Creighton surprises Villanova
OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Foster scored 28 points, Davion Mintz gave Creighton the lead for good early in overtime, and the Bluejays defeated the highest-ranked opponent in program history with an 89-83 upset of No. 3 Villanova on Saturday.
Creighton (20-9, 9-7 Big East), playing without injured starting forward Ronnie Harrell Jr., ended a threegame conference losing streak and won for the first time in nine games against Villanova since 2014. The Bluejays also avenged a 20-point road loss to Villanova on Feb. 1.
Villanova (25-4, 12-4) squandered an eight-point lead with 4 minutes left and missed seven of its last nine shots before a meaningless layup at the end of overtime.
Creighton’s Khyri Thomas made five straight 3-pointers in the first 11 minutes to set a career high and finished with 24 points. Ballock added 13 and Epperson had all 12 of his points after halftime.
Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats with 22 points, Mikal Bridges had 18 and Omari Spellman added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
PITTSBURGH — Virginia allowed just seven points in the first half against Pittsburgh and secured the regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title outright.
Freshman guard De’Andre Hunter came off the bench to lead the Cavaliers (26-2, 14-1 ACC) with 14 points in a game that didn’t take big offensive efforts from Virginia’s regulars. Of the five starters, only guard Ty Jerome exceeded his season average with 13 points.
The game was never competitive, as Virginia started on an 8-0 run and Pitt didn’t make a field goal until Jared Wilson-Frame hit a 3-pointer at the midway point of the first half.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett rested most of his regulars in the second half. Reserve Nigel Johnson added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Parker Stewart led Pitt (822, 0-17) with 12 points, all on 3-pointers.
DURHAM, N.C. — Marvin Bagley III had 19 points in his return from a sprained knee, and Duke beat Syracuse for its fifth straight win.
Wendell Carter Jr. added 16 points for the Blue Devils (24-5, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who forced 17 turnovers. The Orange matched their season-low scoring total, set Feb. 3 in a loss to No. 1 Virginia.
Bagley, the ACC’s leading scorer (21.2 per game) and rebounder (11.4 per game), missed four games after injuring his right knee in a loss at North Carolina on Feb. 8.
Tyus Battle, who ranks third in the league with an average of 20.1 points per game, scored 12 to lead the Orange (18-11, 7-9), who lost their third in four games.
LUBBOCK, Texas — Devonte Graham scored 26 points and Kansas set an NCAA record with its 14th straight regular-season conference championship, beating Texas Tech to clinch at least a tie for the Big 12 title.
Graham hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:30 remaining to help Kansas (23-6, 12-4) to its fourth straight win and a two-game lead over the Red Raiders, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Jayhawks never trailed.
All 14 of the titles have come under coach Bill Self, who finished second in his first season at KU.
The current skid for the Red Raiders (22-7, 10-6) started when leading scorer Keenan Evans injured a toe in the first half of a loss to Baylor that pulled Kansas even in the Big 12 race.
Zhaire Smith scored 20 points and fellow freshman Jarrett Culver had 18 for Texas Tech, which dropped its second straight game since reaching the highest ranking in school history.
PROVO, Utah — Johnathan Williams scored 16 points, and Gonzaga beat BYU to clinch another West Coast Conference championship.
The Bulldogs (27-4, 17-1) have won at least a share of 18 of the past 19 regular-season conference championships, including each of the past six seasons.
Zach Norvell Jr. had 15 points and five rebounds for Gonzaga, which got off to a fast start and also played well right after halftime.
Yoeli Childs led BYU (229, 11-7) with 19 points and eight rebounds.
DALLAS — Markis McDuffie scored a seasonhigh 26 points off the bench, including nine during the first four minutes of the second half, to lead Wichita State over SMU.
The Shockers (23-5, 13-3 American Athletic Conference) have won six straight games and are onehalf game behind first-place Cincinnati. Wichita State will host Cincinnati on March 4 in the regular-season finale for both teams.
SMU (16-13, 6-10) lost for the sixth time in seven games since leading scorer Shake Milton (18 points per game) was sidelined with a hand injury.
Jahmal McMurray SMU with 28 points. led
CLEMSON, S.C. — Gabe DeVoe scored 25 points and Shelton Mitchell added 14 as he returned from two games missed with a concussion, leading Clemson past Georgia Tech.
The Tigers (21-7, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) ended the game on a 29-14 run after leading scorer Josh Okogie picked up his fourth foul for the Yellow Jackets (11-18, 4-12) with 11:44 to go.
Georgia Tech missed 11 of its last 12 shots and turned the ball over four times in the final seven minutes to lose their seventh straight game and 11th of 12.
The Tigers ended a threegame losing streak, two of them while Mitchell was recovering from a concussion suffered in the final minute at Florida State on Feb. 14.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman scored 22 of his career-high 28 points in the decisive first half, and Michigan easily defeated Maryland for its fifth straight victory.
Using runs of 9-0 and 163, the Wolverines built a 5424 halftime lead and cruised to the finish. Michigan went 17 for 28 from the floor in the first half, including 11 for 19 from 3-point range.
The Wolverines (24-7, 13-5 Big Ten) have clinched the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament, but can earn a No. 4 seed and a double bye if Nebraska loses to Penn State on Sunday.
Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 17 for Maryland (19-12, 8-10), which suffered its most lopsided home loss since a 104-72 defeat against Duke on Jan 3, 1998.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jevon Carter scored 24 points and made some history as West Virginia pulled away to beat Iowa State.
With 15:59 left in the first half, Carter picked up his first assist of the game, setting up a 3-pointer by Esa Ahmad to become the first majorconference player in NCAA history to record more than 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists and 300 steals in a career.
MORAGA, Calif. — Jock Landale had 19 points and eight rebounds in his final home game, and Saint Mary’s beat Santa Clara.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Nick King scored 22 points, Giddy Potts had 17 and Middle Tennessee celebrated its first game as a ranked team by beating UAB.
The Blue Raiders (235, 15-1 Conference USA) entered the AP poll for the first time on Monday, but hadn’t played since an 87-70 victory at Louisiana Tech.