Columbia, SC (SportsNetwork. Washington Nationals Shirts .com) - Devin Booker scored 18 points and top- ranked Kentucky put forth a dominating defensive effort to stay unbeaten with a 58-43 victory over South Carolina on Saturday. Aaron Harrison added 13 points for the Wildcats (19-0, 6-0 SEC), who held South Carolina to just 22.6 percent from the field and blocked nine shots. Kentucky is off to its best start since the 2009-10 squad also opened the season with 19 straight wins. Sindarius Thornwell was South Carolinas lone player in double figures with 14 points. The Gamecocks (10-8, 1-5) have lost three straight and five of their last six games. Final Score: Texas Tech 78, (9) Iowa State 73 Lubbock, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Devaugntah Williams had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead Texas Tech in a 78-73 win over No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday. Toddrick Gotcher scored 17 points, while Robert Turner gave 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Raiders (11-9, 1-6 Big 12), who snapped a six-game losing streak. Monte Morris scored 20 points, Matt Thomas added 12 and Georges Niang gave 10 for the Cyclones (14-4, 4-2), who had won their previous two coming into the game. Final Score: (11) Kansas 75, (17) Texas 62 Austin, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Cliff Alexander led four Jayhawks in double figures with 15 points and No. 11 Kansas played a clean second half to take down 17th-ranked Texas 75-62 for a key road victory that could help determine the Big-12 regular season. Perry Ellis and Brannen Greene scored 14 points apiece and Frank Mason III had 12 for Kansas, which committed all three of its season-low three turnovers in the first half. Alexander scored all of his points and grabbed all nine of his rebounds in the final 21:54 of the game. Kansas (16-3, 5-1 Big 12) has won two straight since dropping a road game against Iowa State. The Cyclones, who are in action this afternoon against Texas Tech, also have one conference loss. The Jayhawks have won or held a share of a remarkable 10 straight Big 12 regular-season crowns, but many believed Texas had a chance to threaten that run this season. Isaiah Taylor had 23 points to pace the Longhorns (14-5, 3-3), who have dropped three of their last five games. Final Score: (15) North Carolina 78, Florida State 74 Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Brice Johnson posted 18 points and 14 rebounds as 15th-ranked North Carolina kept up its strong recent play with a 78-74 victory over Florida State. Marcus Paige added 19 points and Justin Jackson put up 14 in the Tar Heels ninth triumph in their last 10 outings. North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC) will take a five-game win streak into a difficult upcoming stretch against Syracuse, Louisville and No. 2 Virginia. Florida State (10-10, 2-5) hung tough for most of the afternoon, with Xavier Rathan-Mayes career-high 35 points keeping the Seminoles in it, before ultimately being dealt its fourth loss in its last five in ACC play. Final Score: (18) West Virginia 86, TCU 85 (OT) Morgantown, WV (SportsNetwork.com) - Juwan Staten and Devin Williams each scored 18 points, and the 18th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers survived a wild overtime period to beat the TCU Horned Frogs 86-85 on Saturday. With seven seconds to go in the extra period, Daxter Miles Jr. hit a go-ahead 3- point shot for the Mountaineers to give them their first lead since regulation, but Trey Zeigler put TCU back on top with a second left. Jevon Carter got behind the defense on the inbounds pass, and after being fouled attempting a layup as time expired, hit a pair of free throws to send West Virginia to the win. Williams pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, and Staten handed out 12 assists. Jonathan Holton added 15 points and eight boards for the Mountaineers (16-3, 4-2 Big 12). TCU (14-5, 1-5) received a game-high 22 points from Kyan Anderson, but it was his foul that sent Carter to the line for the winning free throws. Charles Hill Jr. chipped in 13 points, and Kenrich Williams and Amric Fields each contributed 11. Final Score: Purdue 67, (25) Iowa 63 West Lafayette, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Rapheal Davis scored a career-high 24 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute, and Purdue got a boost from seldom-used wing Basil Smotherman to knock off No. 25 Iowa on Saturday, 67-63. With Kendall Stephens left hand heavily wrapped because of a broken finger, Smotherman saw extended minutes and took advantage, providing 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and pulling down the games two biggest defensive rebounds. Purdue held a two-point lead following Davis 3 with 50 seconds remaining, and Smotherman flew in to grab Mike Gesells missed jumper at the other end. After he split a pair from the foul line, Peter Jok launched a triple and again Smotherman went up high to haul it in. He made 1-of-2 from the line once more, producing the final tally. Purdues center tandem of A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas added 23 points between them on 9-of-11 from the field. The win snaps a 13-game losing streak against ranked teams for Purdue (12-8, 4-3 Big Ten). Iowa nearly overcame the loss of star forward Aaron White thanks to late heroics by Gesell and a dominant effort on the glass, but ultimately fell short. White, Iowas leading scorer and rebounder, left the game in the first half with a right shoulder stinger. Gesell scored 12 of his 18 points in the games final six minutes, and Gabriel Olaseni pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end. Iowa (13-7, 4-3) had 24 offensive rebounds as a team. Kurt Suzuki Nationals Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota (5): He was calm, poised, and looked comfortable all game. Spencer Kieboom Jersey .com) - The disappointing Ottawa Senators hope to record consecutive wins for the first time since early November, as they visit the Boston Bruins on Friday for the opener of a home-and-home series. https://www.cheapnationals.com/ . Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow.CLEVELAND – Ask a Blue Jays fan still hesitant to believe in the team whether a 5-4, nine-game run through Baltimore, Minnesota and Cleveland would be satisfactory early in the season, and the answer likely would be in the affirmative. Yet its those defeats, snatched from the jaws of victory, which sting the most and Toronto had two of them on the trip. The Jays led 4-2 in the sixth inning when Aaron Loup walked the bases loaded and gave up a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to the Indians David Murphy. Cleveland had a lead it wouldnt relinquish, ultimately winning the game 6-4. The meltdown was relatively minor compared to Thursday nights eighth inning debacle in Minnesota, which saw three relievers give up six runs on just one hit and an unseemly eight walks in a 9-5 loss to the Twins. Its jarring because the Blue Jays bullpen has been consistently reliable. It raises two concerns about the pitching staff. First: the walks. Six more on Sunday afternoon for a season total of 81, which pending the behaviour of Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers in their game against the Dodgers later Sunday, ranks second-most in baseball. "The walks have killed us so far," pitching coach Pete Walker told TSN.ca before Sundays game. "I think its cost us a couple of ballgames." Walks just cost them another one. Second: with the exception of Mark Buehrle, the starting staffs inability to pitch deep into games. "Bottom line, weve got to get some innings out of our starters or our bullpen will be dead come May," said manager John Gibbons after Sundays defeat. Such was the dichotomy of Brandon Morrows performance on Sunday. His six strikeouts over five-plus innings belied the fact Indians hitters battled him throughout. Michael Bourn led off the game with a nine-pitch at-bat. He struck out. In the second, Michael Brantley put the Indians ahead 1-0 with a solo home run on the ninth pitch. An inning later, in the third, Jason Kipnis worked a full-count, 10-pitch walk. Morrow was done at 95 pitches one hitter into the sixth. He threw almost 30 per cent of his pitches (28 of 95) in those three plate appearances alone, leaving Gibbons to wish for more efficiency. "I havent beeen able to do it as much as I would like to," said Morrow of pitching into the sixth and seventh innings. Kyle McGowin Nationals Jersey. "Today it was one long inning in the middle; without that I would have been in a better position to finish that sixth." Walker is preaching contact early in counts. He doesnt want pitchers worried about strikeout totals. He wants aggression and laments that radar gun readings are posted on electronic scoreboards. "Its trusting your stuff and really believing that your fastball is good enough that day," said Walker. "I think a couple of our guys might be down in velocity and sometimes that affects your approach. You dont see that 97 on the board and its 92, 93 and all of a sudden you dont trust that fastball in as much as you did last year." Its easy to fall in love with the radar gun and easy to forget that the Blue Jays best pitcher to this point, Mark Buehrle, no longer tops 84 miles per hour with his fastball. "I think it comes down to realizing its not the velocity, its the location," said Walker. "Your fastball is your fastball that given day and it needs to be located regardless. I think, for the most part, thats what we need to get back to and thats something were focusing on is fastball command and pitching inside a little more aggressively." Through 19 games Blue Jays starters have pitched 103 2/3 innings, averaging less than 5 2/3 innings per start. A team with playoff aspirations needs more. R.A. Dickey is presented with the next opportunity to join Buehrle in bucking the troubling trend. He starts Tuesday nights series opener at home with Baltimore. NAVARROS STRANGE ALLERGY If youve been to a Blue Jays game and noticed that Dioner Navarro kicks away the catchers box chalk outline before kneeling for first inning warm up pitches, theres a good reason. Navarros allergic to chalk. The problem dates back years to Navarros minor league days. He would come home after games with skin cracks on his hands. His wife put two and two together since Navarro would always swipe at the dirt to improve his grip, and she suggested he be tested for allergies. Now its habit for Navarro to kick away the chalk before the game begins. ' ' '