ST JOHN’S UPSET NO. 13 BUTLER IN THRILLER
new york »Freshman guard Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final 9.1 seconds, and St. John’s upset No. 13 Butler 76-73 on Thursday night in the Big East opener for both teams at Carnesecca Arena.
The Red Storm, coming off a 33-point win at Syracuse, stayed close with the Bulldogs and finally took a lead at 72-71 on a free throw by Malik Ellison with 14.1 seconds left.
St. John’s kept the ball on the second miss and Ponds was fouled. He made two free throws before Tyler Lewis of Butler did the same with 6.7 seconds left. Ponds added two more with 6.2 seconds to go. Kelan Martin of Butler let a shot go from halfcourt at the buzzer and it hit the rim.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Malik Monk scored a game-high 34 points as No. 8 Kentucky went on to beat Ole Miss 99-76. …Jordan Davis scored 21 points and DJ Miles added 11 as Northern Colorado dominated Sacramento State from the outset and beat the Hornets 6953. …Gian Clavell had 14 of his 21 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds to help Colorado State beat UNLV 91-77 in the Mountain West opener for both teams late Wednesday night.
FOOTNOTES Women
college park, md.»Top-ranked UConn had just let a 19-point lead dwindle to five, causing the sellout crowd at Maryland to crank the noise to a deafening volume.
An ailing Katie Lou Samuelson scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half, and Connecticut held off No. 4 Maryland 87-81 on for its 87th consecutive victory.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Sofie Tryggedsson led her team in scoring with 19 points as Colorado State beat UNLV 57-37. …Marta Gomez scored 17 points with two assist and two blocks as Wyoming went on to beat Air Force 6654. …Lexie Brown hit four 3-pointers and scored 24 points and No. 15 Duke used a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter for a 69-54 win over No. 17 Kentucky for the Blue Devils’ eighth-straight win. …Dominique Wilson scored 18 points to help North Carolina State upset No. 2 Notre Dame 70-62, snapping the Fighting Irish’s 35-game winning streak against ACC.