Ponds, St. John’s stun No. 4 Duke
ST. JOHN’S 81, NO. 4 DUKE 77
NEW YORK — That’s two losses in three games for No. 4 Duke — and this one to a team that hadn’t won since Christmas.
No wonder coach Mike Krzyzewski called it a “disgusting” performance.
Shamorie Ponds scored 33 points and St. John’s stunned the Blue Devils 81-77 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, snapping an 11-game losing streak and handing a suddenly suspect Duke squad its second defeat in eight days.
“We got what we deserved,” Krzyzewski said. “We weren’t able to knock them out after we lost the first 12 rounds of a 15-round fight.”
Bashir Ahmed added 19 points and Tariq Owens had 17 for the Red Storm (11-13), who overcame an early 10-point deficit and fought off Duke’s heralded freshmen down the stretch in their biggest victory under third-year coach Chris Mullin.
It was the first victory for St. John’s since Dec. 20 against Saint Joseph’s.
“We would have taken a win if it was in an empty gym,” Mullin said. “Thank God January is over.”
St. John’s was playing the second of three consecutive games against top-6 opponents in a span of nine days. Next up, a visit to No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday night.
“We are happy but we can’t stop here. We have to keep pushing,” said Ponds, a sophomore guard. “This is big to get a win on the board. We can start fresh.”
Gary Trent Jr. had 22 points for the Blue Devils (19-4), who perhaps got caught looking ahead to their first matchup of the season with bitter rival North Carolina on Thursday night.
Krzyzewski didn’t think so. “Ponds was really as good a guard offensively as we’ve played against,” Krzyzewski said. “We came in prepared.”
Freshman Marvin Bagley III scored 19 points for Duke but sat out a significant chunk of the second half with four fouls. Wendell Carter Jr. added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Winless in 11 Big East games this season, the Red Storm improved to 11-2 in nonconference play.
It was the first meeting between the teams since Krzyzewski got his 1,000th career victory with a 77-68 victory at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25, 2015.
NO. 2 VIRGINIA 59, SYRACUSE 44
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — De’Andre Hunter scored 15 points, Kyle Guy added 14 and second-ranked Virginia smothered struggling Syracuse.
Virginia (22-1, 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which beat the Orange 68-61 in January, has won 14 consecutive games and is off to its best start in conference play since the days of Ralph Sampson, who led the 1980-81 team to a 12-0 start.
Syracuse (15-8, 4-6) was coming off a four-point loss at Georgia Tech in which it shot 30 percent (15 of 50), and the offensive futility continued against the nation’s best scoring defense.
The Orange needed big games from its top three scorers — Tyus Battle, Frank Howard, and Oshae Brissett — and they didn’t deliver. Battle finished with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting, Howard was 4 of 17 for 11 points and Brissett had nine points.
OKLAHOMA STATE 84, NO. 7 KANSAS 79
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kendall Smith scored 24 points, including the clinching free throws in the final seconds, and Oklahoma State held on for the upset.
Cameron McGriff added 20 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 15 points for the Cowboys (14-9, 4-6 Big 12 Conference), who built an 18-point first-half lead and dominated the boards in ending their three-game losing streak.
It was the third loss for the Jayhawks (18-5, 7-3) in Allen Fieldhouse, their most since the 1998-99 season, and their second in conference play. They also lost to Texas Tech.
Udoka Azubuike had 20 points and Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 points apiece for Kansas, which was celebrating 120 years of basketball by welcoming back dozens of former players and coaches.
WASHINGTON 78, NO. 9 ARIZONA 75
SEATTLE — Dominic Green collected a loose ball in the final seconds and made a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Washington a victory over No. 9 Arizona.
Washington went to freshman Jaylen Nowell with the clock winding down, but his shot was blocked by Arizona star Deandre Ayton. Green grabbed the swatted shot near the Washington bench and beat the buzzer with his fourth three-pointer of the game.
Green finished with 14 points off the bench and the biggest shot of his career as the Huskies padded an already improving resume for NCAA Tournament contention. Noah Dickerson led Washington (17-6, 7-3 Pac-12) with 25 points and David Crisp added 16 points.
Dusan Ristic scored 21 points for Arizona (19-5, 9-2) and Allonzo Trier had 17 of his 20 points in the second half. Ayton was a force on the inside with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks, but missed a free throw with 21 seconds left that would have given Arizona the lead.
TEXAS 79, NO. 12 OKLAHOMA 74
AUSTIN, Texas — Matt Coleman scored 22 points, leading a big Texas second-half rally before his late free throws helped secure a victory over No. 12 Oklahoma and freshman star Trae Young.
Coleman scored 14 points in the second half. His free throws down the stretch came after he missed three in a row late in an overtime loss at Texas Tech that could have helped clinch a victory. Texas closed the game on a 22-8 run.
Kerwin Roach II added 19 points for Texas (15-8, 5-5 Big 12).
Young, the national scoring leader, came in averaging 30.3 points, but finished with 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting and made two three-pointers. He had 14 assists. The loss kept the Sooners (16-6, 6-4) from pulling into a three-way tie atop the Big 12 with Kansas and Texas Tech.
OTHER MEN’S TOP 25 GAMES
Matt McQuaid scored 12 points and made the decisive three-pointer with 1:08 to play for No. 5 Michigan State (22-3, 10-2 Big Ten) in a 63-60 victory over Indiana (12-12, 5-7) in Bloomington, Ind. ... Trevon Bluiett had a season-high 31 points and No. 6 Xavier (21-3, 9-2 Big East) never trailed in overtime, holding on to beat Georgetown (13-9, 3-8) 96-91 in Cincinnati. … Jacob Evans III scored 19 points to lead No. 8 Cincinnati (21-2, 10-0 American Athletic Conference) past Connecticut (11-12, 4-6) 65-57 in Storrs, Conn. … Jarrett Culver scored 20 points with four three-pointers, and No. 10 Texas Tech (19-4, 7-3 Big 12) got its fourth consecutive victory and a share of the Big 12 Conference lead with Kansas as it defeated TCU (16-7, 4-6) 83-71 in Fort Worth. … Jock Landale had 34 points and tied his season high with 18 rebounds, and No. 13 Saint Mary’s (23-2, 12-0 West Coast Conference) extended its school-record winning streak to 18 games with a 6562 victory over San Diego (15-9, 6-6) in San Diego. … Rui Hachimura scored 15 points, Josh Perkins added 14 points and No. 14 Gonzaga (21-4, 11-1 West Coast) edged Brigham Young (18-7, 7-5) 68-60 for its fifth consecutive victory. … Sagaba Konate scored 19 points and No. 15 West Virginia (17-6, 6-5 Big 12) ended a three-game losing streak with a 89-51 victory over Kansas State (16-7, 5-5) in Morgantown, W.Va. … Luke Maye scored 26 points to help No. 19 North Carolina (17-7, 6-5 ACC) end its first three-game losing streak in four years with a 96-65 victory over Pittsburgh (8-16, 0-11) in Chapel Hill, N.C.… Gabe DeVoe scored 24 points to lead No. 20 Clemson (19-4, 8-3 ACC) to a 75-67 victory over Wake Forest (9-14, 2-9) in Winston-Salem, N.C. … Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman made a tiebreaking threepoint play with 3.8 seconds left and finished with 17 points as No. 24 Michigan (19-6, 8-4 Big Ten) held on in overtime, 76-73, against Minnesota (14-11, 3-9) in Ann Arbor, Mich.