Kohl, Central win at Robert Morris
Tyler Kohl led the way with 23 points as the Central Connecticut State men’s basketball team defeated Robert Morris 77-68 on Saturday in a Northeast Conference game at Moon Township, Pa.
Joe Hugley had 15 points and seven rebounds for Central Connecticut (11-14, 5-7 Northeast Conference). Ian Krishnan added 14 points. Deion Bute had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the visiting team. Malik Petteway had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Colonials (13-12, 8-4). Josh Williams added 12 points. Dante Treacy had 10 points.
The Blue Devils evened the season series against the Colonials with the win. Robert Morris defeated Central Connecticut 70-59 on Jan. 21. Central Connecticut matches up against Wagner on the road on Thursday. Robert Morris plays Mount St. Mary’s on the road on Thursday.
Yale 78, Penn 65: At New Haven, Miye Oni scored a game-high 21 points with eight rebounds as the Bulldogs won their third straight and remained undefeated (8-0) at home.
Alex Copeland (15), Blake Reynolds (13) and Jordan Bruner (12) also reached double figures ,as Yale improved to 15-4 overall and 5-1 and in first place in the Ivy League. Devon Goodman and Antonio Woods led the Quakers (14-8, 2-4) with 16 each.
Wesleyan 91, Bowdoin 65: At Middletown, Austin Hutcherson made 13 of 16 shots and scored 37 points as the Cardinals closed out the regular season. Hutcherson also led Wesleyan (16-8, 6-4) with nine rebounds. Jordan Bonnner added 15 points - including the 1,000th of his career - and Antone Walker had 12.
Zavier Rucker led Bowdoin (15-9, 4-6) with 12 points.
Up next is the NESCAC tournament quarterfinals on Saturday; the matchup is to be determined.
Eastern Connecticut 92, Western Connecticut 76: Cory Muckle scored 24 points to lead the Warriors to the Little East Conference win in Willimantic. Seth Thomas had 22 points and seven rebounds off the bench for ECSU (18-5, 12-2). Aaron Samuel led WCSU (14-9, 8-6) with 18 points.
Mount St. Mary’s 76, Sacred Heart 73: At Fairfield, Vado Morse had 23 points as Mount St. Mary’s picked up a close Northeast Conference win. Sean Hoehn had 24 points for the Pioneers (11-14, 7-5). Koreem Ozier added 18 points. Kinnon LaRose had 15 points.
Jalen Gibbs added 21 points for the Mountaineers. Gibbs also had six rebounds for the Mountaineers.
Monmouth 61, Fairfield 49: At Bridgeport, Ray Salnave had 17 points off the bench to carry Monmouth to the MAAC win at Webster Bank Arena.
The Stags’ 27.1 field goal percentage represented the worst mark by a Monmouth opponent this season. Fairfield scored 21 first-half points, a season low for the team. Taj Benning had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Stags (7-18, 4-9). Matija Milin added seven rebounds. Jonathan Kasibabu had seven rebounds and three blocks.
Women
Quinnipiac 68, Canisius 51: At Hamden, Paige Warful led the way with 18 points and the Bobcats – winners of 12 straight – remained undefeated in the MAAC.
Paula Strautmane had 14 for Quinnipiac (17-6, 12-0), which has not lost in 2019.
St. Francis, Pa., 83, Central Connecticut 68: Andi Lydon led the Blue Devils with 17 points and Kiana Patterson added 15 in the Northeast Conference loss in Loretto, Pa.
The Blue Devils are 6-14 overall and 3-7 in the NEC.
Bowdoin 92, Wesleyan 75: The top-ranked Division III team broke open a close game, outscoring the Cardinals 24-15 in the second quarter en route to the NESCAC regular seasonending win. Olivia Gorman led the Cardinals (14-10, 4-6) with 23 points and Caleigh Ryan added 22 and eight rebounds. Taylor Choate led Bowdoin (24-0, 10-0) with 27 points.
Eastern Connecticut 79, Western Connecticut 61: At Willimantic, Mya Villard scored a game-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds in the Little East Conference win. Anna Barry had 14 for the Warriors (15-8, 10-4).
Emmanuel College 83, Saint Joseph 42: At West Hartford, Raelynn Voslow and Cheyenne-Mone Smith each scored 11 points in the Blue Jays’ loss.
Tennessee has been ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll the past three weeks, has one loss this season and owns Division I’s longest winning streak.
It wasn’t enough for the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee to give the Volunteers the top overall seed in its initial rankings.
The committee revealed its preliminary rankings on Saturday and it was Duke, not the Vols, earning the No. 1 overall seed.
The Blue Devils were No. 1 in the East Region and the Vols topped the South, with Virginia in the Midwest and Gonzaga out West earning the other No. 1 seeds.
“They are heading to the East by the slightest of margins,” committee chairman and Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said. “There was a very close conversation between the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed, but the strength of schedule won out in Duke’s case.”
Duke was slated to play in Washington, D.C., in an East Region that includes Michigan, Marquette and Iowa State.
Tennessee tops a S o u t h Re g i o n in Louisville with North Carolina, Purdue and Nevada.
Virginia led a Midwest Region in Kansas City that also includes Kentucky, Houston and Wisconsin. The West Region in Anaheim, California, had Michigan State, Kansas and Louisville with the Zags.
The initial rankings offered a preview of the committee’s thoughts five weeks before Selection Sunday on March 17.
The NCAA ditched the RPI this season for its own ranking system, the NCAA Evaluation Tool, to select teams for the NCAA Tournament. The NET relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and quality of wins and losses.
Duke (20-2, 8-1 ACC) has losses to Gonzaga and Syracuse, but blew out Kentucky in its season o p e n e r, knocked off Auburn and Texas Tech and plays in the loaded ACC.
Tennessee’s only loss was to then-No. 2 Kansas. It has the longest winning streak in s c h o o l h i s t o r y, 17 straight victories. The Vols (21-1, 9-0) moved to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 in Week 12 after Duke’s loss to Syracuse.