Storm tops Marquette in a Garden thriller
Julian Champagnie had a doubledouble, Nick Rutherford scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and St. John's beat Marquette 88-86 on Saturday at the Garden in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Julian Champagnie finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Greg Williams Jr. added 17 points and five steals and LJ Figueroa scored 15 points for St. John's (1615, 5-13 Big East).
Marquette's Sacar Anim hit a 3pointer and then, after Figueroa made 1 of 2 free throws on the other end, converted a three-point play with 44 seconds left to make it 88-86. Rutherford missed a 3point shot with 15 seconds to go but the Golden Eagles committed two turnovers from there and St. John's held on.
NO. 11 CREIGHTON 77, NO. 8 SETON HALL 60
OMAHA, Neb. — This wasn't the year anyone, including Creighton's coaches and players, would have expected a Big East championship banner hung at CHI Health Center.
They were picked seventh in the conference, and they lost two projected starters to injuries before the season opener.
Yet there the No. 11 Bluejays were Saturday, the players mobbed by court-storming students after a 77-60 victory over No. 8 Seton Hall. Moments later, the banner was unfurled from the rafters on the north end of the arena.
RUTGERS 71, PURDUE 68 (OT)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —
Geo Baker scored 19 points to help lift Rutgers to an overtime victory over Purdue in the final regular season game for both teams.
Ron Harper Jr. added 15 points, including the winner, for the Scarlet Knights (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten).
NO. 1 KANSAS 66, TEXAS TECH 62
LUBBOCK, Texas — No. 1 Kansas wrapped up its outright Big 12 regular-season title beating Texas Tech behind Udoka Azubuike's 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Devon Dotson had 17 points and Ochai Agbaji had 12 for the Jayhawks (28-3, 17-1), the Big 12's first champion in a decade with only one loss in league play. Kansas was 15-1 in 2009-10, two seasons before the Big 12 expanded to an 18-game schedule.
WEST VIRGINIA 76, NO. 4 BAYLOR 64
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.— Emmitt Matthews scored a seasonhigh 18 points and freshman Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers used a big second-half run to deny the Bears the chance to earn a tie for the Big 12 regular-season championship.
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 70
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Nick Richards scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as No. 6 Kentucky rallied from 18 points down.
NO. 14 VILLANOVA 70, GEORGETOWN 69
WASHINGTON — Jermaine Samuels had a three-point play with 5.6 seconds left as No. 14 Villanova survived a late scare to clinch a share of the Big East regular-season title.