TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL Thursday’s games

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No. 12 Houston 90, SMU 79

HOUSTON

Armoni Brooks had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Corey Davis Jr. added 17 points and No. 12 Houston rebounded from its second loss of the season to beat SMU. With No. 25 Central Florida’s 58-55 home victory over No. 20 Cincinnati, the Cougars (28-2, 15-2) clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. The last time Houston won a regular-season championship was when it shared the Southwest Conference title in 1991-92. Brooks made six 3-pointers, Davis had four and the Cougars shot 53 percent overall, going 12 of 29 from behind the arc. Breaon Brady added 16 points, Galen Robinson Jr. had 11, and Houston turned 15 SMU turnovers into 22 points. The 28 regular-season tied the 1967-68 team, which included Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, for most in school history. Jahmal McMurray had 24 points, and Ethan Chargois added 21 points for SMU (13-16, 5-12). Isiaha Mike scored 15 points, and Feron Hunt had 10 for the Mustangs. They shot 52 percent in losing for the ninth time in 10 games. Houston used a 21-6 run over an eight-minute span to open up a 27-16 lead. Brooks hit three consecutive 3-pointers to lead the run. Houston led 46-37 at the half behind 12 points each from Brady and Brooks. After SMU opened the second half with Jarrey Foster’s 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, Houston responded with an 11-0 run to up the lead to 57-40 with 17 minutes remaining on seven straight points by Davis. SMU got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

No. 25 UCF 58, No. 19 Cincinnati 55

ORLANDO, FLA.

B.J. Taylor scored 22 points and No. 25 UCF held off No. 19 Cincinnati. Tacko Fall added 10 points and six rebounds for the Knights (23-6, 13-4 American Athletic). They held Cincinnati to 37.1 percent shooting and had a 39-33 rebounding edge. Trevon Scott had 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting and added nine rebounds for the Bearcats (25-5, 14-3). Jarron Cumberland added 10 points and five assists. Taylor broke a tie with two free throws with 1:16 left and made it 57-53 with a layup with 17 seconds to go. Cumberland cut it to two with a layup with 10 seconds left, and Chad Brown completed the scoring for UCF with a free throw with 9 seconds to go. Cumberland and Can Broome missed 3-point attempts for the Bearcats in the final seconds.

No. 21 Wisconsin 65, Iowa 45

MADISON, WIS.

Ethan Happ had 21 points and 14 rebounds in his final home game to help No. 21 Wisconsin beat Iowa. Fellow senior Khalil Iverson added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Badgers (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten). The Hawkeyes (21-9, 10-9) played without coach Fran McCaffery as he completed a two-game suspension for an outburst at an official Feb. 26. They had a season-low points total — 20 below their previous low — and shot a season-worst 31 percent from the field. Jordan Bohannon led Iowa with eight points. Iowa’s post players couldn’t stay on the floor. Luka Garza went to the bench in the first half after being whistled for his second foul with nearly 9 minutes left. Nicholas Baer followed a few minutes later Then it was Jared Cook’s turn in the second half. He was whistled for his third foul less than 4 minutes into the half, came back five minutes later and was promptly hit with his fourth. After scoring 19 and grabbing 15 rebounds in the two teams’ first meeting Nov. 30, Cook was scoreless and had seven rebounds. Wisconsin turned Iowa’s 25 fouls into 27 free throws, making just 17.

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No. 18 Syracuse 67, Virginia 57

GREENSBORO, N.C.

Digna Strautmane scored 14 points and No. 18 Syracuse beat Virginia in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Tiana Mangakahia had 13 points, Kiara Lewis 12 and Miranda Drummond 11 for the Orange (23-7). They will face No. 16 Miami in the quarterfinals Friday. Jocelyn Willoughby scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half for Virginia (12-19).

No. 20 Arizona State 66, Colorado 49

LAS VEGAS

Courtney Ekmark scored 18 points and Arizona State beat Colorado in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Ekmark hit six 3-pointers for the Sun Devils (20-9). They will play UCLA on Friday in the quarterfinals. Alexis Robinson scored 19 points for Colorado (12-18).

No. 22 Drake 88, Illinois State 61

DES MOINES, IOWA

Sara Rhine was nearly perfect, Becca Hittner scored 23 points and No. 22 Drake clinched at least a share of its third straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, defeating Illinois State. Rhine had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She opened the game with an assist on a 3-pointer by Maddie Monahan and kept doing things right. She made 7 of 9 shots, including a season-high 3-for-3 from 3-point distance, and made all four of her free throws.

No. 22 Florida State 51, Duke 41

GREENSBORO, N.C.

Kiah Gillespie had 15 points and 12 rebounds and No. 22 Florida State pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Duke in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Gillespie hit three 3-pointers and collected her 11th double-double of the season. Nausia Woolfolk added 10 points for Florida State (23-7), which plays No. 9-ranked and third-seeded North Carolina State in a quarterfinal on Friday night.

Associated Press