THURSDAY’s COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAMES

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No. 21 Baylor 99, Texas Southern 68

WACO, TEXAS

Manu Lecomte scored 22 points after missing a game with a left thumb injury, and Baylor rolled over winless Texas Southern.Playing with a wrap on his non-shooting thumb, the Bears point guard had a game-high six assists in the 46th consecutive home win over an unranked nonconference opponent for Baylor (8-2), and third straight since losing to No. 3 Wichita State on the Waco campus. Nuni Omot matched Lecomte with 22 points in the first game since scoring a career-high 30, and Jo Lual-Acuil had 18 points and two blocks. Baylor improved to 11-0 against Texas Southern as the teams met for the fourth straight year. Trae Jefferson scored 24 points for the Tigers (0-10), who are playing every November and December game away from home for the third straight year. This year, the schedule for former Indiana coach Mike Davis’ Southwestern Athletic Conference team has included No. 12 Gonzaga and 13th-ranked Kansas along with Ohio State and Syracuse. Lecomte, who missed a win over Randall when the Bears played at nearby Fort Hood for the third straight year, had a four-point play when he got fouled on a corner 3 to spark an 11-2 run for a 35-24 lead late in the first half. The 5-foot-11 native of Belgium had another 3-pointer and five points in a 17-0 spurt for a 62-37 lead in the second half. Lecomte was 3 of 6 from long range. Omut did most of his damage inside after setting career highs for 3-pointers and attempts (6 of 8) against Randall, going 10 of 12 from the field and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. He didn’t shoot a free throw after two more career bests (12 of 17) in the Fort Hood game.

Northwestern 84, Valparaiso 50

ROSEMONT, ILL.

Vic Law scored 18 points and re-energized Northwestern blew out Valparaiso. Coming off the biggest win in program history, the Wildcats (7-4) rode Law’s early hot hand and a stifling team defensive effort to a second straight decisive victory. Northwestern, which beat Chicago State by 65 points on Monday after a seven-day layoff, went on runs of 17-1 and 20-2 for its third win in four games. Playing again without leading scorer Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso (8-3) couldn’t keep up. It went 8 minutes, 21 seconds without a field goal in the first half and lost its third straight. The Wildcats were never challenged as they forced 10 first-half turnovers and made seven of their first eight 3-point tries to race out to a 30-13 lead. The Crusaders looked out of sorts without Walker, who missed his second straight game with illness. After a Derrik Smits jumper got it within 13-10 at the 15:30-mark, Valparaiso didn’t make another basket until it trailed by 18. The Crusaders also went 6:53 without a field goal to start the second half as Northwestern stretched its lead to 62-28. Joe Burton led Valparaiso with 16 points.

South Florida 83, Bethune Cookman 63

TAMPA, FLA.

Malik Martin threw down a pair of dunks, Tulio Da Silva followed with two more and Stephan Jiggetts reached 1,000 career points as South Florida broke open a close game after halftime.Jiggetts scored 20 points with seven assists.

North Carolina Central 77, McNeese 71

DURHAM, N.C.

Brandon Goldsmith scored a career-high 19 points, Raasean Davis had a double-double and North Carolina Central defeated McNeese State after blowing a 19-point lead in the second half. Davis had 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds and Pablo Rivas had 17 points for the Eagles (5-8), who ended a three-game losing streak. James Harvey had 16 points and Jacob Ledoux 14 for the Bulldogs (2-6). After McNeese used three straight 3-pointers to cut a 14-point deficit to five, the Eagles responded with a 7-0 run that led to a 42-32 advantage at the half. Central then scored the first seven points of the second half, the last six on 3-point plays by Rivas, for a 17-point lead. The spread reached 19 before the Cowboys charged back, a 19-5 run making it 63-62 after a LaBarrius Hill tipin. With the game tied at 69 and less than 3-minutes remaining, the Eagles closed it out with an 8-2 run on four free throws and two baskets from Davis.

Campbell 87, The Citadel 77

BUIES CREEK, N.C.

Chris Clemons scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half and Campbell built a big lead before holding off The Citadel. The game was tied at 24 with 6:34 to play in the first half when the Camels (5-5) reeled off 16 straight points, the last six from Clemons on a 3-pointer and 3-point play. The teams swapped baskets and it was 42-26 at the half. Clemons opened the second half with three treys in a 9-2 run, making it 51-28.

Associated Press