PHILADELPHIA — JayVaughn Pinkston scored 20 points to help Villanova beat No. 5 Georgetown 67-57 on Wednesday night for its third victory over a top-five team this season. PHILADELPHIA — JayVaughn Pinkston scored 20 points to help Villanova beat No.
PHILADELPHIA — JayVaughn Pinkston scored 20 points to help Villanova beat No. 5 Georgetown 67-57 on Wednesday night for its third victory over a top-five team this season.
The Wildcats (19-12, 10-8 Big East) also beat then-No. 5 Louisville and then-No. 3 Syracuse and have put themselves in solid shape for at least an NCAA tournament at-large bid.
Otto Porter Jr. scored 17 points as the Hoyas (23-5, 13-4) had an 11-game winning streak snapped. The Big East leaders lost for the first time since Jan. 19.
Darrun Hilliard scored 14 points, Ryan Arcidiacono had 11, and Mouphtaou Yarou grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, who finished 30 of 42 from the free throw line compared to Georgetown going 4-of-8 from there.
The Hoyas, playing for a No. 1 seed in the both the Big East and NCAA tournaments, committed 23 turnovers and never made big shots down the stretch.
GEORGIA TECH 71,
No. 6 MIAMI 69
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Marcus Georges-Hunt followed his own miss for the winning tip-in at the buzzer, and Georgia Tech kept Miami from clinching the outright Atlantic Coast Conference title.
The Hurricanes (23-6, 14-3 ACC), who squandered a 13-point lead in the second half, lost for the third time in four games and fell to 13-1 at home. They were already assured of a share of the title and can still clinch the championship outright by winning their regular season finale at home against Clemson on Saturday.
Georgia Tech (16-13, 6-11) beat a Top 25 team for the first time since March 2010.
Georges-Hunt drove into the lane and threw up a one-hander over Kenny Kadji that bounced off the rim. Georges-Hunt and Robert Carter Jr. both appeared to get a hand on the rebound, and the tip-in was credited to Georges-Hunt for only his second basket of the game.
Chris Bolden scored 21 points for Tech and went 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Daniel Miller added 17 points and five rebounds.
Kadji had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hurricanes while Scott had 17 points.
No. 7 MICHIGAN 80, PURDUE 75
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Trey Burke had 26 points and five rebounds to lead Michigan to the come-from-behind win.
Terone Johnson scored a career-high 35 points and Rapheal Davis added 15 for Purdue (14-16 7-10 Big Ten), which has lost five of seven.
Nik Stauskas had 17 points and Tim Hardaway, Jr. had 16 points and five rebounds for the Wolverines (25-5, 12-5), who have won four of their last five and remain in the race for a share of the Big Ten title.
Hardaway’s 3-pointer with 3:46 left gave Michigan a 66-64 lead. Stauskas made free throws and a 3-pointer to extend the lead and Burke added two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 77-73.
No. 11 FLORIDA 66, VANDERBILT 40
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kenny Boynton scored 15 points, and Pat Young added 14 as Florida clinched the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship.
Florida won its fourth outright league title and third under longtime coach Billy Donovan. The Gators (24-5, 14-3 SEC) were alone atop the standings in 1988-89, 2006-07 and 2010-11.
Like the others, this one earned the Gators the No. 1 seed heading into next week’s SEC tournament. It also capped a perfect season (15-0) at home and sent seniors Boynton, Erik Murphy and Mike Rosario out with a victory on “Senior Night.”
Kendren Johnson had 15 points for the Commodores (13-16, 7-10), including 13 straight at one point.
No. 12 NEW MEXICO 75, NEVADA 62
RENO, Nev. — Tony Snell scored 25 points, and Cameron Bairstow and Alex Kirk added double-doubles to lead New Mexico to its sixth straight victory.
Bairstow had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Kirk had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos (26-4, 13-2 Mountain West), who trailed 55-53 but ran off 17 straight points late in the second half to improve to 8-3 on the road. Kendall Williams added 10 points and five assists for New Mexico, which had already clinched their fourth regular season title in five years.
Malik Story scored 25 points for the Wolf Pack (12-17, 3-12), who have lost six straight and nine of 10.
Snell, who was 8 of 11 from the field, scored New Mexico’s last 10 points of the first half and had eight during the Lobos’ late run.
IOWA ST. 87, No. 13 OKLAHOMA ST. 76
AMES, Iowa — Senior Will Clyburn scored 20 points, and Iowa State bolstered its NCAA tournament hopes.
Georges Niang added 18 points for the Cyclones (20-10, 10-7 Big 12), who notched just their second victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Oklahoma State trailed by as many as 15 points, but Marcus Smart’s reverse dunk made it 70-68 with 4:28 left. Clyburn answered with a 3 and Tyrus McGee’s 3 a minute later put the Cyclones ahead 78-68.
Smart was brilliant for Oklahoma State (22-7, 12-5), scoring 24 points with eight rebounds and five steals. But it wasn’t enough as the Cowboys lost for just the second time in 12 games.
XAVIER 77, No. 16 SAINT LOUIS 66 (OT)
CINCINNATI — Travis Taylor had 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, and Xavier never trailed in the overtime while ending the Billikens’ 11-game winning streak and leaving the Atlantic 10 title up for grabs.
Xavier (17-12, 9-6 A-10) ended a long winning streak for the second time in eight days. The Musketeers snapped Memphis’ 18-game streak at the Cintas Center last week.
The Billikens (23-6, 12-3) wasted a chance to win a share of a conference title for the first time since 1970-71 in the Missouri Valley. Their last outright title came in 1956-57. They could have clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a win on Wednesday.
Instead, they fell into a first-place tie with No. 21 VCU, which beat Richmond on Wednesday.
Kwamain Mitchell led Saint Louis with 17 points. Cody Ellis, the Billikens’ top 3-point shooter, missed all of his 15 shots — 11 behind the arc — and finished with four free throws.
No. 17 SYRACUSE 78, DePAUL 57
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Brandon Triche and James Southerland combined for 37 points in the final home game of their careers and Syracuse snapped a three-game losing streak.
Syracuse (23-7, 11-6 Big East) broke a rare two-game losing streak in the Carrier Dome. No. 5 Georgetown started it 11 days ago with a 57-46 win that stopped the Orange’s 38-game winning streak, the longest in the nation at the time.
Cleveland Melvin had 15 points and eight rebounds for DePaul (11-19, 2-15), which lost its fifth straight and moved into a tie for last in the conference with South Florida.
The Orange’s three-game slide came in a span of a week against Georgetown, No. 8 Louisville and No. 15 Marquette.
Southerland struggled, going 5 of 19 from the field and 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. But he made all 11 of his free throws for 22 points in his first start of the season and just the third of his career.
Triche finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
No. 21 VCU 93, RICHMOND 82
RICHMOND, Va. — Treveon Graham scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with 2:58 to play, for VCU.
Juvonte Reddic added 16 points for the Rams (24-6, 12-3 Atlantic 10), who remained in control of at least the second seed in the conference tournament later this month.
Cedric Lindsay led the Spiders (17-13, 7-8) with 22 points but failed on several consecutive possessions late in the game as the Rams pulled away from a 79-all tie with 3:13 remaining.
Graham’s driving basket broke the tie, and after a turnover by Lindsay in the lane, Reddic dunked for the Rams, bringing the sellout crowd in the Siegel Center to their feet.
WASHINGTON STATE 73, No. 23 UCLA 61
PULLMAN, Wash. — Brock Motum had 20 points and 11 rebounds as last-place Washington State upset UCLA, breaking a 19-game home losing streak to the Bruins that extended to 1993.
Royce Woolridge added 19 points for Washington State (12-18, 3-14 Pac-12), which also broke a nine-game losing streak that had put coach Ken Bone on the hot seat.
Jordan Adams scored 18 points for UCLA (22-8, 12-5), which had won four straight games and came into Wednesday tied with Oregon for first place in the Pac-12.
Washington State had lost its last eight games against the Bruins, who were coming off a win over No. 18 Arizona.
Washington State played without Mike Ladd (knee injury) and DaVonte Lacy (knee injury), their second- and third-leading scorers.
