Big rally lifts Alabama over No. 1 Houston
Visiting No. 8 Alabama rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to stun topranked Houston 71-65 on Saturday, becoming just the second team to beat two top-ranked teams in the same season.
Noah Clowney had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaden Bradley added 12 points for the Crimson Tide (8-1). Alabama shot 50% from the field in the second half and 41% for the game. The Tide went 20 of 32 on free throws, including 15 of 21 in the second half.
The Crimson Tide beat North Carolina 103-101 in four overtimes on Nov. 27 and join the 1990 Oklahoma team to take down two No. 1s in a season.
“Huge program win,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “Not sure how many teams get the chance to play two No. 1 teams in nonconference, let alone beat them, but I think that shows where we’ve gotten this program to that we can play with anyone in the country at this point.”
Jamal Shead had 19 points and six rebounds for Houston (9-1). The Cougars shot 39% from the field, including going 1 of 8 to end the game. Houston was 3 of 13 on 3-pointers and 12 of 22 from the free-throw line.
The game was tied at 63 following a Marcus Sasser free throw with two minutes left. Then Clowney put the Tide up by two with a layup with 1:12 remaining, Shead missed a jumper with 48 seconds left and Brandon Miller made two free throws five seconds later to push the lead to four.
NO. 2 TEXAS 88, ARKANSASPINE BLUFF 43 >> Christian Bishop scored 16 points and the host Longhorns held the Golden Lions (3-8) to 13 points in the second half while coasting to a win.
Texas rose to its highest ranking in more than a decade after a 6-0 start before dropping an overtime loss against No. 17 Illinois earlier in the week.
Dillon Mitchell and Brock Cunningham each scored 13 points for Texas (7-1).
NO. 4 PURDUE 65, NEBRASKA 62, OT >> Fletcher Loyer scored 22 points and Braden Smith made four free throws in the last 28 seconds of overtime to give the Boilermakers a road win over the Cornhuskers (6-5, 0-2 Big Ten).
Zach Edey had 11 points and 17 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season for Purdue (100, 2-0) .
Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga, who had 12 of his 19 points after halftime, tied it 56-all with 9.1 seconds left, and the game went to overtime when Loyer was off the mark with a 3 just before the buzzer.
NO. 5 UCONN 114, LONG ISLAND 61 >> Freshman Donovan
Clingan had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies over the visiting Sharks (1-8).
Clingan was one of five UConn players who scored in double digits. Sophomore Jordan Hawkins had a team-high 22 points and was 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, and freshman Alex Karaban turned in 19 points.
The last time the Huskies (11-0) scored 100 points in regulation was when they opened the 2020 season with a 102-75 win against Central Connecticut State. It’s also the most points UConn has scored since beating Morehead State 129-61 during the 2005-06 season.
NO. 9 ARKANSAS 88, OKLAHOMA 78 >> Ricky Council IV scored 26 points and Nick Smith Jr. had 21 to lead the Razorbacks over the host Sooners.
Arkansas (9-1) led by three at the break and gradually pulled away throughout the second half.
Grant Sherfield led Oklahoma (7-3) with 23 points, including 3 of 6 3-pointers.
Jordan Walsh had 12 points for the Razorbacks, who shot 59.3% from the field.
NO. 10 ARIZONA 89, NO. 14 INDIANA 75 >> Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points and the Wildcats beat the Hoosiers in the Vegas Clash.
Arizona (8-1) held off Indiana’s surge after its lead was trimmed to 59-56 on consecutive 3-pointers by the Hoosiers midway through the second half. The Wildcats responded with three straight 3s to go up again by double digits.
Indiana (8-2) got as close as five late in the game, but the Wildcats’ dominance near the rim kept the Hoosiers at bay. Oumar Ballo’s dunk with 1:42 left added an exclamation point.
Ballo had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Indiana was led by Race Thompson with 16 points and nine rebounds. MEMPHIS 82, NO. 11 AUBURN 73 >> Kendric Davis scored 27 points, DeAndre Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Memphis ended Auburn’s seasonopening eight-game win streak.
Davis’ jumper beat the shot clock buzzer to make it 60-50 with 11:18 remaining, and Memphis (8-2) was never threatened again. The closest Auburn (8-1) got was an eight-point deficit on K.D. Johnson’s free throws with 3:04 left in the game.
Wendell Green Jr. and Johnson each finished with 14 points for Auburn.
UC IRVINE 83, SOUTH DAKOTA 71 >> DJ Davis had 17 points in the Anteaters’ road win over the Coyotes.
Dawson Baker added 16 points and five rebounds for UC Irvine (7-3). Justin Hohn shot 6 for 9 and finished with 14 points.
Paul Bruns scored 20 points for South Dakota (5-6).