Knight’s Late Basket Saves No. 6 Gonzaga

As soon as the final buzzer sounded and Gonzaga had avoided an upset, the Bulldogs raced to mob Erroll Knight near midcourt at San Diego.

Knight got a rare chance to be the star, making a three-point basket with eight seconds left to give the No. 6 Bulldogs a 64-63 victory over San Diego on Saturday.

It was a well-deserved celebration for the senior guard, who sat out the season’s first eight games after having two arthroscopic surgeries on his left knee in a span of 20 days.

Gonzaga (15-3, 5-0 West Coast Conference) had trouble scoring late. Knight had a putback with 3:34 left, then the Bulldogs didn’t make another basket until his winning shot. Nick Lewis scored 18 points for the Toreros (11-6, 1-3).

No. 3 Connecticut 71, No. 17 Louisville 58 -- The visiting Huskies (16-1, 4-1 Big East) pulled away late to get past the Cardinals (13-5, 1-4). Louisville, playing without injured leading scorer Taquan Dean, got a career-high 27 points from center David Padgett.

No. 4 Memphis 85, Southern Mississippi 68 -- The Tigers (17-2, 3-0 Conference USA) never trailed at Hattiesburg, Miss., and withstood a productive second half by Jarekus Singleton to win their sixth in a row.

Singleton had all 19 of his points after halftime. He scored 14 straight points to pull the Golden Eagles (7-12, 1-3) to within 10 with 5:52 left. But Memphis held Southern Miss to one basket the rest of the game.

No. 5 Texas 66, Baylor 47 -- Daniel Gibson scored a career-high 37 points with nine three-point baskets to lead the Longhorns (16-2, 4-0 Big 12), who won their eighth in a row, past the Bears (0-4).

No. 7 Illinois 58, Northwestern 47 -- Dee Brown broke out of his shooting slump with 18 points and had eight assists to lead the Illini (17-2, 3-2 Big Ten) past the visiting Wildcats (9-8, 2-4). After shooting a combined nine of 39 in the previous three games, Brown made six of 10 shots.

No. 8 Villanova 80, No. 20 Syracuse 65 -- The Wildcats (13-2, 4-1 Big East) built a 21-point first-half lead at Philadelphia, then made their free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win. The Orange (15-4, 3-2) used a 17-2 run at the start of the second half to pull within four, but the Wildcats never let them get any closer.

No. 11 Michigan State 85, No. 23 Iowa 55 -- The Spartans (15-4, 3-2 Big Ten) led by nine at halftime at East Lansing, Mich., then turned the game into a rout with a 12-2 run to start the second half against the Hawkeyes (14-5, 3-2).

No. 13 Indiana 62, Purdue 49 -- The Hoosiers (12-3, 4-1) moved into a share of the Big Ten lead with Wisconsin by beating their instate rival for the ninth time in 11 games. The Boilermakers (7-10, 1-5) lost their 20th consecutive regular-season road game.

No. 14 North Carolina State 92, Wake Forest 82 -- Cameron Bennerman made all 12 free throws on his way to a career-high 26 points to help the Wolfpack (15-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Demon Deacons (12-6, 1-4) at Raleigh.

No. 16 George Washington 83, Charlotte 69 -- The win at Charlotte, N.C., kept the Colonials (14-1, 4-0) tied atop the Atlantic 10 standings with Xavier. De’Angelo Alexander scored 23 points for the 49ers (11-7, 4-2).

No. 19 Ohio State 75, Penn State 64 -- The Nittany Lions (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) stayed close at State College, Pa., but the Buckeyes (14-2, 4-2) took charge in the second half. Penn State pulled within 69-62 with one minute left, but Jamar Butler and J.J. Sullinger made free throws to extend the lead.

No. 21 Boston College 65, Miami 61 -- Craig Smith made six of six free throws in the final 2:19 at Miami to give the Eagles (14-4, 2-3 ACC) their eighth consecutive victory over the Hurricanes (11-7, 3-2).

No. 22 Maryland 81, Virginia Tech 72 -- Nik Caner-Medley scored a season-high 23 points and the Terrapins (13-4, 3-2 ACC) used a strong second half to win their 14th in a row at home. The Hokies (10-8, 0-5) are the lone winless team in the ACC.

No. 25 Oklahoma 60, Texas Tech 48 -- Michael Neal made four three-point baskets in the final four minutes to help the Sooners (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) hold off the Red Raiders (10-9, 2-3) at Norman, Okla.