Kentucky Falls to Tennessee in Home Finale
Maddie Scherr scored a career-high 27 points, but the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost to Tennessee 83-63 on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. Scherr went eclipsed her previous career high of 25 points, which came against top-ranked South Carolina earlier this season. In Sunday’s game, the junior from Florence, Kentucky, made 10 of 21 from the floor, including two of three from behind the arc. She made all five of her free throw attempts and added four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Kentucky (10-18, 2-14 SEC) got 17 points from Robyn Benton, who was playing her final game in Memorial Coliseum, and 10 points from Jada Walker. Tennessee (21-10, 13-3) got 21 points from Rickea Jackson.
Cards Can’t Hang on Against #10 Notre Dame, 68-65
The University of Louisville women’s basketball team had another battle with the Irish but couldn’t withstand a second-half surge and fell, 68-65, to #10/10 Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. The Irish shot over 50 percent from the floor in the second half and the Cardinals had a few attempts to tie the game in the final minutes but were unable to get the shots to fall. Hailey Van Lith led the way for the Cardinals with 23 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Van Lith has scored 17 points or more in each of her last seven games. Mykasa Robinson tied a career-high with nine rebounds to go with a team-best five assists, six points and three steals. Robinson has led the Cards with assists in each of the last eight games. Merissah Russell tied a career high with five made field goals and had 12 points on the afternoon.
Lady Toppers Bounce Back at UAB
WKU women’s basketball got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham with a 91-69 win against UAB. The Lady Toppers took a big lead in the first half, going ahead 46-25 at the break, to cruise to victory. Acacia Hayes led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line. The freshman tied her season high with four steals in the game and had four rebounds and three assists. Mya Meredith put up 18 points behind five first half 3-pointers to go along with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. Teresa Faustino added 12 points and Hope Sivori had 11. Alexis Mead had eight points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. WKU made 14 threes in the game, marking the fourth time this season the Lady Toppers have made 14 treys or more in a game. That mark brings WKU’s season total to 237 made threes which is the second most in a single season in WKU history. The 2022-23 Lady Toppers are just six threes away from breaking the record. WKU forced UAB into 20 turnovers, marking the 15th game this season the Lady Toppers have forced an opponent into 20-plus miscues.
WKU Falls to UAB in Final Home Game of Season
WKU Hilltopper Basketball was unable to overcome the hump of a four-point, halftime deficit, falling to the Blazers 72-60 on Senior Night in E.A. Diddle Arena on Saturday in front of a season-best home crowd of 5,623. On Senior Night, Jairus Hamilton led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the floor and a 3 of 5 mark from the 3-point line. He made his first six shots and first three beyond the arc. The other WKU senior on the court, Emmanuel Akot, led the Tops in rebounding with seven boards. He added nine points and two assists. Dayvion McKnight was incredibly limited in scoring, but was still able to grab four boards and dish out six assists. Trey Jemison was a force for UAB in the paint with 10 boards and 10 points. Eric Gaines added 17 points and Tavin Lovan scored 14.
Kentucky Blasts Auburn on Saturday
A basketball team that exhibits great balance can be very tough to defend. That’s what Kentucky exhibited on Saturday against Auburn. The Cats had four players in double figures en route to beating the Tigers 86-54 at Rupp Arena. The win was Kentucky’s fourth in a row and moved the Cats to 20-9 on the season and 11-5 in the Southeastern Conference with two regular season games remaining. Oscar Tshiebwe led the Cats with 22 points and 17 rebounds, his 44th career double-double. Antonio Reeves had 21 points, including making four of seven from behind the arc. Cason Wallace had 19 points and nine assists, while Jacob Toppin had another double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Cards Can’t Contain Georgia Tech, Fall 83-67
Louisville men’s basketball struggled offensively Saturday and couldn’t contain Georgia Tech from 3-point range in an 83-67 road loss. The Cardinals (4-25, 2-16 ACC) shot 44% for the game and made just 4 of 17 3-pointers, while the Yellow Jackets (12-17, 4-14) made 12 long-range shots on their senior night. Ja’Von Franklin paced Georgia Tech with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Ellis and freshman forward Kamari Lands led Louisville with 15 points each. James (14 points) and Traynor (10) joined them in double figures.
Racers Win On Senior Day – Grab 7th Seed at State Farm Arch Madness
The Murray State Racers finished off the 2022-23 season, their first in the Missouri Valley Conference, with a 77-76 overtime win over the Valparaiso Beacons in the final home game at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky. The Racers 16-14 clinched a winning season and finished 11-9 in their first foray through The Valley. MSU is the No. 7 seed in next week’s MVC Tournament in St. Louis where they will meet Valparaiso again, the No. 10 seed Thursday in a 6 p.m. tipoff at the Enterprise Center. DJ Burns scored 21 points on 10-of-18 from the field with eight rebounds to lead the Racers, while Quincy Anderson added 15 points off the bench. JaCobi Wood had 13 points and five assists, with Brian Moore, Jr. scoring 11 points.
Racers Fall To UNI Saturday
The Murray State women’s basketball team fell to UNI Saturday, 76-46, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. Macey Turley broke her own record for consecutive made free throws of 45 Saturday and has now made 46 consecutive free throws, not missing since Dec. 3. Murray State was nearly perfect at the free throw line Saturday, going 13-for-14 in the game. Katelyn Young went a perfect 8-for-8 in the contest, while Turley was 4-for-4. Young led Murray State with 14 points, while Alexis Burpo led the Racers on the boards with seven.
Govs fall to Bisons in regular-season finale
Austin Peay State University women’s basketball team fell to Lipscomb, 65-50, in its ASUN Conference finale, Saturday, in the Winfield Dunn Center. Shamarre Hale and Mariah Adams combined for 29 points, but Austin Peay (16-11, 12-6 ASUN) was unable to overcome a Lipscomb (19-10, 13-4 ASUN) team that outshot the Govs 18-5 from the charity stripe. Shamarre Hale led APSU in scoring for the 11th time this season with 17 points – tied for the 10th-most points by a Gov this season and her sixth-most in a game this season as well. Mariah Adams’ seven assists are the fourth-most by a Govs this season. She now has the top nine assist totals in a single game in 2022-23. Mahogany Vaught’s two three-pointers are tied for her second-most in a game this season. Hale went 5-for-5 on free throws – her third game this season with a perfect mark from the charity stripe.
>>College Basketball Roundup
(Undated) — Memphis squeaked by Cincinnati 76-73 in college basketball action