Top 25 Roundup: South Carolina Stuns No. 6 Kentucky

South Carolina Gamecocks head football coach Shane Beamer, bottom right, celebrates a three-point basket by guard Meechie Johnson (5), foreground, against the Kentucky Wildcats in the second half at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S. C., on Jan. 23, 2024. Jeff Blake/USA TODAY Sports via Field Level Media

Graduate guard Ta'Lon Cooper matched his career high with 20 points as South Carolina stunned No. 6 Kentucky 79–62 on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play in Columbia, S.C.

Cooper shot 8 of 11 from the field as the Gamecocks (16–3, 4–2 SEC) hit 48.3 percent of their shots while handing the Wildcats their first double-digit loss since Feb. 7, 2023, when they fell 88–73 to Arkansas.

Rob Dillingham led Kentucky (14–4, 4–2) with 16 points, including 11 in the first half. Antonio Reeves had 15 points and Tre Mitchell tallied 13 for the Wildcats, who shot only 40.3 percent from the field.

After holding the Wildcats to their lowest-scoring half of the season in the first 20 minutes, the Gamecocks needed just over 12 minutes of the second period to more than double their eight-point halftime advantage to 62–44.

No. 2 Purdue 99, Michigan 67

Lance Jones scored a game-high 24 points and Braden Smith and Zach Edey both notched double-doubles as the Boilermakers cruised past the visiting Wolverines in West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (18–2, 7–2 Big Ten) relied on a 3-point barrage to blitz Michigan, finishing 14-for-21 from beyond the arc. Jones sparked the effort with a 5-for-9 showing from deep, helping the Boilermakers lead by as many as 35 points.

Playing without leading scorer Dug McDaniel, who is ineligible for road games due to an academic-related suspension, Michigan (7–12, 2–6) struggled to 33.8 percent shooting from the floor. Purdue shot 51.5 percent.

No. 4 Houston 75, No. 21 BYU 68

LJ Cryer sank five 3-pointers to highlight his 23-point performance, lifting the Houston Cougars over the BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah.

Big 12 Player of the Week Jamal Shead added 16 points and Houston (17–2, 4–2 Big 12) shot 43.5 percent from 3-point range to secure its third win in a row. Damian Dunn scored 10 points off the bench and Emanuel Sharp collected nine points and nine rebounds for Houston.

BYU’s Noah Waterman drained four 3-pointers to highlight his 17-point performance. Jaxson Robinson scored 10 points and Trevin Knell added eight points and six rebounds for BYU (14–5, 2–4), which has lost two in a row and four of its last six games.

Texas 75, No. 11 Oklahoma 60

Max Abmas scored 22 points and Dylan Disu added 19 points and 10 rebounds as Texas turned it on over the final 12 minutes to win a key Big 12 game in Norman, Okla.

Texas recorded its second straight win over a team ranked in the top 11 in the AP poll and beat the Sooners for the sixth consecutive time. Chendall Weaver added a season-high 11 points for the Longhorns (14–5, 3–3 Big 12), and Dillon Mitchell grabbed 13 rebounds.

Oklahoma (15–4, 3–3) was led by Jalon Moore’s 15 points and 10 from Otega Oweh. The Sooners shot just 39.3 percent in their first home loss of the season.

No. 12 Duke 83, Louisville 69

Sophomore Tyrese Proctor scored a career-high 24 points off the bench as the Blue Devils topped the host Cardinals.

Duke (14–4, 5–2 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from a home loss Saturday to Pitt that led to the Blue Devils’ five-spot drop in the AP Top 25 poll. Duke was boosted by the returns of Mark Mitchell, who missed the previous two games, and Jeremy Roach, who sat out the loss against Pitt. Both players were nursing knee injuries.

Louisville (6–13, 1–7) was paced by Brandon Huntley-Hatfield’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. Mike James and Skyy Clark each scored 13 points and Ty-Laur Johnson had 10 as the Cardinals lost their fourth straight game.

No. 13 Wisconsin 61, Minnesota 59

Tyler Wahl scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting and the Badgers escaped with a win over the Golden Gophers in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Minneapolis.

AJ Storr added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Wisconsin (15–4, 7–1 Big Ten), which won for the eighth time in its past nine games and held on to first place in the Big Ten standings. Elijah Hawkins scored 16 points and distributed nine assists to lead Minnesota (12–7, 3–5).

Braeden Carrington made 1 of 2 free throws to put Minnesota on top 58–57 with 34 seconds left. Storr answered with a pair of free throws to swing the lead back to Wisconsin with 26 seconds to go. Wahl blocked Hawkins’ shot, recovered the ball, and added two more free throws to make it 61–58 with five seconds left.

No. 16 Dayton 66, La Salle 54

DaRon Holmes II tallied a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds to help lead the Flyers to a victory over the Explorers in Philadelphia.

Javon Bennett and Nate Santos added 13 points apiece for Dayton (16–2, 6–0 Atlantic 10 Conference). The Flyers won their 13th straight game, their longest winning streak since a 20-game run in 2020.

Andres Marrero’s 13 points paced La Salle (10–9, 1–5), which dropped its fourth straight game. Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus followed with nine points apiece for the Explorers, who made just 21 of their 59 shots (35.6 percent) from the field.

No. 17 Creighton 85, Xavier 78

Trey Alexander scored 16 of his season-high 27 points in the first half and Baylor Scheierman added 20 points as the Bluejays rallied for a victory over the Musketeers at Omaha, Neb.

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Creighton (15–5, 6–3 Big East) overcome a seven-point deficit in the last 12 minutes.

Desmond Claude and Dayvion McKnight each scored 20 points for Xavier, which saw its three-game winning streak end. Quincy Olivari added 15 as Musketeers (10–9, 4–4) fell to 1–4 on the road.