Top 25 Capsules: No. 2 Villanova rolls past Xavier

CINCINNATI – Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points apiece in Villanova’s balanced offense, and the Wildcats led most of the way to in a 73-57 defeat of Xavier, which suffered another significant injury.

Villanova (24-2, 11-2) won a matchup of the Big East’s top two teams at the Cintas Center, where the Wildcats suffered one of their five losses last season on the way to a national championship.

It was a costly game for Xavier (18-7, 8-4), which already is missing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL. Trevon Bluiett, who is second to Villanova’s Josh Hart for the Big East lead in scoring, appeared to aggravate his sprained right ankle midway through the first half and had to be helped off the court.

RaShid Gaston led the Musketeers with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 3 Kansas 80, Texas Tech 79

LUBBOCK, Texas – Josh Jackson had 31 points and 11 rebounds and made a free throw with 2.8 seconds left for Kansas.

After Kansas inbounded the ball with 5.4 seconds left, Jackson was fouled and missed the first free throw before making the game-winner.

Landen Lucas scored 13 points and Frank Mason III had 12 for Kansas (22-3, 10-2 Big 12).

Keenan Evans finished with 25 points and Niem Stevenson had a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for Texas Tech (16-9, 4-8). Zach Smith finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 4 Louisville 71, Miami 66

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Quentin Snider returned from an injury to score 13 points, including a big 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining, and Deng Adel and Donovan Mitchell added 18 points each for Louisville.

The Cardinals (20-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) had to fight back from a 14-point first-half deficit and finally drew even on Mitchell’s 3 with 6:12 left, part of a 13-0 run for a 61-53 lead. Louisville’s surge included Adel’s four-point play.

Miami rallied to tie it at 61 with 1:56 left before Snider made two free throws and then the long 3 as he returned from a six-game absence with a hip injury.

Ja’Quan Newton had 15 points for the Hurricanes (16-8, 6-6), who had won four of five.

No. 5 Oregon 81, Southern California 70

LOS ANGELES – Dillon Brooks scored 21 points before fouling out, Tyler Dorsey added 19 and Oregon beat Southern California for the 14th straight time.

The Ducks (22-4, 11-2 Pac-12) salvaged a split in Los Angeles after losing at 10th-ranked UCLA.

Oregon’s winning streak is its longest ever against the Trojans and the Ducks’ longest winning streak against any Pac-12 opponent.

Chimezie Metu scored 16 points, and Bennie Boatwright and Elijah Stewart had 15 points each for USC (21-5, 8-5).

No. 6 Baylor 70, TCU 52

WACO, Texas – Johnathan Motley had 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting for Baylor.

Baylor (22-3, 9-3 Big 12) never trailed in winning its 11th straight game in the series since the former Southwest Conference rivals were reunited in the Big 12 when TCU moved into the power league four years ago.

Manu Lecomte added 17 points for the Bears, and King McClure scored all 13 of his before halftime.

Jaylen Fisher had 18 points for TCU (17-8, 6-6) while Kenrich Williams had 10.

No. 9 Arizona 62, California 57

TUCSON, Ariz. – Kobi Simmons scored 13 points, Dusan Ristic added 12 and Arizona stretched its home winning streak to 20 games.

Arizona (23-3, 12-1 Pac-12) learned earlier Saturday that it is currently a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region after the NCAA Tournament selection committee released its preliminary rankings.

Kadeem Allen added 11 points and Arizona held Cal’s Ivan Raab to four points and four rebounds.

Jabari Bird led Cal (18-7, 9-4) with 19 points.

No. 13 West Virginia 85, Kansas St. 66

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jevon Carter had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead West Virginia.

West Virginia (20-5, 8-4 Big 12) struggled at the start, making two of its first eight shots from the field over the first 4 minutes, but the Mountaineers then went on a 12-1 run to take the lead.

Kansas State rallied to tie the game at 34 at halftime.

After a 3-pointer by Xavier Sneed early in the second half, the Wildcats (16-9, 5-7) went on a cold snap from the field that lasted over 6 minutes.

Wesley Iwundu led five Wildcats in double figures with 14 points.

Notre Dame 84, No. 14 Florida State 72

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Bonzie Colson scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Notre Dame avenge a January loss to Florida State.

After snapping a four-game losing streak against Wake Forest, the Fighting Irish have won two straight to remain in the hunt for the top-four finish in the Atlantic Coast Conferece and a double-bye in the league’s postseason tournament.

Matt Farrell added 15 points and nine assists for Notre Dame (19-7, 8-5), and Steve Vasturia had 15 points and seven rebounds. Terrance Mann led Florida State (21-5, 9-4) with 15 points, and Dwayne Bacon and Trent Forrest each had 12.

No. 15 Kentucky 67, Alabama 58

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Isaiah Briscoe had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists to help Kentucky weather one of its lowest scoring outputs.

The Wildcats (20-5, 10-2 Southeastern Conference), fresh from a shootout win over LSU, found a way to win at a much different tempo after dropping three of their last five games.

Malik Monk added 17 points against the Crimson Tide (14-10, 7-5), which was coming off a quadruple-overtime road upset of No. 19 South Carolina.

Braxton Key led Alabama with 21 points.

No. 17 Florida 71, Texas A&M 62

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Justin Leon scored 18 points, and Canyon Barry added 12 for Florida.

John Egbunu notched his first double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds, as the Gators (20-5, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) won their sixth consecutive game.

Robert Williams led the Aggies (13-11, 5-7) with 18 points and 12 rebounds, the freshman’s seventh double-double of the season.

No. 18 Duke 64, Clemson 62

DURHAM, N.C. – Luke Kennard scored 25 points for Duke.

Playing less than 48 hours after an emotion-draining victory over No. 8 North Carolina on Thursday night, the Blue Devils (20-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 14-point lead in the second half and needed a stop at the buzzer to seal their fifth straight victory.

Shelton Mitchell had a career-high 23 points and Elijah Thomas finished with 15 for the Tigers (13-11, 3-9), who have lost three straight and haven’t won at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.

No. 19 South Carolina 77, Mississippi St. 73

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sindarius Thornwell scored 28 points, Chris Silva added 15 and South Carolina made a late surge.

The Gamecocks (20-5, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a 90-86 four-overtime loss to Alabama on Tuesday. This game was close and hard-fought, too: Mississippi State led 64-63 with 5:17 remaining, but the Gamecocks scored the next nine points to pull away for the road win.

Tyson Carter had a career-high 22 points for Mississippi State (14-10, 5-7).

No. 21 Maryland 86, Ohio St. 77

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Anthony Cowan scored 19 points and fellow freshman Kevin Huerter added 18 as Maryland ended its first losing streak of the season.

Jaylen Brantley scored 11 points for the Terrapins, who bolted to a 9-0 lead and never trailed in completing a season sweep of the Buckeyes. The victory enabled Maryland (21-4, 9-3 Big Ten) to avoid its first three-game skid since 2012.

Marc Loving led the Buckeyes (15-11, 5-8) with 24 points and Jae-Sean Tate had 20.

Providence 71, No. 22 Butler 65

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Alpha Diallo scored 15 points and Kyron Cartwright had 14 for Providence.

Nate Fowler scored a career-high 19 points and Kamar Baldwin had 11 rebounds for Butler, which has lost three of four. Fowler made his first seven shots to make up for poor shooting by the rest of the Bulldogs (19-6, 8-5 Big East).

It was 61-60 Friars (15-11, 5-8) when they scored the next eight points – including Diallo’s free throws when Butler coach Chris Holtmann was whistled for a technical.

No. 23 Creighton 93, DePaul 58

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Toby Hegner set a season high with 14 points and matched one with four 3-pointers and Marcus Foster scored 13 points for Creighton.

The Bluejays (21-4, 8-4 Big East) shot a season-high 60.7 percent and nailed 13 of 22 3-pointers against the last-place Blue Demons (8-17, 1-11).

DePaul dropped its eighth straight even though Chris Harrison-Docks scored 15 points.