Mississippi St. wins on late 3
Stewart sinks shot with two second left to lift Bulldogs to a victory
D.J. Stewart Jr. made a 3pointer with two seconds remaining to lead Mississippi State to a 68-67 win over shorthanded Richmond in the NIT quarterfinals Thursday.
Trailing 67-65, Mississippi State forward Abdul Ado missed two free throws with 16 seconds left, and then fouled out to send Andre Gustavson to the line at 8.7. Gustavson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to set up Stewart’s winner.
Richmond was not able to get a shot off before the buzzer as Stewart secured the tipped inbound pass near midcourt.
Stewart finished with 22 points, making all 10 of his free throw attempts for Mississippi State (17-14). Iverson Molinar had 18 points and seven rebounds, Ado added 11 rebounds and Javian Davis had seven rebounds.
Colorado State 65, NC State 61: Isaiah Stevens scored 18 points and David Roddy had 16 points and 11 rebounds as Colorado State narrowly beat North Carolina State in the NIT quarterfinals. Colorado State (20-6) has won 20-plus games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011-13.
Obit: Grand Canyon basketball player Oscar Frayer died in a car accident, three days after the Antelopes played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. He was 23. Frayer and his sister, 28year-old Andrea Moore, were killed with an unidentified person in a car crash in Lodi, Calif., on Tuesday, the school announced Thursday.
Charleston: Pat Kelsey is leaving Winthrop to become College of Charleston’s men’s basketball coach.
Duke: Duke freshman Jaemyn Brakefield plans to transfer. The school announced Brakefield’s decision Wednesday. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 22 games, including two starts.
Eastern Washington: Eastern Washington has promoted David Riley to head basketball coach following the school’s NCAA Tournament appearance.
Florida: Florida point guard Tre Mann is leaving school early and turning pro. Also, Florida guards Noah Locke and Ques Glover have entered the transfer portal.
Jacksonville: Jacksonville University has hired Florida assistant Jordan Mincy as its head basketball coach.
Miami: Dynamic 5-foot-7 Miami Hurricanes guard Chris Lykes has decided to turn pro after a senior season limited to two games because of an ankle injury.
Oklahoma: Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger announced his retirement Thursday, ending a 35-year Division I college head coaching career that included taking five schools to the NCAA Tournament — with two of them reaching the Final Four — and more than 650 career wins.
South Carolina State: South Carolina State has hired former Memphis assistant Tony Madlock to be its men’s basketball head coach.