Houston's Jamal Shead (1) drives toward the basket as Texas Tech's Chance McMillian (0) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday in Houston.  

The Associated Press

HOUSTON — Jamal Shead scored a career-high 29 points and also had 10 assists, J’Wan Roberts added 12 points and No. 5 Houston snapped a two-game losing streak with a 77-54 win over No. 25 Texas Tech on Wednesday night.

Shead scored 15 first half points, shooting 6 for 9 from the field as Houston (15-2, 2-2 Big 12) led 38-29 at the half. He finished 12 of 16 from the field and either scored or assisted on 22 of the Cougars’ 33 field goals.

The Cougars, who have now won 15 straight at home, were coming off losses at Iowa State and TCU last week. Houston shot 52% and had a 40-8 advantage in points in the paint.

Kerwin Walton scored 18 points and Pop Isaacs added 12 points for Texas Tech (14-3, 3-1), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. The Red Raiders shot 37% and were 11 of 27 on 3-pointers.

Trailing 12-9 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Houston went on a 13-0 run to open a 22-12 lead on a 3-pointer by L.J. Cryer with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

Houston opened the second half with a quick 8-0 spurt to up its lead to 46-29 on a dunk by Ja’Vier Francis with 16 minutes remaining.

UCF 77, Texas 71

AUSTIN — Jaylin Sellers had 24 points, Shemarri Allen scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and UCF rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to beat Texas 77-71 on Wednesday night.

UCF trailed 59-46 with 11:59 remaining before holding Texas to four made shots — all from 3-point range — the rest of the way. The Knights finished the game on a 24-9 run.

Max Abmas’ 3-pointer gave Texas its last lead, 68-67, with 4:29 remaining. Sellers and Allen then scored four points apiece during a 10-3 surge to end it.

Texas made just two of its last 10 shots in the final six minutes. The Longhorns shot 68% (17 of 25) in the first half but cooled to 34.5% (10 of 29) in the second.

Sellers was 7 of 12 from the floor that included a pair of 3-pointers, and he made all eight of his free throws. Allen also had seven assists. Darius Johnson added 11 points for UCF (11-5, 2-2 Big 12). C.J. Walker and Omar Payne chipped in 10 points apiece.

Ithiel Horton scored 20 points to lead Texas (12-5, 1-3). Abmas and Dillon Mitchell each added 15 points.

Texas built a 44-32 halftime advantage, and Horton’s jumper stretched the lead to 55-40 with 14:30 remaining. Allen scored five straight points and Sellers capped the 14-3 surge with consecutives jumpers that gave the Knights a 67-65 advantage before pulling away.

UCF is on the road against fifth-ranked Houston on Saturday.

Texas, which has lost three of its last four games, hosts No. 9 Baylor on Saturday in the first of six straight games against teams ranked in the top 25. The Longhorns had been ranked in the AP poll for 36 consecutive weeks before falling out on Monday.

No. 8 Kentucky 90, Mississippi State 77

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Antonio Reeves scored 27 points and Kentucky beat Mississippi State for coach John Calipari’s 400th victory with the Wildcats.

Kentucky (13-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) shot 62% in the second half and 56% overall to provide the milestone victory for the Hall of Famer, who became the third-fastest active coach to achieve that with a program.

Rob Dillingham added 16 points for the Wildcats.

Tolu Smith III had 26 points for the Bulldogs (12-5, 1-3).

No. 13 Auburn 80, Vanderbilt 65

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jaylin Williams hit every shot he attempted scoring 21 points as Auburn coasted to its 10th straight victory routing Vanderbilt.

Williams knocked down five shots in the first half, including a pair of 3s, and five free throws, and his dunk with 19 seconds left helped the Tigers (15-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) take a 41-24 lead into halftime.

Vanderbilt (5-12, 0-4) has lost four straight and joins Missouri as the only winless teams in SEC play.

Tyrin Lawrence led the Commodores with 15 points. Jason Rivera-Torres added 14, Ezra Manjon had 12 and Malik Pressley 11.

No. 15 Oklahoma 77, West Virginia 63

NORMAN, Okla. — Jalon Moore scored 16 points and Javian McCollum and Rivaldo Soares each added 13 to help Oklahoma defeat West Virginia.

Otega Oweh added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma (14-3, 2-2 Big 12), which shot 63.6% in the second half to pull away. The Sooners bounced back from losses to TCU and Kansas.

Noah Farrakhan scored 14 points and RaeQuan Battle added 12 for West Virginia (6-11, 1-3), which was trying to build momentum after upsetting then-No. 25 Texas last Saturday.

LSU 89, No. 22 Mississippi 80

BATON ROUGE, La. — Jordan Wright scored a game-high 27 points leading LSU to a victory over No. 22 Mississippi.

Wright, a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt and a Baton Rouge area native, scored six of LSU’s nine points to close the first half and eight of Tigers’ 10 points to open the second half.

Jalen Cook added 16 points for LSU (11-6, 3-1 Southeastern Conference). Tyrell Ward contributed 11, including a trio of 3-pointers in two minutes during a 13-4 run that boosted the Tigers’ lead to 64-48 with 9:48 left to play.

Mississippi (15-2, 2-2) was led by Jaylen Murray with 23 and Allen Flanigan with 20.

WOMEN

Texas Tech 71, No. 24 Iowa St. 63

LUBBOCK — Rhyle McKinney scored all 15 of her points in the first half, Jasmine Shavers had 15 second-half points and Texas Tech beat No. 24 Iowa State 71-63 on Wednesday night for its first series victory in the last seven meetings.

Texas Tech (14-5, 3-3 Big 12), which won its first game against a ranked opponent since Jan. 18, 2023, picked up its first victory over Iowa State since Feb. 23, 2020.

McKinney, in her first start of the season, made her fifth 3-pointer with 7:22 remaining in the second quarter to give Texas Tech a 25-18 lead. Bailey Maupin added a long 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to cap a personal 7-0 run for a 34-29 lead at the break. The Lady Raiders were 9 of 20 from 3-point range in the first half.

Kilah Freelon gave Texas Tech a 14-point lead, 63-49, with 5:39 remaining in the fourth quarter but the Lady Raiders did not make another field goal the rest of the way. Iowa State got as close as six points until Shavers made two free throws with 35.6 seconds left to seal it.

Maupin scored a team-high 16 points for Texas Tech. Jordyn Merritt had 10 rebounds, to go with eight points. The Lady Raiders finished 13 of 29 from distance.

Emily Ryan scored 11 of Iowa State’s 29 first-half points and finished with a season-high 18 points. Freshman Audi Crooks had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa State (12-5, 6-1). Hannah Belanger scored 11 points and Jalynn Bristow added 10.

Iowa State was scheduled to play on Saturday against TCU, but the Horned Frogs had to forfeit due to a lack of available players. The Cyclones will have a week off before playing at Kansas on Jan. 24.