Lexington, Ky.
Seeking to stay atop the SEC, the Wildcats avenged last month’s 82-80 road loss to the Volunteers with their best performance in a while. Long-range shooting provided the biggest lift as Kentucky (21-5, 11-2) made 11, its first double-digit effort from behind the arc in a month, as Monk and Willis each made four in the first half alone.
The Wildcats held Tennessee (14-12, 6-7) to 35 percent shooting and led by as many as 28 points in handing the Volunteers their third loss in four games.
No. 15 Florida 114, Auburn 95
Auburn, Ala.
The Gators (21-5, 11-2 SEC) also blew past their previous scoring high of 106 points en route to a seventh straight win. They dominated after going into halftime locked in a 50-50 tie, coming out of the locker room on a 13-3 run and never looking back.
No. 16 Purdue 74, Rutgers 55
West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (21-5, 10-3 Big Ten) led only 45-39 with just over 12:30 remaining, but from the 11:15 mark until he left the game with 2:20 to play, Haas scored 16 points, and the Boilermakers pulled away for their fourth consecutive victory.
Nigel Johnson scored 23 points to lead Rutgers (13-14, 2-12), which had no answer for Purdue’s big men.
No. 25 Notre Dame 84 Boston College 76
Boston
V.J. Beachem had 16 points and Steve Vasturia added 15 for the Fighting Irish (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).
It is coach Mike Brey’s 13th time winning at least 20 games with Notre Dame.
Ky Bowman led Boston College (9-18, 2-12) with 29 points and Mo Jeffers had 12.
BC had sliced it to 78-76 on Bowman’s two free throws with just under a minute to play, but Beachem grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the ensuing possession. He hit both free throws with 24.1 seconds to play.
