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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Top 25 men’s basketball roundup: No. 18 Arizona State beats top-ranked Kansas 80-76

Arizona State forward Zylan Cheatham (45) in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State defeated Kansas 80-76. (Rick Scuteri / AP)
Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. – Rob Edwards scored 15 points and hit two free throws with 6.1 seconds left, setting off a wild celebration in the desert as No. 18 Arizona State knocked off No. 1 Kansas 80-76 on Saturday night.

The second No. 1 team to play in Tempe drew a star-studded crowd, with Michael Phelps, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Eddie House and Arizona governor Doug Ducey among the third-largest crowd (14,592) in school history.

Arizona State (9-2) struggled hitting shots around the rim and stopping Kansas preseason All-American Dedric Lawson while falling behind by nine.

Like Arizona State did while beating Kansas a year ago, the Sun Devils rallied late, using a 10-0 run to go up 76-74 with 90 seconds left.

Kansas tied it on two free throws, then Arizona State’s Remy Martin hit a pull-up jumper with 58 seconds left. The Jayhawks (10-1) fumbled the ball away for a backcourt violation on the next possession and Edwards hit the two sealing free throws for Arizona State’s second win over a No. 1 team. The victory set off a massive celebration inside Wells Fargo Arena as the students poured out of the stands onto the court.

The Jayhawks played their fourth straight game without big man Udoka Azubuike due to an ankle injury, failing in their first true road test by not making enough plays down the stretch.

Dedric Lawson led Kansas with 30 points and 14 rebounds.

Arizona State pulled off the upset in Lawrence last season, knocking off the No. 2 Jayhawks 95-85 during an undefeated nonconference schedule that led the Sun Devils into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Arizona State entered the rematch with two losses in three games, to No. 6 Nevada and at Vanderbilt.

NO. 3 TENNESSEE 83, WAKE FOREST 64: At Knoxville, Tennessee, Grant Williams had 22 points and 10 rebounds as No. 3 Tennessee trounced Wake Forest for its sixth consecutive victory.

Kyle Alexander scored a career-high 19 points and had eight rebounds to help Tennessee (10-1) extend its home winning streak to 15 games. The Volunteers haven’t lost at Thompson-Boling Arena since last season, falling 94-84 to Auburn on Jan. 2.

Chaundee Brown scored 19 points and Brandon Childress added 14 for Wake Forest (6-4). Jordan Bone had 18 points and Admiral Schofield scored 12 for Tennessee.

NO. 4 MICHIGAN 71, AIR FORCE 50: At Ann Arbor, Michigan, Iggy Brazdeikis scored 19 points and Charles Matthews added 17 to lead Michigan past Air Force.

The Wolverines (12-0) went on a 19-3 run in the first half and never looked back. Michigan is 12-0 for only the third time in school history. The Wolverines also did it in 1985-86 and 2012-13.

Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers scored 11 points each for Michigan. Lavelle Scottie led the Falcons (4-7) with 16.

NO. 5 VIRGINIA 72, WILLIAM & MARY 40: At Charlottesville, Virginia, De’Andre Hunter scored 18 points, Kyle Guy had 16 and Virginia pulled away after halftime and beat William & Mary.

The Tribe (4-8) used a 14-3 run spanning halftime to trim a 17-point deficit to 34-28 early in the second half, but Mamadi Diakite’s basket sparked a 17-2 run that put Virginia (11-0) in command again. Guy had nine points in the run, including the last six.

Nathan Knight scored 22 points for William & Mary before fouling out.

NO. 6 NEVADA 68, AKRON 62: At Reno, Nevada, Caleb Martin and Jordan Caroline scored 19 points apiece, and Martin hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to help Nevada fend off Akron.

Martin’s big shot helped bail out the Wolf Pack (12-0) after another poor performance from beyond the arc. Nevada missed its first nine 3-point attempts, capping a 19-for-88 stretch going back three games.

Jimond Ivey scored 15 points and Daniel Utomi added 14 for the Zips (7-5).

NO. 7 AUBURN 93, MURRAY STATE 88: At Auburn, Alabama, Samir Doughty scored 20 points, Austin Wiley had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Auburn held off Murray State.

Doughty and Wiley were two of five players to score in double figures for Auburn (10-2). Chuma Okeke had 17 points, Harper finished with 12 and Bryce Brown added 11.

Ja Morant led Murray State (8-2) with 25 points and eight rebounds.

Murray State trailed by only three points at halftime and took the lead early in the second half before Auburn went ahead for good with 13:11 to play.

NO. 19 KENTUCKY 80, NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 72: At Chicago, Keldon Johnson scored 21 points, Reid Travis added 20, and Kentucky beat North Carolina in a matchup between two of college basketball’s winningest programs.

Johnson scored 16 in the second half, helping the Wildcats (9-2) hold off the Tar Heels (8-3) in their first meeting since the 2017 NCAA South Regional final. Kentucky won its second in a row since an overtime loss to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden.

Cameron Johnson led North Carolina with 17 points.

NO. 11 FLORIDA STATE 81, SAINT LOUIS 59: At Sunrise, Florida, David Nichols scored a season-high 19 points off the bench and Florida State shot a season-best 55 percent to beat Saint Louis in the one-day Orange Bowl Classic.

The Billikens shot only 30 percent – their season low, and the best effort yet for Florida State’s defense.

The Seminoles (11-1) won their sixth game in a row and matched the best 12-game record in school history. Saint Louis (8-4) suffered its most lopsided loss of the season.

Javon Bess had 16 points and Carte’Are Gordon scored 14 for the Billikens.

NO. 15 OHIO STATE 80, UCLA 66: At Chicago, C.J. Jackson scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, and Ohio State handed UCLA its third consecutive loss.

Kaleb Wesson had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Buckeyes (11-1), who have won five in a row since its only loss of the season last month against Syracuse. Ohio State got its second win at the United Center this season in the opener of the CBS Sports Classic.

Kris Wilkes had 18 points and seven rebounds for UCLA (7-5), which was coming off consecutive losses to Belmont and Cincinnati.

NO. 16 WISCONSIN 84, GRAMBLING STATE 53: At Madison, Wisconsin, Ethan Happ scored 19 points and grabbed his 1,000th career rebound, sending Wisconsin past Grambling State.

Happ finished with eight rebounds for Wisconsin (10-2). He is the 15th player in Big Ten history to reach 1,000 rebounds.

D’Mitrik Trice scored 14 points for the Badgers. Dallas Polk-Hilliard had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Grambling State (6-7).

NO. 17 MISSISSIPPI STATE 67, WRIGHT STATE 63: At Jackson, Mississippi, Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 14 points and went 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final minute as Mississippi State held off Wright State for its eighth straight victory.

Aric Holman had 12 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and four assists for the Bulldogs (11-1), while Lamar Peters chipped in 11 points and Tyson Carter scored 10.

Bill Wampler had 19 points for the Raiders (6-7).

NO. 22 INDIANA 94, JACKSONVILLE 64: At Bloomington, Indiana, Juwan Morgan recorded the second triple-double in Indiana history and the Hoosiers won their sixth straight.

Morgan finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, joining Steve Downing against Michigan in 1971 as the only Indiana player to accomplish the feat. Downing did it with points, rebounds and blocks.

Indiana (11-2) went 6-0 in December, the first time the Hoosiers have gone undefeated in a calendar month since November 2012.

Jace Hogan led Jacksonville (7-7) with 17 points.

NO. 23 IOWA 110, SAVANNAH STATE 64: At Iowa City, Iowa, Joe Wieskamp scored a career-high 24 points, Jordan Bohannon had 18 on six 3s and Iowa blew past Savannah State for its fourth straight victory.

Tyler Cook scored 16 points in 17 minutes for the Hawkeyes (10-2).

Zach Sellers had 18 points for Savannah State (3-11), which has lost seven in a row.

NO. 25 NEBRASKA 86, CAL STATE FULLERTON 62: At Lincoln, Nebraska, James Palmer Jr. scored 23 points and Nebraska took control midway through the first half to defeat Cal State Fullerton.

Nebraska (10-2) won its 18th straight home game, a streak dating to last season. Isaiah Roby had 20 points for the Cornhuskers. Kyle Allman Jr. had 14 of his 16 points in the second half to lead Cal State Fullerton (3-9).