Ohio State’s rally has chilling effect on No. 1 Duke
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State's resiliency was too much for top-ranked Duke to handle.
Zed Key scored a career-high 20 points and Ohio State held No. 1 Duke scoreless for the final 4½ minutes, completing a rally from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat the Blue Devils 71-66 on Tuesday night.
E.J. Liddell hit two free throws with 1:06 remaining to give the Buckeyes (5-2) their first lead since early in the first half, and his jumper made it 69-66 with 16 seconds left. Duke freshman star Paolo Banchero missed a tying 3-pointer, and Cedric Russell got the rebound and closed it out at the free-throw line. Ohio State fans stormed the court as time expired.
“I thought our ability to stay with it was really important,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “Players win games, and we had a number of guys make plays down the stretch.”
The Blue Devils (7-1) claimed the top spot in this week's AP Top 25 poll — a stay that could be brief — after beating then-no. 1 Gonzaga in Las Vegas. Ohio State improved to 2-1 against ranked foes this year with its fourth straight game decided in the final minutes.
Liddell finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Ohio State, which beat the No. 1 team in the country for the second straight time on its home court. The Buckeyes knocked off Michigan State 80-64 on Jan. 7, 2018.
“We've had some really dramatic games here, and I don't think that's ending anytime soon,” Holtmann said. “So if you think the tough games are over, we have another really, really challenge Sunday night (at Penn
State). That's the challenge in front of us right now. ”
Wendell Moore Jr. led the Blue Devils with 17 points and Banchero finished with 14.
Duke led by 13 points at halftime and extended that advantage to 49-34 early in the second half. Moore's layup with 5:19 remaining made it 65-57, and Trevor Keels made a free throw with 4:29 left.
The Blue Devils didn't score again, missing their last six shots as Ohio State closed the game with a 12-0 run. Duke endured a 1-for-14 stretch earlier in the half, allowing the Buckeyes to draw closer.
“When not getting the stops, we weren't able to lengthen the lead a couple times,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They just stayed right in there.”
TEXAS A&M 85
NEW ORLEANS 65
Andre Gordon scored 15 points to lead five in double figures as the Aggies defeated the Privateers on Tuesday at College Station.
The Aggies (7-1) also got 13 points from Tyrece Radford, 11 each from Hassan Diarra and Wade Taylor IV, and 10 from Marcus Williams.
NO. 15 HOUSTON 99 NORTHWESTERN STATE 58
Marcus Sasser made seven 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 26 points, and the Cougars beat the Demons on Tuesday at Houston.
Sasser had 23 points by halftime on 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc as the Cougars (6-1) built a 60-25 lead at the break. He finished 9 of 17 from the field for the game.
Taze Moore added 17 points for Houston.
Women NO. 17 TEXAS A&M 65 LITTLE ROCK 50
Kayla Wells and Destiny Pitts each scored 15 points as the Aggies beat the Trojans at College Station.
Coach Gary Blair tied Shelby Metcalf 's Aggie record of 438 victories at A&M. Metcalf coached the men's basketball program at A&M from 1963-90, amassing a 438-306 record.
Aaliyah Patty had 11 points and 10 rebounds for A&M (8-0), which hosts No. 15 Texas on Sunday. Wells, making her 100th consecutive start, was 5 of 9 from the field and the Aggies shot 46.2 percent.
NO. 5 BAYLOR 73 MOREHEAD STATE 28
Sarah Andrews scored 20 points, Queen Egbo and Nalyssa Smith each had a double-double and in the Bears' home victory on Tuesday.