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■ Noteworthy: NCAA selection committee chairman Bruce Rasmussen figures the revamped way to evaluate quality of wins for determining this year’s tournament field is an improvement. Speaking during a teleconference Wednesday, the Creighton athletic director called the new quadrant system that gives more weight to wins on the road or neutral courts “a positive step.” “I think it’s really helped us in sorting the teams and it has refined the discussion,” he said. “And we hope it’s more transparent and gives the public a better idea as to what the committee is looking at.” The committee is holding its orientation meetings this week ahead of Sunday, when it reveals a snapshot of the top 16 overall seeds with four weeks left until the field of 68 is announced on March 11.
Wednesday’s Top 25 games
■ St. John’s 79, (at) No. 1 Villanova 75: Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points as the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) shocked the Wildcats (22-2, 9-2) for their first win over the top-ranked team in 33 years. Red Storm coach Chris Mullin played for St. John’s when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. It’s the Red Storm’s second straight win over a top-five team — they beat then-No. 4 Duke 81-77 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, snapping an 11-game losing streak. Villanova had its nine-game winning streak snapped and will surely tumble from the top of the national rankings, where they’ve spent the past five weeks at No. 1. Collin Gillespie nearly helped make it 10 straight wins when he pulled Villanova to 74-73 on a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left. But that was about the only clutch 3 of the game for the Wildcats — they missed 24 of 33 attempts.
■ No. 2 Virginia 59, (at) Florida State
55: Devon Hall had 17 points, and Ty
Jerome scored 15 as the Cavaliers (23-1, 12-0 ACC) avoided an upset bid from the Seminoles (17-6, 6-6). Kyle Guy scored 10 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes as the Cavaliers fought back from a 32-22 halftime deficit. Virginia is the third team since 2000-01 to win its first 12 ACC games, joining North Carolina (2000-01) and Miami (2012-13). It is the Cavaliers’ best conference start since they were 12-0 in 1980-81. FSU had two stretches over the final 26 minutes where it went over five minutes without a field goal — including the final 9:01 of the game.
■ No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 14 Ohio State: Late
■ No. 7 Texas Tech vs. Iowa State: Late
■ No. 8 Auburn vs. Texas A&M: Late
■ No. 23 Nevada vs. UNLV: Late
■ (At) No. 25 Miami 87, Wake Forest 81: Lonnie Walker IV scored 19 points to lead the Hurricanes (18-5, 7-4 ACC) past the Demon Deacons (9-15, 2-10). Walker’s 3-pointer with 5:01 remaining capped a
10-2 run and gave Miami a 66-56 lead. Walker has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games. He is averaging 18 points per game during the stretch. Bryant Crawford had 23 points and Chaundee Brown scored 20 for Wake Forest.