Blue Demons suffer second- half letdown
Max Strus had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but DePaul lost to Creighton 82- 57 on Tuesday in Omaha, Nebraska.
Paul Reed and Eli Cain scored 11 points apiece for the Blue Demons ( 11- 18, 4- 13 Big East).
The Bluejays ( 21- 9, 10- 7), who led 43- 33 at the break, opened the second half on a 17- 7 run to open the gap to 60- 40 at the 13: 25 mark and pushed the advantage to 75- 51 with 3: 52 remaining.
DePaul concludes the regular season Saturday against Xavier.
Miami 91, North Carolina 88
Ja’Quan Newton hit a running 30- footer at the horn to help the visiting Hurricanes upset the No. 9 Tar Heels in a wild finish.
It capped a game that saw visiting Miami ( 21- 8, 10- 7 ACC) squander a 16- point second- half lead, only to come up with a huge win.
Berry matched his career high with 31 points for the Tar Heels ( 228, 11- 6).
Toledo 97, N. Illinois 67
Tre’Shaun Fletcher had a triple- double ( 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) and the visiting Rockets ( 21- 9, 13- 4) clinched the Mid- American ConferenceWest Division title.
Eugene German led the Huskies ( 12- 18, 5- 12) with 27 points.
Colson to returnWednesday
All- American forward Bonzie Colson will return to Notre Dame’s lineup for Wednesday night’s game against Pittsburgh.
Colson last played Dec. 30 but has been out with a left foot fracture since. He suffered the injury in practice. Colson was averaging 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds this season, adding 2.4 blocks and 2.0 steals.
The Irish are 17- 12 this season and have gone 6- 9 without Colson.
NIT to experimentwith rules
Next month’s NIT games will use experimental rules that include an extended three- point line, a wider free- throw lane and 10- minute quarters instead of 20- minute halves.
The three- point arc will move to roughly 22 feet, which is used by FIBA for international competition.
The lane will expand from12 feet to the NBA’s 16 feet. Also, the shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after offensive rebounds instead of the full 30 seconds.
Three Ramblers earn honors
Loyola junior guard Clayton Custer was named Missouri Valley Conference player of the year. Senior guard Cameron Krutwig was named freshman of the year and center Ben Richardson earned defensive player of the year honors.