March 4, 2026; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard CJ Cox (0) shoots the ball past Northwestern Wildcats guard Justin Mullins (20) in the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Image CJ Cox scored 21 of his career-high 27 points after halftime and Trey Kaufman-Len had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 15 Purdue to a 70-66 win over Northwestern on Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois.
Purdue (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten) snapped a two-game skid by snapping a three-game winning streak from Northwestern (13-17, 5-14).
After Jordan Clayton hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 66-65 lead with 1:03 left, the Boilermakers went on to take the lead on a Cox trey. Purdue sealed the game at the free throw line, capitalizing on two key Wildcats turnovers in the last 36 seconds.
Northwestern senior Nick Martinelli, the conference’s leading scorer, scored 28 points in his final game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Jayden Reid added 16 points for the Wildcats, who were without Jake West (ankle).
No. 7 Houston 77, Baylor 64
Sharpshooter Emanuel Sharp hit 5 of 10 3-point attempts in a 19-point outing as the Cougars closed their home schedule with a comeback win over the pesky Bears.
The second-ranked Cougars (25-5, 13-4 Big 12), who maintained a one-game conference margin over third-ranked Texas Tech, took their first lead with 7:16 left in the game and then went on a 20-3 run to defeat the Bears (15-15, 5-12).
Houston’s Kingston Flemings scored a game-high 21 points with seven assists, and Milos Uzan had 12 points. Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou totaled 20 points and 12 rebounds and Caden Powell had 12 points and six rebounds.
20 Arkansas 105, Texas 85
Darius Acuff Jr. tied season highs with 28 points and 13 assists, senior Trevon Brazile scored a career-high 28 points in his final home game, and the Razorbacks earned a double-bye in the Southeastern Conference tournament with a win over the Longhorns in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
DJ Wagner scored 15 points and Meleek Thomas added 13 for Arkansas (22-8, 12-5 SEC), which rebounded strongly from a 111-77 loss at the time. Saturday 7 Florida.
Matas Bokietatis had 21 points, Tramon Mark had 18 and Dalylin Swain had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Texas (18-12, 9-8).
No. 22 Miami 77, SMU 69
Tre Donaldson scored 17 points and Malik Reneau added 14 points and 11 rebounds to help the Hurricanes beat the short-handed Mustangs in Dallas.
The win guaranteed Miami (24-6, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) third place in the conference standings and a double-bye in the upcoming league tournament. The Hurricanes tied a school record for regular season wins.
The loss leaves the Mustangs (19-11, 8-9) in the middle of the league standings, and there’s still a chance they could move up to No. 8 if SMU can beat Florida State in its final game of the regular season. Jaron Pierre Jr. had 27 points and Boopie Miller added 21 for SMU.
No. 25 St. Louis 79, Loyola Chicago 65
Amari McCottry had 18 points as the Billikens closed the home portion of their schedule with a win over the Ramblers, a perfect 19-0.
Dion Brown scored 15 points and Robbie Avila had 12 as St. Louis (27-3, 15-2 Atlantic 10) clinched the league regular-season title, No. 1 seed and a double bye in next week’s conference tournament. St. Louis also tied a school record with 22 consecutive home wins.
Xavier Amos led Loyola Chicago (7-23, 3-14) with 25 points, making 6 of 7 3-point attempts. Kayde Dotson added 19 points for the Ramblers, who have lost five of their last six games.
–Field level media
