Wolfpack continue to win on the road
TOP 25 MEN N.C. STATE 68, NO. 15 VIRGINIA 61
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference road wins against teams in the lower half of the standings looked great, but perhaps not convincing, for North Carolina State.
It was at No. 15 Virginia on Wednesday night where they turned some heads.
DJ Funderburk scored nine of his 14 points in the second half and the Wolfpack opened a big lead and held off every challenge the Cavaliers had to offer in a 68-61 victory.
The road wins — at Boston College, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest — were sandwiched around home losses to Syracuse and Duke, and Wolfpack Coach Kevin Keatts praised his young team’s ability to bounce back from adversity.
“I’ve asked them to grow up a little quicker than they needed to, but we’ve completely bought in,” he said. “When you look at it, the ball moves from side to side, everybody’s playing their role, everybody is genuinely happy for one another.
“And typically you don’t get that in a team. And I think in order for us to be a really good basketball team, we don’t have that one guy on every night that can score 30 points.”
Cam Hayes scored 16 points and Shakeel Moore had 12 for N.C. State (11-9, 7-8), which last won four ACC games in a row on the road in the last two games of 1980-81 season and the first two the following season.
Sam Hauser led Virginia with 21 points and Jay Huff had 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the Cavaliers (15-6, 11-4) lost their third in a row for the first time since the 2016-17 season. They were outscored 30-16 in the paint, 17-6 off the bench and led for just 48 seconds.
The Cavaliers twice closed within five, the second time at 54-49 on Hauser’s third three-pointer with 3:40 left, but Hayes barely beat the shot clock and banked in a desperation three-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to eight.
Two free throws by Huff made it 57-53, and backto-back three-pointers by Hauser brought them within 65-61 with 18 seconds left. But Dereon Seabron hit a free throw and Hayes hit two more to finish it off. NC State made 15 of its last 17 free-throw attempts.
Cavaliers Coach Tony Bennett said it’s common for teams to endure tough stretches, but “we haven’t become gritty enough or tough enough to lean on our defense to hold us in there. We did it a couple times this year, but not consistently enough,” he said.
The Wolfpack led 17-4 after nine minutes, but Virginia used a 13-4 run to close within 25-21 two minutes before halftime. The Cavaliers took their first lead at 35-33 on two free throws by Huff with 14:31 remaining, capping a 12-4 spurt that started with consecutive three-pointers by Hauser from in front of the Cavaliers’ bench.
But N.C. State steadied itself, getting four points each from Manny Bates and Moore and a three-pointer from Braxton Beverly as it scored 12 of the next 14 points.
NO. 11 FLORIDA STATE 88, MIAMI 71
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Sardaar Calhoun scored a career-high 16 points and No. 11 Florida State coasted to a victory over Miami.
The Seminoles (14-3, 10-2 ACC) were never threatened after a 19-2 run early in the first half. Anthony Polite hit consecutive three-pointers and Scottie Barnes’ jumper with 10:32 remaining capped the surge and increased Florida State’s lead to 27-8.
Miami (7-14, 3-13) has lost eight of its last nine. Isaiah Wong scored 29 points for the Hurricanes.
NO. 13 CREIGHTON 77, DePAUL 53
OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Zegarowski, Christian Bishop and Denzel Mahoney scored 13 points apiece and No. 13 Creighton made fast work of DePaul.
The Bluejays (17-5, 13-4 Big East) have won seven of their last eight games, including four in a row.
DePaul (4-11, 2-11) sustained its most lopsided loss since a 38-point defeat to Providence last March.
NO. 25 TENNESSEE 70, VANDERBILT 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Victor Bailey Jr. made 5-of-8 three-pointers and finished with 21 points as No. 25 Tennessee beat in-state rival Vanderbilt.
Jaden Springer added 20 points for the Vols (16-6, 9-6), and Yves Pons had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Vanderbilt (6-13, 2-11) lost its third in a row with Scotty Pippen Jr., the SEC’s second-leading scorer averaging 20.5 points a game sidelined by injury.
SEC MEN MISSISSIPPI STATE 69, SOUTH CAROLINA 48
STARKVILLE, Miss. — D.J. Stewart Jr. scored 15 points, Abdul Ado had 11 and Mississippi State jumped out early and cruised to a victory over South Carolina.
Tolu Smith added nine points and 13 rebounds for Mississippi State (13-11, 7-8). Iverson Molinar also chipped in nine points. Stewart added five assists and Ado had eight rebounds and three blocks.
Keyshawn Bryant scored 14 points for South Carolina (5-12, 3-10), which has lost six in a row. AJ Lawson had 10 points.
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 7 BAYLOR 70, OKLAHOMA STATE 51
WACO, Texas — NaLyssa Smith scored 20 points and No. 7 Baylor won its 10th game in a row, defeating Oklahoma State to move the Lady Bears closer to their 11th Big 12 regular-season title in a row.
The Lady Bears (18-2, 13-1) took control by scoring the last 17 points before halftime.
DiJonai Carrington had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Baylor.
NO. 11 INDIANA 77, WISCONSIN 49
MADISON, Wisc. — Mackenzie Holmes scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and No. 11 Indiana rolled past Wisconsin.
Ali Patberg and Nicole Cardano-Hillary added 14 points apiece for Indiana (15-4, 13-2 Big Ten), who won the first meeting 74-49.
Julie Pospisilova led Wisconsin (516, 2-16) with 16 points.
NO. 13 SOUTH FLORIDA 56, TEMPLE 47
PHILADELPHIA — Bethy Mununga scored 10 points and grabbed 20 rebounds and No. 13 South Florida beat Temple to extend a program record with 13th consecutive victories.
The other four starters for South Florida (14-1, 11-0 American) each scored nine points. The Bulls finished at just 28.3% shooting, including 3 of 20 from three-point range. Shae Leverett also had nine rebounds and Elisa Pinzan had six assists.
Mia Davis and Jasha Clinton combined for 43 points for Temple (9-9, 9-6).
PENN STATE 69, NO. 15 OHIO STATE 67
COLLEGE STATION, Pa. — Niya Beverley scored a career-high 21 points, Makenna Marisa added 17 with 8 rebounds and 8 assists and Penn State upset No. 15 Ohio State, ending an 11-game losing streak in the series.
Marisa’s layup with 1:01 to play was the winning basket, set up after Beverley, who was 9-of-11 shooting, grabbed an offensive rebound.
Johnasia Cash added 16 points for the Nittany Lions (9-11, 6-10 Big Ten). Juhasz scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Buckeyes (13-5, 9-5) have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Jacy Sheldon added 19 points.
NO. 23 MISSOURI STATE 67, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 55
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Jasmine Franklin (Fayetteville) led a balanced attack with 14 points and nine rebounds and No. 23 Missouri State beat Southern Illinois to claim the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title for the 14th time since 1990.
Brice Calip added 13 points and Abby Hipp scored 12 for the Lady Bears (16-2, 12-0). Gabby Walker scored 18 points for Southern Illinois (8-11, 5-9).
MARQUETTE 85, NO. 24 DePAUL 71
CHICAGO — Selena Lott scored 25 points, Camryn Taylor added 20, combining for 37 in the second half, and Marquette defeated No. 24 DePaul.
Chloe Marotta added 16 points and Jordan King 13 for the Golden Eagles (17-4, 14-3 Big East). Lexi Held scored 23 points for the Blue Demons (16-5, 13-4),
NO. 25 RUTGERS 63, MICHIGAN STATE 53
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Freshman Diamond Johnson scored 22 points, Arella Guirantes had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, and No. 25 Rutgers used a 24-7 fourth quarter to beat Michigan State.
The game took a scary turn after the final buzzer when official Angie Enlund was hurt and taken to a hospital.
Rutgers player Tekia Mack was heading back to the Scarlet Knights bench after the game ended when she inadvertently ran over Enlund at center court, hitting her hard.
Enlund was on the ground for a few minutes and taken off on a stretcher. She did have mobility and movement of her extremities and went to a hospital to be further evaluated.
Liz Martino added nine points and Tyia Singleton had eight points, six rebounds and a career-high five blocks for Rutgers (11-3, 7-3 Big Ten). Taiyier Parks scored 12 points and Tory Ozment added 10 for Michigan State (12-7, 7-7).