Illini drop a nail-biter to Hoosiers
Trayce Jackson-Davis quickly caught and surpassed his coach on Indiana’s career scoring list Saturday. It took the senior star more time to help the No. 14 Hoosiers surpass Illinois in Bloomington.
Jackson-Davis had 26 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and added yet another milestone to his expansive list, while Jalen Hood-Schifino made the go-ahead free throws with 30.7 seconds left to finally give Indiana (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten) the lead and a 71-68 victory.
Jackson-Davis finished the game with 2,081 points — 20 more than Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson scored during his college career.
The Fighting Illini (17-9, 8-7) battled to the buzzer without leading scorer Terrence Shannon Jr., who sat out the game in concussion protocol. Guard Jayden Epps could have tied it with 16.7 seconds left but missed the first of two free throws. RJ Melendez could have forced overtime with a three-pointer at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.
“It was a great college basketball game,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “I thought we did a great job on Trayce and he still had 26 points. I know what [Woodson] is feeling when you’ve got one of the best players in the country, if not the best player in country.”
Hood-Schifino’s 13 points and Jackson-Davis’ final basket — a breakaway dunk in the waning seconds — gave Indiana just enough to erase a nine-point deficit over the final 12½ minutes.
Illinois’ Matthew Mayer scored 16 of his 24 points and made all four of his three-pointers in the first half. Epps added 12 points.
Xavier 82, DePaul 68
Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 16 Musketeers (20-7, 12-4 Big East) bounced back from two narrow losses to dump the visiting Blue Demons (9-18, 3-13) in Cincinnati.
Umoja Gibson had 17 points and De’Sean Nelson 16 for DePaul, which lost its eighth consecutive game. Nick Ongenda made his first start since undergoing wrist surgery in December and scored five points before fouling out with eight minutes left.
Nunge notched his 17th career double-double, his eighth of the season, for Xavier, which had fallen earlier by a combined three points to Butler and No. 11 Marquette.
Virginia 57, Notre Dame 55
Kihei Clark scored 15, including two critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and added the school’s career assist record to his resume as the No. 7 Cavaliers (21-4, 13-3 ACC) edged the visiting Fighting Irish (10-17, 2-14). Nate Laszewski’s 18 points led Notre Dame, which fell to 0-10 on the road.
Michigan 84, Michigan State 72
The host Wolverines (15-12, 9-7 Big Ten) showed support for their rival with a poignant pregame ceremony before a victory over the Spartans (16-10, 8-7) in the first game for them since a campus shooting that killed three students and wounded five others. Dug McDaniel led Michigan with 18 points.
Penn State 76, Minnesota 69
Jalen Pickett totaled 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the visiting Nittany Lions (1611, 7-9 Big Ten) past the Golden Gophers (7-17, 1-13), who have lost nine consecutive games.
Rutgers 58, Wisconsin 57
Clifford Omoruyi’s block of Connor Essegian’s three-point attempt as time expired helped send the Scarlet Knights (17-10, 9-7 Big Ten) past the host Badgers (15-11, 7-9).
Tide named preliminary top seed
Alabama got the best of Houston in a nonconference matchup. That has the Crimson Tide holding an early lead on the Cougars for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, too.
The committee that will select the field of 68 revealed its preliminary list of top teams, with the Crimson Tide taking the top spot over the Cougars due to a head-tohead road win in December.
Purdue and Kansas were the other No. 1 seeds. Texas, Arizona, Baylor and UCLA were the preliminary No. 2 seeds, followed by Tennessee, Virginia, Iowa State and Kansas State as 3-seeds. Indiana, Marquette, Gonzaga and Xavier rounded out the list as No. 4 seeds.