Solo Ball scored 20 points as sixth-ranked UConn stayed atop the Big East by holding on for a 79-75 victory over Georgetown Saturday night in Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies (24-2, 14-1 Big East) won their second straight game following an 81-72 loss to then-No. 22 St. John’s on Feb. 6 to remain a half-game ahead of the Red Storm, who earned a 10-point win in Providence earlier in the day.

Ball scored 16 in the first half after tallying 24 Wednesday at Butler. The junior guard made 7 of 17 shots and hit five of UConn’s 11 3s on 15 attempts.

Alex Karaban added 13 of his 18 points in the second half, when the Huskies fended off multiple comeback attempts by the Hoyas. Karaban earned his 116th win at UConn, becoming the all-time winningest player in school history.

Silas DeMary Jr. totaled 15 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to nearly finish with his second triple-double of the season. Braylon Mullins and Eric Reibe contributed 10 apiece as the Huskies survived Tarris Reed Jr. being in foul trouble in the second half.

The Huskies shot 47.2% and won despite shooting 4-of-17 from three in the second half.

KJ Lewis led all scorers with 24 points, including a 4-point play with 24 seconds left to get the Hoyas (13-12, 5-9) within 77-74. Vince Iwuchukwu added 16 and Kayvaun Mulready contributed 15, but Georgetown lost its 12th straight game to UConn.

The Hoyas shot 43.6% and made 12 of 28 3s, including 7 of 13 in the final 20 minutes.

Georgetown forged a 25-25 tie on two free throws by Iwuchukwu with 7:07 left in the first half, but Ball hit two 3-pointers, a layup and a dunk as the Huskies held a 41-33 advantage at halftime.

Karaban and Ball hit 3s for a 58-46 lead with 10:42 left before the Huskies struggled to finish the game from there.

The Hoyas led 72-68 following a contested three by Lewis with 2:34 to go. After a timeout and a pair of missed threes by teammates, DeMary hit two free throws with 1:56 left to extend the lead to six.

Following the 4-point play, Lewis stole Karaban’s inbounds pass with 14 seconds left and Mulready split two free throws with 11 seconds left to make it 77-75.

Karaban clinched the win with two free throws with 10 seconds left followed by a missed 3-pointer by Mulready.

–Field Level Media

Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. tied a career high with 31 points and made a career-best seven 3-pointers as No. 21 Arkansas ran away from short-handed Auburn 88-75 on Saturday night in Fayetteville, Ark.

Billy Richmond III scored a career-high 25 points for the Razorbacks. He was 12 of 15 from the field with four assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the Razorbacks (19-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference), who moved into second place behind No. 14 Florida (19-6, 10-2).

Tahaad Pettiford had 29 points and seven assists and KeShawn Murphy scored a career-high 22 points and added 12 rebounds for the Tigers (14-11, 5-7), who have lost four in a row after a four-game winning streak.

Acuff made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions early in the second half when Arkansas opened on a 15-2 run to take a 53-34 lead.

The Tigers got within eight points twice in the second half but were never closer than 10 points in the final eight minutes.

The Razorbacks shot 57.4% (35 of 61) from the field. Acuff was 10 of 15 from the floor and 7 of 10 from distance. Teammate Meleek Thomas had eight points and 10 rebounds, and Trevon Brazile had 11 points and seven boards.

The Razorbacks avenged their worst SEC loss of the season, a 95-73 defeat at Auburn on Jan. 10.

The Tigers played without leading scorer Keyshawn Hall (20.7 points per game), benched for disciplinary reasons, according to coach Steven Pearl. Hall had 32 points in the first meeting.

Auburn shot 40.9% (27 of 66) from the field. Murphy and Pettiford were 20 of 34 and the rest were 7 of 32.

Acuff made a 3-pointer and Richmond converted two layups on a 10-0 run to give Arkansas a 16-9 lead eight minutes into the game. Acuff’s third 3-pointer of the first half extended the run to 20-6 and pushed the Razorbacks’ lead to 26-15.

Murphy and Pettiford scored Auburn’s final 30 Auburn points of the first half. Murphy had 18 on 8 of 12 from the floor, and his dunk with 3:58 left brought the Tigers within two at 30-28. The Razorbacks led 38-32 at half.

Arkansas wing Karter Knox, who missed the previous two games with knee issues, exited with an apparent left knee injury with 6:42 left in the contest.

–Field Level Media

Aden Holloway scored 20 points, while Labaron Philon Jr. and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. added 19 apiece as Alabama held off a game South Carolina squad, 89-75, in a Southeastern Conference contest in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama (18-7, 8-4 SEC) won its fourth straight game and triumphed for the seventh time in nine outings. They are likely to be ranked in next week’s Associated Press poll after receiving 72 votes last week, only eight less than 25th-ranked Kentucky.

South Carolina (11-14, 2-10) dropped its sixth consecutive game and fell for the 26th time in their last 30 SEC games.

Gamecocks guard Meechie Johnson scored 24 of his game-high 26 points in the second half. Kobe Knox added 21 points and also contributed six assists and six rebounds. Mike Sharavjamts added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The spunky Gamecocks stayed in contact with the Tide during the early stages of the second half, but could not get inside double digits until Johnson drained a long 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the deficit to 63-56, capping a 9-0 run with 8:20 remaining.

But after each team came away empty on their next possessions, Wrightsell answered with his third trey of the evening.

Johnson continued to keep the pressure on, knocking down his third 3-pointer of the half to close the gap to 75-67 with 3:23 remaining. But a Holloway trey to increase the lead to 83-70 with 1:33 left sealed Alabama’s 11th consecutive series win over South Carolina.

The Tide, which entered the game second in the nation in scoring at 91.9 points per game, continued their onslaught from 3-point range, converting 14 of 34. Alabama has buried 12 or more 3-pointers in six consecutive games.

Aiden Sherrell also scored in double figures for Alabama with 11 points, while Amari Allen added eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Both teams were efficient in the early going, as South Carolina converted 10 of its first 19 shots, while Alabama countered with 9 of 14, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Knox scored 12 of the Gamecocks’ first 23 points as his dunk with 9:50 to play in the half knotted the score at 23. But he would not score the rest of the half and South Carolina’s offense came to a screeching halt.

Alabama ended the half on a 22-9 run, starting with a Holloway 3-pointer and punctuated by an Allen fast-break dunk with 11 seconds to play in the stanza.

The Tide knocked down 9 of 17 shots from long range in the first 20 minutes, paced by a 3-of-4 effort by Philon.

The Gamecocks misfired on 10 of their final 14 looks of the half and faced their largest deficit in the first 20 minutes at 45-32 at the break.

Johnson was held to one field goal in the first half, but sunk 8-of-17 shots for the game.

–Field Level Media