Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cowboys win without star player
NO. 17 OKLAHOMA STATE 85, NO. 6 WEST VIRGINIA 80
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Minus star freshman Cade Cunningham, No. 17 Oklahoma State still found some welcome momentum going into the postseason.
Sophomore Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points and the Cowboys, with Cunningham sitting out the regular-season finale because of a sprained ankle, beat No. 6 West Virginia 85-80 on Saturday.
Oklahoma State has won six of seven heading into the Big 12 Tournament.
“We’re not done yet,” Anderson said. “We’ve got a lot more in front of us that we’re trying to prove. And when we get back at full strength, it’s going to be something to watch.”
The Cowboys (18-7, 11-7) made up for the loss of Cunningham and Isaac Likekele by finding holes in the defense for easy layups, shooting 58% from the floor and outhustling West Virginia for rebounds.
Cunningham injured his left ankle late in a loss to No. 3 Baylor on Thursday. Likekele also sat out for the sixth time in seven games with a hand injury.
Stepping up were Anderson, who blew past his previous high of 17 points earlier this season, and freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe, who finished with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting.
“It’s a lot of fun when you’ve got a group of guys who care about each other,” Oklahoma State Coach Mike Boynton said. “Man, winning is hard. But it’s certainly enjoyable going on the road and banding together the way we did under some circumstances which I’m sure people were easily willing to take the other team in today’s matchup.”
The Cowboys’ Kalib Boone added 12 points while his twin brother, Keylan, scored 11.
Taz Sherman led West Virginia (18-8, 11-6) with 20 points. Derek Culver added 14 points, Miles McBride scored 12 and Emmitt Matthews 11.
West Virginia had a chance to tie it near the end, but Keylan Boone stole McBride’s pass into the lane with 11 seconds left. Anderson then hit two free throws for the final margin.
The Mountaineers went 2-2 during a four-game homestand to finish the regular season. Saturday’s loss denied Coach Bob Huggins the chance to get his 900th win before his own fans. It also handed No. 13 Kansas the second seed in the upcoming Big 12 tournament, behind league champion Baylor.
“We had no bounce. We had zero bounce,” Huggins said. “It was that way from the beginning. What do you do? I kept saying, ‘fellas, we’ve got to play.’”
Oklahoma State trailed for most of the game until Moncrieffe scored 10 points over the first five minutes of the second half and Kalib Boone’s dunk put the Cowboys ahead 54-49.
But Moncrieffe fouled out with 5:25 left, followed a few minutes later by teammate Bernard Kouma, who had 10 rebounds.
West Virginia went 13 of 14 from the free-throw line over a five-minute stretch to take a 73-72 lead with 3:43 left. The Mountaineers never led again.
Anderson scored 11 points over the final four minutes to seal the win.
“If you’re going to have success in this league with any level of consistency, you have to be able to adapt,” Boynton said. “I’m just proud of these guys to finish the season the way we did.”
NO. 4 ILLINOIS 73, NO. 7 OHIO STATE 68
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ayo Dosunmu returned after missing three games with a concussion and facial injuries to score 19 points, and Illinois rallied to beat Ohio State.
Andre Curbelo also had 19 points to help Illinois (20-6, 16-4 Big Ten) win for the 11th time in 12 games.
E.J. Liddell led Ohio State (18-8, 12-8 Big) with 19 points.
PROVIDENCE 54, NO. 10 VILLANOVA 52
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — David Duke made a tiebreaking tip-in with 2.8 seconds left TO help Providence hold on after blowing a 20-point lead.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl shot a three-pointer after a long inbounds pass, but the shot hit the front of the rim and the buzzer sounded before Jermaine Samuels tipped it in.
Duke and Nate Watson scored 20 points apiece for Providence (13-12, 9-10 Big East).
Samuels had 21 points for Villanova (16-5, 11-4).
NOTRE DAME 83,
NO. 11 FLORIDA STATE 73
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points and Dane Goodwin had 15 to help Notre Dame beat Florida State, costing the Seminoles the ACC regular-season title The Fighting Irish (10-14, 7-11) beat a ranked team for the first time since since November 2017.
Scottie Barnes led Florida State (15-5, 11-4) with 17 points.
NO. 14 CREIGHTON 93, BUTLER 73
OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Zegarowski matched his career high with 32 points and Creighton closed a difficult week off the court with a victory over Butler.
The Bluejays (18-7, 14-6 Big East) won for the first time in three games, doing it without Coach Greg McDermott. He is suspended indefinitely for making racially insensitive remarks to his team following a Feb. 27 loss. Assistant coach Alan Huss served as interim head coach against the Bulldogs.
Chuck Harris had a career-high 29 points for Butler (9-14, 8-12).
NO. 21 VIRGINIA 68, LOUISVILLE 58
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sam Hauser scored 24 points, Trey Murphy III added 17 and Virginia won the ACC regular-season championship.
Assured of least a No. 2 seed entering the regular-season finale, the Cavaliers (17-6, 13-4) received a huge opening for bigger things when first-place Florida State lost at Notre Dame.
Virginia then methodically took care of the Cardinals (13-6, 8-5) to leapfrog the Seminoles. David Johnson had 14 points for Louisville.
NO. 22 LOYOLA-CHICAGO 65, INDIANA STATE 49
ST. LOUIS — Cameron Krutwig had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 22 Loyola Chicago beat Indiana State to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final.
Krutwig also had four assists and blocked three shots. Fellow senior Lucas Williamson scored 14 points for the Ramblers (23-4), and Keith Clemons had 12.
Indiana State (15-10) shot 38.5% (20 for 52) from the floor. Jake LaRavia scored 13 points, and Tyreke Key had 11.
NO. 23 PURDUE 67, INDIANA 58
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Zach Edey scored 20 points, and Jaden Ivey added 17 and Purdue beat Indiana for the ninth consecutive game.
Purdue (18-8, 13-6 Big Ten) heads into next week’s Big Ten Tournament with five consecutive wins. Edey also had nine rebounds.
Aljami Durham had 14 points for Indiana (12-14, 7-12).
OHIO VALLEY CHAMPIONSHIP MOREHEAD STATE 86, BELMONT 71
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Johni Broome had 27 points and 12 rebounds as Morehead State defeated Belmont to become the first team to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Morehead State (23-7), the No. 2 seed entering the tournament, jumped out to a 43-32 lead at the half. Belmont (26-4), the No. 1 seed, was led by 23 points from Nick Muszyski and 12 from Grayson Murphy.
SOUTHLAND MEN NORTHWESTERN (LA.) ST. 79 CENTRAL ARKANSAS 70
Northwestern (La.) State grabbed a 13-point advantage in the first half and the University of Central Arkansas never got any closer than five points the rest of the way Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La., in the two team’s regular-season finale.
UCA (5-19, 4-12 Southland) had five players score 11 or more points, including a team-high 16 from Eddy Kayouloud. Trenton Massner led Northwestern State (5-19, 4-12) with 20 points in only 21 minutes. Jovan Zelenbaba came off the bench and added 15 points for the Demons.
Northwestern State held a 40-27 advantage with 3:39 left in the first half after a three-pointer by C.J. Jones. UCA scored the final four points of the half to pull within 40-31. The Demons led by as many as 18 (63-45) in the second half. UCA got as close as 67-62 with 4:05 remaining, but the Demons scored the next six points.
Jaxson Baker added 12 points for UCA while Rylan Bergersen, Jared Chatham and Collin Cooper all put in 11. Kayouloud led the Bears in rebounding with 11.