Acuff and Brazile lead No. 20 Arkansas past Texas
Darius Acuff Jr. had 28 points and 13 assists, Trevon Brazile scored a career-high 28 and No. 20 Arkansas beat Texas 105-85 on Wednesday night to clinch a double bye into the quartefinals of the SEC Tournament.
After securing a top-four finish in the Southeastern Conference standings, the Razorbacks (22-8, 12-5) will bypass the first two rounds next week in Nashville, Tennessee.
Acuff became the first player in Arkansas history with at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game. He had 19 points and eight assists by halftime as the Razorbacks took a 22-point lead into the break.
Brazile, a senior playing his final home game, shot 9 of 11 from the field and added seven rebounds.
Matas Vokietaitis led Texas (18-12, 9-8) with 21 points. He was one of four Longhorns players in double figures.
NO. 7 HOUSTON 77, BAYLOR 64
HOUSTON (AP) — Kingston Flemings had 21 points and seven assists, Emanuel Sharp added 19 points and Houston rallied for a win over Baylor.
Flemings and Sharp combined to shoot 13 of 26 from the field, and Sharp was 5 of 10 on 3-pointers.
Joseph Tugler finished with 14 points and six rebounds and Milos Uzan had 12 points for Houston (25-5, 13-4 Big 12), which used a big second-half run to overcome Baylor (15-15, 5-12).
The Cougars forced 18 turnovers and converted them into 28 points. They shot 46% and were 9 of 25 on 3-pointers.
Tounde Yessoufou had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Caden Powell added 12 points and Cameron Carr and Obi Agbim each had 11 for the Bears. Baylor shot 42% from the field and 8 of 25 from behind the arc, but made just two of their final 16 from long range.
NO. 15 PURDUE 70, NORTHWESTERN 66
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — C.J. Cox scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 48 seconds left that helped Purdue edge Nick Martinelli and Northwestern.
Cox outlasted Martinelli in a memorable duel in the final minutes, sending Purdue to a sorely needed victory. The Boilermakers (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) had lost two in a row and three of four overall.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 11 points and 10 rebounds, shaking off a shoulder injury in the second half. Fletcher Loyer finished with 10 points.
Martinelli, a senior playing his final home game, scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half. The Big Ten’s leading scorer moved into seventh on the school’s career list with 1,687 points, passing Northwestern assistant coach Bryant McIntosh.
Jayden Reid scored 16 points for the Wildcats (13-17, 5-14), who had won three in a row.
NO. 22 MIAMI 77, SMU 69
DALLAS (AP) — Tre Donaldson scored 17 points, Malik Reneau had a double-double and Miami beat SMU, ensuring the Hurricanes a double bye in next week’s ACC Tournament.
Reneau had 12 points and 11 rebounds while Tru Washington scored 15 for Miami (24-6, 13-4), which got its seventh win in eight games since the start of February. Freshman guard Noam Dovrat had 12 points on four 3-pointers for the second game in a row.
The Hurricanes played their first game as an AP Top 25 team since December 2023 after getting ranked on Monday. They matched their school record for regular-season wins and increased Division I’s best turnaround to 17 victories more than last season with first-year coach Jai Lucas.
Jaron Pierre Jr. had 27 points with six 3s and Boopie Miller scored 21 for the Mustangs (19-11, 8-9), who have lost three in a row after earlier this season getting double-digit wins at home over Top 25 teams North Carolina and Louisville. They haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017.
NO. 25 SAINT LOUIS 79, LOYOLA CHICAGO 65
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Amari McCottry scored 18 points, Dion Brown added 15 and Saint Louis clinched the top seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament by beating Loyola Chicago.
The Billikens (27-3, 15-2) finished unbeaten at Chaifetz Arena for the first time in the building’s 18-year history and tied the school record with their 22nd consecutive home win, 19 coming this season.
Xavier Amos led the Ramblers (7-23, 3-14) with a season-high 25 points and Kayde Dotson scored 19. Amos made all seven of his shots in an 18-point first half, including four 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch to close an early 12-point deficit.