No. 16 UCLA combined a solid offensive effort, committing four turnovers and shooting percent from the floor, with a stifling defense to lead wire-to-wire and throttle No. 20 Maryland 87-60 on Wednesday in College Park, Md.
The Bruins (9-2) scored the game’s first seven points, pushed their lead to 26-7 by the under 8-minute timeout of the first half, and led by as many as 38 points. UCLA also converted 16 Maryland turnovers into 19 points and held Terrapins leading scorer Jahmir Young without a field goal in eight attempts.
David Singleton connected on his first seven field-goal attempts off the bench and finished with a season-high 18 points, while Jaylen Clark effectively attacked the rim on the way to a game-high 19 points for UCLA. The Bruins, who also held a 44-16 advantage in scoring in the paint, won their sixth straight.
Maryland (8-3) dropped its third straight. All three losses came to teams currently ranked in the top 25, though Wednesday’s defeat was the first by a double-digit-point margin.
No. 17 Mississippi State 69, Jackson State 59
D.J. Jeffries scored 15 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures as Mississippi State rallied to beat the Tigers in Jackson, Miss.
Jeffries shot 5 of 13 from the field, including just 1 of 7 from distance, to go along with five rebounds, while Tolu Smith added 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Eric Reed Jr. had 13 points that included him going 3 of 7 from 3-point range, while KeShawn Murphy had 10 points by going 3 of 4 from the field and adding three rebounds.
The Bulldogs (10-0) are off to their best start since opening the 2003-04 season 13-0 en route to winning the SEC West Division’s regular-season title. Jackson State (1-9) was led by Coltie Young, who scored a career-high 23 points by going 8 of 13 from the field, including a red-hot 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
No. 19 Auburn 72, Georgia State 64
Jaylin Williams had a season-high 20 points and Wendell Green Jr. recorded his 1,000th career point as the Tigers rallied past the visiting Panthers.
Williams was 8-for-11 shooting from the field, including 2 of 3 from the 3-point line. He also grabbed eight boards. Green tallied 17 points and scored No. 1,000 from the free-throw line, a basket which put Auburn up 57-48 with 7:01 to play in the second half. Green, who is in his second season at Auburn after playing one campaign for Eastern Kentucky, limped off with an ankle injury with less than a minute to play.
Johni Broome added 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Tigers (9-1), who played without K.D. Johnson (coaching decision). Georgia State (5-5) was led on offense by Evan Johnson, who had a team-high 14 points. Dwon Odom added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Brenden Tucker scored 10 points for the Panthers.
–Field Level Media
