Roberts, Sasser score 20, No. 2 Houston beats Memphis 72-64 No. 4 UCLA tops Colorado, claims Pac-12 regular-season title Arizona State stuns No. 7 Arizona 89-88 on Cambridge’s heave In NIL-era first, NCAA gives Miami probation for violation Kermit Davis is out as Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Utah projected as No. 1 seed in women’s NCAA Tournament

HOUSTON. J’Wan Roberts had a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Marcus Sasser also had 20 points as second-seeded Houston held out against Memphis 72-64 on Sunday.

Jamal Shed added 10 points to Houston (25-2, 13-1 American Athletic Conference). The Cougars scored 45% but struggled from deep, scoring 3 of 17 on three points.

The Cougars forced 18 passes that turned into 22 points. Houston has won seven games in a row.

“The line-up for this team is winners,” Houston coach Calvin Sampson said. “These kids know how to win. . Do they look great every night? I never thought it was a beauty pageant. Last time I checked, you didn’t put an asterisk in front of anything. Just win the game. Can we play better? Absolutely. It certainly wasn’t our best game tonight.”

Elijah McCudden added 20 points and six rebounds, DeAndre Williams added 18 points and Damaria Franklin added 10 points for Memphis (20-7, 10-4). The Tigers shot 44%, including 6 of 15 three-pointers.

“I’m excited because tomorrow this team will be No. 1 in the country,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “I think we know we can play with them. I think this group has now seen and been on fire in a hostile environment against these guys, so I’m definitely encouraged.”

Memphis has not had top scorer Kendrick Davis, who averages over 21 points. Davis went through the warm-up but pulled out of the line-up with an injury.

After trailing 32–21 in the half, Memphis opened the second half by scoring 5 of 7 to cut the lead to 38–34 thanks to Franklin’s 3-pointer with 16 minutes left to end the series 6–0.

Houston responded with a 9-2 rush to regain an 11-point lead at 47-36 on Roberts’ layup with 12 minutes left.

“Basketball is a running game, so I just felt like we just needed to keep our composure,” Sasser said. “I feel like it was a nuisance during the game and I felt like we did a good job of staying calm and handling their run, coming back and getting our run.”

The Tigers closed 63–58 with 2:24 to go due to Williams’ layup, but it was as close as Memphis could get as Houston made nine of his last 10 free throws to stop the game.

“There is no great success in moral victories,” Hardaway said. “We had our chances right there three times with five goals conceded. We didn’t catch the moment. You just need to capitalize on this game and keep moving forward.”

Houston used a 17-3 run in the five-minute stretch of the first half to open up a 30-16 lead behind jumper Sasser with 3:47 left in the half. Sasser scored seven points in the run.

BIG PICTURE

Memphis: The Tigers have lost 1-2 to ranked opponents this season. . Memphis missed the chance to help its NCAA tournament resume, falling to 7-6 in Quad 1 and 2 games, including going 2-3 in Quad 1 games. Memphis beat Houston 34-30.

Houston: The Cougars improved to 12-1 in Quad 1 and 2 games. Houston hit 23 of 26 from the free throw line, including 13 in a row in the second half. . The Cougars had a 38-32 lead in the paint.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE SURVEY

After losses to No. 1 in Alabama and No. 3 in Purdue last week, Houston could reclaim the top spot in the AP Top 25 for the third time this season.

NEXT

Memphis: in Wichita, Wednesday.

Houston: hosts Tulane on Wednesday.

BOULDER, Colorado. Jaime Jacques Jr. scored 17 points and Tiger Campbell scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half as UCLA No. 4 beat Colorado 60-56 on Sunday.

Amari Bailey added 11 points for UCLA (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12), which won its eighth straight to end an undefeated February and clinch the regular season conference title.

“It doesn’t change anything,” said UCLA coach Mick Cronin. “Our goal along the way was to win the Pac-12 to try and stay in the West (for the NCAA Tournament). So, we have more games to win in order to try and reach this goal. In addition, we have the longest home winning streak (23 games) in a country that we are very proud of. So we are focused on the state of Arizona.”

With the Pac-12 and the NCAA Tournament approaching, Jacquez agreed with his coach that now is not the time to stop there in the regular season.

“That was one of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. And we succeeded,” he said. “And now we have two more goals that we also want to achieve. And we’ll just keep working hard.”

KJ Simpson had 14 points to lead Colorado (15-15, 7-12). Tristan da Silva, who left the game with just over five minutes left due to an apparent calf injury, and Luke O’Brien scored 13 points each. Colorado narrowly missed a loss to UCLA after a lopsided loss to USC.

“It’s a different feeling after losing tonight than after losing Thursday night and I’m talking to the players about how the reason they are upset and frustrated tonight is because they were wrestling with their tails,” the coach said. Colorado” Ted Boyle. . “They fought tooth and nail and they didn’t make it.”

Buffalo bounced back to take a 45–44 lead after a da Silva three-pointer with 8:13 remaining to end the Buffalo streak 8–2. The game remained tense, with the score tied at 3:41 twice in the final.

Jaques made one of two free throws with 2:17 left to give UCLA a one-point lead, with Campbell adding another basket for the Bruins. Buffalo came back within two points of a pair of free throws from Lawson Lovering with seven seconds left. Amari Bailey was fouled in the ensuing field play and hit both free throws to secure a win over Colorado, who missed a shot in the closing seconds.

Losing a basket at halftime, UCLA scored the first seven points in the second half to take a 35–30 lead. It was the Bruins’ first lead since Jacques dunked in the first minute of the game. Tiger Campbell ended the streak with a three-pointer, the first from beyond the arc for the Bruins, who hit 0-for-6 in the first half.

UCLA missed 10 of their first 11 shots and trailed 11-2 before gradually closing the gap to 30-28 due to Jaylen Clark’s layup shortly before halftime. Colorado was unable to build on their early lead due to their own offensive problems and effectively finished the first half shooting 37.9%, about two percent lower than UCLA’s over the same period.

3-POINT SERIES

The Bruins made one of their 14 three-pointers, but it was enough to extend their 23-year streak. Tiger Campbell’s 3-pointer early in the second half extended UCLA’s streak with at least one 3-pointer to 782 games. The Bruins have not been without three-pointers in a game since hitting 0-for-14 from three on February 3, 2000, in a 78–63 loss at then-second place at Stanford.

BIG PICTURE

UCLA: The Bruins pulled off a landslide win that will serve them well as they turn their focus to the postseason. They overcame a slow start and uneven attacking play, keeping their composure against an underdog but determined opponent, relying on their defensive intensity to drive the game to victory.

Colorado: The Buffalo put up a big effort against a powerful UCLA team, going head-to-head with their opponent until the last moments. They have shown that they can compete with the best in the conference and with a young roster they have shown that they have the potential to improve in the near future.

NEXT

UCLA: Opens last regular season home stand on Thursday against Arizona State ahead of Saturday’s final against No. 7 Arizona. The Bruins have a 23-game home winning streak since last season, the longest active streak in the country.

Colorado: Hosts Utah in the regular season finals on Saturday.

TUCSON, Arizona. Arizona State’s final loss to the rivalry seemed inevitable even after a late rally when all that was left was desperate.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. cashed it out by swinging the McKale miracle to keep the Sun Devils’ NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

Cambridge Jr. landed a 60-foot blow to the buzzer and Arizona State rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat No. 7 Arizona 89-88 on Saturday.

“I didn’t think this shot would hit the target,” Cambridge said after scoring 19 points. “I just wanted to miss well so that everyone in the crowd went, “Oooh!” As soon as he came in, I literally could only scream because I couldn’t understand it.”

The Wildcats (24–5, 13–5, Pak-12) took a 10 lead and then missed a field goal for over six minutes, with Arizona State taking a lead by one.

The Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7) went up 86-85 with a layup by Warren Washington with just a minute left, but Pelle Larsson again took Arizona out of a layup with 29 seconds left.

Arizona State’s DJ Horn missed with a jumper with four seconds left and the Sun Devils had a last shot after Umar Ballo hit 1 of 2 free throws.

Catching the ball with 2.4 seconds left, Cambridge stunned the McKale Center fans with an out-of-bounds kick that caused his teammates to throw themselves to the floor in celebration.

“We had pocket aces, and that happens sometimes,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.

Cedric Henderson Jr. led Arizona with 19 points while Azuulas Tubelis added 17.

In the first meeting, Arizona State went for a big break to open the second half, but Lloyd didn’t take a timeout, allowing his team to weather the hardships. In response, the Wildcats got ahead of their own to win 69–60 on an evening when neither team shot better than 37%.

The rematch was all about attack.

The Sun Devils hit as many 3-pointers in the first eight minutes as they did in the entirety of Game 1 and 20 of 34 shots from the floor in a 46–45 lead.

The Wildcats landed 16 of 27 shots, including 3 from Henderson, but 7 of 14 came from free throws.

Good shooting only subsided a little to start the second half.

Arizona took a six-point lead in a short run, and the Sun Devils…