Alabama center Charles Bediako dunks during the Crimson Tide’s 77-69 win over Auburn on Saturday in Auburn, Alabama. Butch Dill/Associated Press
AUBURN, Ala. — Rylan Griffen scored 16 points, Mark Sears added 15 and No. 3 Alabama held off a big challenge from its in-state rival, beating Auburn 77-69 on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) remained the only Power-5 team without a league loss.
The Tigers (17-8, 7-5) missed nine straight shots in the final minutes. They have dropped five of their last six after being ranked most of the way.
Sears and Griffen helped Alabama overcome an off shooting performance from star Brandon Miller, who had 13 points but missed all seven 3-point attempts.
(5) TEXAS 94, WEST VIRGINIA 60: Sir’Jabri Rice scored 24 points in just 17 minutes and the Longhorns (20-5, 9-3 Big 12) defeated the Mountaineers (15-10, 4-8) in Austin, Texas.
(8) VIRGINIA 69, DUKE 62: Armaan Franklin scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, to lift the Cavaliers (19-4, 11-3 ACC) over the Blue Devils (17-8, 8-6) in overtime in Charlottesville, Virginia.
(9) KANSAS 78, OKLAHOMA 55: Jalen Wilson scored 18 points, and the Jayhawks (20-5, 8-4 Big 12) rolled past the Sooners (12-13, 2-10) in Norman, Oklahoma.
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 with nearly 21 points per game, bounced back from a two-point outing against Texas on Monday.
(10) MARQUETTE 89, GEORGETOWN 75: Kam Jones, Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek each scored 14 points to lead a balanced scoring attack and the Golden Eagles (20-6, 12-3 Big East) beat the Hoyas (6-20, 1-14) in Washington.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 11 points and Chase Ross added 10 as Marquette moved into first place in the conference. The Golden Eagles are a half-game ahead of No. 13 Xavier, which lost at Butler on Friday.
(14) BAYLOR 72, (17) TCU 68: Adam Flagler scored 28 points, with 16 in a row for 14th-ranked Baylor during the stretch when the Bears (19-6, 8-4 Big 12) overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and then held on to beat the Horned Frogs (17-8, 6-6) in Fort Worth, Texas.
ST. JOHN’S 73, (20) PROVIDENCE 68: A grieving David Jones scored 16 points, AJ Storr added 15 and the Red Storm (15-11, 5-10 Big East) beat No. 20 Providence in New York, handing the Friars (18-7, 10-4) a costly defeat in their pursuit of a second consecutive regular-season conference title.
Jones came off the bench after missing two games to go back home to the Dominican Republic following his father’s death. The junior forward entered averaging 12.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
(22) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 92, BOSTON COLLEGE 62: Jarkel Joiner scored 26 points and D.J. Burns Jr. added 18 with 10 rebounds to lead the Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5 ACC) to a victory over the Eagles (12-14, 6-9) in Boston.
(23) CREIGHTON 56, UCONN 53: Trey Alexander scored 17 points to lead No. 23 Creighton (17-8, 11-3 Big East), UConn (19-7, 8-7) had what would have been a tying 3-pointer erased on video review in the final seconds, and the Bluejays held off the 21st-ranked Huskies in Omaha, Nebraska.
ILLINOIS 69, (24) RUTGERS 60: Coleman Hawkins scored 18 points and the Illini (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) held the Scarlet Knights (16-9, 8-6) scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the second half, rallying for a win in Champaign, Illinois.
(25) SAN DIEGO 82, UNLV 71: Adam Seiko scored all 18 points on 3-pointers and Matt Bradley added 17 points for the Aztecs (20-5, 11-2 MWC), the Mountain West Conference front-runner that beat the Runnin’ Rebels (16-9, 5-8) in San Diego for their third straight win and seventh in eight games.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(4) UCONN 67, GEORGETOWN 59: Dorka Juhász had 18 points and 15 rebounds to help the Huskies (22-4, 14-1 Big East) fend off the Hoyas (12-13, 5-11) in Washington, snapping a rare two-game slide.
Aubrey Griffin added 18 points for the Huskies, who were coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since 1993 . They haven’t dropped three in a row since that same season.
(15) VILLANOVA 99, SETON HALL 65: Maddy Siegrist scored a career-high 50 points to become the Big East Conference’s career regular-season scoring leader and the Wildcats (22-4, 13-2 Big East) smashed the Pirates (15-10, 9-7) in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
(23) GONZAGA 63, PORTLAND 53: Kaylynne Truong scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs (23-3, 13-1 WCC) to a win over the Pilots (18-7, 12-2) in Spokane, Washington, to snap a first-place.
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