Chris Oakes scored a career-high 21 points to lead the San Jose State Spartans to a 70-67 victory over the Utah State Aggies last night at San Jose, Calif.

Jaycee Carroll led Utah State with a game-high 31 points. The Aggies (18-9, 8-4 WAC) have lost three straight for the first time this season.

Utah State forward Tai Wesley was ejected for committing a blatant foul in the first 90 seconds.

The Aggies were just 1-of-9 from the field to start the game. The Spartans jumped to a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes and would lead by 15 points with 2:40 remaining in the first half.

Utah State chipped away at a double-digit San Jose State lead in the second half. Carroll's layup with 15:03 remaining got the Aggies within nine points. But Tim Pierce drained a 3-pointer with 13:21 left to get the lead back to 12 for the Spartans.

San Jose State (12-13, 4-8) has won two straight. The Spartans have not won more than 10 games since the 2000-01 season when the program was 14-14.

NO. 12 GEORGETOWN 68, PROVIDENCE 58

Roy Hibbert had 18 points inside, Jonathan Wallace added 14 from the outside and the Hoyas (21-4, 11-3 Big East) beat the Friars (13-13, 4-10) at Providence, R.I.

The Hoyas struggled against Providence's 2-3 zone for the opening half and first 5 minutes of the second half. Then came a 3-point barrage led by Wallace as Georgetown hit five from behind the arc in a 17-2 run that gave the Hoyas a 52-43 lead. Weyinmi Efejuku had 25 points for the Friars.

NO. 7 TEXAS 77, NO. 22 TEXAS A&M 50

D.J. Augustin scored 27 points and the Longhorns (22-4, 9-2 Big 12) rolled to their sixth straight win by beating the Aggies (20-6, 6-5) at Austin, Texas.

Texas ran away with this one from the start with a 16-4 run to open the game and a front line that matched the Aggies' muscle for 40 minutes. Augustin was dazzling in the first half, nearly outscoring A&M by himself with 17 points as Texas built a 39-18 lead. Josh Carter scored 11 points to lead A&M.

NO. 10 XAVIER 81, RHODE ISLAND 77

Josh Duncan scored 23 points, B.J. Raymond added 14 and the Musketeers (22-4, 10-1 A-10) overcame a furious second-half run to hold off the Rams (20-6, 6-5) at South Kingstown, R.I.

The Musketeers fell behind by three at one point in the second half, before taking the lead for good on a long-range jumper by Stanley Burrell with 5:48 left to play. Parfait Bitee scored 25 points and Will Daniels added 23 for Rhode Island.

NO. 18 LOUISVILLE 61, SYRACUSE 50

Terrence Williams scored all 12 of his points in the second half and the Cardinals (21-6, 11-3 Big East) held off the Orange (17-10, 7-7) at Louisville, Ky. Andre McGee added 12 points and Louisville limited the Orange to 29 percent shooting to keep pace with No. 12 Georgetown atop the Big East.

NO. 23 SAINT MARY'S 100, PEPPERDINE 64

Patrick Mills scored 18 points, Todd Golden added 15 and 10 assists, and the Gaels (23-3, 10-1 WCC) hit 17 3-pointers in a win over the Waves (9-18, 3-8) at Malibu, Calif.

WOMEN

NO. 20 OHIO STATE 72, PURDUE 56

Marscilla Packer scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half to help the Buckeyes (19-6, 10-4 Big Ten) beat the Boilermakers (14-12, 10-5) at Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State moved ahead of Purdue and host first-place Iowa on Thursday night.