Steele, Crimson Tide knock off Volunteers

Ronald Steele had 22 points and nine assists and helped Alabama nullify No. 8 Tennessee’s aggressive defense in a 92-79 victory on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide used a nearly flawless first half and made 28 of 30 free throws to end the Volunteers’ eight-game winning streak.

Tennessee failed to make it interesting after trailing by 16 points at halftime despite Chris Lofton’s torrid shooting. The Vols were trying to win nine straight in the league for the first time since 1981-82 and equal their quickest trip to 20 wins.

Instead, the Tide managed a big boost to its NCAA Tournament and SEC West Division hopes by only allowing Tennessee to sporadically employ its normally devastating full-court press and dominating inside.

Jermareo Davidson had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Alabama, which placed five of its seven scholarship players in double figures in beating Tennessee for the seventh straight time. Richard Hendrix had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Alonzo Gee scored 14 points and Jean Felix 12.

Lofton scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half. He went 6 of 8 on 3-pointers, nearly all of them contested and well behind the arc.

(1) Connecticut 81, (11) West Virginia 75: At Morgantown, W.Va., Josh Boone scored 18 points and the Huskies dominated inside for a victory over the West Virginia, the Mountaineers’ third loss in four games. Connecticut took over sole possession of second place in the Big East from West Virginia.

(3) Memphis 105, Tulane 65: At New Orleans, Rodney Carney scored 24 points to lead the Tigers to their 13th win in a row with a rout of the Green Wave. Memphis improved to 10-0 on the road and clinched a first-round bye in the Conference USA tournament.

(7) George Washington 64, Richmond 51: At Richmond, Va., Maureece Rice scored 16 points and Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 10 points and nine rebounds in the Colonials’ NCAA-leading 14th consecutive victory. GW led 35-22 at halftime and opened its lead to as many as 16 in the second half.

Marquette 84, (9) Pittsburgh 82: At Milwaukee, Steve Novak scored 27 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Golden Eagles to their second straight victory over a Top 25 team with an upset of the Panthers.

Arkansas 85, (10) Florida 81 (OT): At Fayetteville, Ark., Ronnie Brewer made a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play in overtime and batted away a pass as the Gators tried to tie it in the closing seconds to preserve the victory for the Razorbacks.

(12) Ohio State 61, Northwestern 52: At Columbus, Ohio, Terence Dials had 14 points and 15 rebounds during the Buckeyes’ 12th straight win over the Wildcats.

(16) Michigan State 90, Michigan 71: At East Lansing, Mich., Shannon Brown scored 26 points to lead the Spartans past the Wolverines.

•A Michigan State student was taken to a hospital after an altercation with a Michigan basketball player about an hour before the teams played each other. Video of the incident shows Michigan reserve Amadou Ba was sitting in the first row courtside during a pregame warmup period. A male fan, who appeared to be intoxicated, walked past Ba, then came back toward him. Ba stood up and shoved the fan, who fell to the floor.

Minnesota 74, (18) Iowa 61: At Minneapolis, Vincent Grier scored 18 points to lead the Gophers to their third straight home victory over a ranked team.

(19) Oklahoma 83, Iowa State 82: At Norman, Okla., Michael Neal scored a career-high 29 points, including three free throws with 8.4 seconds left that lifted the Sooners to victory. Neal hit eight 3-pointers in 12 attempts for the Sooners.

(21) N.C. State 70, Virginia Tech 64: At Blacksburg, Va., Cameron Bennerman scored 26 points to help the Wolfpack turn back a late rally by the Hokies.

(22) Kansas 79, Missouri 46: At Lawrence, Kan., freshman Mario Chalmers helped trigger a 16-2 run and the Jayhawks won their ninth straight game.

Northern Iowa 65, (24) Bucknell 61 (2 OT): At Cedar Falls, Iowa, Eric Crawford forced double overtime with a fallaway 8-footer with .8 seconds left, and Eric Coleman followed with six of his team-high 15 points in the second overtime to lift the Panthers to their seventh straight home victory over a Top 25 team.

(25) LSU 65, Auburn 61: At Auburn, Ala., Glen Davis had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead LSU to a victory over Auburn.