Seton Hall overcomes halfcourt shot to shock No. 9 Kentucky

NEW YORK (AP) — Keldon Johnson caught the ball near center court and heaved in a prayer of a shot at the regulation buzzer that sent Kentucky players and fans into a pulsating frenzy.

Surely now, with all that momentum, the ninth-ranked Wildcats would finally take control in overtime and escape from New York with a hardfought win.

But this scrappy Seton Hall squad had a lot more left.

Myles Cale hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds remaining and the Pirates overcame Johnson's half-court fling that tied the score, stunning Kentucky 84-83 on Saturday in a Madison Square Garden thriller.

"I guess that was good for the fans," Wildcats coach John Calipari said. "Wasn't so good for the losing coach."

Johnson had a chance to win it for Kentucky (7-2), but his 3-point try with a second remaining was blocked by Quincy McKnight. The ball went out of bounds as time expired, and excited Pirates players rushed off the bench to celebrate a huge win.

Myles Powell scored 25 of his 28 points after halftime for Seton Hall (6-3), including a tiebreaking 3 in the final seconds of the second half.

"It took a lot of effort, but ... we were ready," Powell said. "We fought, we never gave up, we stayed together and we got the job done."

The clock showed 1.1 seconds after Powell's step-back, double-clutch jumper from the left side went through, but officials made it 1.5 seconds after a replay review. That made all the difference for Kentucky when PJ Washington inbounded from the baseline and threw a long pass to an open Johnson, even though the play wasn't designed for him to receive the ball.

Johnson took a dribble, turned over his left shoulder and hurled a right-handed shot that went in as the horn sounded, tying it at 70.

"I knew if I got the shot off that I had a pretty good chance to make it," he said. "It was a big shot. I mean, it was pretty big. I guess it just hurt because we lost."

Kentucky rooters roared and Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, stomping and pointing on the sideline only moments before, simply dropped his head in disbelief. A blue-clad crowd of 10,244, split between the schools probably in Kentucky's favor, was still buzzing as the teams got ready for overtime to settle the Citi Hoops Classic.

"There's just something special about this place," Willard said.

Washington had a careerhigh 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Kentucky, which had won seven straight since a 118-84 blowout loss to Duke in the season opener Nov. 6.

Reid Travis added 13 points before fouling out with 2:20 remaining in regulation. Johnson, the team's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, was held to 10 after going scoreless in the first half.

"I am not discouraged in any way," Calipari said. "We've got a ways to go. I mean, every year I go through this. This is painful and aging, trying to figure out your team, trying to win games while you're trying to figure them out, how you finish games and trying to get them to mature quickly. It's just hard. And you know what? I'm going to have to go through it again."

Cale scored a career-best 17 on 4-of-18 shooting. With the Pirates trailing 83-81, he took a pass from Taurean Thompson on the right side, pump-faked a defender and drained an open 3 to send Seton Hall to its fifth victory in six games.

"We practice that all the time," Cale said.

No. 3 DUKE 91, YALE 58.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman RJ Barrett had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and No. 3 Duke blew the game open in the second half to beat Yale 91-58 on Saturday.

Fellow rookie Zion Williamson had 20 points for the Blue Devils, who led 41-32 at halftime but hit their first six shots after the break to finally stretch out the lead. Duke (9-1) shot 57 percent after halftime and 49 percent overall for its fourth straight win.

It was Barrett's second 30-point outing this season for the Blue Devils, who put up another big offensive total despite making just 5 of 21 3-pointers.

Duke also got a scare when freshman point guard Tre Jones came up limping with an apparent left leg injury, which sidelined him for nearly all of the final 14 minutes.

Miye Oni had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (4-3) before fouling out.

No. 22 MISSISSIPPI STATE 82, CLEMSON 71.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Lamar Peters scored 28 points to lead No. 22 Mississippi State to a wire-to-wire 82-71 win over Clemson in the first game of the Never Forget Tribute Classic on Saturday.

Quinndary Weatherspoon had 20 points for Mississippi State (8-1), which has won five straight. The Bulldogs shot 63 percent from 3-point range. Peters was 8 of 11 from beyond the arc.

Clemson (6-3) got 23 points from Aamir Simms and 18 points from Elijah Thomas.