No. 1 Houston routs Wichita State 83-66

Fri, Mar 3, 2023
Other News (AP)

HOUSTON (AP) - Jamal Shead scored a career-high 25 points, Marcus Sasser added 24 and No. 1 Houston defeated Wichita State 83-66 on Thursday night.

Shead shot 10 of 17 from the field. The junior was 4 of 8 on 3-pointers.

Sasser tied the school career record for most 3-pointers set by Robert McKiver with 261. He also scored at least 20 points for the sixth straight game, and chants of "Sasser" filled the Fertitta Center after it was over.

Jarace Walker had 11 points and nine rebounds for Houston (28-2, 16-1 American Athletic Conference). The Cougars shot 47%, including 9 of 25 on 3s, in winning their 10th straight game.

Houston forced 20 turnovers, which it converted into 17 points.

Craig Porter Jr. had 17 points and seven rebounds, Jaron Pierre Jr. added 16 points and Kenny Pohto had 12 for Wichita State (15-14, 8-9).

No. 4 UCLA 79, ARIZONA STATE 61

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points as UCLA pulled away in the second half to defeat Arizona State.

Tyger Campbell added 16 points and Jaylen Clark 15 for the regular-season Pac-12 champion Bruins (26-4, 17-2), who have won nine straight as they continue their bid for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

DJ Horne had 13 points and Warren Washington added 12 for the Sun Devils (20-10, 11-8).

Jaquez scored 15 of UCLA's first 19 points. He started 6 of 8 from the field while the rest of the team was 1 for 11.

The Bruins led 38-34 less than a minute into the second half before they broke things open with a 12-3 run that included five points by Campbell and four from Clark.

No. 5 PURDUE 63, WISCONSIN 61

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Zach Edey had 17 points and 19 rebounds as Purdue outlasted Wisconsin, damaging the Badgers' NCAA Tournament hopes.

Purdue (25-5, 14-5) already had clinched the Big Ten regular-season title outright before the end of this game by virtue of Illinois' 91-87 double-overtime victory over Michigan. The Illinois-Michigan game concluded late in the first half of the Purdue-Wisconsin matchup.

But there was still plenty at stake in this game as Purdue sought to make its case for a No. 1 seed and Wisconsin (16-13, 8-11) attempted to boost its postseason credentials. Neither team led by more than three points for the final 12 minutes.

In the eighth and final lead change of the second half, Edey made both ends of a one-and-one to put Purdue ahead 58-57 with 1:45 left. Edey had been 1 of 6 from the line before sinking those two.

Wisconsin's Chucky Hepburn missed a baseline jumper with 1:15 remaining, but Purdue's Ethan Morton misfired on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining.

The Badgers called a timeout and got the ball to Max Klesmit, who missed a driving layup attempt as the Kohl Center crowd pleaded for a foul call.