JONES LEADS DEPAUL PAST LOUISVILLE
David Jones scored 23 of his careerhigh 33 points in the second half as DePaul fought past Louisville 62-55 on Friday night in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jones, who was 10-for-12 shooting in the second half, sparked second-half runs of 8-0, 6-0 and 9-0 for the Blue Demons, (8-1) and his fast-break layup with 5:11 to play gave them the lead for good.
He was 3-for-4 from three-point range and grabbed 14 rebounds. Javon Freeman-Liberty and Nick Ongenda added eight points apiece. Freeman-Liberty had four of the Blue Demons’ seven steals.
Malik Williams scored a career-high 22 points for the Cardinals (6-3) with eight rebounds and three steals.
There were 11 lead changes and five ties as neither team could get ahead by more than nine.
Jones gave DePaul the lead for good with a driving layup, then added a stepback three-pointer and a putback of a Jalen Terry missed three in a span of 1:16 as DePaul surged ahead 56-50. He scored nine of the Blue Demons’ last 13 points.
loyola HITS 17 THREES IN WIN
Braden Norris scored 18 points, all on three-pointers, and Loyola made 17 threes in its 69-58 victory over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Ramblers (9-2) scored all but 18 of their points on three-pointers and had 19 assists. Ryan Schwieger scored 14 points, and Lucas Williamson added 11. Norris was 6-for-8 from three-point range.
Scotty Pippen Jr. led the Commodores (5-4), who lost their third consecutive game, with 23 points. Myles Stute had nine points and six rebounds.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Norris and Schwieger gave Loyola a 53-40 lead near the midway point of the second half. Vanderbilt drew within 56-49 with 5:50 remaining, but three-pointers by Williamson and Norris helped keep the game in hand for the Ramblers.
Loyola led 30-27 at halftime and did not trail over the final 25 minutes of play.
Auburn penalized; Pearl banned 2 games
The NCAA put the Auburn men’s basketball program on four years of probation for unethical conduct involving former associate head coach Chuck Person and imposed a two-game suspension on coach Bruce Pearl for failing to monitor his assistant and adequately promote compliance.
An NCAA Committee on Infractions panel issued its findings Friday. The NCAA, however, mostly accepted Auburn’s self-imposed penalties in the case dating to September 2017, when FBI agents arrested Person as part of a wideranging investigation into corruption in college basketball.
Pearl will be suspended the next two games for the 18th-ranked Tigers, Saturday against Nebraska in Atlanta and Tuesday against North Alabama.
The report released by the infractions committee panel said Pearl “violated head coach responsibility rules because he did not adequately monitor the associate head coach and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
“Further, when the head coach became aware of potentially problematic situations involving the associate head coach, he failed to ask reasonable and pertinent questions.”
Pearl has had other run-ins with the NCAA. Tennessee fired him in 2011 after the NCAA charged him with unethical conduct and additional violations surfaced. ✶