Jan 17, 2021 3 min read

Virginia Tech kept turning the ball over, failing to secure loose rebounds and struggling to get offense from its two best scorers.

Tyrece Radford and the rest of the 20th-ranked Hokies’ supporting cast provided enough of a boost to offset that, including with some steady late-game play that kept them near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Radford scored 20 points and hit some clutch late free throws to help Virginia Tech hold off Wake Forest 64-60 on Sunday, earning the Hokies’ third league win in the span of eight days.

It wasn’t pretty much of the way for Mike Young’s Hokies (11-2, 5-1), who shot 48% but had 15 turnovers while being beaten on the boards to help the Demon Deacons with extra scoring chances. Additionally, top scorers Keve Aluma (15.6) and Jalen Cone (13.0) combined for five points and one made basket.

And yet, the Hokies never trailed after halftime even as the Demon Deacons (3-5, 0-5) kept hanging around.

Iowa 96, Northwestern 73: Luka Garza had 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 24 minutes, and No. 5 Iowa rolled to a 96-73 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.

Joe Wieskamp had 16 points and CJ Fredrick added 13 as the Hawkeyes (12-2, 6-1 in the Big Ten) won their fifth straight. Iowa and Michigan are tied for the conference lead.

Garza, who entered averaging 27.6 points, sat out the final 12 minutes because of the lopsided score. He was 7 for 12 from the field and scored all of his points in the first half.

“Luka was not quite as dominant as he always is,” Wieskamp said. “But he was getting double-teamed and he was finding open guys. Teams have to respect Luka in the post. If they double team him, we have a lot of guys open.”

Pete Nance had 16 points and Boo Buie added 12 for Northwestern (6-6, 3-5), which dropped its fifth in a row.

Dayton 67, George Washington 54: Jalen Crutcher scored 23 points and Dayton got past George Washington 67-54 on Sunday.

Crutcher sank 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Mustapha Amzil had 10 points and seven rebounds for Dayton (8-3, 4-2 Atlantic 10 Conference), Ibi Watson scored 10 points and Elijah Weaver distributed six assists.

Dayton built a 35-22 in the first half; a season low for the Colonials.

James Bishop had 17 points for the Colonials (3-9, 2-3), Ricky Lindo Jr. added 13 points and eight rebounds and Sloan Seymour scored 10.

Houston 75, UCF 5: Quentin Grimes scored 18 points, Justin Gorham added 15 points and nine rebounds and No. 11 Houston used a dominant first half to cruise to a 75-58 win over UCF on Sunday.

Grimes scored in double figures for his 11th straight game after opening the season with eight points against Lamar. Houston (11-1, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) won its fourth straight game since its loss to Tulsa.

“It was a great game for us,” Houston guard DeJon Jarreau said. “Everybody came out firing. I feel like we can get way better.”

The Cougars shot 42%, including 8 of 25 on 3-pointers. Houston has made at least seven 3-pointers in four straight games.

“When we had guys with great strokes … they had a lot of good nights, but they had nights where it didn’t go in, too,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “That’s just nature of 3-point shooting. As long as good shooters are putting up good shots, they will go in.”

Houston forced UCF into 20 turnovers, which the Cougars turned into 22 point.