L.J. Cason scored 18 points and Yaxel Lendeborg notched a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 2 Michigan rally for an 87-75 victory against host Northwestern on Wednesday in Evanston, Ill.
Michigan faced its largest halftime deficit, nine points, and trailed by a season-high 16 when the Wildcats’ Angelo Ciaravino hit a jumper in the paint to cap an 8-2 run with 14:22 left.
The Wolverines (23-1, 13-1 Big Ten) regrouped behind torrid shooting. Trey McKenney drilled a 3-pointer to put Michigan ahead 68-67 with 7:14 to go for its first lead since 10-8.
Northwestern’s Jayden Reid responded with a jumper the next time down the floor, but Michigan had the answer, never relinquishing the advantage after the 5:51 mark and leading by as many as 12 points.
No. 6 UConn 80, Butler 70
Solo Ball scored 24 points to lead the Huskies to a hard-fought Big East victory over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis.
Tarris Reed Jr. added 16 points along with 10 boards and seven assists for UConn (23-2, 13-1 Big East), which bounced back from its first loss in nearly three months. Braylon Mullins added 15 points and Silas Demary Jr. scored 11 with 10 assists as the Huskies shot 50.8% from the field.
Drayton Jones scored 15 points to lead Butler (13-12, 4-10), which has lost five in a row. Yohan Traore added 14 with five boards while Evan Haywood scored 12.
No. 14 Florida 86, Georgia 66
Led by Xaivian Lee’s 18 points, the Gators put five players in double figures and rolled past Georgia in Athens, Ga.
Florida retained first place in the Southeastern Conference with its fourth straight victory. Lee was 7-for-14 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and had seven assists. Florida (18-6, 9-2 SEC) also got 15 points from Boogie Fland, 12 points each from Isaiah Brown and Alex Condon, and 11 points from Thomas Haugh. Rueben Chinyelu had 20 rebounds, one shy of matching his season high.
Georgia (17-7, 5-6) got 17 points and 11 rebounds from Blue Cain for his second double-double of the season, 15 points from Marcus “Smurf” Millender and 11 points from Kanon Catchings.
No. 16 Texas Tech 78, Colorado 44
The Red Raiders bolted to a big lead quickly against the Buffaloes and then ran away and hid in the second half on the way to a rout in Lubbock, Texas.
In a dominant tune-up for a national showdown at No. 1 Arizona on Saturday, Texas Tech (18-6, 8-3 Big 12) snatched the lead for good barely three minutes in. J.T. Toppin dominated the interior with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while Christian Anderson scored 14 points and dished out seven assists. Donovan Atwell led the Red Raiders with 20 points, bolstered by 6-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.
Isaiah Johnson led the Buffaloes (14-11, 4-8) with 13 points and was one of two Colorado players who shot 50% or higher from the floor. He was 5 of 9, while Ian Inman was 4 of 7, all four shots he hit coming from 3-point territory in the first half.
Virginia Tech 76, No. 20 Clemson 66
Jailen Bedford had 23 points and four 3-pointers and the Hokies took a big step off the NCAA Tournament bubble with a road win over the Tigers.
The Hokies (17-8, 6-6 ACC) shot 52% from the floor, 52.4% from 3-point range and racked up the second-most points Clemson has allowed in ACC play. Ben Hammond had 19 points and three 3-pointers for Virginia Tech, which made all 13 of its free throw attempts.
Clemson, which shot 45.5% from the floor and 31.3% from beyond the arc, was led by Carter Welling’s 19 points, and Ace Buckner and Nick Davidson each had 16 off the bench. The Tigers (20-5, 10-2) lost a four-game winning streak.
