JORDAN Gainey drove the length of the court and scooped in a right-handed layup on the left side of the hoop at the buzzer to lift No. 1 Tennessee to a 66-64 nonconference victory over Illinois before a sellout crowd Saturday afternoon (Sunday in Manila) in Champaign, Ill.
Gainey came off the bench to deliver 18 of his game- and season-high 23 points in the second half for the Volunteers (10-0). Chaz Lanier scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half before fouling out with 3:42 to play, while Igor Milicic Jr. posted seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis scored 22 points for Illinois (7-3), but split a pair of free throws with 5.7 seconds left to set up Gainey’s last-second heroics. Tre White contributed 11 points while Kylan Boswell and Will Riley added 10 points apiece as Tennessee’s defense limited the Illini to 29 percent shooting.
In other games, it was Auburn 91, Ohio State 53; Kentucky 93, Louisville 85; Dayton 71, Marquette 63; Alabama 83, Creighton 75; UConn 77, Gonzaga 71; Florida 83, Arizona State 66; Kansas 75, NC State 60; Oklahoma 80, Oklahoma State 65; Texas A&M 70, Purdue 66; Memphis 87, Clemson 82 (OT); Ole Miss 77, Southern Miss 46; Wisconsin 83, Butler 74; Cincinnati 68, Xavier 65; and UCLA 57, Arizona 54.
Auburn 91, Ohio State 53
Johni Broome had 21 points, a career-best 20 rebounds and also had six assists as the Tigers routed the Buckeyes in the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta.
Broome, among the leaders in the national player of the year conversation, controlled play with Ohio State missing 7-foot-1 center Aaron Bradshaw. Denver Jones added 14 points and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range for Auburn (9-1), while Dylan Cardwell scored 10 and added eight rebounds and four blocks. Jakhi Howard scored 11 points, all in the second half.
Devin Royal (14 points) and Micah Parrish (10) led Ohio State (6-4) in scoring. Leading scorer Bruce Thornton had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
Kentucky 93, Louisville 85
Lamont Butler returned to the lineup in spectacular fashion, scoring a career-high 33 points to lead the Wildcats past the visiting Cardinals in Lexington, Ky.
The fifth-year point guard missed the last two games for the Wildcats (10-1) due to an ankle injury. Butler went 10-for-10 from the floor, including six from beyond the 3-point stripe to keep the pesky, undermanned Cardinals (6-5) from scoring an upset.
Butler became the fourth player in Kentucky history to shoot 10 or more shots and make them all. Louisville never led past the first minute but stayed in the game behind the play of Chucky Hepburn, who scored 26 points, and Terrence Edwards Jr., who scored 23. It was Edwards’ third consecutive 20-point performance, all as a reserve.
