Seton Hall upsets Xavier
Desi Rodriguez had career highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds and Seton Hall all but clinched its f irst NCAA tournament berth in a decade with a stunning 90- 81 victory over No. 5 Xavier on Sunday in Newark, N. J.
Isaiah Whitehead had 22 points, Angel Delgado added 17 and the Pirates ( 21- 7, 11- 5 Big East Conference) used a suffocating defense in knocking off Xavier ( 25- 4, 13- 4), which upset No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday.
The Pirates, who have not been in the NCAA tournament since 2006, had a season- high point total and shot 50% from the f ield in winning their fourth consecutive game and eighth of nine. Seton Hall never trailed after scoring nine unanswered points to start the game and it beat Xavier in every aspect.
James Farr and Trevon Bluiett had 17 points apiece for Xavier, which was coming off a 90- 83 win over Villanova.
at Pittsburgh 76, No. 15 Duke 62: Jamel Artis scored 17 points and the Panthers gave their NCAA tournament hopes a needed jolt with the dominating victory over the Blue Devils.
Senior point guard James Robinson added 14 points, seven assists and three rebounds in his f inal home game at the Petersen Events Center as the Panthers ( 20- 8, 9- 7 Atlantic Coast Conference) overwhelmed the Blue Devils ( 22- 8, 10- 6).
at Ohio State 68, No. 8 Iowa 64: Marc Loving scored 25 points, including both ends of a one- and- one with less than two seconds to go, and the Buckeyes rallied from a late deficit to stun the Hawkeyes.
Keita Bates- Diop added 19 points while Kam Williams added 11 for the Buckeyes, who ended the game on a 12- 2 run.
After Bates- Diop preserved a two- point lead for Ohio State ( 19- 11, 11- 6 Big Ten) by blocking Mike Gesell’s layup with under f ive seconds to go, Loving made the free throws to ice the game. Gesell and Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa ( 20- 8, 11- 5) with 16 points apiece while Peter Jok had 12.
at No. 6 Michigan State 88, Penn State 57: Denzel Valentine started slow and f inished strong with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists to help the Spartans ( 24- 5, 11- 5 Big Ten) win their fourth in a row and eight of the last nine.