Top 25 roundup: Joel Foxwell’s 27 points help Portland upset No. 6 Gonzaga
Joel Foxwell tied his career high with 27 points as host Portland upset No. 6 Gonzaga 87-80 on Wednesday night, handing the Bulldogs their first West Coast Conference loss of the season.
James O'Donnell added 16 points off the bench, Cameron Williams scored 14 points despite battling foul trouble, Jermaine Ballisager Webb added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Garrett Nuckolls scored 11 for the Pilots (11-14, 4-8 WCC), who snapped a string of 20 straight losses in the series. Portland last beat Gonzaga on Jan. 9, 2014.
Graham Ike led Gonzaga (22-2, 10-1) with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Mario Saint-Supery added 12 points and Davis Fogle scored 10.
Foxwell, a freshman guard from Australia, might have bested his career high if not for leg cramps that limited him over the final five minutes. Still, he shot 11 of 18 from the field -- including 3 of 8 from 3-point range -- dished out a game-high eight assists and grabbed four rebounds.
No. 5 Illinois 84, Northwestern 44
Andrej Stojakovic scored 17 points to lead five Fighting Illini players in double figures as Illinois blitzed the Wildcats in Champaign, Ill., to earn its 12th straight win.
Torrid long-range shooting (17 of 38) and effective ball movement boosted Illinois (20-3, 11-1 Big Ten). Ben Humrichous, Zvonimir Ivisic and Keaton Wagler each scored 13 points.
Northwestern struggled to 29.2% shooting while falling 14 points shy of its previous season low. Tre Singleton paced Wildcats (10-13, 2-10) with eight points. Big Ten scoring leader Nick Martinelli managed four points on 2-for-10 shooting.
No. 8 Houston 79, UCF 55
Kingston Flemings scored 18 points as the Cougars cruised to a home win over the Knights in a Big 12 Conference tilt.
Chris Cenac Jr. tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Milos Uzan added 12 points for Houston (20-2, 8-1 Big 12), which won its third straight game.
Riley Kugel led UCF (17-5, 6-4) with nine points. Themus Fulks, John Bol, Jamichael Stillwell and Jordan Burks all added eight points for UCF, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Minnesota 76, No. 10 Michigan State 73
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson recorded 22 points and seven rebounds and the Golden Gophers halted a seven-game slide with an impressive upset victory over the Spartans in Big Ten play at Minneapolis.
Cade Tyson scored 17 points and Langston Reynolds added 14 points and eight assists as the Golden Gophers (11-12, 4-8 Big Ten) never trailed during the surprising takedown of the Spartans. Bobby Durkin had 13 points and eight rebounds and Isaac Asuma added 10 points for Minnesota, which got its first victory since Jan. 6.
Coen Carr scored 16 points, Jordan Scott added 15 and Trey Fort had 12 on four 3-pointers for Michigan State (19-4, 9-3), which lost its second consecutive game. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 10 points and 11 assists for the Spartans.
Oklahoma State 99, No. 16 BYU 92
Anthony Roy scored a season-high 30 points and Jaylen Curry added 18 as the Cowboys upset the Cougars in Stillwater, Okla.
The Cowboys (16-6, 4-5 Big 12) shot 54.7% from the field and forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 21 points. Oklahoma State's Parsa Fallah added 13 points and seven rebounds. Vyctorius Miller, who didn't take a shot in the first half, scored 14 in the second half for the Cowboys on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
AJ Dybantsa led the Cougars (17-5, 5-4) with 36 points, but he couldn't keep BYU from losing its third straight game. Richie Saunders contributed 20 points and eight rebounds, and Robert Wright III put up 15 points.
No. 20 Clemson 66, Stanford 64
Nick Davidson scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Tigers extended their Atlantic Coast Conference road winning streak to 13 games with a victory over the Cardinal.
Davidson made two free throws to put Clemson (19-4, 9-1 ACC) ahead 64-62 with 23 seconds left. The Tigers maintained the lead after the Cardinal's Ebuka Okorie missed a 3-point try with 7.1 seconds remaining. Ace Buckner added two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to help Clemson win for the 12th time in the past 13 games. Buckner finished with 11 points and Chase Thompson added a career-high 10 for the Tigers, who won despite not making a field goal in the final four minutes.
Aidan Cammann led Stanford (14-9, 3-7) with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Okorie added 18 points, and Oskar Giltay had 11 rebounds.
No. 24 Louisville 76, Notre Dame 65
A late first-half run and solid bench play led the Cardinals to a home win over the Fighting Irish.
Isaac McKneely led the Cardinals (16-6, 6-4 ACC) with 13 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Sananda Fru, Ryan Conwell and Khani Rooths each had 12 points, and Rooths grabbed 12 rebounds. J'Vonne Hadley exited early due to an apparent aggravation of a back injury.
Notre Dame (11-12, 2-8) got 18 points from Cole Certa but lost for the eighth time in nine games.