Virginia stuns No. 7 Duke, thanks to last-second block
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Mamadi Diakite made a short, go-ahead jumper with 37 seconds left and Jay Huff blocked Vernon Carey Jr.’s shot under the basket with 3.7 remaining as Virginia ended a three-game home losing streak against No. 7 Duke with a 52-50 victory on Saturday.
Huff led Virginia (21-7, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 15 points, nine rebounds and 10 blocked shots, none bigger than when he rejected Carey’s attempt from in close with the Cavaliers leading 5150. Huff also ripped the ball away, was fouled and made one of two free throws at the other end.
Tre Jones tried an offbalance 3-pointer at the buzzer, but missed, allowing the surging Cavaliers to claim their sixth victory in a row and leapfrog the Blue Devils into third place in the ACC standings with a week left in the regular season.
Carey had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (23-6, 13-5), who lost their second in a row and for the third time in four games.
The game was tied at 25 at halftime and at 39 and 45, the latter with 4:52 to play, and the teams swapped the lead the rest of the way. Diakite’s short shot gave Virginia the lead for good at 51-50, and
Huff ’s block on Carey finished a sterling defensive effort.
Duke was 18 for 59 (31 percent) and 4 for 17 on 3-pointers.
The Blue Devils came in averaging 83.2 points and having scored at least 63 in every game. They managed just 25 in the first half, but were tied despite Carey playing just nine minutes and No. 3 scorer Cassius Stanley, No. 4 scorer Matthew Hurt and No. 5 scorer Wendell Moore all being scoreless at the break.
Turnovers were again a factor for the Cavaliers, who have been prone to more than coach Tony Bennett can accept several times this season. While they lead the nation in scoring defense (52.7), a deliberately paced offense and scoring questions make empty possessions especially difficult to overcome.
The Cavaliers had 15 turnovers, but Duke scored just three points off them.
KANSAS 62 KANSAS STATE 58
Devon Dotson scored 25 points to help top-ranked Kansas absorb the loss of center Udoka Azubuike for long stretches of the game, and the cold-shooting Jayhawks (26-3, 15-1 Big 12) held on to beat host
Kansas State (9-20, 2-14) for their 14th straight win.
Azubuike finished with six points and nine rebounds while playing just 20 minutes after hurting his ankle in the opening minutes of the game.
It was their first meeting since their game in Lawrence late last month ended in a brawl that spilled into the disabled seating section of Allen Fieldhouse.
CLEMSON 70 FLORIDA STATE 69
Freshman Al-Amir Dawes hit a twisting, driving bucket with a second left and host Clemson (15-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) rallied past Florida State (24-5, 14-4).
SAN DIEGO ST. 83 NEVADA 76
Malachi Flynn scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting, and No. 5 San Diego State (28-1, 17-1 Mountain West) overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to beat host Nevada (19-11, 11-6).
KENTUCKY 73, AUBURN 66
Immanuel Quickley had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, host Kentucky (24-5, 14-2) used a big run in the first half before holding off Auburn (24-5, 11-5) and clinch the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
PROVIDENCE 58 VILLANOVA 54
Luwane Pipkins scored 27 points to lead Providence (17-12, 10-6 Big East) to its fifth win over a Top 25 team this month, holding off Villanova (22-7, 11-5) in Philadelphia.
The Friars won their fourth straight game overall and have put behind a disastrous start to the season — which included losses to Long Beach State and College of Charleston — to aid their tournament chances.
SETON HALL 88 MARQUETTE 79
Myles Powell scored 28 points and Sandro Mamukelashvili added 26 as Seton Hall (21-7, 13-3 Big East) built a big secondhalf lead and then held off Marquette (18-10, 8-8).
IOWA 77, PENN STATE 68
Luka Garza scored 25 points and had 17 rebounds as host Iowa (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) pulled away in the second half for a win over Penn State (21-8, 11-7).
MICHIGAN STATE 78 MARYLAND 66
Cassius Winston scored 20 points, including a buzzer-beating, 60-foot shot to end a sensational first half as Michigan State (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten) beat Maryland (23-6, 13-5) in College Park, Md.
BYU 81, PEPPERDINE 64
Yoeli Childs scored a career-high 38 points, and the visiting Cougars (24-7, 13-3 West Coast Conference) completed a perfect February as they rallied past the Waves (15-15, 8-8).
OKLAHOMA 73 WEST VIRGINIA 62
Kristian Doolittle scored 19 points two days after undergoing surgery to repair a broken nose and Oklahoma (18-11, 8-8 Big 12) boosted its NCAA Tournament hopes with a victory over West Virginia (19-10, 7-9).