Top 25 roundup: Zia Cooke leads No. 1 South Carolina past Kentucky to clinch SEC title

Zia Cooke scored 20 points, and No. 1 South Carolina held 14th-ranked Kentucky to 30% shooting to win 67-58 on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky, earning its 21st consecutive victory.

The win, coupled with Mississippi State’s loss to Alabama earned the Gamecocks the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.

The Gamecocks (27-1, 14-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed early before outscoring the Wildcats 17-1 over the final 5:14 of the first quarter. Kentucky mounted several small rallies and got within 49-40 midway through the third, but South Carolina closed with a 10-3 spurt that included consecutive transition baskets by Cooke.

Kentucky (20-6, 9-5) outscored the Gamecocks 15-8 in the fourth but didn’t get within single digits until Rhyne Howard’s 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining.

(5) Louisville 79, Pittsburgh 47: In Pittsburgh, Kylee Shook scored 17 points to lead Louisville to a rout of Pitt.

Louisville (25-3, 14-2 ACC) led by just one point at the end of the first quarter, but took over, using a 50-17 margin over the middle two periods to turn the game into a rout.

Shook shot 7 of 10 from the floor and was 2 of 3 from 3-point range while also grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. The double-double was her sixth of the season and third in four games.

Junior Gabbie Green scored 11 points to lead the Panthers (4-23, 1-15), who have dropped seven straight.

Washington 74, (8) UCLA 68: In Seattle, Amber Melgoza scored 20 points, Rita Pleskevich added 15 and Washington upset UCLA.

The Huskies (13-14, 5-11 Pac-12) started the day by celebrating GiGi Garcia on senior day with an emotional opening tip, then hammered and harassed the Bruins (22-4, 12-4) behind Melgoza’s gritty play.

Washington put a red mark on the Bruins postseason resume as they fight for a top seed in both the Pac-12 and the NCAA tournaments. Melgoza drove the lane again and again, getting battered by UCLA’s post players with little help from the referees until the end when she was knocked to the floor on a drive, and answered with two free throws. She added two more with 3.4 seconds left to seal the victory.

Alabama 66, (9) Mississippi State 64: In Starkville, Mississippi, Megan Abrams’ tip-in at the buzzer lifted Alabama to a victory over Mississippi State.

The Crimson Tide had the ball in a tied game with five seconds left when Jordan Lewis’ floater from the side slid off the side of the rim and into the fingertips of Abrams, who put it in before time expired.

Alabama (16-11, 6-8 SEC) stayed in the ball game most of the first three quarters thanks to the 3-point shot. The Crimson Tide made seven of their first 12 from behind the arc. Jasmine Walker’s 3-pointer cut a 10-point halftime deficit to two at 47-45.

The Bulldogs (23-5, 10-3) had a double-double from Jessika Carter with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Colorado 50, (11) Arizona 38: In Boulder, Colorado, Jaylyn Sherrod scored seven of her 12 points in a game-ending 15-0 run and Colorado pulled away from Arizona for a win.

Aubrey Knight added 10 points for the Buffaloes (16-11, 5-11 Pac-12 Conference), who were playing the third of four straight ranked opponents and got their first win against a Top 25 team since November of 2017. Mya Hollingshed had a career-high 13 rebounds and eight points.

Quinessa Caylao-Do’s layup with 6:11 to play started the run and Sherrod followed with a layup to put Colorado up 39-28. Sherrod added five free throws.

Arizona, playing its second straight game without the Pac-12’s leading scorer Aari McDonald (20.5 ppg), who has a lower leg injury, missed its last 10 shots.

The Wildcats (22-5, 11-5) had a four-game winning streak snapped

Villanova 76, (12) DePaul: In Philadelphia, Cameron Onken had the second triple-double in Villanova history, freshman star Madison Siegrist had a big double-double and the Wildcats pulled away in the second half to upset DePaul.

It made for a memorable sendoff in the last official home game for coach Harry Perretta, who is retiring after 42 years.

Onken scored 12 points with career highs of 18 rebounds and 10 assists. Siegrist poured in 29 points, giving her a Villanova freshman record of 558, and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Gedaka scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half as the Wildcats, leading 33-30 at the half, took control.

Villanova (16-11, 10-6 Big East Conference) shot 53% in the second half while DePaul (25-4, 15-2), which had already clinched the regular-season championship, went 1 of 11 from 3-point range and shot 28%.

(15) Oregon State 76, California 63: In Berkeley, California, Mikayla Pivec scored 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and Oregon State beat California to snap a four-game losing streak – its longest skid since 2013.

Destiny Slocum added 17 points and Maddie Washington scored 10 for Oregon State. The Beavers (20-8, 8-8 Pac-12) have won at least 20 games in seven consecutive seasons.

Pivec made a layup and then two free throws before Slocum hit a jumper to make it 20-16 midway through the second quarter and Oregon State never again trailed. Cal tied it twice before halftime but Washington made back-to-back baskets to spark a 13-4 run that gave the Beavers a 10-point lead with three minutes left in the third and Pivec scored six points in a 14-0 spurt that made it 62-43 early in the fourth.

Cailyn Crocker and Jaelyn Brown scored 17 points apiece for Cal (10-17, 2-14).

(16) Texas A&M 84, Auburn 54: In College Station, Texas, Chennedy Carter scored 23 points and Texas A&M cruised to a win over Auburn.

Kayla Wells added 13 points, Aaliyah Wilson 12 and Ciera Johnson 11 for the Aggies (22-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference), who won their fourth straight and are 14-0 against the Tigers.

N’dea Jones had 12 rebounds with eight points and Johnson had eight boards as Texas A&M had a 43-21 rebounding advantage.

Daisa Alexanders scored 15 points for the Tigers (9-16, 3-11) and Unique Thompson had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Georgia Tech 65, (17) Florida State 62: In Atlanta, Francesca Pan scored 23 points and Georgia Tech beat Florida State, giving the Yellow Jackets a season sweep.

Georgia Tech (18-10, 9-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) won 67-52 on Jan. 9 at then-No. 11 Florida State and with their second win over the Seminoles improved their NCAA Tournament at-large prospects.

Pan, honored with teammate Chanin Scott on Senior Day, was only 8-of-22 shooting overall but 6 of 13 from the arc.

Florida State (21-6, 11-5) had a nine-point lead midway through the third quarter but Pan scored five points to start a 16-2 run to end the period with a 52-47 lead.

Utah 75, (21) Arizona State 71: In Salt Lake City, Andrea Torres and Brynna Maxwell scored 15 points apiece and Dru Gylten had a career-high 12 assists to lead Utah to an upset of Arizona State.

The Utes got behind by double figures in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 13 in the second before finding their shooting touch. Utah went 11 of 21 from 3-point range and shot 55% overall.

Daneesha Provo added 12 points for Utah (13-14, 6-10 Pac-12 Conference), which ended a three-game losing streak. Gylten scored 10 points.

Reili Richardson hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points for Arizona State (19-9, 9-7), which saw its three-game winning streak end. Eboni Walker added 13 points.

Florida 83, (22) Arkansas 80: In Gainesville, Florida, Kiara Smith scored 26 points and Lavender Briggs scored 20 and Florida upset Arkansas holding off the Razorbacks late.

Florida had the ball at their end of the floor clinging to an 83-80 lead with 1.5 seconds left. Arkansas’ Chelsea Dungee stole the inbounds pass and dribbled across the timeline for a desperation heave which bounced off the backboard to end the game.

Florida (15-12, 6-8 Southeastern Conference), which never trailed, built a 10-0 lead, extended it to 19-5 and wrapped up the first quarter ahead 26-16.

The Gators had their last double-digit lead at 61-51 with 2:55 left in the third when Arkansas (21-6, 9-5) began the climb back. A’Tyanna Gaulden made a pair of free throws capping a 17-9 Razorbacks run that reduced their deficit to 75-73 with 3:39 left. Amber Ramirez’s 3 made it 81-80 with 75 seconds left, but Smith followed with a jumper with 55 seconds to go ending the scoring for both teams.

(23) Missouri State 82, Indiana State 58: In Springfield, Missouri, Jasmine Franklin scored 17 points, Alexa Willard added 15 and Missouri State cruised to a win over Indiana State.

Abby Hipp scored 12 points and Sydney Manning contributed a career-high 10 rebounds for the Bears (23-3, 13-1 Missouri Valley Conference), who won their ninth straight and improved to 13-0 at home.

Missouri State hit 10 of 15 shots and had a 10-0 run in the first quarter to race to a 25-9 lead. It was 39-23 at halftime and in the third quarter Franklin scored 10 points while the Bears had a 27-15 advantage.

Caitlin Anderson scored 15 points and Marie Hunter had 14 on 6-of-7 shooting for the Sycamores (4-23, 2-13), who lost the first meeting 76-55.