Cajuns pull away from UALR in double OT
LAFAYETTE, La. — Efrid Payton scored 23 points, and a 10- point run in the second overtime surged Louisiana- Lafayette to a 93- 87 victory over Arkansas- Little Rock on Thursday night.
Payton had five points in the extra sessions while ULL’s Bryant Mbamalu, who finished with 14 points, had nine.
The Ragin’ Cajuns ( 16- 9, 7- 5 Sun Belt) used a 14- 2 run, started by a Xavian Rimmer 3- pointer, to take a 47- 35 halftime lead. Arkansas- Little Rock ( 12- 12, 7- 5), clawed back, finally tying at 72 with 48 seconds left on Josh Hagins’ 3- pointer. Both teams had a miss inside 28 seconds.
Payton’s jumper gave ULL an 80- 78 lead with two seconds left in the first overtime, but he fouled Hagins at midcourt and Hagins connected on both free throws to force the second extra period.
Hagins led UALR with 24 points. DeVonte Smith added 16 and Maurius Hill 15, while the Trojans’ Stetson Billings grabbed 11 rebonds.
ASU, South Alabama 61
MOBILE, Ala. — Melvin Johnson, III, scored 24 points, and Arkansas State dominated the second half.
Johnson hit 8 of 10 shots, including 6 of 7 3- pointers for the Red Wolves ( 14- 8, 7- 4 Sun Belt), who led 35- 28 at the half. Kirk Van Slyke added 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Augustine Rubit scored 23 for the Jaguars ( 717, 1- 10), who have lost six straight and 12 of their last 13.
Johnson had two 3’ s in an 18- 0 run in the first half that put Arkansas State up 22- 12. He had 16 points in the second half.
The Red Wolves shot 52.8 percent for the game, making 18 of 28 shots in the second half. They made 11 of 23 treys and 18 of 18 from the foul line.
No. 9 Michigan State 85, Northwestern 70
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Adreian Payne had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 9 Michigan State cruised to stay tied atop the Big Ten. The Spartans ( 21- 4, 10- 2) are even in the standings with rival Michigan.
Gary Harris added 14 points for Michigan State, rebounding a bit from a poor shooting performance in a loss to Wisconsin last weekend. The Spartans shot 53 percent from the field against a Northwestern team that came in with a sterling defensive reputation. The Wildcats ( 12- 13, 5- 7) had not allowed 80 points in a game in over a month.
Michigan State was without point guard Keith Appling, who has been bothered by a wrist injury.
JerShon Cobb had 22 points and seven rebounds for Northwestern.
No. 18 Creighton 68, Butler 63
INDIANAPOLIS — Doug McDermott scored 26 points and made the go- ahead 3- pointer with 47.8 seconds left.
The Bluejays ( 20- 4, 10- 2 Big East) have won five of six and 15 of 17. Kellen Dunham had 16 points and Alex Barlow added 13 for Butler ( 12- 13, 2- 11), which has lost four straight.
After leading most of the first half, Creighton found itself in a back- and- forth struggle most of the second half and couldn’t fend off Butler’s charges until McDermott hit the three to make it 64- 63.
Andrew Chrabascz had two chances to give Butler a late lead but twice lost the ball and a 3 from Dunham that might have forced overtime was short.
McDermott passed Allan Houston and Kevin Bradshaw to move into 15th place on the NCAA’s career scoring list with 2,824 points.
No. 21 Wisconsin 78, Minnesota 70
MADISON, Wis. — Frank Kaminsky scored 17 points and Wisconsin regained some of its frontcourt swagger.
Fellow forward Nigel Hayes added 15 for the Badgers ( 20- 5, 7- 5 Big Ten), who stook a 13- point lead against sloppy Minnesota ( 16- 9, 5- 7).
Outside shooting helped the Gophers hang around. Austin Hollins and Malik Smith hit 3s on back- to- back possessions to get to 73- 68 with 55.2 seconds left. Wisconsin’s Ben Brust finally sealed the win with two foul shots for an eight- point lead with 38 seconds left.