Sharp scores 18 off the bench, leads No. 3 Houston over UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Emanuel Sharp came off thebench to score 18 points and No. 3 Houston bounced back from a lossthat knocked it from the top spot in the rankings, beating UCF82-71 on Wednesday night.

Jarace Walker added 17 points, Jamal Shead had 14 points and 10assists, and Marcus Sasser also scored 14 for the Cougars (19-2,7-1 American Athletic Conference), who lost 56-55 at home to Templeon Sunday.

Ithiel Horton scored 18 points and Taylor Hendricks had 17 forUCF (13-7, 4-4). Hendricks’ three-point play capped a 6-0 run thatpulled the Knights within 67-62 with 7:02 remaining.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 66, MISSISSIPPI STATE 63

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jahvon Quinerly scored 14 points andAlabama rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to beatMississippi State.

The Crimson Tide (18-2, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) had toclimb out of a hole and then hold on two days after reaching theprogram’s highest ranking since rising to No. 1 in the 2002-03season. The result was a ninth straight win and the first realscare during that stretch.

Quinerly had four assists for the Tide and scored nine in thesecond half. Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney both scored 13, andClowney had eight rebounds.

Tolu Smith led Mississippi State (12-8, 1-7) with 15 points andseven rebounds. Dashawn Davis added 14.

NO. 4 TENNESSEE 70, GEORGIA 41

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zakai Zeigler had 11 points and sevenassists and Tennessee held its 10th opponent to 50 or fewerpoints.

Tobe Awaka came off the bench to score 10 points. SantiagoVescovi had six rebounds, four assists and six steals to go withhis eight points as Tennessee (17-3, 7-1 Southeastern Conference)got its first win at home since having its 25-game home winningstreak snapped by Kentucky more than a week ago.

The Bulldogs (13-7, 3-4), who managed just 29% shooting from thefield, were led by Terry Roberts with 11 points.

NO. 13 XAVIER 82, NO. 19 UCONN 79

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Souley Boum scored 21 points, Colby Jonesadded 20 and Xavier won its 13th in 14 games.

Jack Nunge had 12 points and Jerome Hunter added 11 for Xavier(17-4, 9-1 Big East), which led by 17 in the first half and 39-24at halftime.

Jordan Hawkins scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half forUConn (16-6, 5-6), leading a comeback that fell just short. TristenNewton added 23 points for the Huskies.

TEXAS A&M 79, NO. 15 AUBURN 63

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Tyrece Radford had 30 points and ninerebounds and Texas A&M ended the nation’s longest active homewinning streak at 28 games.

The Aggies (14-6, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) used a strongoffensive start to hand Auburn its first loss at Neville Arenasince Feb. 23, 2021.

Wade Taylor IV finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting forthe Aggies.

Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr. each scored 16 points for theTigers (16-4, 6-2), who had won five straight games overall.

NO. 23 PROVIDENCE 79, BUTLER 58

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Bryce Hopkins had 16 points and sevenrebounds as Providence dominated Butler inside.

Devin Carter added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Friars(16-5, 8-2 Big East), who have won two straight since back-to-backlosses at Creighton and Marquette. Providence had a 42-24rebounding edge and outscored the Bulldogs 48-20 in the paint.

Eric Hunter Jr. had 12 points and Jayden Taylor scored 10 with ateam-high five rebounds for Butler (11-11, 3-8).