ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Kofi Cockburn scored 27 points and Alfonso Plummer had 26, helping No. 15 Illinois beat Michigan 93-85. The Fighting Illini led by 15 midway through the second half before Michigan rallied within two points down the stretch. Illinois improved to 20-8. DeVante’ Jones scored a season-high 25 points for the Wolverines, who fell to 15-12. Michigan was without suspended coach Juwan Howard, who missed the second of five games for hitting a Wisconsin assistant coach a week ago. Phil Martelli again filled in for Howard.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Fatts Russell matched his career high with 27 points, Eric Ayala scored 23 and Maryland took down No. 22 Ohio State 75-60. The Terrapins had lost six of its previous eight, and wore down the Buckeyes by holding them to 36.2% from the field. Ohio State’s leading scorer E.J. Liddell was held to 11 points and freshman star Malaki Branham had only 13 to lead the Buckeyes. Maryland took the lead midway through the first half and never relinquished it.
COLLEGE STATION, Pa. (AP) — Freshman Bryce McGowens poured in 25 points and Nebraska rolled to a 93-70 victory over Penn State.’ McGowens sank 8 of 13 shots from the floor with three first-half 3-pointers and made all six of his free throws for the Cornhuskers (8-21, 2-16 Big Ten Conference), who snapped a four-game skid. He added six rebounds. Alonzo Verge Jr. pitched in with 15 points and five assists. McGowens hit three 3-pointers and had 13 points, Verge sank two 3s and had 12 and Derrick Walker scored all 10 of his points to spark Nebraska to a 49-31 lead at halftime. Seth Lundy, Jalen Pickett and Sam Sessoms all scored 12 for Penn State (12-14, 7-11).
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Xavier Johnson scored 24 points, Trayce Jackson-Davis added 14 points and Indiana held off a late Minnesota rally, defeating the Golden Gophers 84-79. The Golden Gophers fought back after a poor start to the second half. A 16-2 run in which they made all six of their shots brought them within 74-67 near the 3-minute mark. Indiana did not score a field goal in the final 3:30 but converted 10 free throws in 13 attempts. The Hoosiers finished 14 of 20 from the line. Payton Willis scored 28 points and made 7 of 14 3-pointers for Minnesota.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Caitlin Clark had 38 points and 11 assists and No. 21 Iowa clinched a share of the Big Ten championship with a 104-80 win over No. 6 Michigan. It’s the first conference regular-season title for the Hawkeyes (20-7, 14-4 Big Ten) since 2008, who shared the championship with Ohio State. Clark, who came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer at 27.1 points per game, had a career-high 46 points against the Wolverines in a 98-90 loss on February 6. She was just as effective in this game, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the field, including 8 of 11 in 3-pointers.
UNDATED (AP) — The madness arrived early this year. An unpredictable college basketball season took an unprecedented turn Saturday when the top six teams and seven of the top 10 teams lost. Gonzaga, Arizona, Auburn, Purdue, Kansas and Kentucky all went down. That marked the first time since The Associated Press began compiling a ranking during the 1948-1949 season that the top six teams lost on the same day. No. 9 Texas Tech also lost to set another record for most top-10 teams losing in one day. Only No. 7 Duke and No. 10 Baylor won, the Bears over the fifth-ranked Jayhawks. No. 8 Villanova avoided the carnage by default — the Wildcats don’t play again until Tuesday.
UNDATED (AP) — Oregon has spent February trying to overcome shaky losses on its NCAA Tournament resume. The Ducks missed a big chance last week to help themselves significantly. Oregon beat No. 12 UCLA for a second time but lost at home to No. 16 Southern California with a chance to add another marquee win. The Ducks are 3-6 in Quadrant 1 games that top an NCAA resume. They also have three Quadrant 3 losses to undermine that resume. The week included North Carolina, TCU, VCU and Virginia Tech helping their cases for bids. It also included Michigan, Rutgers, SMU and Virginia suffering setbacks.
