Hot-shooting Razorbacks shock Gators
Arkansas' BJ Young receives an inbound pass during the second half Tuesday night in Fayetteville, Ark. Young scored 13 points in Arkansas' 80-69 win over the No.2 Gators.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — BJ Young led three players in double figures with 13 points as the Arkansas Razorbacks opened quickly and never let up in a shocking 80-69 men’s college basketball victory over No. 2 Florida on Tuesday night.
The win improves the Razorbacks (14-8, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) to 14-1 at home this season, and it snaps a 10-game winning streak for the Gators — who had ascended to the No. 2 spot in The AP Top 25 one day earlier.
Arkansas opened the game 15-of-20 from the field. Michael Qualls and Marshawn Powell added 11 points each.
All 11 players scored for the Razorbacks in their first win over a top-10 team since early in the 2008-09 season.
Mike Rosario led Florida (18-3, 8-1) with 15 points.
Scottie Wilbekin added 14 points.
After trailing by as many as 23 points in the first half, the Gators cut the lead to 43-26 at halftime.
The Razorbacks didn’t give Florida a chance to come up for air to open the second half, forcing turnovers on two straight possessions to open the second half and extending the lead to 49-26 following a jumper by Qualls.
Florida had one final run in it, responding with an 11-2 stretch to cut the deficit to 51-37 after an inside basket by Michael Frazier.
The Gators did close the lead to 11 points, but by then it was too late.
The win was Arkansas’ first over a team ranked in the top 10 since victories over No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas early in 2008-09.
Kentucky 77, South Carolina 55: In Lexington, Ky., Julius Mays’ 15 points led five Kentucky players in double figures.
The Wildcats (16-6, 7-2) earned their fourth straight victory and perhaps most complete in conference play as they shot 27-of-44 from the field and outrebounded the Gamecocks 42-25. Kentucky’s 61-percent shooting was its third-highest this season.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Archie Goodwin each added 13 points, Ryan Harrow had 12 and Nerlens Noel 10 along with 10 rebounds and five blocks.
Freshman forward Michael Carrera scored a game-high 18 points for South Carolina (12-10, 2-7), which lost its third in a row and fifth in the past six games.
Top 25
No. 3 Michigan 76, No. 10 Ohio StATE 74, OT: In Ann Arbor, Mich., Tim Hardaway Jr. brought Michigan back with a relentless streak of 3-point shooting, then blocked a shot by Aaron Craft in the final seconds of overtime.
Hardaway finished with 23 points, including five straight 3-pointers in the second half. The Wolverines (21-2, 8-2 Big Ten) led by two points when Craft rushed the ball into the frontcourt after a missed Michigan free throw.
He got all the way to the basket, but Hardaway was there to smother his last-ditch attempt to tie it.
After scoring at will most of the second half, Ohio State (17-5, 7-3) managed only two points in overtime.
No. 8 Miami 72, Boston College 50: In Coral Gables, Fla., Kenny Kadji scored 10 points during a span of four possessions to start a second-half surge for Miami.
Rion Brown led the Hurricanes (18-3, 9-0 Atlantic Coast) with 22 points, and Kadji had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Boston College fell to 10-12, 2-7.
No. 13 Kansas State 68, Texas Tech 69: In Lubbock, Texas, Rodney McGruder had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Kansas State.
Angel Rodriguez added 13 points and Thomas Gibson had 12 for the Wildcats (18-4, 7-2 Big 12).
Jordan Tolbert scored 19 points for the Red Raiders (9-11, 2-7), and Dejan Kravic added 12.