LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Jalen Wilson scored 22 points, including one in a series of huge 3-pointers down the stretch, and No. 9 Kansas held off Kentucky 77-68 Saturday night in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The Jayhawks seized the lead for good midway through the first half before withstanding every Wildcats challenge in this tense marquee matchup of college basketball blue bloods. Gradey Dick and Wilson provided two of their biggest shots with consecutive 3-pointers. Kansas avoided its first four-game losing streak under coach Bill Self. Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and nine rebounds for Kentucky.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Keyontae Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds against his former team, and No. 5 Kansas State beat Florida 64-50 in the Big 12-SEC Challenge. Markquis Nowell finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Wildcats. They improved to 18-3 to equal the 1972-73 team for the best start through 21 games in school history. Colin Castleton scored 13 points and Myreon Jones had 11 for the Gators. They dropped to 0-3 against the Big 12 this season.
STARKVILLE, Miss (AP) — Tolu Smith had 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to lead Mississippi State to an 81-74 overtime victory over No. 11 TCU on Saturday. Dashawn Davis added 16 points to help Mississippi State (13-8) snap a five-game losing streak. Shakeel Moore had 11, including six in overtime, while Cameron Matthews had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Tyler Stevenson also added 10 points off the Bulldogs’ bench. Damion Baugh led TCU (16-5) with 19 points and Emanuel Miller had 13. Shahada Wells and Jakobe Coles each had 12 for the Horned Frogs and Chuck O’Bannon had 10.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Grant Sherfield scored a season-high 30 points, and Oklahoma beat No. 2 Alabama 93-69 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting, helping second-year Oklahoma coach Porter Moser to his biggest win with the program. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Sooners had lost three straight. Rylan Griffen led Alabama with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brandon Miller finished with 11 on 4-for-14 shooting.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points and Zakai Zeigler had 22 points and 10 assists to lead No. 4 Tennessee over No. 10 Texas 82-71 on Saturday night in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Josiah-Jordan James added 14 and Santiago Vescovi had 12 for Tennessee, which led by as many as 22 midway through the second half. Sir’Jabari Rice scored 21 to lead Texas. Marcus Carr and Brock Cunningham finished with 11 each.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Kobe Brown scored 20 points and D’Moi Hodge scored 17 points to help Missouri beat No. 12 Iowa State 78-61 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Brown scored 14 of his points in the first half and led Missouri with 12 rebounds. Nick Honor added 12 points for Missouri, and DeAndre Gholston scored 10. Jaren Holmes led Iowa State with 19 points, and Gabe Kalscheur added 14. The 78 points scored against Iowa State were a season-high for an opponent in regulation, dropping the Cyclones to 0-3 on the season when allowing at least 70 points in regulation.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Keyonte George scored 24 points for No. 17 Baylor in a 67-64 victory over Arkansas in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The 16-5 Bears never trailed again after Flo Thamba made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 3:37 left. True freshman George then scored seven points in a row. LJ Cryer added 20 points for the Bears, who shot a season-low 34% from the field. Ricky Council IV scored 25 points for 14-7 Arkansas and Davonte Davis had 16 points.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Erik Stevenson scored a career-high 31 points and West Virginia withstood a late rally from No. 15 Auburn to beat the Tigers 80-77 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday. The Mountaineers have won two straight for the first time in a month and now head into the teeth of the Big 12 schedule that will determine an NCAA Tournament berth. Auburn couldn’t overcome another slow start and has lost two straight, something it hasn’t done in two years. After Stevenson staked the Mountaineers to a 45-29 halftime lead, Auburn cut the deficit to a point late but never took the lead. Jaylin Williams led Auburn with 18 points.
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Kalib Boone scored 18 points to lead four in double figures as Oklahoma State rolled to an 82-60 victory over Mississippi in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Boone was 6 of 6 from the floor and made 6 of 8 free throws. Avery Anderson III was 11-of-11 shooting from the line and finished with 17 points for Oklahoma State (12-9), which shot 53% from the field and made 22 of 25 free throws. Woody Newton added 12 points and John-Michael Wright had 10. TJ Caldwell and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 12 points apiece for Ole Miss (9-12).
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have activated tight end Jody Fortson from injured reserve and elevated wide receivers Marcus Kemp and Ihmir Smith-Marsette for Sunday night’s AFC Championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The move to activate Fortson was widely expected after the red-zone threat showed no lingering problems from his elbow injury in practice this week. Fortson has not played since Dec. 18 against the Texans. He filled a roster spot that was already available after the Chiefs waived cornerback Chris Lammons. The Chiefs are hosting the AFC title game for the fifth straight time.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy have been here before. Just not in the NFL. The two met in November 2019, when Hurts was the QB for Oklahoma and Purdy was the QB for Iowa State. In that game, Hurts passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores for Oklahoma. Purdy passed for five touchdowns for Iowa State. could be primed for a shootout in the NFC championship game. Hurts is now an NFL MVP finalist for the Philadelphia Eagles and Purdy is the rookie sensation for the San Francisco 49ers.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Southern California native Max Homa came from five shots off the lead to win the Farmers Insurance Open by two strokes over Keegan Bradley on Saturday at Torrey Pines, where Jon Rahm imploded early and missed a shot at winning his third straight start and moving to No. 1 in the world. Homa reeled in Sam Ryder, who was trying for a wire-to-wire win, and then held off Bradley and Collin Morikawa for his sixth PGA Tour win and fourth in his home state. Homa closed with a 6-under 66 to finish at 13-under 275. He made a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 18 and pumped his right fist before greeting wife Lacey and infant son Cam just off the green.
SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czech Republic (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait for at least five more weeks before tying the World Cup record for most career wins with 86. The American skier finished second in a slalom and remained one victory short of Ingemar Stenmark’s total on the all-time overall winners list. The Swede competed in the 1970s and ’80s. Shiffrin’s next chance will be in March when she resumes World Cup racing after the Feb. 6-19 world championships in France. Shiffrin held a commanding first-run lead over Lena Dürr but was ultimately edged by 0.06 by the German skier.
SATURDAY SCORES
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final Oklahoma 93 (2)Alabama 69
Final (3)Houston 75 Cincinnati 69
Final (4)Tennessee 82 (10)Texas 71
Final (5)Kansas St. 64 Florida 50
Final (6)Arizona 95 Washington 72
Final (7)Virginia 76 Boston College 57
Final (9)Kansas 77 Kentucky 68
Final Mississippi St. 81 (11)TCU 74
Final Missouri 78 (12)Iowa St. 61
Final Creighton 84 (13)Xavier 67
Final (14)Gonzaga 82 Portland 67
Final West Virginia 80 (15)Auburn 77
Final (16)Marquette 89 DePaul 69
Final (17)Baylor 67 Arkansas 64
Final Hofstra 85 (18)Coll. of Charleston 81
Final Pittsburgh 71 (20)Miami 68
Final (21)FAU 70 W. Kentucky 63
Final (22)Saint Mary's (Cal.) 57 BYU 56
Final (24)Clemson 82 Florida St. 81
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Philadelphia 126 Denver 119
Final Brooklyn 122 New York 115
Final Chicago 128 Orlando 109
Final Houston 117 Detroit 114
Final L.A. Clippers 120 Atlanta 113
Final Minnesota 117 Sacramento 110
Final Washington 113 New Orleans 103
Final OT Phoenix 128 San Antonio 118
Final Utah 108 Dallas 100
Final OT Boston 125 L.A. Lakers 121
Final Toronto 123 Portland 105
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Colorado 4 St. Louis 2
Final OT Florida 4 Boston 3
Final Ottawa 5 Montreal 0
Final San Jose 6 Pittsburgh 4
Final Tampa Bay 5 Los Angeles 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Winnipeg 0
Final OT N-Y Islanders 2 Vegas 1
Final SO Minnesota 3 Buffalo 2
Final Seattle 3 Columbus 1
Final Edmonton 7 Chicago 3
Final OT Anaheim 2 Arizona 1