points as Oklahoma defeated Oklahoma State 80-65 in Oklahoma City.
In their first nonconference game since 1958, Oklahoma led for all but 25 seconds and shot 49.2 percent from the field. They also had a 42-26 edge in points in the paint. Jeremiah Fears contributed 17 points for Oklahoma, which held Oklahoma State (6-3) to 39.3 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers.
Oklahoma State struggled, hitting only 5-of-18 from 3-point range and committing 16 turnovers that led to 21 points for Oklahoma. Marchelus Avery scored 19 points off the bench for Oklahoma State, but the team only got 23 points from their starting players.
No. 17 Texas A&M 70, No. 11 Purdue 66
Zhuric Phelps and reserve Pharrel Payne each scored 16 points as Texas A&M defeated Purdue in the Indy Classic in Indianapolis.
Wade Taylor IV added 15 points, five assists, and five steals for Texas A&M (9-2), who forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 22 points. Taylor left the game with a leg injury in the final minute.
Braden Smith led Purdue (8-3) with 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Fletcher Loyer scored 12 points, all in the first half, and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 11 points before fouling out. C.J. Cox had 10 points off the bench.
Memphis 87, No. 16 Clemson 82 (OT)
Tyrese Hunter scored 23 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead Memphis to an overtime win over Clemson.
Colby Rogers added 22 points, while PJ Haggerty had 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for Memphis (8-2), who rebounded from a 13-point loss to Arkansas State. Dain Dainja scored 11 points off the bench.
Viktor Lakhin scored 23 points with 11 rebounds for Clemson (9-2), who saw their six-game winning streak end. Ian Schieffelin and Chase Hunter each scored 17 points, while Jaeden Zackery added 11 points, and Dillon Hunter scored 10.
No. 19 Ole Miss 77, Southern Miss 46
Sean Pedulla hit six 3-pointers and scored 18 points as Ole Miss defeated Southern Miss in Biloxi, Miss.
Pedulla, a transfer from Virginia Tech, also had four assists with just one turnover in 31 minutes for Ole Miss (9-1). Jaylen Murray added 14 points, shooting 4-of-8 from 3-point range as Ole Miss made 13 of 32 shots from behind the arc.
Denijay Harris led Southern Miss (4-6) with 16 points, but the team struggled with shooting, making only 32.7 percent of their field-goal attempts and 4-of-23 from 3-point range. They also had 17 turnovers, which led to 24 points for Ole Miss.
No. 20 Wisconsin 83, Butler 74
Wisconsin ended a three-game losing streak with a win over Butler in the Indy Classic in Indianapolis.
Nolan Winter scored a career-high 20 points, Steven Crowl added 18 points and six rebounds, and Max Klesmit scored 11 points for Wisconsin (9-3). The Badgers thrived inside, scoring 40 points in the paint, although they hit only six 3-pointers after averaging 9.2 per game.
Jahmyl Telfort had eight points and seven rebounds for Butler (7-4). Pierre Brooks II led Butler with 23 points on 5-of-6 shooting inside the arc, plus two 3-pointers.
No. 22 Cincinnati 68, Xavier 65
Simas Lukosius scored 14 points, 11 of them in the second half, as Cincinnati rallied to defeat Xavier.
Cincinnati (8-1) ended a five-game losing streak to Xavier. Dillon Mitchell added 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Aziz Bandaogo had 12 points with three dunks and a layup.
Xavier’s Zach Freemantle had 16 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. Ryan Conwell added 17 points for Xavier (8-3), whose last-second 3-point attempt by Freemantle missed.
No. 24 UCLA 57, Arizona 54
Tyler Bilodeau scored 17 points as UCLA came from behind to defeat Arizona in Phoenix.
UCLA trailed 49-36 with 10:49 left but finished the game by outscoring Arizona 21-5. UCLA (9-1) has now won eight straight games, while Arizona (4-5) fell to 0-5 against power-conference teams. Skyy Clark added 15 points, and Kobe Johnson scored seven points with seven rebounds.
Jaden Bradley scored 12 points with seven rebounds and six assists for Arizona. Trey Townsend scored 10 points, while Arizona’s Caleb Love was held to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.
No. 25 Mississippi State 66, McNeese 63
RJ Melendez scored 18 points, and Josh Hubbard added 16 as Mississippi State defeated McNeese in Tupelo, Miss.
Mississippi State (9-1) overcame a slow first half, outscoring McNeese 37-34 after the break.
Joe Charles led McNeese (5-5) with 19 points, and Sincere Parker added 16. Javohn Garcia and Brandon Murray each scored 10 points.
