Baylor owns crunch time against the Wildcats

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Perry Jones scored 17 points and fourth-ranked Baylor held No. 18 Kansas State to one basket over the final 5 minutes for a 75-73 win on Tuesday night.

Quincy Acy and Brady Heslip added 13 points apiece for the Bears (16-0, 3-0 Big 12). Jones and Acy combined to go 14 of 18 from the floor. Pierre Jackson chipped in with 10 points for Baylor, which surged ahead with a 20-4 run over a 5 1

2-minute stretch midway through the second half.

Rodney McGruder scored 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting to lead Kansas State (12-3, 1-2). Jordan Henriquez added 10 points for the Wildcats.

Henriquez hit two free throws to give K-State a 71-69 lead with 4:13 to play, but Acy scored five straight points to put Baylor up 74-71 with 2:22 remaining.

The Wildcats had the ball down two with 20.9 seconds to go but failed to get off a shot and turned it over as time expired.

NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA 73, MIAMI 56: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Tyler Zeller scored 16 points while Dexter Strickland added 14 points and Kendall Marshall 12 for the Tar Heels (15-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who closed a nine-game homestand with a perfect record to rebuild some momentum after early losses to UNLV and Kentucky. The Tar Heels led almost the entire night and blew the game open with a 17-0 run spanning halftime, which staked UNC to a 23-point lead.

ILLINOIS 79, NO. 5 OHIO STATE 74: At Champaign, Ill., Brandon Paul scored a career-high 43 points and hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute to play to lift Illinois over Ohio State. The Illini (15-3, 4-1 Big Ten) led 71-70 when Paul hit from long range with 43 seconds to play. He followed that with four free throws to put the game out of reach.

NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 95, IOWA 61: At EastLansing, Mich., DraymondGreen had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Michigan State beat Iowa for its 15th straight win.

The victory gives the Spartans (15-2, 4-0 BigTen) their longest win streak since the 1998-99 season, when they won 22 in a row before losing to Duke in the national championship game.

The Hawkeyes (10-8, 2-3) have been routed in two straight games — they also lost to Ohio State, by 29 points — after beating Wisconsin and Minnesota on the road.

AaronWhite scored 15 points and DevynMarble had 12 for Iowa.

Michigan State went on a 16-0 run late in the first half and a 14-0 spurt in the second.

PROVIDENCE 90, NO. 14 LOUISVILLE 59: At Providence, R.I., BryceCotton and KadeemBatts each scored 27 points and Providence gave Louisville coach RickPitino a tough loss on a day the school honored his 1987 squad.

VincentCouncil added 15 points and LaDontaeHenton 14 for the Friars (12-6, 1-4 BigEast), who snapped a four-game losing streak.

ChrisSmith led the Cardinals with 16 points. Louisville (13-4, 1-3) has lost four of its last five, including a 67-65 setback in double-overtime at home against Notre Dame on Saturday.

At halftime, Providence held a ceremony honoring the 25th anniversary of its Pitino-coached team that made a run to the FinalFour.

NO. 19 FLORIDA 70, GEORGIA 48: At Gainesville, BradleyBeal broke out of his shooting slump with 17 points to lead Florida over Georgia for its 15th straight home win.

Beal was 4 of 6 from 3-poing range, making more shots from behind the arc than he did in the last four games combined, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

KennyBoynton also scored 17 points for the Gators (13-4, 1-1 SoutheasternConference).