NO. 1 ’NOVA KNOCKED OFF BY ST. JOHN’S
PHILADELPHIA» St. John’s watched a desperation heave clang off the rim and players broke into wide smiles and raised their arms in triumph.
The Red Storm ran toward their reserves for joyous, leaping chest bumps that the program waited more than three decades to bust out for such an occasion.
Winless and woeful no more, the Red Storm are abruptly toppling Final Four contenders.
St. John’s took down another of the nation’s elite, stunning No. 1 Villanova 79-75 on Wednesday night for its second win over a top-five team this week — and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.
Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points to spark the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) to their first conference win of the season and easily their best week since Chris Mullin was in uniform, not the coach.
Mullin played for St. John’s when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985.
HIGHLIGHTS
Keita Bates-Diop scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds as No. 14 Ohio State spoiled Carsen Edwards’ 28-point effort and knocked off No. 3 Purdue 64-63. … Devon Hall scored 17 points, Ty Jerome added 15 and No. 2 Virginia rallied in the second half to beat Florida State 59-55. … Duane Wilson made one of two free throws with four seconds left to lift Texas A&M to an 81-80 upset of No. 8 Auburn. … Hayden Dalton scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds and Wyoming rolled to an 83-65 win over Utah State.
Women
» Katie Lou ORLANDO, FLA. Samuelson scored 19 points and Azura Stevens added 12 to help No. 1 UConn beat University of Central Florida 55-37. It was the lowest-scoring effort of the season for the Huskies.
HIGHLIGHTS
Asia Durr scored 15 points to lead No. 4 Louisville, which survived a sluggish start, to a 65-46 win over Clemson. … Hannah Tvrdy scored 13 points to lead
Colorado State past Air Force 61-50.