Kansas hangs on
Devon Dotson scored 21 points and No. 3 Kansas topped Texas Tech 78-75 on Saturday in David McCormack’s return from a twogame suspension.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — David McCormack returned from a suspension and made his presence felt when Udoka Azubuike got in foul trouble.
Devon Dotson scored 21 points, Marcus Garrett added 15 points and No. 3 Kansas topped Texas Tech 78-75 on Saturday.
In his first game back after a two-game suspension, David McCormack contributed 3 blocks, 6 rebounds and 6 points.
“He gave us great minutes. When he was in he made some key plays that got the crowd into it,” Dotson said. “He did some really great things out there tonight. I feel like he’s a big reason we won this game today.”
With Azubuike sidelined due to foul trouble, Kansas Coach Bill Self turned to McCormack to pick up the slack after having served his two-game suspension. Contributing 20 minutes off the bench, a few key blocks and momentum-swaying dunks by the big man played a key role in the Jayhawks’ slim victory.
Kansas (18-3, 7-1 Big 12) opened up the game scoring the first 10 points. Though Azubuike saw only seven first-half minutes due to two early fouls, Kansas took a 44-35 edge into halftime as Dotson posted 13 first-half points.
In other games Saturday involving Top 25 teams, MaCio Teague scored 19 points with five three-pointers and No. 1 Baylor set a program record with its 18th win in a row, 68-52 over visiting TCU. Teague made consecutive three-pointers in a 36-second span to cap a 14-0 run in the first half that put the Bears (19-1, 8-0 Big 12) ahead to stay. … Corey Kispert’s three-point play with 1:33 left put his team ahead for good and he added a jumper with 34 seconds remaining, helping No. 2 Gonzaga extend its winning streak to 15 games in an 83-79 victory over San Francisco. … Matt Mitchell scored 24 of his season-high 28 points in the second half — including three consecutive three-pointers — to help rally No. 4 San Diego State to an 80-68 victory against Utah State and remain the nation’s only undefeated team. San Diego State trailed 39-31 at the half. … Devin Vassell tied an ACC record by shooting 7 for 7 from three-point range and scored 27 points to lift No. 5 Florida State over Virginia Tech, 74-63. Vassell helped the Seminoles (18-3, 8-2) rebound from Tuesday night’s loss at Virginia that snapped a 10-game winning streak. … Ryan McMahon made seven three-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points for No. 6 Louisville in a 77-57 victory over host North Carolina State. … Trey Landers matched his season high with 18 points, Obi Toppin also had 18 and No. 7 Dayton got its 16th consecutive win over Fordham, a 70-56 victory in Dayton. The Flyers (20-2, 9-0 Atlantic 10) had little problem extending their streak against the Rams (7-14, 1-8). Dayton hasn’t lost to Fordham since Jan. 4, 2005, a 66-56 Rams win at the Rose Hill Gym. … Denzel Mahoney had 21 points and Mitch Ballock had nine of his 15 points in the second half to help Creighton defeat No. 8 Villanova, 76-61, in Philadelphia. … … Vernon Carey Jr. had 26 points and a season-high 17 rebounds and No. 9 Duke beat Syracuse, 97-88. Cassius Stanley keyed an early second-half surge and the Blue Devils (18-3, 8-2 ACC) won their third in a row after a two-game skid . ... Tyrique Jones had 19 points and 18 rebounds, and Xavier opened a big lead early and ended No. 10 Seton Hall’s 10-game winning streak. Naji Marshall added 19 points and KyKy Tandy had 14 for the Musketeers (14-8, 3-6 Big East). … Oscar da Silva scored a career-high 27 points and had 15 rebounds, helping Stanford rally in the second half to beat No. 11 Oregon 70-60. Stanford (16-5, 5-3 Pac12) trailed 44-35 with 141/2 minutes left, then held the Ducks without a basket for the next 10 minutes. … Derek Culver had 19 points and 14 rebounds to give Coach Bob Huggins another milestone win. Huggins earned his 877th career win to move past Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp into seventh place in Division I as No. 12 West Virginia defeated visiting Kansas State, 66-57. … Nate Reuvers scored 15 points, D’Mitrik Trice had 14 and Aleem Ford added 13 to help Wisconsin edge No. 14 Michigan State, 6463. … Luwane Pipkins scored 22 points and made six consecutive free throws in the final minute for Providence in a 6561 victory over No. 16 Butler. … Keith Williams scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Cincinnati rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half for a 64-62 victory over No. 21 Houston. Williams scored on a floater with 2:02 left, giving Cincinnati (14-7, 7-2 AAC) its first lead, 61-59, since the Bearcats led 8-5. Williams followed with two free throws, generating roars from the sellout crowd of 12,189. Houston (17-5, 7-2) already was struggling from the field in the last part of the second half when point guard Dejon Jarreau drew a technical foul and was ejected when the referees ruled that he bit Cincinnati’s Mamoudou Diarra with 6:16 left in the game. … Elijah Joiner caught an inbounds pass with 3.3 seconds left and raced from one key to the next, connecting on a three-pointer as time expired to give host Tulsa a 54-51 victory over No. 23 Wichita State. Joiner shot 5-for-6 on three-pointers and scored 22 points for Tulsa (15-6, 7-1 AAC), which won its sixth in a row. Martins Igbanu, who tied the score at 51 with two free throws with 43 seconds left, had 10 points. Jaime Enchinique scored 15 for Wichita State (17-4, 5-3), but only two in the second half. … Myles Dread scored 14 points, Lamar Stevens and Myreon Jones had 13 apiece, and No. 24 Penn State pulled away early in the second half on its way to a 76-64 win over host Nebraska. … Brandon Johns Jr. scored a career-high 20 points and Michigan won at Madison Square Garden for the 10th consecutive time with a 69-63 victory over No. 25 Rutgers.