Women

No. 1 South Carolina 63, LSU 48

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley didn't enjoy her usually dominant team struggling early against LSU. She was grateful, though, the top-ranked Gamecocks got past their problems for their 20th straight victory.

Freshman Aliyah Boston had 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in a victory on Thursday night.

There was plenty for Staley to grouse about — 13 first-half turnovers, a nine-point second quarter and LSU getting too many easy looks to keep things tight through halftime.

"I knew we weren't going to be able to keep up that pace, that somebody would challenge us in some type of way," she said.

"But it was good to go through it," Staley continued. "Hopefully, we got the kinks out."

Things started as they typically do for South Carolina (26-1, 13-0 Southeastern Conference), with a big first-quarter run that sets up their relentless defensive style that has worn down most opponents.

This time, though, LSU came right back at the Gamecocks with pressure of its own to keep things tight the first two quarters.

But the 6-foot-2 Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and 6-5 Boston got going inside in the third quarter as the Gamecocks finally put the Tigers (18-7, 8-5) away.

Staley said the focus on halftime was getting the ball to Herbert Harrigan and Boston as often as possible.

"We just began to move the ball and take care of the ball like we've done," said Herbert Harrigan, a senior and one of two remaining players from South Carolina's 2017 national champions.

Herbert Harrigan had 12 points and Zia Cooke 11 for South Carolina.

Boston had five points as South Carolina went on a 12-1 run in the third period to open up a 46-31 lead. The Tigers could not answer back and lost its 10th straight to South Carolina.

LSU made things sticky at first. The Tigers forced 13 turnovers in the first two quarters. South Carolina had come in averaging that many miscues a game this season.

The Gamecocks missed seven of their final eight shots before halftime and finished the second quarter with just nine points — their first single-digit period since scoring nine points in their only loss to Indiana back in November.

South Carolina tightened things up after halftime with just three more turnovers the final two quarters to continue its winning run.

Jailin Cherry led LSU with 13 points.

LSU coach Nikki Fargas said if she knew her team would hold South Carolina to 63 points — its fewest points in a win this season since beating Maryland 63-54 back in college basketball's opening weekend — the Tigers might have a chance to steal one from the nation's top team.

Instead, Boston and Herbert Harrigan controlled things down the stretch. "Their interior defense is one of the best that we've played," she said.

Aliyah Boston's five blocks gave her 75 this season, surpassing Alaina Coates' freshman record of 73 set in 2013-14. "Honestly, we didn't think that would ever get done," Staley said. "To have a freshman that imposing, doesn't come along every day."

The Tigers showed plenty of grit in hanging with South Carolina as long as they did. But once the Gamecocks tightened things up after halftime, LSU struggled to maintain that edge. The Tigers struggled inside and had 11 shots blocked.

The Gamecocks moved a step closer to regaining their SEC regular-season crown they haven't won since 2017 — their NCAA Tournament winning season. South Carolina's next victory with three games remaining clinches at least a share of the SEC title. Second-place Mississippi State has two losses, including one to the Gamecocks.

LSU's Nikki Fargas told Staley she was cold inside Colonial Life Arena. Staley didn't let that slide without a sharp comeback, "When one of these officials makes a bad call, you'll warm up real quick," South Carolina's coach joked.

No. 5 Louisville 58, Georgia Tech 47

Jazmine Jones scored 18 points, Dana Evans added 14 points and Louisville beat Georgia Tech for its third straight victory.

Kylee Shook added 13 points and 13 rebounds for Louisville (24-3, 13-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Lotta-Maj Lahtinen had 11 points for Georgia Tech (17-10, 8-8).

No. 9 Mississippi State 92, Auburn 85 (OT)

Freshman Rickea Jackson scored nine of her season-high 34 points in overtime and Mississippi State overcame a 14-point deficit to beat Auburn.

The Bulldogs (23-4, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) rebounded from a loss at No. 14 Kentucky with their second straight comeback win over the Tigers (9-15, 3-10).

Jessika Carter added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs,

Unique Thompson led Auburn with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 10 North Carolina State 50, Miami 48

Jakia Brown-Turner made a go-ahead, baseline jumper with 2.9 seconds left to lift North Carolina State past Miami.

The freshman scored 18 points to match her season-high for NC State (23-3, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Destiny Harden scored 15 points for Miami (13-13, 5-10).

No. 13 Gonzaga 75, Loyola Marymount 47

Jill Townsend scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half and Gonzaga wrapped up the outright West Coast Conference championship.

Jenn Wirth and Kaylynne Truong added 11 points apiece for Gonzaga (26-2, 15-1). The Bulldogs have won or shared four straight WCC titles and 16 overall

Ciera Ellington and Raychel Stanley each had nine points for Loyola Marymount (6-20, 3-11).

No. 14 Kentucky 94, Mississippi 52

Rhyne Howard scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds for Kentucky.

Sabrina Haines and Chasity Patterson added 15 points apiece for the Wildcats (20-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference).

Mimi Reid and Jayla Alexander scored 12 apiece for the Rebels (7-19, 0-13).

No. 16 Texas A&M 64, Georgia 47

N'dea Jones had 13 points and grabbed 20 rebounds and combined with Ciera Johnson to dominate the second half for Texas A&M.

Johnson had 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and beginning in the middle of the third quarter — when the Aggies trailed 32-31 — combined with Jones to score 21 of 25 A&M points.

Kayla Wells added 15 points for Texas A&M (21-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference),.

Jenna Staiti scored 15 points for Georgia (14-12, 5-8).

No. 17 Florida State 78, Wake Forest 67

Nicki Ekhomu scored 18 of her season-high 23 points in the second half for Florida State.

Ekhomu was 10 of 14 from the field and had six assists. Kiah Gillespie scored 15 points, Morgan Jones added 14 and Nausia Woolfolk 13 for Florida State (21-5, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Ivana Raca led Wake Forest (13-14, 6-10) with 17 points.

No. 20 South Dakota State 96, North Dakota State 57

Ciara Duffy scored 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting and South Dakota beat North Dakota State to clinch at least a share of the Summit League regular-season title.

Chloe Lamb added 15 points for the Coyotes (25-2, 14-0). They have won 14 consecutive games and have a two-game lead over second-place South Dakota State with two games to go. The rivals play at South Dakota State on Saturday.

Michelle Gaislerova scored 15 points for North Dakota State (8-17, 5-8).

No. 22 Arkansas 83, Tennessee 75

Amber Ramirez made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points for Arkansas.

Alexis Tolefree added 22 points and Chelsea Dungee had 16 for the Razorbacks (21-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference).

Rae Burrell led Tennessee (17-9, 7-6) with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Men

No. 2 Gonzaga 71, San Francisco 54

Killian Tillie scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Gonzaga rallied to beat San Francisco for its 19th consecutive victory.

Filip Petrusev scored 16 points and Ryan Woolridge 12 for Gonzaga (27-1, 13-0 West Coast), which trailed at halftime.

Gonzaga outscored the Dons 49-23 in the second half for the win.

Charles Minlend scored 22 points and Khalil Shabazz 13 for San Francisco (17-11, 6-7), which lost 83-79 at home to Gonzaga on Feb. 1. The Dons have lost 18 straight to Gonzaga, dating to their last win in 2012.

With the win, Gonzaga clinched at least a share of an eighth consecutive regular-season WCC title.

No. 18 Colorado 70, Southern California 66

McKinley Wright IV had 15 points, including a floater in the lane in the final minutes, to help Colorado hold off Southern California.

Wright added six rebounds and seven assists, and Tyler Bey had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Colorado (21-6, 10-4 Pac-12 Conference). The Buffaloes lead the conference by a game after Oregon fell at Arizona State.

Colorado has never won the Pac-12 regular-season title but took the 2012 conference tournament in coach Tad Boyle's second season.

Onyeka Okongwu had 21 points, Jonah Mathews added 17, and Nick Rakocevic had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans. They lost for the fourth time in six games.

No. 20 Iowa 85, No. 25 Ohio State 76

Luka Garza scored 24 points and Iowa beat Ohio State.

Garza has scored 20 points or more in 12th consecutive games in Big Ten play, the longest streak for an Iowa player in 49 seasons and the most by any conference player in the last 20 years.

Bakari Evelyn came off the bench to score 15 points for the Hawkeyes (19-8, 10-6). Joe Wieskamp had 13 points, and Ryan Kriener added 12.

Freshman E.J. Liddell led Ohio State (17-9, 7-8) with a season-high 17 points.

No. 23 BYU 85, Santa Clara 75

T.J. Haws had 28 points and nine assists in BYU's victory over Santa Clara.

Yoeli Childs added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jake Toolson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for BYU (22-7, 11-3 West Coast Conference). The Cougars won their seventh straight.

Josip Vrankic had 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Broncos (18-10, 5-8).

No. 24 Arizona 89, Oregon State 63

Josh Green scored 18 points and Nico Mannion had 12 of his 16 in the second half to help Arizona beat Oregon State.

Max Hazzard scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Zeke Nnaji added 13 points and seven rebounds for Arizona (19-7, 9-4 Pac-12).

Jarod Lucas scored 18 points for Oregon State (15-11, 5-9).