No. 2 Crimson Tide rally from 17 points down to top archrival Tigers in OT
Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left, and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn, 90-85, in overtime Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide (26-4, 16-1 SEC) clinched outright its second regular season SEC title in three years but continued to live on the edge over a troubling eight days that included courtroom revelations in a capital murder trial.
Miller (17 points) rebounded teammate Jaden Bradley’s missed dunk and drew a foul, making both free throws. Noah Clowney had blocked KD Johnson’s layup attempt on the other end.
The Tigers (19-11, 9-8), who had three key players foul out, couldn’t close it out after leading almost the entire way in regulation. They were up 17 with less than 11 minutes left.
Alabama won its fourth straight, but the past three have gone down to the wire since courtroom revelations tied freshmen Miller and Bradley to the scene of a murder. Neither has been charged or accused of a crime, but then-teammate Darius Miles and another man are facing capital murder charges.
• KANSAS STATE 85, OKLAHOMA 69: Desi Sills flirted with a triple-double in his Bramlage Coliseum farewell, Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell also had big senior send-offs, and the 11th-ranked Wildcats beat the Sooners in Manhattan, Kan.
Sills finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, Johnson had 16 points, and Nowell added 11 points and 10 assists to help Kansas State (23-7, 11-6 Big 12) snap a three-game skid against Oklahoma.
Nae’qwan Tomlin also scored 19 points for Kansas State, which led by 20 early in the second half before the Sooners (14-16, 4-13) made a late run to get within 75-65 with just under two minutes to go.
• CONNECTICUT 88, DEPAUL 59: Adama Sanogo scored 26 points to lead five Huskies in double figures as the 14th-ranked Huskies closed out their home schedule in emphatic style with a rout of the skidding Blue Demons in Hartford.
Andre Jackson filled up the stat sheet for Connecticut (23-7, 12-7 Big East) with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Tristen Newton added 12 points for the Huskies, who have won four straight and seven of eight.
Nick Ongenda tied a career high with 17 points for Depaul (9-21, 3-16), which has lost 11 in a row. Ongenda was playing just his fifth game of the season after recovering from wrist surgery.
U-conn. put the game away early, opening on a 29-2 run.
• XAVIER 94, PROVIDENCE 89: Souley Boum scored a seasonhigh 33 points and Colby Jones added 29 to help the 19th-ranked Musketeers (22-8, 14-5) upend the 20th-ranked Friars in Providence, R.I., to clinch the second seed in the Big East tournament.
Ed Croswell scored 17 points with 13 rebounds and Bryce Hopkins also scored 17 for Providence (21-9, 13-6), which cut a 22-point first-half deficit to two in the second half.
With his team down six points in the final minute, Hopkins had his putback blocked by Jack Nunge. Boum hit a pair of free throws to ice it and finish one point short of his career high.
It was the Friars’ first loss at home this season.
• VANDERBILT 68, KENTUCKY 66: Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead fallaway jumper in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining to finish with 23 points, and the Commodores knocked off the 23rd-ranked Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., for their first win at Rupp Arena in 16 years.
Surging Vanderbilt (17-13, 10-7 SEC) earned its seventh win in eight games and is 7-3 since it lost to Kentucky last month in Nashville. The Commodores trailed 26-21 late in the first half, then led 34-30 at halftime and 46-35 early in the second before withstanding Kentucky’s rally for a 66-64 advantage with 1:10 left.
Tshiebwe finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Wildcats (20-10, 11-6).
• NOTRE DAME 88, PITTSBURGH 81: Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as the Fighting Irish knocked off the 25th-ranked Panthers in South Bend, Ind., to give longtime coach Mike Brey a victory in his final home game.
Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz each added 14 points as Notre Dame (11-19, 3-16 ACC) snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Brey, who is stepping down at season’s end, received warm ovations from the crowd before and after the game. With the win, he improved to 315-76 at Purcell Pavilion over 23 seasons.
Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings and Nike Sibande all scored 19 points for the Panthers (21-9, 14-5).
GMU outlasts Fordham in OT
Josh Oduro scored 17 points and Ronald Polite had eight in overtime as George Mason knocked off Fordham, 64-58, in overtime at Eaglebank Arena.
Oduro added six rebounds and four blocks for the Patriots (18-12, 10-7 Atlantic 10), who won their fifth straight. Polite scored 12 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists. Saquan Singleton finished with 11 points.
Khalid Moore finished with 21 points and seven rebounds for the Rams (23-7, 11-6).
• GEORGE WASHINGTON 75, DAVIDSON 70: James Bishop scored a game-high 26 points to propel the Colonials past the Wildcats in Davidson, N.C.
Bishop added three steals for the Colonials (16-14, 10-7 Atlantic 10). Brendan Adams scored 15 points and Ricky Lindo Jr. finished with 11 points.
Davidson (14-15, 7-10) was led by Sam Mennenga, who posted 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
• CREIGHTON 99, GEORGETOWN 59: Primo Spears’s teamhigh 21 points were the lone bright spot for the struggling Hoyas (7-24, 2-18 Big East), who were drilled by the Bluejays (19-11, 13-6) in their regular season finale in Omaha.
• ST. JOSEPH’S (PA.) 83, RICHMOND 67: Erik Reynolds II tied a career high with 33 points as the Hawks (14-16, 8-10 Atlantic 10) cruised the past the Spiders (14-16, 7-10) in Philadelphia.