John Calipari, Kentucky silence naysayors, beat Tennessee

Negativity has dogged the Kentucky basketball program since its disappointing loss to South Carolina on Tuesday.

Heading into Saturday’s 63-56 win over host No. 5 Tennessee, Wildcats coach John Calipari did his best to insulate his players while absorbing as many bullets as possible himself.

“I haven’t lost faith in any of these guys,” he said. “I’ve got a good team. (Friday night), I collected all the (players’ cell) phones and iPads and everything else.”

Antonio Reeves scored 18 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (11-6, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) over the Volunteers. The victory ended a 25-game home win streak for Tennessee (14-3, 4-1) that dated back to the end of the 2020-21 season.

Kentucky led 58-50 with 3:28 left in the game. Two free throws by Santiago Vescovi and two buckets by Uros Plavsic closed the gap to two with less than a minute to play.

A Wildcat turnover gave Tennessee a shot to tie or take the lead, but Zakai Zeigler and Plavsic missed down low.

“Both coaches made it a slugfest,” Calipari said. “Nobody backed down.”

Kansas 62, Iowa State 60: KJ  Adams scored in the paint, breaking a tie with under 12 seconds left as host No. 2 Kansas held off No. 14 Iowa State.

Gradey Dick had 21 points for Kansas (16-1, 5-0 Big 12). Gabe Kalscheur had 23 for the Cyclones (13-3, 4-1).

Oregon 87, Arizona 68: Jermaine Couisnard scored 27 points as host Oregon upset No. 9 Arizona (15-3, 4-3 Pac-12). N’Faly Dante added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Ducks (10-8, 4-3).

Vanderbilt 97, Arkansas 84: Tyrin Lawrence scored 22 points as host Vanderbilt (9-8, 2-2 SEC) erased a 10-point second-half deficit against No. 15 Arkansas (12-5, 1-4).

Creighton 73, Providence 67: Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 13 of his 21 points in the last 15 minutes to help host Creighton (10-8, 4-3 Big East) end a nine-game win streak for No. 19 Providence (14-4, 6-1).

Charleston 78, Elon 60: Dalton Bolon scored 21 points as No. 22 College of Charleston (18-1, 6-0 CAA) cruised to its 17th straight win.

Indiana 63, Wisconsin 45: Trayce Jackson-Davis had 18 points and 12 rebounds as host Indiana (11-6, 2-4 Big Ten) beat No. 18 Wisconsin (11-5, 3-3).

Clemson 72, Duke 64: P.J. Hall scored 26 points and Brevin Galloway had 17, including a three-pointer that put host Clemson (15-3, 7-0 ACC) ahead to stay against No. 24 Duke (13-5, 4-3).

Oklahoma women win

Madi Williams scored 13 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, Liz Scott had a double-double and host No. 19 Oklahoma (14-3, 4-1 Big 12) rallied to beat No. 23 Kansas (12-4, 2-3), 80-74. — AP