Villanova avoids DePaul upset bid
Justin Moore drained a goahead 3-pointer with 8.8 seconds left to lift Villanova to a 58-57 win over DePaul in a Big East Tournament first-round game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Sixth-seeded Villanova was in danger of a colossal upset against 11th-seeded DePaul, which went 0-20 in conference play during the regular season — with 19 of those losses by double digits.
DePaul, up two, had a chance to make it a two-possession game, but DeSean Wilson’s forced a 3-pointer that missed everything as the shot clock expired. As a result, Villanova got the ball back with 21 seconds left, setting up Moore’s heroics.
The Wildcats will face thirdseeded Marquette in a quarterfinal Thursday night.
Xavier 76, Butler 72
Desmond Claude had 26 points to lead Xavier to a win in the opening game of the conference tournament.
Xavier (16-16) will face No. 2 UConn on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Claude also had five rebounds for the Musketeers. Dayvion McKnight added 20 points while going 8 of 12 (2 for 4 from 3-point range) while he also had five rebounds and four steals. Quincy Olivari had 19 points and shot 7 of 19 from the field, including 3 for 13 from 3-point range, and went 2-for-3 from the line.
Pierre Brooks finished with 21 points for the Bulldogs (18-14). .
Providence 74, Georgetown 65 Josh Oduro had 20 points in Providence’s win over Georgetown.
The seventh-seeded Friars (20-12) face eighth-ranked Creighton, the second seed, in the quarterfinals.
Oduro added nine rebounds for the Friars. Devin Carter scored 19 points while going 7 of 16 (3 for 9 from 3-point range) and added nine rebounds and six assists. Ticket Gaines had 15 points and shot 5 for 8 (4-for-7 from 3-point range) and 1 of 4 from the freethrow line.
ACC second round
N.C. State 83, Syracuse 65
In Washington, Jayden Taylor had 18 points and nine rebounds, and North Carolina State rolled over Syracuse.
Tenth-seeded N.C. State (19-14), which avenged a regular-season sweep by Syracuse, will face No. 2 seed Duke in a Thursday quarterfinal.
The Wolfpack scored 30 points off 19 Syracuse (20-12) turnovers.
In other ACC games, fifthseeded Wake Forest advanced to face fourth-seeded Pitt with a 72-59 win. Florida State beat Virginia Tech 86-76 behind 34 points from Jamir Watkins to set up a game against top-seeded North Carolina.
Big 10 first round Maryland 65, Rutgers 51
In Minneapolis, Donta Scott scored 16 points and Maryland dominated the first 30 minutes of play. Maryland scored the first 11 points and later had a 10-0 run in a dominant first half
Atlantic 10 second round VCU 69, Fordham 62
Max Shulga had 14 points and VCU beat Fordham at Barclays Center. Fifth-seeded VCU (20-12) plays No. 4 seed UMass on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Kyle Rose led the way for Fordham (13-20) with 19 points.
Southland Championship McNeese 92, Nicholls 76
In Lake Charles, La., Shahada Wells scored 27 points and McNeese beat Nicholls 92-76 on Wednesday to win the Southern Conference Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 with its 30th victory this season.
Patriot Championship Colgate 74, Lehigh 55
In Hamilton, N.Y. Brady Cummins scored a career-high 19 points, Braeden Smith had 15 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Colgate collected its fourth straight Patriot League Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid.