Freshman Ebuka Okorie scored a career-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting and added nine assists as host Stanford closed on an 11-3 run to beat No. 14 North Carolina 95-90 on Wednesday.

Stanford (14-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 87-84 with less than two minutes to play before Jeremy Dent-Smith and Ryan Agarwal hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a 7-0 run to put the Cardinal ahead 91-87 with 32 seconds left.

After North Carolina pulled within 93-90 on Seth Trimble’s tip-in with five seconds left, Benny Gealer made two free throws to help seal Stanford’s fourth consecutive home win over a ranked opponent.

Agarwal set career highs with five 3-pointers and 20 points for Stanford, which shot 57.1% from the field and from distance, hitting 16 of 28 from beyond the arc and 16 of 28 from inside the arc. Dent-Smith added a season-high 20 off the bench while shooting 6 of 7 from 3-point range.

Caleb Wilson scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds for North Carolina (14-3, 2-2), which has lost two of its last three games. Henri Veesaar matched his career high with 26 points while Luka Bogavac and Trimble added 13 apiece.

North Carolina led by as many as 12 midway through the first half before Stanford battled back and tied the game at 34-all with 3:46 left when Gealer’s 3-pointer capped a 10-0 run.

Okorie had 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half for Stanford, which trailed 47-45 at intermission after shooting 57% from the field. Veesaar had 16 points to lead the Tar Heels, who connected on 51.7% of their shots in the half.

North Carolina opened the second half on a 16-6 run and moved ahead 63-51 on Wilson’s jumper with 15:19 left.

The Tar Heels struggled to slow down Okorie, who began the game ranked eighth in the nation in scoring at 22.1 points per game. The star freshman scored with 4:35 remaining to cut Stanford’s deficit to 83-81.

Stanford played without second-leading scorer Chisom Okpara, who sat out with a lower-body injury.

–Field Level Media

Darius Acuff Jr. scored 18 points and added a season-high 13 assists, Meleek Thomas contributed five 3-pointers and 21 points off the bench, and No. 17 Arkansas blew out South Carolina 108-74 on Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Malique Ewin added 18 points for the Razorbacks (13-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference), who had six players score in double figures. Arkansas bounced back decisively from its worst loss of the season, 95-73 at Auburn on Saturday.

Meechie Johnson scored 17 of his 29 points in the first half and added six assists for the Gamecocks (10-7, 1-3), who have lost three of their past four games.

Nick Pringle scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for the Razorbacks against his former team. Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile had 13 points and D.J. Wagner logged 12.

Acuff, named the SEC freshman of the week for the fifth straight week on Monday, recorded his third double-double.

The Razorbacks shot 58.9% from the field overall. They hit at a 69.7% clip while outscoring the Gamecocks 58-36 in the second half.

Arkansas led by 43 on Pringle’s dunk with 2:31 remaining.

The Razorbacks had their fifth 100-point game of the season and threatened their season high of 115 set Nov. 21 against Jackson State. The entered averaging 89.4 points a game, 15th in Division I.

South Carolina committed a season-high 16 turnovers, helping Arkansas to 32 fastbreak points. Arkansas averaged 20.4 fastbreak points coming in, third in Division I.

The Razorbacks also dominated the inside, outscoring the Gamecocks 66-36 in the paint.

Arkansas took control early in the first half, consistently beating South Carolina down the floor. Karter Knox and Ewin dunked and Ewin added a fastbreak layup during a 14-5 run for a 22-12 lead.

The Razorbacks went on a later 12-2 spurt fueled by four points from Ewin, a 3-pointer by Thomas and a three-point play by Billy Richmond III to pull ahead 44-28. The gap was 50-38 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Matas Vokietaitis scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and Texas’ defense did the rest in a stunning 80-64 upset of previously undefeated No. 10 Vanderbilt on Wednesday in a Southeastern Conference dustup in Austin, Texas.

The Longhorns (11-6, 2-2 SEC) led by 10 late in the first half, by five at halftime and by eight after a Tramon Mark free throw with 14:11 remaining. Chendall Weaver’s driving layup with 7:06 to play stoked Texas’ advantage to 68-57 and had the home team in position for the upset win.

Vanderbilt (16-1, 3-1) went 3:44 without a field goal during that pivotal stretch and never made a run through the final stretch. The Commodores were seeking a program-record 17-0 start to the season, having matched the 16-0 start set by the 2007-08 team.

The Longhorns expanded their advantage to 20 on a high-flying breakaway dunk by Vokietaitis with three minutes to play and cruised to the finish line, beating their second ranked opponent in a period of five days.

Mark added 21 points for the Longhorns, with Dailyn Swain posting 14 points, nine boards and seven assists and Jordan Pope hitting for 12 points.

Duke Miles led the Commodores with 21 points while Tyler Tanner had 17 and Tyler Nickel scored 10 for Vanderbilt, which shot just 26.7% from the floor in the second half and 36.7% overall.

The Longhorns led by as many as three over the first eight minutes, the latest on a layup by Lassina Traore, before Vanderbilt rallied to tie the game at 22-all when Duke Miles poured in a 3-pointer near the midway mark of the first half.

Texas reeled off the ensuing five points on a jumper by Mark and a 3-pointer from Pope. Vanderbilt swung back with a 6-0 run punctuated by Miles’ 3-pointer with 7:10 left in the half to go up 28-27 before the Longhorns produced 13 of the next 15 points to take a 40-30 advantage with 2:31 to play until halftime.

Vanderbilt finished the half with a 7-2 surge, with Nickel’s jumper at the buzzer bringing the Commodores to within 42-37 at the break. It was the first time this season that Vanderbilt trailed at halftime.

Vokietaitis and Pope paced the Longhorns with 12 points apiece before the break. Miles led all scorers with 14 points while Tanner hit for 10 over the first 20 minutes of play.

–Field Level Media

Trent Perry scored a career-high 30 points, Tyler Bilodeau finished with 21 points and nine rebounds and UCLA used a late run to hold off Penn State 71-60 on Wednesday in State College, Pa.

The Bruins (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) used a 15-4 spurt, during which they held the Nittany Lions scoreless for almost four minutes, to build an insurmountable lead down the stretch.

The combined 3-point shooting of Perry and Bilodeau, who each knocked down four triples, powered the UCLA offense. The duo ignited the pivotal run with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Perry connected on another, over the critical stretch.

In addition to his 4-of-8 shooting from long distance, Perry excelled at getting to the free-throw line and making Penn State pay by hitting all 12 attempts at the charity stripe. UCLA was perfect at the foul line as a team, going 21 of 21 and outdoing Penn State’s outstanding 16-of-17 free-throw shooting.

The Nittany Lions (9-8, 0-6) were much less effective from beyond the 3-point arc, going 4-of-22. Dominick Stewart, whose 16 points led Penn State, shot just 1-of-7 from outside.

Three-point shooting made the difference, with UCLA going 10 of 26 behind Bilodeau and Perry.

Wednesday marked the second time in as many games Perry led the Bruins in scoring, as he continued to pick up the slack with Skyy Clark sidelined due to a hamstring injury sustained in the Jan. 3 loss at Iowa.

Xavier Booker and Donovan Dent were scoreless for UCLA. Dent shot 0-of-6 from the floor while dealing with foul trouble and Booker was limited to 12 minutes.

Steven Jamerson II helped fill some of the scoring void with eight points off the bench. Jamerson also grabbed eight rebounds. Eli Rice scored 14 points for Penn State.

–Field Level Media

Keaton Wagler scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half while leading No. 13 Illinois to a 79-68 Big Ten victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night in Evanston, Ill.

Tomislav Ivisic contributed 14 of his season-high-tying 21 points in the second half — including two crucial 3-pointers late — as the Fighting Illini (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to six games. Kylan Boswell added 13 points and six assists.

Point guard Jayden Reid, dropped from the Northwestern starting lineup for the first time this season, delivered a career-high 28 points off the bench to pace the Wildcats (8-9, 0-6). Nick Martinelli, the nation’s leading scorer at 24.1 points per game, finished with 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.

The Wildcats dropped their fourth game in a row.

Despite Martinelli wriggling free for just one shot in the first 15 minutes, Northwestern shrugged off an early 6-0 deficit to swap the lead with the Illini eight times in the first half. Martinelli finally launched his second shot at the 4:41 mark and drilled a 3-pointer to forge a 25-25 tie.

Tre Singleton’s putback gave the Wildcats a 27-25 edge, but the Illini responded with a driving layup from Andrej Stojakovic, a 3-pointer from Ivisic and banked 3-pointer from the wing by David Mirkovic that led Northwestern to take a timeout with 2:30 to go.

Martinelli wound up with 11 points in the first half, but Illinois carried a 38-33 lead into the break despite going 4-for-18 from 3-point range.

Illinois wasted little time blitzing Northwestern after halftime. The Illini scored on their first five possessions — including back-to-back 3-pointers by Wagler and Ivisic that forced a Northwestern timeout — to take a 50-40 lead.

Reid responded by sinking two free throws, an open 3-pointer and a 17-foot stepback to pull Northwestern within 53-47 with 13:28 to play.

Once again, Illinois tried to pull away. Jake Davis buried a 3-pointer from the corner just before the shot clock expired, then Wagler slashed to the basket for a three-point play and swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Illini their biggest lead at 62-47.

That inspired Reid to one-up Wagler. He hit a baseline jumper, swiped the ball from Wagler and drew a flagrant-1 foul for two free throws, cashed a 3-pointer from the corner and hit a free throw after Illinois’ bench was whistled for a technical foul. When Reid drove and dished to Arrinten Page for a dunk, the Wildcats pulled within 62-57 at the 7:50 mark.

Ivisic drained back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot on the left wing to give Illinois a 75-65 edge with 2:06 to go.

–Field Level Media

Riley Kugel totaled 19 points and seven rebounds, Jamichael Stillwell had 18 points and seven boards and UCF earned an 82-73 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan.

Themus Fulks produced 13 points, 12 assists, three rebounds and three steals for the Knights (14-2, 3-1 Big 12), who won their second straight game. Devan Cambridge had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench.

P.J. Haggerty had a game-high 23 points along with five rebounds and five assists for the Wildcats (9-8, 0-4). Khamari McGriff totaled 15 points and five boards. Abdi Bashir Jr. scored 12 points and Taj Manning posted 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

UCF shot 52.5% (32 of 61) from the floor, while Kansas State hit 44.6% (29 of 65).

Neither team created much separation early in the fourth conference game for each. Kugel’s five points gave the visitors a 9-8 lead at the first media timeout as each squad made half of its field goals by the 15:41 mark.

Kugel stayed hot and sent the Knights on an 11-0 run with his second trey and a baseline jumper to start it. Then Fulks alley-ooped to Cambridge for a 16-10 edge. With the home side down 20-10, David Castillo drilled a long ball to break the streak.

UCF’s defense constantly pressured the Wildcats, forcing them to commit eight turnovers to just five assists by the 10-minute mark. The lead grew to 29-16 on Fulks’ jumper from the elbow at 7:56.

Kansas State came alive on an 8-2 run behind two layups by Haggerty and buckets from Manning and McGriff to cut the deficit to 10 with less than three minutes to play.

UCF led 42-28 at halftime on 52.9% shooting as Kugel led with 10 points. Meanwhile, the Wildcats shot 34.4% and received eight points from McGriff.

Just over three minutes into the second half, the Wildcats’ found their game, with Bashir making two treys to get the deficit down to eight. Castillo’s layup at 13:12 made it 55-49.

Haggerty’s layup made it a one-point game, but Fulks and Jordan Burks drained deep shots to push UCF’s lead to 63-56 at 10:57.

Kansas State got within three at 7:36 but could get no closer as UCF handed the Wildcats their fourth straight defeat.

–Field Level Media

Jayden Stone scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Missouri past Auburn 84-74 on Wednesday night in Columbia, Mo.

Mark Mitchell had 20 points, five assists and five assists as Missouri (13-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) improved to 11-0 at home. Trent Pierce scored 18 points and fellow reserve T.O. Barrett added 13.

Kevin Overton and Elyjah Freeman scored 13 points each to pace Auburn (10-7, 1-3). Sebastian Williams-Adams scored 12 points before fouling out with 4:56 left and Keyshawn Hall added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Missouri missed 10 free throws and turned the ball over 13 times, but it held Auburn to 40.7% shooting overall and 6-for-21 shooting from 3-point range.
Auburn pushed out to a 12-5 lead with a 7-0 run. Freeman banked in a halfcourt 3-pointer to beat the shot clock, then he drove the baseline for a dunk to cap that surge.

Pierce steadied Missouri with a traditional three-point play and a 3-point jumper. Anthony Robinson II hit a 3-point jumper, then Barrett’s layup put Missouri up 20-18.

Missouri increased its lead to 32-27 with Mitchell scoring three baskets at the rim.

By hitting 7-of-14 shots from 3-point range, Missouri finished the half with a 38-34 lead. Auburn built an 18-10 edge on points in the paint, but it had just one fastbreak basket during the first 20 minutes.

Mitchell drove the basket for a layup and a three-point play to open the second half as Missouri increased its lead to 43-34.

Overton rallied Auburn on an 8-1 run by hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Missouri answered with a 12-4 run to move ahead 56-46 with 12:48 left.

Williams-Adams converted a three-point play to cut Auburn’s deficit to 60-53 with 9:17 left, but Missouri answered again, with a 10-4 run capped by Mitchell’s three-point play.

Auburn rallied with full-court pressure that forced turnovers. With seven free throws, Auburn cut its deficit to 72-66 with 2:44 left.

Hall cut the lead to 74-70 with 1:46 left by scoring off another Missouri turnover, but Stone helped close out Auburn with seven late points.

–Field Level Media

Malachi Moreno drained a mid-range jumper at the buzzer on Wednesday to propel Kentucky to a 75-74 victory over LSU in Southeastern Conference play at Baton Rouge, La.

Moreno had 10 points for the Wildcats (11-6, 2-2 SEC), who trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half. Otega Oweh’s 21 points led Kentucky, followed by Denzel Aberdeen’s 17 and Andrija Jelavic’s 11.

Marquel Sutton and Max Mackinnon led LSU (12-5, 0-4) with 16 points apiece. Rashad King added 12 for the Tigers, who remain the last SEC team without a conference win.

With the score tied at 72, Mackinnon made a pair of free throws with 17.4 seconds left.

After Kentucky’s timeout, Oweh split a pair of foul shots with 4.5 seconds remaining and LSU pulled down the rebound.

Pablo Tamba then missed both of his free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining, before Moreno caught the ensuing full-court inbounds pass and drained an 18-footer at the buzzer.

After LSU pushed its 16-point halftime edge to 18, Kam Williams’ 3-pointer stamped a 12-2 Kentucky run to pull the Wildcats within eight at the 17:06 mark.

Collin Chandler’s triple cut Kentucky’s deficit to five, before Mackinnon answered with a trey to push LSU’s lead to 57-49 midway through the second.

With Kentucky trailing by nine, Oweh’s 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run to cut LSU’s lead to 65-64 with 5:06 left. After Jalen Reece’s triple, another Oweh triple and Williams’ dunk put the visitors ahead by a point with 3:55 remaining.

After Sutton connected on back-to-back triples to begin the game’s scoring, Jelavic scored the first three Wildcats points.

From there, LSU answered with a 12-0 run, stamped by Sutton’s consecutive dunks to give the Tigers an 18-3 edge. Oweh then made a pair of free throws to snap a four-plus minute scoring drought, pulling the visitors within 13.

After five misses from deep, Kentucky connected on its first trey at the 8:34 mark of the first half, as Jelavic’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 19-9.

LSU grabbed a 29-14 lead on Robert Miller III’s layup, before Oweh and Collin Chandler’s baskets highlighted a 6-1 spurt to pull the Wildcats within 10.

Sutton’s third 3-pointer and Tamba’s trey then helped LSU grab a 38-22 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Patton Pinkins rebounded a missed shot and scored at the buzzer to lift Ole Miss to a 97-95 overtime upset of No. 21 Georgia on Wednesday in Athens, Ga.

A.J. Storr, who led the Rebels with 27 points, missed a jumper with one second left, but Pinkins was able to put it in for the winning shot to round out his 18-point performance.

Storr put Ole Miss ahead with a layup with 18 seconds left, but Marcus “Smurf” Millender tied the game 95-95 by making the second of two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining.

Ole Miss (10-7, 2-2 SEC) also got 14 points from Travis Perry and 13 from Ilias Kamardine.

Georgia (14-3, 2-2) was led by Jeremiah Wilkinson, who had six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 32. It was the seventh 20-point game of the season for Wilkinson. Kanon Catchings added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Millender scored 14.

The loss broke Georgia’s 12-game home-court winning streak.

Sparked by three consecutive baskets from Storrs, Ole Miss used a 13-3 run to establish a 20-10 lead with 10:50 left in the first half.

But Georgia’s Wilkinson began to heat up from distance and hit five 3-pointers, one of them off a fastbreak which tied the game at 26-26 at 4:51. Wilkinson had 15 points and the Bulldogs led 40-35 at halftime, with 27 of their points coming on 3-pointers.

Ole Miss tied the game at 46 on back-to-back 3s from Pinkins and Storr, but was unable to take the lead until Storr drained a 3 to make it 59-58 with 12:56 left. The Rebels twice trailed by five but regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Perry and a basket by Storr for a 73-71 lead at the 6:52 mark.

Georgia led by five points with 3:17 remaining, but the Rebels tied the game on a basket by Storr with 17 seconds left.

Georgia’s Jordan Ross missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime tied at 87.

–Field Level Media

Baba Miller had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Moustapha Thiam added 15 points and host Cincinnati held on to beat Colorado 77-68 on Wednesday night.
Cincinnati (9-8, 1-3 Big 12) led wire-to-wire to earn its first conference win.

Isaiah Johnson scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, Barrington Hargress finished with 14 points and Bangot Dak contributed 12 points for the Buffaloes (12-5, 2-2), who have dropped two straight.

Colorado turned it over on its first four possessions and five times in the first 4:10.

The Bearcats scored the game’s first 10 points and led 18-4 with 13:01 left, then pushed the lead to 30-11 with 8:30 remaining.

Colorado found some rhythm, going on a 9-4 run over the next 3:45 to get within 34-20 but Cincinnati went into halftime ahead 43-25.

The Bearcats raced out to a 50-29 lead on Miller’s dunk early in the second half before the Buffaloes chipped away at the deficit. Hargress drained a 3-pointer, Dak dunked and Johnson also hit from deep during an 11-2 run that got Colorado within 12.

Cincinnati pushed its lead to 15 but the Buffaloes surged again, with Johnson making two buckets and Josiah Sanders hitting a layup to get within 59-52.
Colorado had a chance to get closer but an offensive foul on Elijah Malone led to Miller’s layup and a 61-52 lead.

The Bearcats missed five shots on one possession and Alon Michaeli hit a layup to get the Buffaloes within five, but Day Thomas hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper to make it 66-56. Colorado turned it over, Miller scored at the other end and Dak made a 3-pointer.

Hargress made a pair of free throws with 1:32 left, then a 3-pointer after a Cincinnati turnover made it 68-64. Jizzle James hit two free throws as the Bearcats closed it out at the line.

–Field Level Media