MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Tylor Perry scored 25 points and Kansas State beat UCF 77-52 on Saturday night in the Knights’ inaugural game as a Big 12 Conference member. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points for Kansas State (11-3, 1-0), which has won eight of its last nine games. Cam Carter chipped in 12 points and blocked three shots. Will McNair Jr. scored 11 points. Darius Johnson scored 10 points for UCF (9-4, 0-1), Perry hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-0 run in the second half that stretched the Wildcats’ lead to 60-25 with 12 minutes left. It was their largest of the game.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson scored with 3.4 seconds left to lift No. 2 Kansas past TCU 83-81. Dickinson led Kansas with 30 points on Saturday. He hit a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul on TCU’s Ernest Udeh Jr. with less than a minute remaining to tie the game. Dickinson then followed Dajuan Harris Jr.’s miss in the final seconds. Kansas also got 18 points from KJ Adams Jr. Kevin McCullar Jr. had 16 points and Harris scored 10. TCU was led by Trevian Tennyson with 24 points.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech’s Pop Isaacs scored 21 points to lead the Red Raiders to 78-67 Big 12-opening win over No. 20 Texas a day after he was named in a lawsuit alleging sexual assault of a minor. Isaacs was booed by Texas fans whenever he touched the ball, and at one point put his fingers to his lips after a 3-pointer to shush them. Isaacs was not made available after the game and coach Grant McCasland said he had no additional comment beyond a school statement that said it is conducting an investigation. Tyrese Hunter scored 20 to lead Texas.
HOUSTON (AP) — L.J. Cryer scored 20 points, Damian Dunn added 14 points and No. 3 Houston improved to 14-0 with an 89-55 win over West Virginia in the Cougars’ inaugural Big 12 contest. Cryer scored 16 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting, including four 3-pointers, as Houston shot 58% as a team and took a 48-22 lead into halftime on Saturday. Cryer has scored at least 20 points in five games this season. Patrick Suemnick had 12 points and five rebounds, and Noah Farrakhan added nine points for West Virginia.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Javian McCollum had 15 points and five assists, and No. 11 Oklahoma defeated Iowa State 71-63 in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Milos Uzan scored 12 points, Le’Tre Darthard scored 11 and Sam Godwin added 10 points and six rebounds for the Sooners. Hason Ward, Milan Momcilovic and Robert Jones each scored 12 points for Iowa State. The Cyclones had won six straight. The Cyclones, who entered the day averaging 86.2 points per game, shot 42.6% from the field, including 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Viktor Lakhin scored 17 points and Aziz Bandaogo had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Cincinnati to a 71-60 victory over No. 12 BYU in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Jizzle James also added 12 for the Bearcats, who won their fourth straight game after rallying from a halftime deficit for the second straight game. Trevin Knell scored a career-high 27 points on a career-high nine 3-pointers to lead BYU. Dallin Hall added 10 points but no other player scored in double figures for the Cougars, who lost at home for the first time this season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans wrapped up a playoff spot with a 23-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night, with Devin Singletary scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run with 6:20 left. The Texans (10-7) are going to the postseason for the first time since 2019. They won seven of their final 10 games and still could win the AFC South if Jacksonville loses at Tennessee on Sunday. Indianapolis (9-8) was eliminated from the playoff chase with its third loss in five weeks. Stroud was 20 of 26 with 264 yards and two touchdowns, and Nico Collins had nine catches for 195 yards and a score. Jonathan ran for 188 yards and a TD for the Colts.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew tried to console Tyler Goodson after the running back dropped a fourth-down pass with 1:06 seconds left in a win-or-go home game against Houston on Saturday night. Heck, Minshew even said after the after the 23-19, playoff-eliminating loss he should have made a better throw. Regardless of who was to blame, Goodson, Minshew and the Colts had no choice but to accept the cold, hard reality — their season is over because on a night they converted only one of third-down chance, they also blew their only fourth-down attempt of the game. Goodson was wide open. And had they connected, Goodson had blockers and a possible lane to the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Mason Rudolph threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the Pittsburgh Steelers took a step toward the postseason with a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Rudolph led Pittsburgh to three straight wins to close the season, and now the Steelers wait. They would make the playoffs Sunday if Buffalo loses to Miami or Jacksonville loses to Tennessee. There was some bad news for the Steelers. The Ravens have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC and held Lamar Jackson out of this game.
HOUSTON (AP) — With NFL franchises apparently intrigued with Michigan's Jim Harbaugh again, the question hanging over the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night between the top-ranked Wolverines and No. 2 Washington is: Could this be his last as the coach of his alma mater? Harbaugh was having none of the speculation at media day. What makes the latest round of will-he-or-won’t-he with Harbaugh and the NFL unique is how it has reverberated all the way out to Seattle, where Washington has been working on a new contract for Kalen DeBoer since November.
HOUSTON (AP) — That extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season is paying off for the teams playing in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night. Among Washington’s 22 offensive and defensive starters, seven are in their sixth seasons and seven are in their fifth. Michigan has one starter in his sixth season and eight in their fifth. Michigan co-defensive coordinator Jesse Minter says all that experience was a factor in both teams making it to Houston.
NEW YORK (AP) — Draymond Green has been reinstated by the NBA from his suspension after the Golden State star missed 12 games for hitting Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Dec. 12. The league says Green “demonstrated his commitment to conforming his conduct to standards expected of NBA players” during his suspension, which began Dec. 14. He has met with a counselor as well as had multiple joint meetings with representatives of the league, the Warriors and the National Basketball Players Association. Those meetings, the league added, will continue throughout the season. The Warriors have gone 7-5 without Green, who was also suspended five games in November for placing Minnesota center Rudy Gobert in a headlock.
SATURDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 17 Baltimore 10
Final Houston 23 Indianapolis 19
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (2)Kansas 83 TCU 81
Final (3)Houston 89 West Virginia 55
Final (5)Tennessee 90 (22)Mississippi 64
Final (6)Kentucky 87 Florida 85
Final Seton Hall 78 (7)Marquette 75
Final (8)North Carolina 65 (16)Clemson 55
Final (10)Arizona 92 Utah 73
Final (11)Oklahoma 71 Iowa St. 63
Final Cincinnati 71 (12)BYU 60
Final Utah St. 77 (13)Colorado St. 72
Final (14)Duke 67 Notre Dame 59
Final Charlotte 70 (17)FAU 68
Final (18)Baylor 75 Oklahoma St. 70
Final Southern Miss. 81 (19)James Madison 71
Final Texas Tech 78 (20)Texas 67
Final (21)Wisconsin 88 Nebraska 72
Final Creighton 69 (23)Providence 60
Final (24)Gonzaga 101 San Diego 74
Final (25)Auburn 83 Arkansas 51
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final New York 121 Washington 105
Final Boston 118 Indiana 101
Final Utah 120 Philadelphia 109
Final Houston 112 Milwaukee 108
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 3 Calgary 2
Final Florida 8 Colorado 4
Final Boston 7 Tampa Bay 3
Final Buffalo 3 Pittsburgh 1
Final Toronto 4 San Jose 1
Final SO Montreal 4 N-Y Rangers 3
Final OT Minnesota 4 Columbus 3
Final Vancouver 6 New Jersey 4
Final Nashville 4 Dallas 3
Final SO St. Louis 2 Carolina 1
Final Edmonton 3 Ottawa 1
Final Vegas 5 N-Y Islanders 2