Houston beats

Louisiana-Lafayette 85-63

HOUSTON — Joseph Young scored a career-high 27 points and Houston defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 85-63 Saturday night.

Danuel House added 22 points, also a career best, and TaShawn Thomas had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Cougars (8-2), who have won three in a row. Houston was 14 for 28 from 3-point range with Young going 6 for 11 and House 4 for 5.

Thomas, Young and Brandon Morris also had six assists for Houston, which committed just nine turnovers.

Shawn Long led the Ragin Cajuns (4-7) with 20 points. Elfrid Payton scored 12 points for Louisiana-Lafayette. The Cajuns led in the first minute but Houston took the lead for good shortly after that. The Cougars made eight of their 3-pointers in the first half and led 45-29 at the half.

Southern Miss easily handles Grambling State 93-45

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Jonathan Mills and Michael Craig scored 17 points each, and Southern Miss rolled over Grambling State 93-45 on Saturday night, keeping the Tigers winless for the season.

Neil Watson had 15 points and Jerrald Brooks 12 for the Golden Eagles (7-3), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Terry Rose led Grambling State (0-8) with 18 points. The Tigers have played all their games on the road.

Holding an 11-7 lead 3:48 into the game, the Golden Eagles scored 19 consecutive points and rolled to a 50-21 halftime advantage.

Southern Miss shot 59.6 percent from the field (34 of 57) to Grambling’s 32.6 percent (15 of 46) and outscored the Tigers 18-6 from the foul line. Southern Miss outrebounded Grambling 36-23.

Southern Miss won the only other meeting between the teams, a 70-52 victory in the Super Chevy Shootout in Iowa City, Iowa, during the 1996-97 season.

North Texas beats Southeastern Louisiana 45-40

DENTON, Texas — Roger Franklin scored 12 points to lead North Texas to a 45-40 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.

Alzee Williams added 11 points, and Tony Mitchell pulled down 10 rebounds and eight points for the Mean Green (4-6).

North Texas led 19-18 at halftime in a game with six lead changes. The Mean Green’s largest lead was nine with 2.19 to play in the game. North Texas had 16 points off Southeastern Louisiana turnovers.

Brandon Fortenberry had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lions (1-7).

The Mean Green made 18 of 61 attempts (29.5 percent) from the field for the game. The Lions made 14 of 56 (25 percent).

In 1963, the Mean Green beat Air Force 37-36 for the fewest points scored in a North Texas victory.

Hornets sign McGuire

PORTLAND, Ore. — The New Orleans Hornets have signed forward Dominic McGuire to shore up their frontcourt in the absence of Jason Smith, who is out with a right shoulder injury.

McGuire averaged 2.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in just over 15 minutes per game for the Toronto Raptors earlier this season, appearing in 15 games before he was waived on Nov. 30.

The 6-foot-9 forward, in his sixth NBA season, has also had stints with Washington, Sacramento, Charlotte and Golden State. He’s averaged 2.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 331 career games.

Smith injured his shoulder in the Hornets’ loss at Oklahoma City on Wednesday and is expected to be out about two weeks.

McNeese State beats

Texas Tech 80-75

LUBBOCK, Texas — Ledrick Eackles scored all 13 of his points in the second half Sunday night to lead McNeese State to an 80-75 comeback win over Texas Tech.

“He wanted to prove ‘Coach I can help this team, just give me the opportunity,’” McNeese State coach Dave Simmons said. “He came in and played very well.”

Craig McFerrin led all scorers with 18 points for McNeese State (6-3). He also had six rebounds. Kevin Hardy also scored 13 points for the Cowboys, who won their fifth straight game, and prevailed for the first time in 10 tries against a current member of the Big 12.

Jaye Crockett led the Red Raiders (5-2) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Gray scored 15 points and recorded three steals, while Trency Jackson and Dejan Kravic each scored 11 for Texas Tech.

Eackles, who played 18 minutes in a reserve role, made all three of his 3-point attempts and making both free-throw tries in the final minute. One of his 3s, with 7:02 to play, gave the Cowboys the lead for good.

“I practiced those shots every day and every night,” Eackles said.

McNeese State also changed their offensive game plan at halftime, which helped them find holes in Tech’s press defense.

“We had to figure out what was our best offense more than anything else,” Simmons said. “That was the only adjustment we made.”

The Cowboys made over 57 percent of their tries from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line in the second half.

Michigan suspends

3 players for Outback Bowl

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan coach Brady Hoke has suspended cornerback J.T. Floyd, punter Will Hagerup and linebacker Brandin Hawthorne for a violation of team rules.

Hoke says in an announcement Sunday that the three players will not travel with the 19th-ranked Wolverines for the Outback Bowl against No. 11 South Carolina because each of them used poor judgment. He didn’t specify which team rules were broken.

Floyd is a starting cornerback and Hagerup is the team’s top punter. Hawthorne is a backup linebacker.

Hoke says it’s an honor to play football for the University of Michigan and there are high standards and expectations for everyone that represents the program.

South Carolina beats

North Carolina 23-19

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — South Carolina scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns en route to a 23-19 victory over North Carolina in the 76th edition of the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas on Saturday.

Mykal Moody (Conway) scored on a 5-yard run to give the Sandlappers a 16-13 lead with 14:03 remaining. South Carolina extended its lead on Lewis Keinan’s (Belton-Honea Path) 20-yard touchdown reception from a scrambling Julian Michael (Hilton Head) with less than four minutes to play.

“We came here to win,” said South Carolina head coach Ray Stackley of Stratford. “We wanted to be classy and support the Shriners and their hospitals, but we wanted to win this ballgame.”

Stackley said pundits didn’t give the Sandlappers a chance against the North Carolina all-star team, which featured 29 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision commits from Oregon to East Carolina.

South Carolina now leads the series 42-30-4. The annual all-star game began play in 1937.

Arizona should get boost

from knocking off Florida

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona was largely ignored as it raced through the early part of its schedule.

Sure, the Wildcats were ranked in the top 10 and off to their best start in 14 years, but the schedule wasn’t exactly difficult.

The perception should change after their pull-it-out-of-thin-air win over No. 5 Florida on Saturday night.

Rallying from six points down in the final minute to beat at top-five team? That’s a pretty good statement.

“We’re the real deal,” sophomore guard Nick Johnson said. “Everybody said something about our schedule before this and this was the opportunity to prove ourselves in front of the nation.”

They certainly did, though it took them a while to get going.

After winning its first seven games by an average of 20 points, No. 8 Arizona had its hands full in the McKale Center’s first matchup between top 10 teams since 2004.

Deep and talented, the Gators also were undefeated coming in and had one of the nation’s best defenses, holding teams to 48 points per game.

49ers withstand

comeback, top Patriots 41-34

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — LaMichael James awaited the kickoff, determined to regain the momentum for the 49ers after they quickly lost all of a 28-point lead.

“We need a boost,” he said. “That’s what I was thinking. I was thinking I got to take it to the house.”

He didn’t get all the way there, but close enough to set up the decisive touchdown — going 62 yards before Colin Kaepernick’s 38-yard pass to Michael Crabtree with 6:25 left — that helped San Francisco reach the playoffs with a 41-34 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

“We faced adversity,” James said. “Nobody flinched.”

Now the 49ers have at least a wild-card berth with a 10-3-1 record, knowing a win against division rival Seattle (9-5) next Sunday clinches the AFC West title.

The Patriots (10-4) already had locked up first place in the AFC East with a chance to improve their chances for a first-round bye. They began the day in second place in the race for the two byes but fell behind the Denver Broncos (11-3). The Houston Texans (12-2) hold the top spot.

“We haven’t thought about that yet,” Tom Brady said. “What’s in our control is winning football games.”

From The Asscoiated Press.