LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) – Freshman guard Zhaire Smith scored a career-high 21 points and No. 7 Texas Tech beat Iowa State 76-58 for its fifth straight win. The Red Raiders are the first Big 12 team to reach 20 wins overall, and they are tied with No. 10 Kansas atop the conference standings. After Iowa State scored seven straight points in a 77-second span to get within one after halftime, Smith had a steal that led to his alley-oop dunk. Jarret Culver added 16 points and Keenan Evans 15.
(AP) – Tom Herman and the Texas Longhorns have one of the top signing classes in the nation, not just in the best in the Big 12. After a winning record on the field in Herman’s first season, the Longhorns also made significant strides with the coach’s second recruiting class. Eight more players signed on Wednesday to bolster what was already a strong class with the 19 players added during the early signing period in December.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The new coaches in the Southeastern Conference got their first opportunity to compete with one another over the last two months on the recruiting trail. All had to navigate the new recruiting calendar and none brought in top 10 classes. Six SEC teams have new coaches this year, including former Mississippi interim coach Matt Luke.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Signing day marked the end of the two-month whirlwind for new Nebraska coach Scott Frost and his assistants. The staff coached Central Florida to a bowl win over Auburn and simultaneously assembled a top-25 recruiting class with the Cornhuskers. Frost said the effort of his staff was unprecedented in college football.
CHICAGO (AP) – Marcus Foster scored 29 points, including a step-back 3-pointer that swished through with the winning points as Creighton battled past DePaul 76-75. The Big East battle went through 12 lead changes and six ties and neither team led by more than six after halftime. Foster was 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point arc and Khyri Thomas added 18 points. Creighton is alone in third place in the Big East.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Dean Wade scored 16 points and Kansas State rallied late in the second half to beat Texas 67-64 and earn a tough road win the in the Big 12. Wade went to the free throw line with 3 seconds left and made one but missed the second that would have given the Wildcats a four-point cushion. Texas’s last shot to tie was an off-balance, stumbling 3-pointer by Kerwin Roach II that didn’t get anywhere close to the basket. Mo Bamba led Texas with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
SAINT BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (AP) – Jaylen Adams set career highs with 44 points and a school-record 10 3-pointers and St. Bonaventure beat Saint Louis 79-56 to with its fifth straight. Adams shot 10 of 14 from 3 in scoring his second 40-point game in as many games, a feat last accomplished at St. Bonaventure by Bob Lanier in 1969 and Tom Stith in 1959.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – Wyatt Lohaus scored a career-best 25 points and Northern Iowa snapped a three-game skid, beating Bradley 74-65. Lohaus was 7 of 11 from the field including six 3-pointers for the Panthers. Klint Carlson added 12 points and led with nine rebounds. Bennett Koch had 11 points and seven rebounds.