Cardinals hold off Blue Devils in key matchup
Freshman David Johnson had a season-high 19 points and No. 11 Louisville hung on down the stretch to beat No. 3 Duke 79-73 on Saturday night in a key matchup in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s regularseason title chase.
Malik Williams added two free throws with 16 seconds left and followed immediately with a transition dunk off a turnover, a sequence that all but sealed a grind-it-out win for the Cardinals in the Blue Devils’ famously hostile home arena.
By the end, the Cardinals (15-3, 6-1 ACC) had claimed the only regular-season meeting between the teams and put themselves in a tie with No. 9 Florida State atop the league standings. More impressively, the Cardinals won despite league-leading scorer Jordan Nwora finishing with just six points on three-for-12 shooting.
Louisville shot 48% for the game, leading by as many as 15 in the first half and 10 at halftime.
Freshman Cassius Stanley had season highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (15-3, 5-2), who shot just 37% for the game and made only six of 25 three-point attempts.
at No. 7 San Diego State 68, Nevada 55: Yanni Wetzell had 17 points and a careerhigh 16 rebounds for the Aztecs, who came out hot in the second half to beat the Wolf Pack and remain the nation’s only undefeated team.
Malachi Flynn scored 14 points for San Diego State (19-0, 8-0 Mountain West), and Jordan Schakel had 12. Matt Mitchell added 11 points.
The Aztecs pulled within one of the best opening streak in school history, a 20-0 run led by Kawhi Leonard in 2010-11. That team reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history and finished a school-best 34-3.
Jalen Harris, the Mountain West’s second-leading scorer, had 16 of his 19 points in the first half for Nevada (11-8, 4-3), which withered offensively in the second half. Jazz Johnson scored 13.
at No. 1 Gonzaga 92, Brigham Young 69: Killian Tillie had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bulldogs beat the Cougars for their 12th consecutive win.
Gonzaga (20-1, 6-0 West Coast) stretched its home win streak to 34 in a row, tops in the county, and also became the first school to 20 wins this season.
Corey Kispert scored 19 points for Gonzaga, and Joel Ayayi and Admon Gilder had 14 apiece.
T.J. Haws scored 17 points and Jake Toolson had 16 for BYU (14-6, 3-2).
at Florida 69, No. 4 Auburn 47: Omar Payne had the best game of his college career, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and led the Gators to a victory over the Tigers.
Payne, a freshman, dominated in the paint, scoring on tipins, putbacks and layups, and creating a mismatch nightmare for Auburn (15-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference). His threepoint play, which came after an offensive rebound, put Florida (12-5, 4-1) up by 14 with a little more than 4 minutes to play.
at DePaul 79, No. 5 Butler 66: Paul Reed scored 23 points on eight-for-nine shooting, Jalen ColemanLands added 20 and the Blue Demons (13-5, 1-4 Big East) upset the Tigers (15-3, 3-2).
Coleman-Lands was three for five from threepoint range and freshman Romeo Weems had 11 points as DePaul knocked off a team ranked in the top five for the first time since beating No. 5 Kansas on Dec. 2, 2006.
No. 9 Florida State 83, at Miami 79 (OT): The Seminoles forced 24 turnovers, including three in a row in overtime, and rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final 4:33 of regulation to earn their ninth consecutive victory by beating the Hurricanes.
Sophomore Devin Vassell set a career high for the second consecutive game by leading Florida State (16-2, 6-1 ACC) with 23 points while adding 11 rebounds and five assists. His two free throws with six seconds left sealed the win.
Chris Lykes had 24 points but also six turnovers for Miami (10-7, 2-5). The Hurricanes’ turnover total was a season high.
at Kansas State 84, No. 12 West Virginia 68: Cartier Diarra tied a career high with 25 points, Xavier Sneed added 16, Dujuan Gordon had a career-high 15, and the Wildcats held off the Mountaineers for their first win in Big 12 play this season.
Kansas State (8-9, 1-4) went up by as many as 23, but a 15-0 run by West Virginia (14-3, 3-2) cut the lead to eight in the second half, thanks in part to seven turnovers in four minutes by the Wildcats.
at Penn State 90, No. 21 Ohio State 76: Lamar Stevens scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half and the Nittany Lions upset the Buckeyes.
Myreon Jones scored 20 points, Seth Lundy added 12 and Myles Dread had 10 for Penn State (13-5, 3-4 Big Ten), which snapped a three-game losing streak.