Xavier clinches Big East share
TOP 25/SEC MEN NO. 3 XAVIER 84, PROVIDENCE 74
CINCINNATI — Trevon Bluiett scored 23 points in his final game at the Cintas Center, and No. 3 Xavier never trailed while beating Providence 84-74 on Wednesday night, clinching at least a share of its first Big East championship.
The Musketeers (26-4, 143) can win the championship outright by beating DePaul on Saturday and end Villanova’s run of four consecutive regular season titles.
Bluiett will leave Xavier as its second all-time scorer. He made the game’s first basket on a driving layup, and finished off the Friars with a dunk and two free throws in the final minute. Quentin Goodin added 18 points, one shy of his career high.
The league title was another major step in a record-setting season for Xavier. The Musketeers moved up to No. 3 for the first time this week. Their latest victory matched the school record for victories in the regular season. And they got the best of one of only three teams to beat them this season.
Providence (18-12, 9-8) won 81-77 on Jan. 6 but couldn’t pull off the sweep after getting off to a slow start and getting into foul trouble. Top scorer Rodney Bullock fouled out with 4:42 left after managing six points. Maliek White led with 15 points.
Xavier opened with a 21-8 run, but wasted chances to build on the fast start, missing eight of their first 10 shots from beyond the arc.
Providence made 12 of its last 14 shots in the half, cutting the deficit to 40-37. Xavier found its touch to start the second half and made eight of its first 10, rebuilding the lead to 12 points. Providence never got closer than six the rest of the way.
NO. 4 VILLANOVA 69, SETON HALL 68, OT
NEWARK, N.J. — Mikal Bridges scored 23 points, Jalen Brunson made big plays down the stretch and No. 4 Villanova avoided consecutive losses for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
Brunson, who was 1 of 8 from the field midway through the second half, finished with 14 points, including two free throws in the waning seconds of overtime to give Villanova (26-4, 13-4 Big East) a 69-66 lead.
Khadeen Carrington closed out the scoring with two free throws with a second to play to finish off a 23-point night for Seton Hall (20-10, 9-8), However, he also missed a free throw with 11.6 seconds left in regulation that could have given the Pirates a late one-point lead.
NO. 18 CLEMSON 76, FLORIDA STATE 63
CLEMSON, S.C. — Marcquise Reed scored 22 points and Clemson won a program-record 11th Atlantic Coast Conference game.
The Tigers (22-7, 11-6) had won 10 league games six times in 64 years as ACC members, but have never before won this many conference games in a regular season.
Florida State (19-10, 8-9) closed to 64-61 on Phil Cofer’s three-pointer with 2:58 remaining, but got no closer.
Gabe DeVoe had 13 points while Shelton Mitchell and Elijah Thomas had 11 points each for the Tigers.
Cofer led the Seminoles with 21 points.
NO. 23 KENTUCKY 96, MISSISSIPPI 78
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kevin Knox had 22 points and Quade Green added 18, including eight during a 15-5 second-half run that helped Kentucky pull away.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points, Wenyen Gabriel 15 and PJ Washington 10 as the Wildcats (21-9, 10-7 SEC) won their fourth consecutive game and home finale, the first without any departing seniors under Coach John Calipari. Green had two three-pointers and a layup during the run that provided an 82-69 lead with 6:40 remaining.
Terence Davis had 26 points for the Rebels (12-18, 5-12), who lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
NO. 25 HOUSTON 69, SMU 56
DALLAS — Rob Gray had 19 points and 9 assists and Corey Davis Jr. added 17 points to lead Houston.
The Cougars (23-6, 13-4 American Conference) have won seven of eight games and are a half-game behind second-place Wichita State.
SMU has lost seven of eight games since leading scorer Shake Milton was sidelined with a hand injury.
Jahmal McMurray scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half to lead the Mustangs (16-14, 6-11).