ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mike Smith had 16 points and six assists, and No. 7 Michigan remained unbeaten with another dominant performance, routing No. 9 Wisconsin 77-54 on Tuesday night.
The Wolverines (11-0, 6-0) turned this Big Ten showdown into a blowout with a 43-6 run that spanned parts of both halves. It was another masterpiece for Coach Juwan Howard’s team, which became the first in college basketball history to beat three ranked opponents in a row by at least 19 points.
Michigan set the tone for this one with its rim protection. The Badgers (10-3, 4-2) struggled to finish plays around the basket early on, and the Wolverines had six blocked shots in the first half alone.
Michigan led 26-23 before scoring the last 14 points of the half. A steal and dunk by Franz Wagner made it 33-23. Smith followed that with a steal and a layup. Wagner then drove the baseline and dunked for a 14-point advantage.
The start of the second half wasn’t any better for Wisconsin. A 3-pointer by Eli Brooks made it 47-26, and a 3 by Smith made it 54-26. Finally, a layup by Chaundee Brown gave Michigan an almost incomprehensible 69-29 lead.
The last time Michigan started the season with a run like this was when the Wolverines were 17-0 during the 2018-19 season. Wisconsin actually ended that unbeaten streak, but the Badgers didn’t come close to a repeat performance.
Wagner had 15 points and 10 rebounds. D’Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 20 points.
OKLAHOMA STATE 75, (6) KANSAS 70: Cade Cunningham scored 18 points, and host Oklahoma State (9-3, 3-3 Big 12) held off a late rally to beat Kansas (10-3, 4-2).
Kansas trailed by three in the closing seconds and had possession, but Oklahoma State’s Bryce Williams stole the ball, drove the length of the floor and and dunked as time expired.
The Cowboys blew a 19-point lead in a loss to West Virginia eight days earlier and squandered a 16-point lead in the second half of this one before scoring the game’s final eight points.
Williams scored 17 points and Avery Anderson III added 14 for the Cowboys. It was the fifth time in the past eight tries that Oklahoma State has beaten the Jayhawks at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
David McCormack scored a season-high 24 points for Kansas.
(20) VIRGINIA TECH 74, (19) DUKE 67: Tyrece Radford had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lift host Virginia Tech (10-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) over Duke (5-3, 3-1).
The double-double was the first of the season for Radford, who helped the Hokies jump to an 18-point, first-half lead and hold off Duke’s second-half rally to win for the sixth time in seven games.
Keve Aluma added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Cone finished with 14 points for Virginia Tech.
Jeremy Roach led Duke with a game-high 22 points.
TENNESSEE: The Southeastern Conference has postponed Tuesday night’s basketball game between in-state rivals No. 10 Tennessee and Vanderbilt because of a combination of positive coronavirus tests, contact tracing and quarantining within the Commodores’ program.
The game was a late addition to the schedule because of COVID-19 issues at Missouri, where Vanderbilt had been scheduled to play, and at South Carolina, Tennessee’s originally scheduled opponent. The SEC moved up Tennessee’s previously scheduled trip to Vanderbilt from Feb. 24 to Tuesday night for a rare home-and-home between the rivals in back-to-back games.
Vanderbilt is still set to visit Tennessee on Saturday night as originally scheduled.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UCONN: The game between No. 4 UConn and Villanova, which had been scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed.
Villanova women’s basketball is on pause due to COVID-19 issues within the program. The Wildcats (8-2, 3-2 Big East) also have postponed home games scheduled for Wednesday against Providence and on Jan. 20 against DePaul. No makeup dates have been announced.
UConn (7-0, 6-0) is scheduled to host Seton Hall on Wednesday, a game that was moved after the Huskies had to cancel a trip to Xavier because of coronavirus issues in the Musketeers program.
MEN’S HOCKEY
AIR FORCE: Air Force has paused all activities for the next 14 days due to COVID-19 cases within the hockey program. The team’s next two series, Friday and Saturday against Army and the following weekend against Long Island University, have been postponed.
No make-up dates have been announced. Air Force is working with Atlantic Hockey on rescheduling possibilities.
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