Illinois stuns No. 13 Maryland
Illinois’ players and coaches jogged through a mob of outstretched hands on their way off the Madison Square Garden court, basking in the smiles and shouts of congratulations.
The 78-67 victory over No. 13 Maryland on that stage Saturday in New York? Nothing wrong with letting that sink in.
“Yeah, we executed, we made some shots, but to me it’s a lot more about perseverance and showing up and competing,” coach Brad Underwood said. “We did that today and we were fortunate to beat a very good basketball team.”
Ayo Dosunmu scored 20 points to help the Fighting Illini (6-14, 2-7 Big Ten Conference) hand the Terrapins (16-5, 7-3) their second consecutive conference loss.
Bruno Fernando had 19 points for Maryland.
The Terrapins led by 11 points during the first half but Illinois pulled within 3430 at the break after Dosunmu scored all the Illini’s points on a 9-2 run.
No. 24 Iowa State 87, at
No. 20 Mississippi 73: Talen Horton-Tucker scored 23 points for the Cyclones (15-5), who made 13 consecutive shots in the second half to pull away. Iowa State shot 69.1% from the field, nearly 77% in the second half. The Rebels (14-5) pulled within 43-42 in the second half but never led. Breein Tyree had 22 points for Mississippi.
at No. 21 North Carolina State 69, Clemson 67: Braxton Beverly made a threepoint basket to beat the buzzer, capping a rally by the Wolfpack (16-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed by six points with 26.5 seconds left. The Tigers (11-8, 1-5) missed four consecutive free throws to keep the door ajar. Marcquise Reed scored 19 points for Clemson.
at No. 1 Tennessee 83,
West Virginia 66: Lamonte’ Turner had 23 points and the Volunteers (18-1) held the Mountaineers (9-11) scoreless for a 91⁄2-minute stretch on their way to a 14th consecutive victory, the program’s longest since starting the 1922-23 season with 14 victories. It was Tennessee’s 20th home victory in a row.
at No. 2 Duke 66, Georgia Tech 53: RJ Barrett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Zion Williamson scored 22 points to help the Blue Devils (17-2, 6-1 ACC) defeat the Yellow Jackets (11-9, 3-4) for the 12th time in a row.
at No. 8 Kentucky 71, No. 9 Kansas 63: PJ Washington had 20 points and 13 rebounds to help the Wildcats (16-3) improve to 12-0 at home. Dedric Lawson had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Jayhawks (16-4).
No. 12 Marquette 87, at Xavier 82: Markus Howard scored 31 points and the Golden Eagles (18-3, 7-1 Big East Conference) rallied for their seventh victory in a row after the Musketeers (11-10, 3-5) pulled ahead 58-47 with 14 minutes left. at No. 22 Mississippi State 92, No. 16 Auburn 84: Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 27 points and the Bulldogs (15-4, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) sent the Tigers (13-6, 2-4) to their third consecutive loss.