Arkansas-Little Rock shoots right over NIU
Sophomore guard Darion Anderson continued his torrid scoring stretch with 29 points with a career-high 12 field goals.
But visiting Northern Illinois couldn't overcome Arkansas-Little Rock's 61.8 percent shooting as UALR (7-2) defeated the Huskies 97-85 Sunday at the Jack Stephens Center.
UALR (7-2) had six players in double figures, led by Steven Moore's 22 points. Forward Najul Ervin had 11 points, and Michael Patton (9) and Jeremy Landers (7) each had season-high outputs for NIU (4-6).
"We knew coming in that Little Rock would have something to prove after their loss against Wright State at home (Friday)," NIU coach Ricardo Patton said.
"They certainly played a great game. We missed some defensive assignments in the first-half, and dug ourselves a hole that was too much to overcome.
"I was really proud of how the guys battled back in the second-half, and we didn't quit. This team has played hard all year long, but at times we haven't played smart. And that was the case in the first half, both offensively and defensively."
Arizona 69, Gonzaga 64: Nic Wise scored 21 points, including 3 free throws in the final 31 seconds, and host Arizona upset No. 4 Gonzaga (7-1).
Jordan Hill added 22 points and Chase Budinger had 14 for the Wildcats (7-2), who beat a team ranked in the top four for the first time since Nov. 8, 2001, when they beat No. 2 Maryland.
The Wildcats, who led most of the game, outscored Gonzaga 7-2 over the last 2:25, with Hill and Wise scoring all their points. Austin Daye had 22 points and Matt Bouldin added 14 for Gonzaga.
Bradley 75, SE Missouri St. 62: Theron Wilson had 17 points, including 7 from the foul line, to lead host Bradley over Southeast Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference match.
Bradley (5-4) was able to withstand a second-period rally from Missouri State (2-8), which scored 23 points in the first period but came back after the break to add 39. Darian Norris had 12 points for the Braves, and David Collins came off the bench to add 10.
Kenard Moore led the Bears with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while Jajuan added 16 points from the bench. Bradley led the entire game.
Illinois St. 76, Morehead St. 70: Champ Oguchi had 25 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Illinois State over visiting Morehead State.
Lloyd Philips had 18 points and Emmanuel Holloway added 13 points for Illinois State (9-0), which held a tight 38-37 edge going into halftime. Morehead State (3-7) found itself dipping into its bench, losing Leon Buchanan, Maze Stallworth and Robert Murry to foul trouble in the second period.
Murry led Morehead State with 20 points. Buchanan and Kenneth Faried each had 12 points and Demonte Harper added 10 points.
It was a flip-flop game, with the lead changing 15 times. Morehead State led by as many as 5 points and Illinois State by as many as 7.
Nevada 62, SIU 48: Armon Johnson scored 8 points in the final five minutes as Nevada held off visiting Southern Illinois.
Johnson, who finished with a game-high 16 points, hit a jumper with two-seconds left on the shot clock to give Nevada (5-4) a 56-48 lead with 2:25 to play.
The sophomore point guard also connected on a pair of jumpers with less than two minutes to play.
Southern Illinois (3-5) failed to score after a jumper by Tony Boyle cut Nevada's lead to 54-48 with 4:10 to play. Boyle led the Salukis with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.