Notre Dame wins Brey’s home finale

SOUTH BEND, IND. » Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as Notre Dame won longtime coach Mike Brey’s final home game with an 88-81 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points as the Fighting Irish (1119, 3-16 ACC) snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Brey, who is stepping down at season’s end and received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game, improving to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 years as Notre Dame coach.

Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5).

OHIO STATE 73, (21) MARY;AND 62 » Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help Ohio State finish its home schedule with a win over Maryland. (19) XAVIER 94, (20) PROVIDENCE 89. » Souley Boum scored a season-high 33 points and Colby Jones added 29 to help Xavier beat Providence and clinch the second seed in the Big East Tournament. (14)UCONN 88, DEPAUL 59 » Adama Sanogo scored 26 points to lead five Huskies in double figures and UConn (23-7, 12-7 Big East) closed out its home schedule in emphatic style against skidding DePaul (9-21, 3-16). VANDERBILT 68, (23) KENTUCKY 66 » Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead fall-away in the lane with 2.6 seconds left to finish with 23 points, and Vanderbilt (17-3, 10-7 SEC) topped Kentucky (20-10, 11-6) for its first win at Rupp Arena since January 2007.

Women

PENN STATE 72, MINNESOTA 67 » Makenna Marisa scored 22 points and No. 13 seed Penn State (14-16) beat 12th-seeded Minnesota (11-19) in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament.