COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP 25 SCOREBOARD

NO. 2 VIRGINIA 81 GEORGIA TECH 51

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Ty Jerome scored 19 points, De'Andre Hunter had 18 and No. 2 Virginia took command with a 25-4 first-half run and beat reeling Georgia Tech 81-51 on Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers (25-2, 13-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 11-7 before a 3-pointer by Braxton Key sparked the eight-minute surge. Hunter had nine points, Kyle Guy six and Jerome five in the burst. Virginia's lead was 41-22 at halftime and 51-24 after a 10-2 run to start the second half.

Jose Alvarado scored 12 and James Banks III had 11 for the Yellow Jackets (12-17, 4-12), who lost for the ninth time in their last 10 games. Georgia Tech also got a full dose of Virginia's all-around efficiency as the Cavaliers shot 55.6 percent (30 of 54), made nine 3-pointers and limited the Yellow Jackets to just five 3-pointers (in 17 attempts) and 37.5 percent shooting overall (21 of 56).

NO. 7 TENNESSEE 73, MISSISSIPPI 71

OXFORD, Miss. -- Grant Williams scored 21 points, including the go-ahead basket with four seconds left, to lift Tennessee over Mississippi.

Tennessee (25-3, 13-2 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from a tough loss to LSU on Saturday with a hard-fought victory. The Volunteers remain in a three-way tie atop the SEC with LSU and Kentucky.

The Volunteers trailed 39-34 at halftime, but used a 14-0 run early in the second half to jump back ahead. Ole Miss wouldn't go away, pushing in front 58-57 on Terence Davis' 3-pointer with 10 minutes left.

From that point forward, it was a back-and-forth struggle. Ole Miss Guard Breein Tyree missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds remaining, Tennessee grabbed the rebound and Williams hit a driving layup in the lane to make it 72-71.

Ole Miss (19-9, 9-6) had one more opportunity in the final seconds, but Devontae Shuler was called for a charge while shooting a deep 3-pointer with a second left. Tyree and Davis led the Rebels with 16 points each.

NO. 8 HOUSTON 99, EAST CAROLINA 65

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Corey Davis Jr. matched his career high with 26 points to help Houston beat East Carolina in a game that included multiple technical fouls against the Pirates and three ejections after halftime.

Fabian White Jr. added 16 points for the Cougars (27-1, 14-1 American Athletic Conference), who shot 60 percent. They made 13 of 28 3-pointers, which followed a 16-for-24 effort during last month's 44-point rout in the first meeting.

Seth LeDay had 17 points for the Pirates (10-17, 3-12), who trailed 45-31 by the break and never recovered.

Things got away from them during an ugly sequence early in the second half filled with technical fouls, all involving ECU. Coach Joe Dooley and sophomore guard Shawn Williams were ejected along with a fan during a stretch that had the home crowd irate with officials -- and some throwing trash toward the court.

VILLANOVA 67, NO. 10 MARQUETTE 61

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Jermaine Samuels scored a career-high 29 points and defending national champion Villanova snapped a three-game losing streak.

Saddiq Bey hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:31 left to help the Wildcats (21-8, 12-4 Big East) keep their hopes alive for a conference title with a needed win in their final game of the season at their on-campus arena.

Markus Howard scored 25 points for the Golden Eagles (23-5, 12-3), who would have secured both a share of the Big East title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a victory.

NO. 11 TEXAS TECH 84, OKLAHOMA STATE 80

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Davide Moretti had 20 points, including four free throws in the final 18 seconds of overtime, and Texas Tech escaped Oklahoma State to move into a share of the Big 12 lead.

Jarrett Culver had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Raiders (23-5, 11-5), who four days earlier had a dominating 29-point home win over Kansas. They blew a 14-point lead in the second half against Oklahoma State (10-18, 3-12), which is tied with West Virginia at the bottom of the conference standings.

The win put the Red Raiders into a first-place tie with No. 16 Kansas State.

Lindy Waters hit four 3-pointers in the final 55 seconds of regulation and finished with 26 points for Oklahoma State.

NO. 12 NEVADA 89, UNLV 73

RENO, Nev. -- Caleb Martin scored 24 points and Nevada cruised past in-state rival UNLV.

Cody Martin added a season-high 23 points and eight assists for the Wolf Pack. Jordan Caroline had 20 points and 12 rebounds, his 16th double-double this season.

UNLV outrebounded Nevada 40-28 but committed 17 turnovers to the Wolf Pack's eight.

Nevada shot 53.3 percent from the floor. The Martin twins combined for 10 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Nevada (26-2, 13-2 Mountain West Conference) never trailed and entered the breakup 46-28.

Amauri Hardy led UNLV (15-13, 9-7) with 19 points, and Kris Clyburn scored 18.

The Wolf Pack extended their home winning streak to 17 games, one shy of the longest in program history. Nevada has won four consecutive games against UNLV.

NO. 14 PURDUE 73, ILLINOIS 56

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Carsen Edwards broke out of a shooting slump to score 23 points, and No. 14 Purdue got its fourth straight victory.

Edwards went 8 of 14 from the field for the Boilermakers (21-7, 14-3 Big Ten), who moved into a tie atop the conference with No. 6 Michigan State. The All-American guard made 7 of his 40 attempts in the previous two games.

Matt Haarms had 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting, 10 rebounds and five blocks for Purdue.

Ayo Dosunu and Andres Feliz led cold-shooting Illinois (10-18, 6-11) with nine points apiece.

PENN STATE 78, NO. 17 MARYLAND 61

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Lamar Stevens scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half, and Penn State had an easy time with Maryland.

Myles Dread had 17 points and Myreon Jones added 10 for the Nittany Lions (12-16, 5-12 Big Ten), who led for all but 51 seconds to win their third in a row.

Anthony Cowan Jr. led Maryland (21-8, 12-6) with 15 points, and Aaron Wiggins chipped in 11.

NO. 23 CINCINNATI 52, SMU 49

DALLAS -- Rashawn Fredericks put Cincinnati ahead to stay with his only two field goals, and the Bearcats overcame a horrible shooting night to beat SMU.

Fredericks finished with six points for the Bearcats (24-4, 13-2 American Athletic Conference), and his consecutive layups midway through the second half made it 36-33. That was part of an 8-0 run, and Cincinnati never trailed again despite shooting a season-low 26.6 percent (17 of 64) from the field.

Jarron Cumberland led Cincinnati with 12 points.

Jahmal McMurray had 27 points for SMU (13-14, 5-10), which has lost seven of eight.