Oregon 89, No. 21 Southern California 81

After getting dominated on the glass in Sunday's loss at Colorado, Oregon coach Dana Altman had a pointed message for Elgin Cook and Dwayne Benjamin.

The time for leadership from the two seniors was now.

Cook responded by matching his career high with 26 points and Benjamin had his best scoring game since early December with 16 off the bench to lead Oregon to an victory over Southern California on Thursday night.

"I told (Elgin) and Dwayne that they played the way seniors are supposed to play, so I shouldn't be shocked," Altman said. "I was disappointed in them and I expressed that to them after the Colorado game. I think they took it as a challenge."

Chris Boucher added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks (15-4, 4-2), who moved into a tie for second place in the Pac-12 with their 18th consecutive home win. Oregon held the Trojans (15-4, 4-2), the conference's best 3-point shooting team, to 8 of 28 (28.6 percent) from long range.

Boucher led the Ducks to a 43-38 edge in rebounds. Oregon also came within one of its season low in turnovers with nine.

"We outrebounded them and I thought that was a big stat going into tonight's game," Altman said. "The second half we had only three turnovers. I thought that was big."

Freshman Bennie Boatright had 23 points and 12 rebounds, both season highs, to lead USC (15-4, 4-2) before fouling out late in the game. Julian Jacobs also had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Trojans.

USC lost contact with the Ducks when they rode a 13-1 run to a 71-56 lead midway through the second half. The Trojans never got closer than seven the rest of the way in losing for the 11th consecutive time to Oregon.

""When another team goes on a run, you have to score with them," USC coach Andy Enfield said. "We missed a wide-open dunk, we missed three wide-open jump shots and we turned the ball over twice.

"If you're going to do that, you're going to give the other team opportunities to score."

Benjamin's two steals in Oregon's press helped key the run and, even though he didn't have a rebound for a second straight game, the sixth man's defensive presence more than made up for it.

"Those two big steals he got in the press really changed the momentum of the game," Altman said.

Benjamin's 16 points, which included three of Oregon's eight 3-pointers, were the most he's scored in a dozen games.

"I just play the same way," Benjamin said. "My confidence is always there. I knew it would come one game, and tonight was the night."

The lead changed hands five times in the first half before a 10-0 Oregon run, highlighted by Benjamin's two 3-pointers, put the Ducks up by nine on their way to a 46-41 lead at the break.

Oregon had three scorers in double figures by the half, led by Cook"s 12 points and 10 each from Boucher and Benjamin.

No. 9 Iowa 90, Rutgers 76

Peter Jok scored a career-high 29 points and Iowa shook off pesky Rutgers in the second half in posting a harder-than-expected victory.

Jarrod Uthoff and Anthony Clemmons added 20 points apiece as the Hawkeyes (15-3, 6-0) won their eighth straight game and their 12th in a row in the Big Ten Conference, dating to last season.

Iowa used a zone defense late in the first half in a 16-7 run that gave it a 45-37 lead, and it opened the game up in the second half with its long-range shooting.

Mike Williams had 17 points to lead Rutgers (6-14, 0-7), which was coming off a 50-point loss to No. 22 Purdue on Monday, its worst home loss.

No. 12 Arizona 71, Stanford 57

Gabe York made a long 3-pointer with 8:24 left on the way to 19 points, and Arizona survived a Stanford rally midway through the second half for a victory.

Ryan Anderson added 18 points on 7-for-7 shooting and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (16-3, 4-2 Pac-12) in their 12th straight win against the Cardinal dating to a loss on Jan. 4, 2009.

Arizona's Kadeem Allen went down in the corner by his team's bench with 10:55 left then briefly left for the locker room before returning.

Grant Verhoeven provided a big lift in the second half for Stanford (10-7, 3-3), but the Cardinal went cold when it counted as Arizona pulled away for good.

Verhoeven's three-point play with 15:35 remaining pulled Stanford within 39-37, and then he converted another three-point play at 14:19 before a pair of missed free throws by Kaleb Tarczewski. Verhoeven took a charge at 13:20.

No. 23 Kentucky 80, Arkansas 66

Tyler Ulis scored 24 points to lead four Kentucky players in double figures as the Wildcats bounced back from a loss at Auburn with a victory at Arkansas.

The win is the first for John Calipari as coach of the Wildcats in Bud Walton Arena, where he improved to 2-4 all-time — including a win with Memphis in 2003.

Jamal Murray added 19 points, Derek Willis 12 and Skai Labissiere 11 for Kentucky (14-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), which avoided losing two straight games for the first time since 2014.

Dusty Hannahs led the Razorbacks (9-9, 3-3) with 20 points, while Anthlon Bell had 16 and Moses Kingsley 13.

No. 22 Purdue 75, Ohio State 64

P.J. Thompson scored 10 of his 12 points in the final seven minutes Thursday night, helping Purdue pull away from Ohio State.

A.J. Hammons added 16 points as the Boilermakers (17-3, 5-2 Big Ten) won their third straight.

Ohio State (12-8, 4-3) was led by Jae’Sean Tate, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Purdue trailed 36-33 at halftime and stayed within one possession most of the second half until Ryan Cline’s 3 with 9:02 to go made it 53-52.

Thompson made sure the Boilermakers never trailed again.

He scored five in a row to make it 60-54.

After Ohio State’s Trevor Thompson made only 1 of 2 free throws with 2:51 left, when he could have tied the score, Thompson scored five more to extend the lead to 66-61.

Purdue sealed it by making six free throws in the final minute.

Women

No. 2 South Carolina 74, Auburn 58

Alaina Coates scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds to lead outh Carolina to a win over Auburn on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks (18-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) weathered an early shooting drought and wound up with a lopsided win after surviving a 59-58 scare against Texas A&M.

The Tigers (12-7, 2-4) struggled after briefly taking a five-point lead in the first half with a 12-0 run.

Katie Frerking led Auburn with 17 points.

No. 3 Notre Dame 90, Syracuse 62

Michaela Mabrey scored 20 points, hitting six 3-pointers, to lead Notre Dame to a rout of Syracuse.

Brianna Turner added 19 points, Arike Ogunbowale 14 and Madison Cable 13 as the Irish (18-1, 6-0 ACC) had a balanced offense for the second straight game.

Brianna Butler and Alexis Peterson scored 12 points each for Syracuse (14-5, 4-2).

Notre Dame blocked a season-high 10 shots, six of those by Turner, and Syracuse was held to a season-low 28 percent shooting (23-of-82).

No. 7 Ohio State 97, Michigan 93

Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points to help Ohio State beat Michigan.

Shayla Cooper added 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Buckeyes (13-5, 6-1 Big Ten).

Katelynn Flaherty led Michigan (11-7, 3-4) with 22 points, the 12th straight game where she had scored at least 19. Hallie Thome added 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Michigan’s Kelsey Mitchell scored 14, including 12 in the first half.

Ohio State threatened to blow the game open early, leading 31-17 after one quarter, but Michigan’s Kelsey Mitchell led a second-quarter rally that had the Wolverines back within 49-42 at the half. Both Mitchells led their team in scoring in the half — Ohio State’s with 20 and Michigan’s with 12.

Mississippi 73, No. 9 Kentucky 65

Shequila Joseph scored 21 points, Shandricka Sessom and A’Queen Hayes added 14 each and Mississippi upset Kentucky.

Ole Miss (10-9, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) snapped a four-game losing streak.

Joseph came into the game averaging just 5.7 points per game, but was hot from the opening tip. She was 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Kentucky (14-3, 3-3) trailed 59-47 early in the fourth quarter, but cut the advantage to 61-57 with 3:46 remaining. Ole Miss’ Sessom responded by hitting a layup while being fouled and then made the free throw to give the Rebels a 64-57 advantage that proved too much for the Wildcats to overcome.

Kentucky has lost two of its last three. Makayla Epps led the Wildcats with 22 points.

Georgia 47, No. 10 Mississippi State 43

Shacobia Barbee had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Georgia upset Mississippi State.

It was Barbee’s seventh double-double of the season and the 18th of her career.

Victoria Vivians, the SEC’s leading scorer, had 20 points to lead Mississippi State (17-3, 4-2). She had little help as no other player on the team had more than five points.

The two teams were tied 9-9 at the end of the first quarter and Georgia outscored Mississippi State 8-5 in the second period to take a 17-14 halftime lead.

Georgia shot 36 percent (19 of 53) from the field while Mississippi State shot 34 percent (17 of 50) and committed more turnovers (19) than field goals made. Georgia, which also committed 19 turnovers,- was able to turn those miscues into 15 points.

No. 13 Texas A&M 81, No. 23 Missouri 77 (OT)

Chelsea Jennings scored 22 points — one of three Texas A&M players to score 20-plus — and the Aggies held off Missouri in overtime.

With under a minute left in overtime, Texas A&M worked the clock down but Courtney Walker missed a jumper. Jennings grabbed the offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws with 28.8 seconds left for a 78-75 lead.

Jordan Frericks made a nice backdoor cut on an inbound pass and hit the layup to cut it to 78-77 with 27 seconds left. Texas A&M broke the press, and Walker was fouled with 12.1 seconds left and made both free throws for a three-point lead.

Texas A&M opted to foul with five seconds left. Lindsey Cunningham missed both free throws and the Aggies secured the rebound.

Walker and Jordan Jones each scored 20 points for Texas A&M (14-5, 4-2 SEC). Walker made three free throws with eight seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

Frericks led Missouri (15-4, 2-4) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Cierra Porter added 20 and 10.

No. 14 Florida State 70, Virginia 48

Shakayla Thomas scored 20 points and Ivey Slaughter had 13 points with 10 rebounds to lead Florida State to a win over Virginia.

Kai James added 10 points, all in the first half when the Seminoles (15-4, 5-1 ACC) opened a 30-23 lead. Thomas finished 10 of 13 from the field, going 8 of 11 in the second half, when Florida State shot 52 percent to pull away.

Breyana Mason led Virginia (13-7, 3-3) with 15 points.

Slaughter and Thomas each made two baskets as the Seminoles stretched a 34-29 lead to 42-29 late in the third quarter. After two baskets by the Cavaliers, the duo combined for the last six points of the quarter to make it 48-33.

Florida State had a 42-36 rebounding advantage and forced 22 turnovers that led to 15 points, and its points-in-the-paint advantage was 50-18.

No. 18 Tennessee 58, Vanderbilt 49

Te’a Cooper scored 13 points and sparked a critical third-quarter run to end her personal slump Thursday as Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt and continued its home domination of this series.

Vanderbilt rallied from a 14-point deficit and only trailed 52-49 when it had the ball on two separate occasions in the final minute, but the Commodores turned the ball over both times. Tennessee sealed the victory by going 6 of 6 on free throws in the final 16 seconds.

The Commodores (13-5, 2-3 SEC) have never beaten the Lady Volunteers at Knoxville in 31 attempts. Tennessee’s latest victory over its in-state rival enabled the Lady Vols (12-6, 3-2) to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1986.

Tennessee was clinging to a 30-28 lead in the third quarter when Cooper scored her team’s first nine points in a 14-2 spurt that gave the Lady Vols a double-digit advantage.

No. 22 Florida 80, Alabama 72

Eleanna Christinaki scored 16 points to help No. 22 Florida over Alabama 80-72 on Thursday.

Christinaki was 5 of 9 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the line for the Gators (16-3, 4-2 SEC). Ronni Williams was 6 of 9 for 13 points and Simone Westbrook scored 11 points as Florida shot over 54 percent and won the rebound battle 40-25.

Alabama (13-6, 2-4 SEC) was led by Meoshonti Knight with a career-high 23 points and six steals — which matches another career mark. Hannah Cook scored 16 points, Shaquera Wade had 13 and Quanetria Bolton added 11.

No. 22 Florida led 46-31 at intermission, but Alabama outscored the Gators 30-15 in the third to tie at 61 entering the fourth.