Vandy ends skid
Saben Lee scored 33 points and Vanderbilt upset No. 18 LSU 99-90 on Wednesday, ending the SEC’s longest regular-season league losing streak at 26 games. The Commodores had not beaten a conference opponent since downing Mississippi on March 3, 2018.
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VANDERBILT 99, NO. 18 LSU 90
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt Commodores surprised first-year Coach Jerry Stackhouse at the locker room door, spraying him from water bottles along with dumping a bucket of Gatorade on him in celebration.
Finally winning their first SEC game with Stackhouse while ending a record 26-game skid in the league play during the regular season deserved to be enjoyed.
And they did it by upsetting No. 18 and defending SEC champ LSU 99-90 on Wednesday night.
“We can get this off our back and focus on trying to build the program and build this year because we have more wins in us if we play like we did,” Stackhouse said.
Saben Lee scored 33 points and Maxwell Evans had 31 — both career highs for the junior guards — as the Commodores (9-13, 1-8) beat their first SEC opponent since downing Ole Miss on March 3, 2018. Counting SEC Tournament losses, that was a span of 28 consecutive league losses.
Vanderbilt has been playing without the SEC’s leading scorer Aaron Nesmith since the second game of league play this season. Scotty Pippen Jr. added 13 points, and Jordan Wright had 11 points for the Commodores.
Lee and Evans struggled to put into words the feeling of finally winning an SEC game.
“You never know till you know,” Lee said. “When that final buzzer went off, all the emotions came out.”
LSU (17-5, 8-1) also came in streaking, having won 13 consecutive SEC regular season games. The Tigers snapped that streak along with a 12game streak on the SEC road, which had been the third-longest streak in school history. Coach Will Wade, a Nashville native, goes back home from Memorial Gym still looking for his first win in the league’s oldest gym.
Wade, who shared a quick moment with Stackhouse after each spoke to reporters, said Vandy will win more SEC games this season.
“They played extremely hard, and Saben Lee just controlled the game …,” Wade said. “He also set up Evans and all those other guys. He had us spinning around like a top the entire game.”
Trendon Watford led LSU with a season-high 26 points. Emmitt Williams added 24, and Skylar Mays and Javonte Smart had 15 each for the Tigers.
NO. 5 LOUISVILLE 86, WAKE FOREST 76
LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Jordan Nwora had 21 points and scored the go-ahead basket during an 18-5 second-half run that rallied No. 5 Louisville past Wake Forest for its ninth consecutive victory.
Wake Forest led 46-34 at the break behind 60% shooting before the Cardinals (20-3, 11-1 ACC) picked things up and mounted the pivotal run over the first five minutes of the half. Nwora followed Ryan McMahon’s four-point play with a breakaway dunk for Louisville’s first lead at 5251, and the Cardinals stretched it to 67-60.
NO. 19 BUTLER 79, NO. 10 VILLANOVA 76
INDIANAPOLIS — Kamar Baldwin made a buzzer-beating three-pointer and scored 17 points, giving No. 19 Butler a victory over No. 10 Villanova.
The Bulldogs (18-5, 6-4 Big East) snapped a five-game losing streak in the series as Sean McDermott scored 21 points and Bryce Golden added a career high 18 points. The game was delayed for nearly 15 minutes in the first half when the roof of 92-year-old Hinkle Fieldhouse sprung a leak.
Villanova (17-5, 7-3) rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final six minutes, tying the score on Saddiq Bey’s three-pointer with 24 seconds to go.
NO. 12 SETON HALL 78, GEORGETOWN 71
WASHINGTON — Myles Powell scored 34 points, Romaro Gill tied a career-high with eight blocks and No. 12 Seton Hall raced out to a big lead and beat Georgetown.
The Pirates (17-5, 9-1 Big East) jumped out to a 16-0 lead, going 4 for 4 on three-pointers. Powell, the second leading scorer in the Big East, hit his scoring average of 21 points by halftime.
NO. 13 WEST VIRGINIA 76, IOWA STATE 61
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 13 West Virginia breezed to a victory over Iowa State.
Chase Harler added 14 points, Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Derek Culver scored 12 points apiece, and Jermaine Haley scored 11 points for the Mountaineers (18-4, 6-3 Big 12).
PURDUE 104, NO. 17 IOWA 68
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Evan Boudreaux scored a season-high 18 points to lead Purdue to a victory over No. 17 Iowa. Boudreaux hit 7 of 9 shots and had a team-high eight rebounds
Jahaad Proctor, Matt Haarms and Sasha Stefanovic each scored 15 points for the Boilermakers (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten).
Luka Garza led the Hawkeyes (16-7, 7-5) with 26 points.
PROVIDENCE 73, NO. 21 CREIGHTON 56
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A.J. Reeves set season highs with 22 points and six three-pointers, and Providence pulled away from No. 21 Creighton.
Providence (13-10, 6-4 Big East) defeated a ranked foe for a second consecutive game after topping No. 16 Butler on the road Saturday. Alpha Diallo, limited to bench duty against the Bulldogs amid a two-game slump, bounced back with 14 points and six rebounds.
Ty-Shone Alexander led Creighton (17-6, 6-4) with 15 points.