Men

No. 7 Virginia 61, Vermont 55

Mamadi Diakite and No. 7 Virginia found themselves in a nail-biter, and with Anthony Lamb putting on an offensive show in the second half, Diakite took it upon himself to try to slow down the Vermont star.

Diakite also scored 19 points of his own and the Cavaliers overcame Lamb’s 30-point night to beat Vermont on Tuesday night.

“It reminded me of last year when we played against Purdue — Carsen Edwards hitting again and again and again,” Diakite said, recalling Virginia’s Elite Eight overtime victory in the NCAA Tournament when Edwards scored 42 points.

“One of those days when everything falls in. At the end, I wanted to take the challenge and I responded to it I thought,” Diakite said.

Lamb scored 25 points after halftime and hit seven 3-pointers in all but didn’t score for the last 5 ½ minutes.

The Cavaliers, meantime, had to overcome their own offensive struggles with their trademark — defense.

“I think we showed some grit with enough stops defensively and enough plays offensively,” coach Tony Bennett said.

The Cavaliers (4-0) trailed before Diakite’s basket gave them a 50-49 lead with 5:12 left and sparked a 9-0 run. Jay Huff scored twice in the spurt and Braxton Key hit a 3-pointer as Virginia held the Catamounts scoreless, and forced four turnovers, in a nearly four-minute span.

Lamb at one point scored 17 points in a row for the Catamounts (4-1) and nearly matched the point total of the Cavaliers’ first two opponents, who each managed just 34 points. Stef Smith added 11 points, but Virginia turned Vermont’s 13 turnovers into 20 points.

“We wanted to keep them off the offensive glass. We did that. Wanted to make 3s. We did that, but just came up a little short,” Vermont coach John Becker said. “Just had to play guys too many minutes. We were a guard down and I thought that caught up with us.”

Kihei Clark scored 15 points and Key had 14 for Virginia.

Virginia led 24-18 at halftime, but Vermont used a 10-2 run to start the half to take its first lead since the early going. Lamb had seven points in the run, including the last five, and tacked on his team’s next 12 points with four 3-pointers as the score was tied five times.

Clark, a sophomore not known for his shooting, made several key baskets, especially when both teams finally found some offensive rhythm down the stretch and were trading baskets. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored on a pair of drives to the basket.

“Just kind of taking what the defense gave me. I think on that 3 I hit in the second half, (the defender) went under, so I shot it,” he said.

The Catamounts hang their hat on defense, too, and came into the game with a 107-9 record since the 2011-12 season when holding their opponents to 60 points or fewer.

Cavaliers’ defensive excellence has been essential early in the season as they still are struggling to find an offensive rhythm. Highly regarded freshman guard Casey Morsell came into the game having made just 2 of 21 field goal attempts and was 1 for 6. Virginia has made 21 3-pointers in its first four games and allowed 31, including 12 by the Catamounts in 34 attempts.

No. 4 Kansas 75, East Tennessee State 63

Udoka Azubuike pounded home 21 points, Devon Dotson added 19 and Kansas weathered East Tennessee State’s second-half charge to escape with a victory.

Marcus Garrett added 13 points for the Jayhawks (3-1), who led by as many as 18 early in the game before the Pirates (3-1) closed within 61-56 with just over 5 minutes to go.

Azubuike’s assortment of dunks, a couple of poised plays by Dotson and Garrett, and three misfires from beyond the arc by the Pirates’ Patrick Good allowed the Jayhawks to ease away.

Bo Hodges had 22 points and Lucas N’Guessan scored 11 for the Pirates, who were off to their best start since the 1998-99 season. Daivien Williamson came off the bench to add 10.

The game looked like it would be The Dotson Show from the opening tip, when the sprightly guard coasted in for a layup. He proceeded to hit the Jayhawks’ only 3 of the first half, threw an alley-oop to Silvio de Sousa for an easy dunk and knocked down a pair of free throws during a big early run.

The Jayhawks pushed lead to 31-13 before Dotson checked out for the first time.

They never looked quite as good again.

No. 6 Maryland 74, Fairfield 55

Jalen Smith had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Maryland used depth and balance to wear down Fairfield.

The Terrapins (4-0) took the lead for good at 9-8, increased the margin to 14 at halftime and cruised to the finish.

Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 12 points to pass James Gist and move into the Top 20 on Maryland’s career scoring list with 1,424.

Sophomore Ricky Lindo Jr. contributed a career-high 13 points, and Eric Ayala also scored 13.

Landon Taliaferro scored 15 for the Stags (1-4). Twelve of Fairfield’s 18 baskets were from beyond the arc.

Coming off an overtime loss to Loyola Maryland in which they committed 21 turnovers, the Stags had 16 against the Terrapins — at least one by nine different players.

Fairfield cut a 15-point deficit to 55-46 before baskets by Cowan and Smith began a 12-3 spurt that made it 67-49 with 6:12 left. The highlight of the run was a resounding dunk by Smith off an alley-oop pass from Hakim Hart following a Fairfield turnover.

The Stags made only one field goal over the final 8½ minutes.

No. 8 Gonzaga 72, Texas-Arlington 66

Woolridge had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Gonzaga held off Texas-Arlington.

Killian Tillie played for the first time this season and added 15 points and eight rebounds for Gonzaga (5-0), which has won 26 consecutive home games. Admon Gilder scored 13 points.

Jabari Narcis scored 16 points for Texas-Arlington (2-3), sinking all five of his 3-point attempts. Brian Warren and David Azore scored 15 points each for the Mavericks, who lost at No. 11 Oregon 67-47 on Sunday.

Tillie missed the first four games recovering from knee surgery.

No. 25 Washington 72, Maine 53

Isaiah Stewart dominated on the interior and scored 16 points, Quade Green added 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting, and Washington rebounded from its first loss of the season with a win over Maine.

The Huskies (3-1) were handed their first setback over the weekend in a 75-62 loss to No. 20 Tennessee on a neutral court in Toronto but began a stretch of three games in six days with a convincing victory where Washington finally found a rhythm at the offensive end.

The Huskies shot a season-best 46% despite going just 3 of 15 on 3-point attempts. Stewart, the Huskies’ bruising 6-foot-9 freshman, overpowered the Bears in the paint. But getting Green going offensively was an important development as he is Washington’s most experienced guard. The Kentucky transfer was shooting just 30% from the field through the first three games.

Andrew Fleming and Nedeljko Prijovic led the Black Bears (1-3) with 18 points each.

Women

No. 2 Baylor 58, No. 22 South Florida 46

Queen Egbo had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Nalyssa Smith added 12 points and No. 2 Baylor survived its first true test this season. The defending national champion Lady Bears finally pulled away late in a win over South Florida.

After winning their first three games by an average margin of nearly 71 points, the Lady Bears (4-0) had only a one-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Egbo made big contributions with preseason AP All-America post Lauren Cox out with a right foot injury. There is no timetable for the return of the 6-foot-4 senior.

Bethy Mununga led South Florida (4-1) with her fourth double-double this season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Elisa Pinzan scored 14 points with four 3-pointers.

Te’a Cooper also had 12 points for the Lady Bears and Juicy Landrum had 10, including their only 3-pointer with just over a minute left in the game.

South Florida tied the game at 15-15 early in the second quarter before Baylor scored 10 in a row, including five by Cooper.

No. 14 NC State 62, Maine 34

Cunane had 12 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double and North Carolina State beat Maine for its ninth straight 4-0 start to a season.

NC State opened the game on a 12-2 run and added a 9-0 run in the second quarter for a 31-10 lead at the break. The lead never dropped below 19 points in the second half and was as high as 34.

Jada Boyd added eight points, a career-high 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks for NC State. The Wolfpack made 13 of 15 free throws compared to Maine’s one attempt.

NC State entered ranked third nationally in field-goal percentage defense and held Maine to 25% on 14-of-57 shooting.

Dor Saar scored 10 points and Blanca Millan grabbed 10 rebounds for Maine (1-3). The Black Bears were outrebounded 40-26.

No. 15 Michigan State 76, Oakland 56

Taryn McCutcheon scored 16 points, Mardrekia Cook added 14 and Michigan State defeated Oakland.

The Spartans (4-0) trailed the entire first quarter. McCutcheon hit two 3-pointers 45 seconds apart to open the second quarter that began a 9-0 run and Michigan State led the rest of the way.

The Spartans went up by double figures for good with just under four minutes in the third and opened the fourth with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 22.

Kayla Belles added 11 points and Nia Clouden 10 points and six assists for the Spartans. Taiyier Parks grabbed 10 rebounds, the first double-digit total for the freshman, leading a 55-44 advantage on the boards.

Kayla Luchenbach had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies (2-2) with Jalisha Terry scoring 16 points.

No. 23 Tennessee 73, Stetson 46

Rennia Davis scored 15 points and Rae Burrell had a double-double as the Lady Volunteers rolled to a victory over Stetson.

Burrell had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Horston scored 14 points, Jazmine Massengill had 12 and Kasiyahna Kushkituah added 11.

Tennessee (5-0) never trailed Tuesday in a marked contrast from its matchup with Stetson last season, when the Lady Vols won 65-55 only after erasing a 20-point, second-half deficit.

The Lady Vols broke open a close game by going on a 17-2 spurt midway through the contest. Tennessee scored the last nine points of the second quarter to grab a 39-24 halftime edge and then opened the third period with an 8-2 run.

Day’Neshia Banks scored 21 points for Stetson (2-3). Kennedi Colclough added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Davis and Banks are former high school teammates who helped Jacksonville (Florida) Ribault win three state championships in four years.