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College basketball: Rice holds off UTSA

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Auburn's Jessica Jones, right, loses the ball as she is pressured by A&M's Rachel Mitchell during the Aggies' victory in the SEC tournament.
Auburn's Jessica Jones, right, loses the ball as she is pressured by A&M's Rachel Mitchell during the Aggies' victory in the SEC tournament.Danny Johnston/STF

SAN ANTONIO - Marcus Jackson and Seth Gearhart each scored 20-plus points, and Rice survived a last-second miss to edge Texas-San Antonio 76-74 on Thursday.

Jackson had 25 points with six 3-pointers for the Owls (11-18, 8-9 Conference USA), while Gearhart was 5-of-6 on 3s and finished with 23 points.

The eight C-USA wins match Rice's high in its 10 seasons in the league.

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Rice used an 11-point run early, including a pair of Gearhart 3-pointers, to open an 18-9 lead. UTSA tied it at 25, but the Owls scored the next six points and led 46-35 at the break.

UTSA battled back, and Keon Lewis' 3-pointer made it 75-74 with four seconds to go. After Gearhart went 1-of-2 at the line for a two-point lead, Gino Littles' last-ditch 3-point attempt for UTSA (13-15, 7-10) was too long.

WISCONSIN 76MINNESOTA 63

Frank Kaminsky had 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, Sam Dekker added 20 points, and the No. 6 Badgers became Big Ten regular-season champions with a win at Minneapolis.

Nigel Hayes had 12 points and nine rebounds for Wisconsin (27-3, 15-2), which won its fourth title under coach Bo Ryan and the first in seven years.

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The Badgers finished with 18 assists against just nine turnovers.

arizona 99, cal 60

Brandon Ashley matched his career high with 21 points, T.J. McConnell tied his career best with 11 assists, and the No. 5 Wildcats won at home to make certain they would finish alone atop the Pac-12 in the regular season for the second year in a row.

Arizona (27-3, 15-2) already had clinched at least a share of the league title and the No. 1 seed in next week's Pac-12 tournament.

ARKANSAS 78SOUTH CAROLINA 74

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Bobby Portis scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the No. 18 Razorbacks past the host Gamecocks.

Arkansas trailed by 11 points with seven minutes to go in a wild game during which the Razorbacks led by 20 in the first half.

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 92NORTHWESTERN ST. 66

Demetrious Floyd scored 19 points off the bench as the Lumberjacks won at home to clinch a share of the Southland Conference title.

SFA (26-4, 16-1) can win the title outright by defeating Sam Houston State on Saturday night at Nacogdoches. A win by the Bearkats would leave the teams as co-champions.

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SAM HOUSTON ST. 67LAMAR 61

Jabari Peters had 20 points, including six in a decisive second-half run, in the Bearkats' Southland Conference win at Beaumont. Paul Baxter added 15 for SHSU (24-6, 15-2).

SOUTHERN 77PRAIRIE VIEW 73

Tre Hagood scored 32 points in a home loss for the Panthers.

A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 85HOUSTON BAPTIST 72

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Anthony Odunsi and Jourdan Stickler scored 14 points each for the Huskies, whose rally after falling behind by 24 points came up short at Corpus Christi.

Women

TEXAS A&M 57AUBURN 47

Courtney Williams led a balanced attack with 14 points to lead the No. 18 Aggies to a win in the second round of the SEC tournament at Little Rock, Ark.

Achiri Ade, Courtney Walker and Chelsea Jennings each added 10 points for fifth-seeded A&M (23-8), which will face fourth-seeded LSU on Friday.

A 9-0 run, capped by a three-point play by Curtyce Knox, opened a 22-10 lead. A&M pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half.

TEXAS SOUTHERN 73ALCORN ST. 55

Alexus Johnson had a career-high 28 points to lead the Lady Tigers to their 14th consecutive victory and a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title. Diamonisha Sophus added 18 points for TSU (19-9, 16-1 SWAC).

Southern 78Prairie View A&M 50

The Lady Panthers shot 28.8 percent from the field in a loss at Prairie View. Shimaya Brooks scored 19 points for Prairie View.

UTSA 60, Rice 49

Sani Rainey scored a career-high 22 points, but the Owls lost at Tudor Fieldhouse.

A&M-Corpus Christi 73Houston Baptist 48

Tayler Jefferson scored 19 points, and Erin McGarrachan added 15 in the Huskies' loss at Corpus Christi.

From Web and wire reports

|Updated
From wire reports