Ponds has 22 for SJU
Shamorie Ponds had 22 points, seven assists and four steals and St. John’s used a 54-21 second half to beat Sacred Heart 90-55 on Saturday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II each scored 14 points for St. John’s (7-1). Bashir Ahmed added 13 and Tariq Owens had 12 points and 11 boards for his first double-double of the season.
It was the first time St. John’s had five players in double figures since Dec. 20, 2015.
St. John’s made 13 of its first 17 shots of the second half (76.5 percent) while holding Sacred Heart to 3 of 14. The Red Storm went on an 18-0 run for a 71-40 lead as Sacred Heart went without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.
Kinnon LaRose and Mario Matasovic had 12 points apiece for Sacred Heart (3-5). LaRose was 4 of 9 from distance and Matasovic only missed two shots but had seven turnovers.
DUKE 96, S. DAKOTA 80: Grayson Allen scored 15 of his 25 points in an 8-minute opening blitz and No. 1 Duke beat visiting South Dakota. Freshman Marvin Bagley III added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (10-0). Duke shot 62 percent to lead 56-30 by halftime, then maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way.
KANSAS 76, SYRACUSE 60: Devonte’ Graham matched his career-high with 35 points for the second consecutive game and Lagerald Vick added 20 for No. 2 Kansas in the HoopHall Miami Invitational.
WICHITA ST. 69, BAYLOR 62: No. 8 Wichita State used outside shooting to exploit No. 16 Baylor’s zone in a big way, ending the Bears’ 46-game nonconference home winning streak. Conner Frankamp scored 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:50 to go that sparked a game-ending 7-0 run in the Shockers’ 69-62 win.
The Shockers shot 63 percent (10 of 16) from 3-point range, including 5 of 8 from Frankamp. Wichita State forced Baylor to miss its last five shots and made four of five free throws in the final 1:38.
KENTUCKY 79, HARVARD 70: Kevin Knox had 20 points, Hamidou Diallo added 19 and No. 7 Kentucky’s 13-0 run midway through the second half provided a cushion that held off visiting Harvard.
Kentucky (7-1) returned from a six-day break to shoot well for most of the game and lead the Ivy League Crimson throughout. The Wildcats needed that initial accuracy to counter Harvard’s 12 3-pointers — including six by sophomore forward Seth Towns (25 points) — that kept the Crimson within reach.
TCU 92, YALE 66: Desmond Bane scored 18 points, Jaylen Fisher had 17 points and seven assists and No. 23 TCU won its nation-leading 13th straight game.
MIAMI 80, PRINCETON 52: DJ Vasiljevic scored 20 points, Bruce Brown Jr. added 17 and No. 10 Miami had little trouble on the way to topping Princeton in the HoopHall Miami Invitational.
Lonnie Walker IV had a season-high 12 points for Miami (7-0), which shot 14 for 25 from 3-point range.
UCONN 84, MONMOUTH 81: Jalen Adams scored 31 points, including a floater in the lane in overtime that helped UConn to a comefrom-behind victory, the Huskies’ second consecutive overtime win.
Adams shot gave UConn an 8180 lead with 32 seconds left in extra time.
Monmouth’s Micah Seaborn (27 points) then missed a 3-pointer from the right baseline and Christian Vital (19 points) hit two foul shots to give the Huskies a three-point lead.
STONY BROOK 85, ST. FRANCIS (Pa.): Tyrell Sturdivant’s layup with seven seconds left capped a comeback from a 15-point deficit in the final eight minutes and Stony Brook pulled out a road win.
Taking an inbounds pass, Akwasi Yeboah drove the lane and passed to Sturdivant who scored and was fouled. Sturdivant missed the free throw and Keith Braxton raced down the left side but missed a long 3-point try at the buzzer.
ELON 71, ST. PETER’S 65: