Top 25 roundup: Cooper Flagg, No. 12 Duke down No. 17 Arizona

Cooper Flagg scored 24 points and No. 12 Duke picked up its first victory against a power-conference team this season by defeating No. 17 Arizona 69-55 on Friday night at Tucson, Ariz.

Kon Knueppel scored most of his 13 points courtesy of three 3-pointers as Duke’s top two scorers were freshmen in the team’s first true road game of the season. The Blue Devils overcame 8-for-13 shooting on free throws.

Duke avenged a loss to Arizona last November on the Blue Devils’ home court.

Jaden Bradley led Arizona (2-2), which won its first two home games, with 18 points and five steals. KJ Lewis added 12 points. Wildcats guard Caleb Love, a transfer from North Carolina, managed just eight points on 3-for-13 shooting, including 1-for-9 on 3-point attempts.

No. 7 Houston 80, Hofstra 44

Joseph Tugler scored 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting off the bench while Emanuel Sharp made all five of his three-point attempts, leading the Cougars to a wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Pride.

Sharp finished with 16 points and is now 11-of-15 from 3-point range this season. Terrance Arceneaux scored 12 points for Houston (3-1) on 5-of-7 shooting.

Cruz Davis Hofstra (4-2) with Pride with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

No. 9 Kentucky 108, Jackson State 59

Koby Brea scored 22 points as the Wildcats used a potent fastbreak attack and impressive 3-point shooting to remain undefeated, beating the visiting Tigers at the BBN Invitational in Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats (5-0) scored 43 fastbreak points and hit a season-best 17 3-pointers on 39 attempts (43.6 percent) en route to their third 100-point game this season. Kentucky outscored Jackson State 44-32 in the paint and threw down 11 dunks to the Tigers’ two.

Jackson State (0-6) led for just 16 seconds in the early going and trailed by double digits for the game’s final 31:53. Marcus Watson Jr. paced the Tigers with 12 points.

No. 10 North Carolina 87, Hawaii 69

RJ Davis scored 18 points, Elliot Cadeau notched 12 of his 17 points in the second half and the Tar Heels began their week on the Hawaiian islands by pummeling the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu.

North Carolina (3-1) went on an 11-0 run early in the second half to create separation against Hawaii (4-1), which had been chipping away at a first-half deficit of as many as 11 points.

Gytis Nemeiksa and Tanner Christensen each recorded double-doubles for the Rainbow Warriors. Nemeiksa scored a team-high 16 points and Christensen added 10, with both grabbing 10 rebounds.

No. 11 Tennessee 77, No. 13 Baylor 62

Chaz Lanier poured in 25 points, all of them in the first half when he knocked down seven 3-pointers, as the Volunteers built a huge early lead and waltzed past the Bears in the title game of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.

Tennessee (6-0) led by as many as 28 points and easily contained Baylor, which never got closer than 15 points in the second half. Jordan Gainey added 16 points for the Volunteers, who outshot Baylor 52.2 percent to 42.4 percent.

Norchad Omier led the Bears (4-2) with 22 points and 10 rebounds and freshman VJ Edgecombe, a Bahamas native, added 20 points.

Nebraska 74, No. 14 Creighton 63

Juwan Gary scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and helped make Ryan Kalkbrenner a non-factor on offense as the Cornhuskers beat the Bluejays in Omaha, Neb.

Brice Williams also finished with 16 points for Nebraska (4-1). Connor Essegian had a season-high 15 points.

Nebraska’s frontcourt smothered Kalkbrenner, the Bluejays’ star center who is considered one of the best players in college basketball. He was held to 0-for-1 field-goal shooting and four points. Pop Isaacs led Creighton (4-1) with 25 points.

No. 19 Wisconsin 86, UCF 70

John Blackwell scored 17 points and John Tonje added 15 to lead the Badgers to a win over the Knights at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Wisconsin advances to the final on Sunday to face Pitt, a 74-63 winner over LSU on Friday. UCF will play in the consolation game on Sunday vs. LSU. The Badgers (6-0) also got 14 from Kamari McGee on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Nolan Winter scored 13 and grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Jordan Ivy-Curry led the way for UCF (4-1) with 13 points despite shooting 3-for-14 from the floor.

No. 20 Arkansas 79, Little Rock 67

Adou Thiero had 23 points, eight rebounds and six steals for the Razorbacks, who withstood a late charge from the Trojans in Fayetteville, Ark.

Boogie Fland (21 points), D.J. Wagner (11) and Zvonimir Ivisic (10) also finished in double figures for Arkansas (4-1). Fland added seven assists.

Mwani Wilkinson paced Little Rock (3-3) with 18 points while Johnathan Lawson had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

No. 21 Florida 93, Southern Illinois 68

Alijah Martin poured in a game-high 32 points and made eight 3-pointers, the most by a Gators player since January 2019, in a lopsided win over the Salukis in Gainesville, Fla.

Thomas Haugh came off the bench to add 19 points for Florida (6-0), which entered the game hitting 28.9 percent of its 3-pointers and finished the night with a season-high 16 on 39 attempts (41 percent).

Ali Dibba scored 17 points to pace Southern Illinois (2-3). Leading scorer Elijah Elliott, who came in averaging 16.5 points and shooting 55.3 percent from the field, made just 1 of 6 and managed only four points before leaving the game with 16:33 left after sustaining an apparent leg injury.

No. 22 St. John’s 80, Virginia 55

RJ Luis Jr. scored nine of his 18 points during a decisive first-half run for the Red Storm, who cruised past the Cavaliers in the consolation game of the Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.

Deivon Smith (10 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) just missed a triple-double for St. John’s (5-1), which fell to No. 13 Baylor 99-98 on Jeremy Roach’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer in double overtime Thursday night.

Elijah Sanders scored 12 points while Andrew Rohde had 11 points off the bench for Virginia (3-2).

–Field Level Media