NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP / TOP 25
Seton Hall 90, No. 5 Xavier 81
Desi Rodriguez had career-highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds and Seton Hall all but clinched its first NCAA Tournament berth in a decade with a stunning victory over Xavier on Sunday. Isaiah Whitehead had 22 points, Angel Delgado added 17 and the Pirates (21-7, 11-5 Big East) used a suffocating defense in knocking off Xavier (25-4, 13-4), just four days after it beat No. 1 Villanova. The Pirates, who have not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2006, had a season-high point total and shot 50 percent from the field in winning their fourth straight and eighth of nine. Seton Hall never trailed after scoring the first nine points and it beat Xavier in every aspect. James Farr and Trevon Bluiett had 17 points apiece for Xavier, which was coming off a 90-83 win over Villanova.
No. 6 Michigan State 88, Penn State 57
Denzel Valentine had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Michigan State. The Spartans (24-5, 11-5 Big Ten) have won four straight and eight of nine. The Nittany Lions (15-14, 6-10) had won three straight and four of five, including victories over then-No. 4 Iowa and thenNo. 22 Indiana. Penn State coach Patrick Chambers was ejected with 4:53 left in the first half when he was called for two technical fouls within the same rant. The Spartans connected on 52 percent of their shots in the first half after combining for a 3-of-15 shooting start and led 52-27 at halftime. Penn State's Shep Garner had 22 points.
Ohio State 68, No. 8 Iowa 64
Marc Loving scored 25 points, including both ends of a 1-and-1 with less than 2 seconds to go, as Ohio State rallied from a late deficit. Keita Bates-Diop added 19 points while Kam Williams added 11 for the Buckeyes, who ended the game on a 12-2 run. After Bates-Diop preserved a two-point lead for Ohio State (19-11, 11-6 Big Ten) by blocking Mike Gesell's layup with under 5 seconds to go, Loving made the free throws to ice the game. Williams gave the Buckeyes a 63-62 lead with a jumper with 2:04 left after Iowa led for most of the second half. He added a 3-pointer a little over a minute later to stretch Ohio State's lead to four. Gesell and Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa (20-8, 11-5) with 16 points apiece while Peter Jok had 12.