Top 25 roundup: No. 15 Purdue ekes out victory over Northwestern

C.J. Cox scored 21 of his career-high 27 points after halftime and Trey Kaufman-Renn had 11 points and 10 rebounds to boost No. 15 Purdue to a 70-66 victory against Northwestern on Wednesday in Evanston, Ill.

Purdue (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) stopped a two-game skid while snapping a three-game winning streak for Northwestern (13-17, 5-14).

After Jordan Clayton drilled a corner 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead 66-65 with 1:03 remaining, the Boilermakers took the lead for good with a Cox trey on the ensuing possession. Purdue sealed the game from the free-throw line while capitalizing on two critical Wildcats turnovers in the last 36 seconds.

Northwestern senior Nick Martinelli, the conference's leading scorer, had 28 points in his final game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Jayden Reid added 16 points for the Wildcats, who were without Jake West (ankle).

No. 7 Houston 77, Baylor 64

Sharpshooting Emanuel Sharp hit 5 of 10 3-point attempts in a 19-point outing as the Cougars closed their home schedule with a comeback win over the pesky Bears.

Maintaining their one-game conference margin over third-place Texas Tech, the second-place Cougars (25-5, 13-4 Big 12) took their first lead with 7:16 left in the game and then roared away from the Bears (15-15, 5-12) behind a 20-3 run.

Houston's Kingston Flemings posted a game-high 21 points to go with seven assists, and Milos Uzan scored 12 points. Baylor's Tounde Yessoufou totaled 20 points and 12 rebounds while Caden Powell had 12 points and six boards.

No. 20 Arkansas 105, Texas 85

Darius Acuff Jr. had 28 points and tied a season high with 13 assists, senior Trevon Brazile scored a career-high 28 points in his final home game and the Razorbacks clinched a double bye in the Southeastern Conference tournament with a win over the Longhorns in Fayetteville, Ark.

D.J. Wagner scored 15 points and Meleek Thomas added 13 points for Arkansas (22-8, 12-5 SEC), which bounced back strongly after a 111-77 loss at then-No. 7 Florida on Saturday.

Matas Vokietaitis scored 21 points, Tramon Mark added 18 points and Dailyn Swain had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Texas (18-12, 9-8).

No. 22 Miami 77, SMU 69

Tre Donaldson scored 17 points and Malik Reneau added 14 points and 11 rebounds to help the Hurricanes beat the short-handed Mustangs in Dallas.

The win guaranteed Miami (24-6, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) a third-place finish in the conference standings and a double bye in the upcoming league tournament. The Hurricanes tied the school record for regular-season victories.

The loss keeps the Mustangs (19-11, 8-9) in a logjam at the middle of the league standings, with a move up to eighth still a possibility if SMU can beat Florida State in its final regular-season game. Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 27 points and Boopie Miller added 21 for SMU.

No. 25 Saint Louis 79, Loyola Chicago 65

Amari McCottry scored 18 points as the Billikens closed the home portion of their schedule a perfect 19-0 with a win over the Ramblers.

Dion Brown tallied 15 points and Robbie Avila pitched in 12 points as Saint Louis (27-3, 15-2 Atlantic 10) clinched a share of the league's regular-season title, the No. 1 seed and a double bye in next week's conference tournament. Saint Louis also tied a school record with its 22nd straight home win.

Xavier Amos led Loyola Chicago (7-23, 3-14) with 25 points as he hit 6 of 7 3-point attempts. Kayde Dotson added 19 points for the Ramblers, who have lost five of their past six games.