COLLEGE BASKETBALL / TOP 25
Freshman RJ Barrett had 27 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, and No. 3 Duke pulled away to rout Hartford 84-54 on Wednesday night. Zion Williamson added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Tre Jones and Javin Delaurier finished with 10 points apiece to help the Blue Devils (8-1) win their third straight. Duke shot 62 percent in the second half to more than make up for hitting just five 3-pointers — matching a season low. J.R. Lynch scored 13 points and Jason Dunne added 12 for Hartford (3-7), a 38-point underdog that hung around well into the second half before fading. Dunne’s long 3-pointer pulled the Hawks within eight points with just over 12 minutes left. Williamson then hit two free throws, Jack White followed with a steal and dunk and Cameron Reddish — who had missed all six of his 3-pointers to that point — buried a 3 in transition to give the Blue Devils their largest lead to that point at 54-39. Duke rolled from there for its fifth blowout in five home games.
Jarrett Culver scored 13 points, Matt Mooney had 11 and No. 13 Texas Tech remained undefeated with a victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Red Raiders (8-0) entered as the nation’s top team in field goal defense, and that trend continued in their first home game this season as a ranked team. Martaveous McKnight scored 27 points for Pine Bluff (2-6), but was the only Lions player with more than four. The Lions shot 32.6 percent from the field (14 of 43) and their only lead came when Cameron Posey’s 3-pointer made it 3-2 less than two mintues into the game. Davide Moretti then hit a 3-pointer and had a fast-break layup within a span of 15 second to put the Red Raiders ahead to stay.
Justin Robinson scored 18 points and No. 15 Virginia Tech cruised past the Virginia Military Institute. Robinson hit a trio of 3-pointers for the Hokies (7-1), who won their 21st straight regular-season nonconference game at home. Virginia Tech topped VMI (5-5) for the seventh consecutive time. Virginia Tech often beats opponents with torrid long-range shooting, ranking fourth in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (44.9) and seventh in 3s per game (11.9). The Hokies turned up the defense against the Keydets, using their length against a smaller team to limit them to eight field goals in the first half. Virginia Tech broke open a close game midway through the first half when it went on a 13-0 run. P.J. Horne and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored four points each in that span, and then Jonathan Kabongo finished the run with a corner 3 that gave the Hokies a 30-13 lead with 8:11 left in the half. The Hokies led 42-21 at halftime and never were threatened.
CJ Massinburg had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and No. 17 Buffalo used a big second-half run to beat Division II Le Moyne. Dontay Caruthers scored 20 points and reserve Nick Perkins had 18, helping Buffalo (8-0) continue its best start since the 1930-31 season. Jeremy Harris finished with 16 points. Massinburg went 6 for 10 from the field while recording the second triple-double in program history. Shannon Evans also accomplished the feat on Dec. 30, 2014, against Binghamton. Zay Jennings scored 16 points for Le Moyne.
Keyshawn Woods scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Kaleb Wesson added 13 and No. 19 Ohio State rallied in the second half for a victory over Illinois. Musa Jallow had 11 points and nine rebounds as Ohio State (8-1) improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten. Trent Frazier and Kipper Nichols scored 18 apiece as Illinois (2-7, 0-2) dropped its third straight. The Buckeyes were 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) in the second half to flip the game. The Illini went 9 for 33 (27.3 percent) after halftime.