COLLEGE BASKETBALL: TOP 25 RECAP
NO. 1 VIRGINIA 62, NOTRE DAME 57 » Devon Hall scored 17 points in his final game at John Paul Jones Arena and No. 1 Virginia outlasted Notre Dame on Saturday.
Ty Jerome added 13 points for the Cavaliers (28-2, 17-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth in a row.
Bonzie Colson, playing in just his second game since missing 15 with a broken foot, had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Irish (18-13, 8-10). Martinas Geben added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Virginia led 55-54 with just over 3 minutes to play before Hall scored on a tough drive. After Notre Dame missed, Isaiah Wilkins hit a pair of free throws, pushing the Cavaliers’ lead to five. A 3-pointer by Matt Farrell got Notre Dame within 59-57 with 2:24 to play. The Irish had a chance to tie, or take the lead, in the final minute, but Colson couldn’t get free from Wilkins’ defense and, in his bid to pass the ball out, the Irish committed a 30-second shot clock violation.
De’Andre Hunter, whose banked-in 3-pointer gave Virginia a stunning victory at Louisville on Thursday night, hit 3 of 4 free throws to finish it. NO. 15 MICHIGAN 75, NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 64 » Mo Wagner scored 14 of his 15 points after a dreadful first half and fifth-seeded Michigan moved within a game of its second straight Big Ten Tournament title with a victory over top-seeded Michigan State in the conference semifinals, ending the Spartans’ 13-game winning streak.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson also had 15 for the No. 15 Wolverines (27-7), who were also the last team to beat Michigan State (29-4), when they did it on Jan. 13.
Michigan was just too balanced and quick for Michigan State, putting five players in double figures. Duncan Robinson added 13 points off the bench and Charles Matthews had 12.
Miles Bridges had 17 points to lead Michigan State before fouling out late. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 13 and Cassius Winston had 11, but they only crossed into double figures with the Michigan band revving the Maize and Blue faithful at Madison Square Garden with yet another version of “Hail To The Victors.” NO. 3 XAVIER 65, DEPAUL 62 » Trevon Bluiett scored 22 points, and No. 3 Xavier set a school record for regular-season wins while clinching the top seed in the Big East with a victory over DePaul.
The Musketeers (27-4, 15-3 Big East) hung on for their 12th win in 13 games after DePaul’s Eli Cain and Max Strus missed 3-pointers in the closing seconds. That ended Villanova’s four-year run of first-place finishes.
Bluiett became the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, making four to give him 310 in his career.
Brandon Cyrus led DePaul (11-19, 4-14) with a careerhigh 20 points. Cain scored 14 as the Blue Demons lost for the fifth time in six games.
Xavier struggled to put DePaul away after building an 11-point lead in the second half.
A three-point play by Cain and two free throws by McCallum with 1:58 left cut it to 63-62 and brought the DePaul fans to their feet. OKLAHOMA STATE 82, NO. 6 KANSAS 64 » Kendall Smith scored a career-high 25 points and Mitchell Solomon had 16 points and seven rebounds to help lead Oklahoma State to a victory over No. 6 Kansas in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Cowboys’ home fans rushed the court at the final buzzer as Oklahoma State finished the season with three wins in their final four games.
Smith, who had scored just nine points in each of his two previous outings, hit 20 for the seventh time this season and for the fifth time in the last nine contests.
Oklahoma State (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) swept the season series from Kansas, marking the first time that the Jayhawks have been swept in a home-and-home since 200304, a span of 103 series. NO. 8 PURDUE 82, RUTGERS 75 » Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards each scored 26 points and No. 8 Purdue fought back another upset bid by Rutgers, beating the Scarlet Knights to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Corey Sanders scored 23 points, including a baseline jumper in the closing minute to pull Rutgers within 7875. Sanders scored 74 points the three-game run by the last-place Scarlet Knights at Madison Square Garden. But that was all for Rutgers.