Colin Castleton scored 20 points and Kyle Lofton added 14 points and four assists, lifting Florida to a 67-54 upset of No. 2 Tennessee in Gainesville, Fla., on Wednesday.
Tennessee led by as many as six points in the second half before Florida answered with a game-altering 13-0 run to go up 55-46 lead with 5:12 left and close the game out from there. The Gators shot 43.8 percent from the field and 35 percent (7-for-20) from beyond the arc.
Zeigler led Tennessee (18-4, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) with 15 points, while forward Olivier Nkamhoua and guard Santiago Vescovi added 11 points apiece. The Vols struggled from the field all night, shooting just 27.9 percent, including 5 of 25 (20 percent) from 3-point range.
The Gators (13-9, 6-3) have beaten a top-two team at home in back-to-back seasons after upsetting No. 2 Auburn 63-62 last February.
No. 1 Purdue 80, Penn State 60
Mason Gillis came off the bench and scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Boilermakers past the Nittany Lions in West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (22-1, 11-1 Big Ten) won its ninth in a row and swept the season series with Penn State (14-8, 5-6), which lost for the fifth time in its last eight games.
With Penn State doing a solid job of limiting national player of the year candidate Zach Edey in the paint, Gillis made a career-best nine 3-pointers in 12 tries, setting a new Mackey Arena record for triples in a game. Purdue made a season-high 14 3-pointers as a team.
Gillis was averaging only 5.4 points entering Wednesday’s game and had never scored more than 14 points in a game in his career. According to Purdue, Gillis’ 29 points were the most by a major-conference player coming off the bench this season.
No. 14 Marquette 73, Villanova 64
Tyler Kolek had 20 points and Kam Jones added 18 as the Golden Eagles retained a share of the Big East lead with a victory over the Wildcats in Milwaukee.
Marquette (18-5, 10-2 Big East) took control late with a 14-1 run over a six-minute span, pushing the lead to 71-62 on two free throws by Olivier-Maxence Prosper with 14 seconds left. Villanova went 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal until Caleb Daniels’ dunk with 10 seconds remaining.
Daniels and Eric Dixon had 14 points apiece for Villanova (10-12, 4-7).
No. 16 Xavier 85, No. 17 Providence 83 (OT)
Jack Nunge poured in a game-high 23 points while Souley Boum and Colby Jones each added 20 to lead No. 16 Xavier past 17th-ranked Providence in a Big East overtime thriller in Cincinnati.
Noah Locke paced the Friars (17-6, 9-3 Big East) with 22 points. Ed Croswell contributed 21 points and nine rebounds and Bryce Hopkins added 10 and 13, respectively, for Providence, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. Jared Bynum’s 3-point attempt from the left baseline rattled in and out with two seconds left to allow the Musketeers (18-5, 10-2) to escape with the win.
Xavier was playing its first game without senior starting forward Zach Freemantle, who will miss at least four weeks due to a left foot injury.
No. 25 Auburn 94, Georgia 73
Allen Flanigan scored a game-high 22 points and Johni Broome added 19 points and 18 rebounds as the Tigers cruised to a victory over the visiting Bulldogs in Southeastern Conference play.
Flannigan shot 8 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, while Broome hit 8 of 11 from the floor in addition to tying a career high in rebounds. Wendell Green Jr. scored 18 points to go along with six assists, and K.D. Johnson finished with 13 points for Auburn (17-5, 7-2 SEC).
Georgia (14-8, 4-5) was led by Mardrez McBride, who scored a season-high 20 points while shooting 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. Kario Oquendo added 10 points, and Jusaun Holt wound up with nine points.
–Field Level Media