NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Grant Williams scored a career-high 43 points and finished off a three-point play with 31.6 seconds left in overtime to put top-ranked Tennessee ahead to stay, and the Volunteers barely avoided a repeat of their last trip to Memorial Gym freshly minted as the nation’s No. 1 team by holding off Vanderbilt 88-83 on Wednesday night.
The Volunteers (17-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) won their 13th straight game and first since moving to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the second time in program history. They also have won five of the last six against their in-state rival.
The Commodores (9-9, 0-6) came in hoping to pull off their seventh upset of a No. 1 team in Memorial Gym, a list of wins that includes knocking off Tennessee on Feb. 26, 2008, a day after the Vols took over the top-ranked spot. That squad was ranked in the Top 25, but these Commodores are off to the school’s worst start in SEC play and have only one senior.
Williams went a career-best 23 of 23 at the free throw line, the most free throws without a miss in the NCAA since Arlen Clark was 24 of 24 for Oklahoma State on March 7, 1959.
No. 7 NEVADA 100, COLORADO ST. 60
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Jordan Caroline scored 26 points and Nevada cruised past Colorado State to give Eric Musselman his 100th win as a college coach.
Cody Martin added 19 points and brother Caleb Martin had 18 for the Wolf Pack (19-1, 6-1 Mountain West Conference), who shot 56 percent from the floor and 48 percent beyond the arc.
J.D. Paige led the Rams (7-12, 2-4) with 18 points. Nico Carvacho had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
No. 12 MARQUETTE 79, DEPAUL 69
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Markus Howard scored 13 of his 23 points in the final six minutes and Sam Hauser added 19 as Marquette held off DePaul to remain unbeaten at home.
The Golden Eagles (17-3, 6-1 Big East) scored 17 of their final 23 points from the free throw line to improve to 14-0 at the new Fiserv Forum.
Howard, who entered first in the Big East and fifth in the nation in scoring at 24.4 points per game, was 4 of 10 from the field and made all 15 free throw attempts.
Theo John scored a career-high 16 points for Marquette, and Joey Hauser had 14.
Paul Reed had 18 points for the Blue Demons (11-7, 3-4).
No. 17 HOUSTON 94, EAST CAROLINA 50
HOUSTON (AP) - Armoni Brooks scored 17 points, Corey Davis Jr. added 12 and Houston hit 16 3-pointers against East Carolina.
Brooks and Davis combined to hit nine 3s as the Cougars (19-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) finished 16 of 24 from behind the arc. Nate Hinton had 13 points, Cedrick Alley scored 12 and Fabian White Jr. had 11.
Houston, which won its fourth straight, shot 52 percent from the field while extending its home winning streak to 30 games.
Seth Leday had 12 points for ECU (8-10, 1-5). Jayden Gardner, who entered leading the conference in scoring with 19.8 points per game, finished with eight. ECU shot 32 percent and has lost four straight.
NO. 25 LSU 92, GEORGIA 82
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Tremont Waters scored a season-high 26 points and LSU beat Georgia for its eighth straight victory.
Waters, who added four assists and four steals with no turnovers in 32 minutes, had a hand in 13 straight points by the Tigers late in the game. He scored 10 points and had an assist that led to a three-point play by Kavell Bigby-Williams as LSU extended a seven-point lead to 12 with 45 seconds to play.
Skylar Mays matched his season best for the Tigers (15-3, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) with 20 points. Naz Reid had 15 and Ja’vonte Smart added 10.
Rayshaun Hammonds paced Georgia (9-9, 1-5) with 18 points. The Bulldogs dropped their fourth consecutive game.
LSU has won its first five SEC games for just the third time in the past 50 seasons. On the other two occasions, the Tigers won the conference championship and advanced to the Final Four.
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