BLAST FROM THE PAST
ON FRIDAY night, after No. 13 Seton Hall practiced for the final time before playing Georgetown on Saturday, the Pirates had a special guest — none other than former Pirates coach P.J. Carlesimo.
Carlesimo, who led Seton Hall from 1982 through 1994, was in town for a special 25th anniversary presentation honoring his 199293 Pirates team that won both the Big East regular season and tournament championships. He paid a visit to practice and spoke to the team.
“P.J’s message was if you want to be good in March, you have to be good now,” said Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard, after his team defeated Georgetown 74-61. “It was a really good message for my guys. It was good to be able to pick his brain and listen to the stories he tells. I can’t measure what he’s done for the school. I’m still waiting for us to put up a statue of him for everything he did.”
Desi Rodriguez and Myles Powell each scored 19 points to lead the Pirates.
MICHIGAN 82, MICHIGAN STATE 72: Moritz Wagner scored a career-high 27 points, lifting Michigan to an 82-72 victory over No. 4 Michigan State on Saturday.
The Wolverines (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) have won eight of nine games this season and two straight against their rivals.
The Spartans (16-3, 4-2) are struggling, losing two of three games with an overtime win over Rutgers in between the setbacks.
DUKE 89, WAKE FOREST 71: Marvin Bagley III had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 7 Duke beat visiting Wake Forest in a game Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski missed due to a virus. With longtime assistant Jeff Capel in charge, the short-handed and illness-ravaged Blue Devils (15-2, 3-2 ACC) won their second straight.
NORTH CAROLINA 69, NOTRE DAME 68: Joel Berry II hit two free throws with 7.1 seconds left as No. 20 North Carolina earned its first Atlantic Coast Conference road victory of the season.
Berry finished with 15 points while Luke Maye had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (144, 3-2). Sophomore point guard T.J. Gibbs got a game-high 19 points and six assists for the Irish (13-5, 3-2).
TEXAS TECH 72, WEST VIRGINIA 71: Keenan Evans scored 20 points, Brandone Francis had a career-high 17 and No. 8 Texas Tech won the first-ever Top 10 matchup on its home court, beating secondranked West Virginia.
The Mountaineers (15-2, 4-1 Big 12) couldn’t hold an 11-point lead in the final 13 minutes and had their nation-leading 15-game winning streak stopped.
They were the last team in the Big 12 with a perfect league record.
FLORIDA STATE 101, SYRACUSE 90, 2OT: Briain Angola scored 24 points, including five in the second overtime, and Christ Koumadje added a career-high 23 for No. 23 Florida State.
Tied at 82 at the end of the first overtime, the Seminoles scored the first six points of the second extra session to take control. Phil Cofer added 16 points for Florida State (13-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which played without leading scorer and rebounder Terance Mann, who missed the game due to a concussion.
OKLAHOMA 102, TCU 97, OT: Oklahoma freshman Trae Young scored 29 of his 43 points after halftime, and No. 9 Oklahoma defeated No. 16 TCU in Norman.
FLORIDA STATE 101, SYRACUSE 90, 2OT: Briain Angola scored 24 points, including five in the second overtime, and Christ Koumadje added a career-high 23 as No. 24 Florida State (13-4, 2-4 ACC) defeated visiting Syracuse (12-6, 1-4) in double overtime.
XAVIER 92, CREIGHTON 70: Trevon Bluiett emerged from his shooting slump with 24 points, Kaiser Gates responded to getting dropped from the starting lineup by scoring 16, and No. 10 Xavier (16-3, 4-2 Big East) recovered from back-to-back road losses by routing No. 25 Creighton (14-3, 4-2) in Cincinnati.
PURDUE 81, MINNESOTA 47: Vincent Edwards scored 25 points in 29 minutes on 9-for-14 shooting for fifth-ranked Purdue, and the Boilermakers (17-2, 6-0) easily beat undermanned Minnesota in Minneapolis (13-6, 2-4) for their 13th consecutive victory.
HOFSTRA 91, DREXEL 86: Rokas Gustys scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds and visiting Hofstra (11-7, 4-2 CAA) held off Drexel (7-12, 1-5). Gustys reached the 10-rebound mark for the 64th time in his career and posted his 42nd career double-double. Justin Wright-Foreman added 20 to notch his 40th straight game in double figures, the nation’s fifth-longest streak.
SACRED HEART 92, ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 52: De’von Barnett had 14 points and tied a career high with 12 rebounds to help visiting Sacred Heart (7-12, 2-4 NEC) beat St. Francis Brooklyn (6-12, 3-3) and snap a three-game losing streak. Glenn Sanabria had 10 points to lead St. Francis Brooklyn.
VERMONT 73, STONY BROOK 62: Trae Bell-Haynes scored 20 points and Payton Henson and Ernie Duncan each scored 12 and Vermont (13-5, 3-0 American East) beat visiting Stony Brook (7-11, 2-2). Junior Saintel scored 18 on 8-of-9 shooting for the Seawolves.
UCONN 67, TULANE 57: Jalen Adams scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half as the visiting Huskies (10-7, 3-2 AAC) defeated the Green Wave (11-6, 2-3). —AP