Spartans lose Ward, still finish strong

Michigan State overcame losing forward Nick Ward to hold Ohio State to 13 points in the second half of Sunday’s 62-44 win, which lifted the No. 11 Spartans into a first-place tie with Michigan atop the Big Ten.

Ward, the Spartans’ second-leading scorer at 15.4 points, hardly played in the second half after suffering a hairline fracture of his left hand. The team hopes he can return this season.

In his absence, Matt McQuaid finished with 14 points and season scoring leader Cassius Winston added 13 for Michigan State (21-5, 12-3), which closed on a 20-2 run. Ohio State (16-9, 6-8) had its lowest points total since 2009.

at St. John’s 71, No. 13 Villanova 65: LJ Figueroa scored 22 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer, and the Red Storm rallied from 14 down in the second half to snap a 12-game losing streak against the Wildcats at Madison Square Garden that dated back 17 years.

St. John’s scored a season-low 26 points in the first half, going without a basket for almost eight minutes, and trailed by as many as 19.

No. 9 Houston 85, at Tulane 50: Corey Davis Jr. made eight three-pointers and scored 26 points as the Cougars won their 10th in a row.

Still, coach Kelvin Sampson felt Houston did too much performing and not enough competing in the first half.

“Entertainers perform,” Sampson said. “Drake is an entertainer. In my day, Marvin Gaye and Al Green were performers. Those guys were great, but they were entertainers. We had a lot of family and friends in the stands and we put on a performance for them in the first half. In the second half we competed and got back to who we are.”

Etc.

Quinnipiac’s Cameron Young scored 55 points, the most in the NCAA this season and a record for the school and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, in a 107-100 triple-overtime win against Siena.