NCAA DI Men’s Basketball Top 25 Scores and Briefs

NEW YORK (Sporting Alert) — NCAA DI men’s top 25 college basketball scores and recaps, following the games that took place on Tuesday, March 3.

No. 1 Kentucky wrestled off the challenges of Georgia to stay undefeated and improved to 30-0 on the season with a 72-64 victory on the road at Stegeman Coliseum.

Karl-Anthony Towns paced the Wildcats with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Aaron Harrison added 16 points and Andrew Harrison finished with 12 in the win for the travelers, who improved to 17-0 in the SEC standings.

Nemanja Djurisic had 18 points and six boards for the Bulldogs (19-10, 10-7 SEC), with Marcus Thornton contributing 14 points and seven boards on a night when the hosts did almost everything to set up the upset before falling apart down the stretch.

Wells Impressive Double-Double Leads The Way

Meanwhile, Dez Wells grabbed a double-double and came up big in the closing minutes and No. 10 Maryland registered a 60-50 victory over Rutgers at Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Wells collected 20 points on 8 for 13 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds and picked up four steals in the win for the Terrapins (25-5, 13-4 Big Ten), who moved within 1 1/2 games of Wisconsin in the league standings.

Jake Layman supported well with 14 points and Melo Trimble added 10 for Maryland, which won its sixth straight game.

Greg Lewis paced Rutgers with 14 points, seven rebounds and one block shot, while senior forward Kadeem Jack grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds in the disappointing home defeat.

The Scarlet Knights, who fell to 10-20 on the season and 2-15 in Big Ten standings, were suffering their 13th straight loss, which is the longest since the 1987-88 term when they dropped 16 straight.

Rutgers last win came on January 11 against the then-No. 4 Wisconsin.

Maryland, which came into the game shooting 44.2 percent overall on the season, was 22 for 57 for 38.6 percent on Tuesday night, but went 5 for 22 from three-point range.

The Terrapins wrap up the regular season on Sunday at Nebraska.

Rutgers are at Michigan in their regular season finale on Saturday.

At the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, No. 19 North Carolina warmed up for its weekend rematch with No. 3 Duke with a commanding 81-49 victory over Georgia Tech.

Joel Berry II scored 15 points off the bench and Justin Jackson added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Tar Heels (21-9, 11-6), who were winning back-to-back games for the first time since January when they won six straight.

North Carolina went 34 for 64 from the field for 53.1 percent in the win and led 39-21 at halftime.

Charles Mitchell scored 16 points and eight rebounds and Demarco Cox added 14 points and eight boards in the defeat for the Yellow Jackets (12-18, 3-15 ACC), who dropped four straight and six of the last seven contests.

Elsewhere on the night, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards in helping Georgetown battled to a 60-54 win over No. 21 Butler in Indianapolis.

Joshua Smith and Tre Campbell each had 10 points for the Hoyas (19-9, 11-6 Big East), who have won four of their last five games.

A defeated Butler (21-9, 11-6 Big East) was led by Kameron Woods, who collected 15 points and 16 rebounds and Alex Barlow, who added 13 points in the defeat.

The Bulldogs, who sit third in the Big East standings, finished its regular season at No. 24 Providence on Saturday.

Jayhawks Rally From 18 Down

Frank Mason III finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals as No. 9 Kansas rallied from an 18 point deficit to beat No. 20 West Virginia 76-69 in overtime and clinched the Big 12 regular-season title.

Mason III was well supported by Jamari Traylor, who had 14 points and nine rebounds, Kelly Oubre Jr, who scored 12 off the bench for the Jayhawks (24-6, 13-4 Big 12), which led 40-22 with 1:23 left in the first half.

Daxter Miles had 23 points for West Virginia (22-8, 10-7) with Tarik Phillip supporting with 13 points and Jonathan Holton adding 12 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.

NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOP 25 SCORES

(1) Kentucky 72, Georgia 64
(4) Villanova 76, Creighton 72
(9) Kansas 76, (20) West Virginia 69
(10) Maryland 60, Rutgers 50
(19) North Carolina 81, Georgia Tech 49
Georgetown 60, (21) Butler 54