Ochai Agbaji scored 23 points, Christian Braun added 20 and eighth-ranked Kansas tuned up for this weekend’s return of the Border War with a 78-52 blowout of UTEP on Tuesday night. David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot added eight points apiece for the Jayhawks (7-1), who led by 21 at halftime and weren’t threatened the rest of the way. Souley Boom had 18 points and Keonte Kennedy 11 for UTEP (4-4). Now, the Jayhawks turn their attention to Saturday’s showdown with Missouri. The bitter rivals haven’t played a regular-season game since the Tigers bolted for the SEC nearly a decade ago.
Terrence Shannon, Jr. had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Texas Tech (7-1) continued its run of Jimmy V Classic upsets in an offensively anemic 57-52 overtime win over No. 13 Tennessee on Tuesday night. Tuesday’s game was classic in title only. Offense was hard to find at Madison Square Garden, where the Vols (6-2) missed a whopping 34 of 40 3-pointers overall and shot only 27% overall in regulation from the floor. John Fulkerson led the Vols with 10 points, followed by three players with nine points.
Chuck Harris buried a 3 to take the lead and Simas Lukosius grabbed a clutch defensive rebound and hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to give Butler a 66-62 overtime win over Oklahoma in a Big East/Big 12 Battle. Elijah Harkless and Jordan Goldwire each hit 3-pointers to put the Sooners up, 62-58 with 1:38 to play. D.J. Hughes got a tip-in and Harris stepped behind a screen and drilled an open 3 with :35 left to give the Bulldogs the lead. Harkless drove for a layup that rolled off the rim and Lukosius grabbed the rebound. The freshman from Lithuania hit both free throws for a three-point lead and Aaron Thompson rebounded Umoja Gibson’s missed 3 and hit one of two from the line to set the final margin.
