No. 7 Duke holds off Boston College 63-55
No. 7 Duke 63, Boston College 55: Vernon Carey Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 7 Duke to a 63-55 victory over Boston College on Tuesday night and give Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski his 500th career Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
Carey made a layup and then hit two free throws with about six minutes left during a 10-0 run that gave Duke (19-3. 9-2 ACC) the lead for good. Tre Jones scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for the Blue Devils.
Derryck Thornton scored 21 points and Steffon Mitchell had 12 rebounds for Boston College (11-12, 5-7), which lost by 39 points at Duke on Dec. 31 but was coming off a one-point win at North Carolina.
Krzyzewski, the all-time winningest coach in Division I basketball, improved to 500-200 in the ACC regular season and tournament.
Duke finished 1 for 15 from 3-point range and BC was 2 for 18.
BC still led by four with eight minutes left and had a 49-46 lead when Duke scored the next 10 points to put the game away.
No. 9 Maryland 56, Rutgers 51: Jalen Smith had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 17 and No. 9 Maryland used a strong second half to beat Rutgers 56-51 Tuesday night for its fifth straight victory.
The Terrapins trailed 25-20 at halftime after shooting 24%. With Smith leading the way, Maryland (18-4, 8-3 Big Ten) emerged from the break with a 14-4 run and held off a late surge by the Scarlet Knights to improve to 13-0 at home.
Three free throws by Cowan put the Terrapins up 52-49 with 2:12 to go. Myles Johnson answered with a dunk, but the Scarlet Knights did not score again.
Smith, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, notched his fifth straight double-double and blocked six shots. He had a 3pointer and a three-point play in succession to put the Terps ahead 34-29, and the margin swelled to eight points before Rutgers (16-7, 7-5) rallied.
Rutgers is 0-8 against Maryland since both teams joined the Big Ten in 2014.
No. 11 Auburn 79, Arkansas 76 (OT): Samir Doughty scored 23 points, including hitting two free throws in the final seconds of overtime, and No. 11 Auburn edged Arkansas 79-76 on Tuesday night, overcoming a 40-point game by Mason Jones.
Arkansas (16-6, 4-5 SEC) led 65-54 at the 5:59 mark on a Jalen Harris dunk, but the Tigers (20-2, 7-2) closed on a 15-4 run to force the extra period.
Jones had scored over 30 points in three straight games.
No. 15 Kentucky 80, Mississippi State 72: Nick Richards scored a career-high 27 points, Immanuel Quickley added 21 and Kentucky beat Mississippi State for its 14th consecutive victory over the Bulldogs.
Seeking to regroup after last weekend’s 75-66 loss at No. 11 Auburn, the Wildcats (17-5, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) never trailed and led by as many as 14 midway through the second half. They were quicker and more physical against the Bulldogs, outscoring them 38-34 in the paint and drawing fouls. They made 31 of 36 from the line.
The Bulldogs (14-8, 5-4 SEC) got within 64-59 with 2:36 remaining, but Richards and Quickley closed the victory by combining to make 14 free throws. The Wildcats shot 44% from the field.
No. 22 Penn State 75, No. 16 Michigan State 70: Lamar Stevens had 24 points and Myreon Jones made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, leading No. 22 Penn State to a 75-70 win over No. 16 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
The Nittany Lions (17-5, 7-5 Big Ten) have won five straight games, making them contenders in the conference during the second half of the regular season.
The Spartans (16-7, consecutive games for this season.
They also lost to a Big Ten team at home for the first time this year.
Michigan State’s Cassius Winston scored 25 points but could not convert on chances to pull into a tie twice in the closing seconds. Winston didn’t get much help offensively from his teammates. 8-4) dropped the first time