College basketball roundup: Trevon Bluiett helps No. 5 Xavier get past Butler 98-93 in OT

Trevon Bluiett scored 17 of his 26 points in the final 14{ minutes of regulation and overtime Tuesday night to help No. 5 Xavier rally to beat Butler 98-93.

Kerem Kanter added 22 points, including the go-ahead basket with 2:56 left in overtime, which started the decisive 5-0 run. The Musketeers (22-3, 10-2 Big East) have won seven straight overall and three in a row in the series.

Kelan Martin had 34 points and Sean McDermott finished with 17 to lead the Bulldogs (17-8, 7-5), whose four-game winning streak was snapped.

Just barely, though, in a topsy-turvy game.

Butler erased an 18-point first-half deficit and led 62-56 with 9:13 to go when Bluiett, playing his final college game in his hometown, turned it up. He scored eight points in a 16-6 spurt that gave Xavier a 72-68 cushion.

But the Bulldogs clawed out of a seven-point hole in a 46-second span to tie it at 84 on Kamar Baldwin’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds to go.

Kanter’s layup in overtime gave Xavier an 89-88 lead, and Bluiett scored the next six points for the Musketeers, who held on.

at Northwestern 61, No. 20 Michigan 52: Bryant McIntosh tied a season high with 24 points, and Northwestern beat No. 20 Michigan 61-52 on Tuesday night.

McIntosh scored 14 in the second half to help the Wildcats (15-10, 6-6 Big Ten) win for the fourth time in five games.

Scottie Lindsey added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Northwestern returned the favor after losing at Michigan last week.

Moe Wagner led the Wolverines (19-7, 8-5) with 20 points and nine rebounds. But Michigan hit just 5 of 20 shots in the second half while missing 9 of 10 3-pointers.

Northwestern shook off a slow start to pull within three at halftime and scored 10 straight early in the second to grab its first lead of the game.

After struggling in the first half, Vic Law nailed a 3 to put the Wildcats ahead 35-33. A basket by Dererk Pardon and driving layup by Lindsey capped that spurt and made it a six-point game.

McIntosh came up big for Northwestern over the final nine minutes, starting with a 3 to make it 47-41.

He pulled up for a floater after Pardon blocked a layup by Jordon Poole, and he nailed another 3 and a jumper to make it 54-44 with 3:43 remaining.

McIntosh also drove for a layup off a crossover to make it 58-52 with 1:25 left after a three-point play by Wagner, and the Wildcats hung on from there.

No. 4 Michigan State 96, at Iowa 93: Miles Bridges had 25 points and a crucial steal with five seconds left and fourth-ranked Michigan State rallied past lowly Iowa 96-93 on Tuesday night for its seventh straight win.

Nick Ward added 17 points and Joshua Langford had 15 for the Spartans (23-3, 11-2 Big Ten). But they got a serious scare from the Hawkeyes in what was supposed to be a tune-up for Saturday’s huge home game against No. 3 Purdue.

After trailing by as much as eight, Bridges hit a pair of free throws to give Michigan State a 92-91 lead with 1:02 left. He hit two more from the line to make it a 3-point game.

But Tyler Cook pulled Iowa within 94-93 — and Bridges missed both of his free throws after his big steal with his team ahead by 3. But Nicholas Baer could only muster up a half-court shot for the Hawkeyes, and it bounced harmlessly off the rim.

Tyler Cook scored 26 points for Iowa (12-14, 3-10), which was coming off a 24-point loss at Penn State.

And yet the team that its fans thought it might see all year suddenly showed up against the Spartans.

Michigan State was only up six, 48-42, at the half despite shooting 59 percent and hitting its first 11 free throws. Moss then gave the Hawkeyes their first lead, 61-60, with 14:16 left. Jordan Bohannon pushed it to 68-64 on a transition 3, but Kenny Goines drilled a 3 with 2:10 left to put Michigan State back ahead 90-89.

Bohannon had 17 on five 3s for Iowa, which clinched its first losing season in the Big Ten since 2011-12.

No. 15 Tennessee 61, at No. 24 Kentucky 59: Lamonte Turner scored 16 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining, Admiral Schofield followed with a dunk off a turnover and No. 15 Tennessee edged No. 24 Kentucky 61-59 on Tuesday night for its sixth consecutive victory.

The Volunteers ran down the shot clock in the final minute before Turner fired from long range for the go-ahead basket in a tight game featuring 17 lead changes and 13 ties. Kentucky’s attempt to go ahead resulted in a turnover in the lane leading to Schofield’s dunk with 4 seconds left for a 61-58 lead.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made the first throw with 1.3 seconds left and intentionally missed the second, but Tennessee came up with the rebound as time ran out. The joyous Vols (18-5, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) came away with just their fifth Rupp Arena victory and first since 2006 while handing the Wildcats their second consecutive loss.

Jordan Bowden had 13 points and Schofield 12 for the Vols, who won a game in which both teams shot 42 percent.

Quade Green and Gilgeous-Alexander each had 15 points for Kentucky (17-7, 6-5).

at No. 6 Cincinnati 77, UCF 40: Another dominating defensive performance extended a streak that’s become Cincinnati’s point of pride.

Kyle Washington scored 13 points, Gary Clark added 12, and the sixth-ranked Bearcats routed Central Florida 77-40 on Tuesday night to remain perfect at home.

The Bearcats (22-2, 11-0 American Athletic) dug in against a low-scoring team and extended the nation’s longest active home-court winning streak to 39 games. Their younger players inherited the streak, which has spanned two courts and three seasons.

The Knights managed only 13 points in the first half, matching the fewest that Cincinnati has allowed in an opening half during coach Mick Cronin’s 12 seasons. UCF (14-9, 5-6) was 0 for 14 beyond the arc overall. In the first half, the Knights went more than 12 minutes without scoring.

Clark failed to score in the first half, but made Cincinnati’s first 10 points in the second half for a 43-15 lead.

The game matched two of the nation’s top defensive teams. It showed the last time they played, with Cincinnati grinding out a 49-38 win at UCF on Jan. 16.

The rematch followed the form at the outset. UCF went 12 minutes, 36 seconds without scoring — the Knights missed 14 shots and turned it over six times — as Cincinnati pulled ahead 18-2. The Bearcats led 33-13 at halftime despite shooting 32 percent.

at No. 10 Kansas 71, Texas Christian 64: Devonte’ Graham scored 24 points, Udoka Azubuike added 16 and No. 10 Kansas beat TCU 71-64 on Tuesday night.

The Jayhawks (19-5, 8-3 Big 12) have struggled this season to dominate at home as they traditionally have, but were able to avoid dropping two straight in Allen Fieldhouse thanks to a grind-it-out finish.

Kouat Noi led the way for the Horned Frogs (16-8, 4-7) with 17 points. Vlad Brodzianksy had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Foul trouble limited Azubuike to play just seven minutes in the first half for Kansas, but the rest allowed him to play 18 in the second. He finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Mitch Lightfoot played 22 minutes and had six points in his first career start for the Jayhawks after replacing the struggling Lagerald Vick earlier this week. Vick, however, played seven more minutes than Lightfoot in the first game since the move was made.

Alex Robinson finished with nine assists, passing coach Jamie Dixon for seventh place on TCU all-time list. Kenrich Williams moved into fifth place on TCU’s rebounding list, going ahead of Mickey McCarty.

TCU is 1-4 against top 10 teams this season. The Horned Frogs haven’t won a road game against a ranked opponent since 1998.

Kansas is now 16-2 all-time against TCU, and is a perfect 7-0 inside Allen Fieldhouse.

No. 22 Wichita State 85, at Memphis 65: Austin Reaves scored 22 points, Landry Shamet added 20 points and five assists and No. 22 Wichita State overcame early shooting struggles to beat Memphis 85-65 on Tuesday night.

Darral Willis Jr. finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Zach Brown scored 11 points for the Shockers (18-5, 8-3 American Athletic Conference), who were coming off an overtime loss at Temple on Saturday.

Jeremiah Martin led Memphis (14-10, 5-6) with 16 points, but was 2 of 10 from the field, including misfiring on all five shots from outside the arc. Kareem Brewton Jr. scored 12 points and Raynere Thornton had 11 points, missing only one of his six shots.

Memphis lost its second straight and fourth of five.

Wichita State, which was hovering around 33 percent shooting through much of the first half, shot 53.8 percent in the second half.

Memphis pulled within five points twice after halftime, only to have Shamet score to stem the rally. The second time, his field goal started a 17-3 run and the Shockers ran the lead to 19 points with about 5 minutes left and coasted home

The Shockers built an 11-point lead in the first half as Shamet converted his first three shots from outside the arc. Meanwhile, Thornton made his first four shots for Memphis.

But both teams misfired in the final minutes before the half, with Wichita State missing its last six shots as Memphis failed to convert its last five. The Shockers led 40-29 at the break.

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