Associated Press
AMHERST, N.Y. ó Hasheem Thabeet had 21 points and 18 rebounds, Jeff Adrien added 18 points, and No. 2 Connecticut held off Buffalo for a 68-64 victory Thursday night.
The Bulls (3-3) nearly upset then-No. 2 Pittsburgh at Alumni Arena two years ago, losing 70-67 after leading by 10 points with 14 minutes left. A repeat performance seemed unlikely against the Huskies (8-0), who won their first seven games by an average of 24 points.
No. 6 Oklahoma 73, Southern Cal 72
NORMAN, Okla. ó Blake Griffin scored 11 of his 25 points after getting hit with a cheap shot elbow in the second half, and Oklahoma (7-0) staved off a rally by Southern California (5-3).
Griffin had to come out of the game briefly after getting elbowed below the waist by USC’s Leonard Washington with 13:54 left.
No. 8 Texas 68, No. 12 UCLA 64
AUSTIN, Texas ó A.J. Abrams scored 31 points, including the last six of the game for Texas. The Longhorns (6-1) held UCLA (4-2) scoreless after Alfred Aboya’s basket with 2:28 left pulled the Bruins within 65-64.
No. 17 Villanova 93, Houston Baptist 57
VILLANOVA, Pa. ó Scottie Reynolds scored a season-high 23 points and had six assists for Villanova.
No. 19 Arizona St. 81, Jackson St. 60
TEMPE, Ariz. ó James Harden had 22 points and eight rebounds for Arizona State.
Harden led the Sun Devils in scoring for the 31st time in 41 career games despite fouling out with 4:10 to play.
Jeff Pendergraph had 19 points and Rihards Kuksiks added 16 for the Sun Devils (6-1), off to their best start since they went 11-1 to open 2004-05.
Harden has scored 86 points in his last 68 minutes. He was 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Garrison Johnson scored 21 points and Grant Maxey added 15 for Jackson State (1-7), which missed its first nine 3-point shots and finished 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.
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