POSTERIZED: Brandon Austin shuts down Chosen League game (VIDEO)

By Rob DausterJun 22, 2013, 2:00 PM EDT

The Chosen League is Philly’s best streetball league.

The best players in the city — from high school stars, college athletes, NBA guys — all share the same court.

As you might imagine, The Chosen League has their fair share of highlight reel plays.

Like, for example, this dunk from Providence-signee Brandon Austin:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdbnuAdZQII]

Making it all the better? Austin was previously committed to Penn State. The guy that he dunked on is Mike Watkins, a Class of 2014 forward who recently committed to … Penn State.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.

Hepburn scores 19, Wisconsin tops Penn State 79-74 in OT

Associated PressFeb 9, 2023, 12:32 AM EST

Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Chucky Hepburn scored 19 points and Connor Essegian added 18, the two combining for nine of Wisconsin’s 11 3-pointers in a 79-74 overtime victory over Penn State on Wednesday night.

After a layup by Max Klesmit gave Wisconsin a 76-72 lead with 44 seconds remaining in overtime, Penn State’s Camren Wynter missed a 3-pointer and the Badgers closed out the victory at the free-throw line.

Hepburn made 5 of 9 3-pointers and Essegian 4 of 7 for the Badgers, who were 11 of 24 from 3-point distance. Tyler Wahl had 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Wisconsin (14-9, 6-7 Big Ten) and Steven Crowl added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Jalen Pickett, who earlier this week was named one of 10 finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award, had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Penn State (14-10, 5-8). Seth Lundy added 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals, making 4 of 8 3-pointers. Camren Wynter scored 15 points and Andrew Funk 10.

With 59 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 65, Essegian forced a turnover by Wynter. Wisconsin called timeout with 44 seconds remaining, setting up a 3-pointer by Hepburn. Lundy hit a tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds left and Wisconsin played for the last shot but did not score.

In beating Penn State for the fifth consecutive time, Wisconsin swept the season series and handed the Nittany Lions their second home loss in 13 games. Wisconsin had lost seven of nine previous games coming in.

Wisconsin plays at Nebraska on Saturday, the same day that Penn State plays at Maryland.

UConn women lose 2nd straight game for 1st time since 1993

Associated PressFeb 9, 2023, 12:14 AM EST

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

MILWAUKEE – UConn coach Geno Auriemma could sense from the start of the night that something was off about his team.

By the time the evening ended, the Huskies were staring at their first losing streak in three decades, ending one of the most remarkable achievements in college basketball history.

Chloe Marotta had 19 points and Jordan King added 18 as Marquette defeated UConn 59-52 on Wednesday. The Huskies, who were playing three nights after an 81-77 home loss to No. 1 South Carolina, dropped consecutive games for the first time since March 1993.

“When people read that stat and they look back, that is a fairy-tale stat,” Auriemma said. “And all fairy tales – they don’t always come true – but everything has an end. So this ended here at Marquette.”

Marquette (16-8, 9-6 Big East) beat UConn (21-4, 13-1) for the first time in 17 meetings.

The Golden Eagles had led UConn early in the fourth quarter at home last season before fading down the stretch and losing 72-58.

This time, the Golden Eagles closed the deal, holding the Huskies to their lowest point total of the season.

“We came into a huddle and we were at the media timeout in the fourth quarter, and I was like, `We were here last year. I’m not watching film on how we lost in the last five minutes,’ ” King said. “You have to put 40 minutes of basketball together. For us, I felt we did that.”

Marquette coach Megan Duffy, who played at Notre Dame from 2002-06, became just the third person ever to beat an Auriemma-coached UConn team as both a player and a coach. The others are South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Villanova’s Denise Dillon.

“In some ways, I’m speechless,” Duffy said. “The next emotion is I’m just incredibly proud of these women and what they did tonight – a historic win for Marquette women’s basketball. We knew we were up against a buzzsaw with Connecticut losing on Sunday.”

Dorka Juhasz led UConn with 15 points. Aubrey Griffin and Lou Lopez Senechal added 12 points each.

After missing eight of its first nine shots, Marquette went on a 21-2 spurt over an eight-minute stretch to turn an 8-2 deficit into a 23-10 advantage. The Golden Eagles never trailed again, though UConn briefly tied the game in the third quarter.

King started the momentum shift by scoring 10 straight points on her own, including a pair of 3-pointers.

“I think that just completely and totally deflated us,” Auriemma said. “After the week that we’ve had – after the 10 days, two weeks, whatever – we just, I think mentally, all of us … I think we just checked out. It was a major struggle because they were so locked in, their team, in what they wanted to do.”

UConn tied the game at 31 on an Aaliyah Edwards basket with 6:10 left in the period. Marquette regained the lead 21 seconds later on Marotta’s 3-pointer and carried a 39-38 edge into the final quarter.

Marquette gradually built the lead in the final period and got ahead 51-44 on a Marotta jumper with 1:35 left. UConn made its last charge by cutting the margin to 51-47 on a Juhasz 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining.

After Marquette initially struggled to get the ball inbounds and had to call a timeout, the Golden Eagles beat the press and got the ball to Emily La Chapell for a layup with 1:15 remaining.

That started a 6-0 run that put the game out of reach.

“I said this to them in the locker room,” Auriemma said. “I don’t know if it was residue from Sunday, whether something in practice yesterday, something on the trip over, but there was a collective something different about today.”

BIG PICTURE

UConn: Even after the Huskies dug themselves such a deep hole in the first half, UConn had reason to believe it could put this game away by dominating the fourth quarter, just as it had in last season’s game at Marquette. It didn’t happen. Azzi Fudd, who scored 24 points and sparked that fourth-quarter surge in last season’s game at Marquette, hasn’t played since injuring her right knee Jan. 15 against Georgetown.

Marquette: The Golden Eagles are on the NCAA Tournament bubble, so this game was huge for their postseason hopes. Marquette now must make sure it doesn’t have any letdowns the rest of the season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

UConn moved up a spot in the poll after losing a close game to South Carolina. The Huskies figure to fall out of the top five now.

HISTORIC LOSS

The Huskies had been 74-0 after losing games since they lost the consecutive games in 1993 to Providence in the Big East Tournament semifinals and Louisville in the NCAA Mideast Regional first-round game.

UP NEXT

UConn: At Georgetown on Saturday.

Marquette: At Providence on Feb. 15.

Gardner, Beekman lift No. 8 Virginia past No. 22 N.C. State

Associated PressFeb 8, 2023, 6:16 PM EST

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia coach Tony Bennett had a simple message for his team after a poor defensive performance in a loss at Virginia Tech.

“Talk is cheap. Do it. Show us, to our players, to us as a staff, show up, work in practice, step to between the lines and don’t lose yourself in anything but what your job is,” Bennett said he told his players and assistants in the two days of practice since the 74-68 loss.

The team clearly got the message.

Jayden Gardner scored 18 points, Reece Beekman added 15 and No. 8 Virginia cooled off red-hot No. 22 North Carolina State 63-50 on Tuesday night.

“We had a great two days before State, you know, preparation and just diving in,” Gardner said. “It’s just this is the time of the season we need to lock in and you know, we’re playing for something. … We’re trying to win a championship.”

The Cavaliers (18-4, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) handed the Wolfpack (19-6, 9-5) their second loss in 10 games and moved into a share of first place in the conference with Clemson and Pittsburgh.

The Wolfpack arrived leading the ACC with an average of 79.6 points and were 19-2 when scoring at least 70, but became the 38th consecutive league opponent held below 70 points at John Paul Jones Arena.

“Obviously, as I watched the Virginia Tech game and knew that those guys dropped the game and, you know, any time you’re going to play a very good defensive team on their home floor, you know you’re going to get that energy,” North Carolina State coach Kevin Keatts said.

Terquavion Smith led N.C. State with 19 points and Casey Morsell, who spent his first two seasons at Virginia and was jeered nearly every time he touched the ball in his first game back, had 18 points before fouling out in the final minute.

Jarkel Joiner, the Wolfpack’s No. 2 scorer at 16.2 points per game, missed 12 of his 14 shots and scored five points. D.J. Burns Jr. (eight points) was the only other Wolfpack player to score.

Reserve forward Kadin Shedrick, who did not play in Virginia’s loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday, had 10 points and six rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Virginia scored the first six points of the second half to open its largest lead at 40-20, but the Wolfpack began whittling away, fueled by a 12-6 burst in which Smith and Morsell each hit a pair of 3-pointers.

“In the past, we’ve been able to control the tempo and to get those guys to play a little bit faster and even turn them over,” said Keatts, whose team had won three of the last four meetings. “But we couldn’t.”

N.C. State twice closed within nine points but got no closer. Morsell’s 3 made it 55-46 with 3:46 to play, but Beekman made a free throw and then took a no-look pass from Kihei Clark for an easy backdoor layup.

Virginia closed the first half on an 8-2 run to lead 34-20 at the break. The Wolfpack missed 10 straight shots before Burns scored just before the half.

BIG PICTURE

N.C. State: The Wolfpack got scoring from just three players – Smith with nine points, Morsell with seven and Burns with four – in the opening half. They shot 25.8% with Smith going 4 for 13 and Joiner 0 for 6. … Burns picked up his third personal foul less than a minute into the second half after getting the ball stolen by Beekman. He stayed in the game and drew his fourth foul on a drive by Clark with 16:03 left.

Virginia: Beekman started the game ranking first in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (3.0) and third in assists (5.1). He had four assists and one turnover. Clark started first in assists (6.0) and second in assist/turnover ratio (2.8). He had six assists and three turnovers.

UP NEXT

N.C. State: At Boston College on Saturday.

Virginia: Hosts Duke on Saturday.

Michigan St. rallies to win after giving up lead to Maryland

Associated PressFeb 8, 2023, 12:06 PM EST

Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Joey Hauser scored 20 points and Tyson Walker had 17 and Michigan State rallied after scoring the game’s first 15 points to beat Maryland 63-58 on Tuesday.

A.J. Hoggard had 10 rebounds and eight assists for Michigan State.

Jahmir Young scored 17 points for Maryland, Hakim Hart 12, Julian Reese 11 and Donta Scott 10 for the Terrapins.

The Spartans (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten) used an 8-0 run in which Walker made a layup and 3-pointer wrapped around a 3 from Jaden Akins for a 52-48 lead with 7:44 remaining and Michigan State led for the remainder.

The Terrapins erupted for a 12-0 run in less than three minutes in the second half turning a 38-26 deficit into a 38-all tie. Young and Hart posted back-to-back three-point plays, and Hart’s 3-pointer with 13:01 knotted it at 38. Prior to that 3, Hart was 3-for-last-27 shooting from beyond the arc. Maryland finished shooting 3 of 22 from distance.

Michigan State started the game with a 15-0 run and led 31-22 at halftime. Coming off an 81-46 win over Maryland (16-8, 7-6 Big Ten) on Saturday, the Terrapins have yet to win back-to-back contests in almost three years.

The Terrapins host Penn State on Saturday. Michigan State travels to play Ohio State on Sunday.

Arkansas pulls away from Kentucky in 2nd half, wins 88-73

Associated PressFeb 8, 2023, 12:02 PM EST

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ricky Council IV scored 20 points, Anthony Black had 19 and Arkansas used a blazing second half to pull away and beat Kentucky 88-73 on Tuesday night, giving coach Eric Musselman his 200th collegiate victory.

Black added five assists and five steals. Makhel Mitchell and Davonte Davis scored 15 points each and Jordan Walsh 13 for the Razorbacks (17-7, 6-5 SEC) who have won five straight conference games, including three in a row. It was Arkansas’ third straight win over the Wildcats (16-8, 7-4). The teams meet again in Fayetteville in a regular-season finale on March 4.

Cason Wallace scored 24 points to lead Kentucky, which had won six straight conference games. Chris Livingston added 13 points and Jacob Toppin and Antonio Reeves 11 each.

After a first half with 11 lead changes, there were none in the second when Arkansas shot 72% and Council and Black combined for 25 points.

Three steals, including two by Black who turned them into consecutive dunks, fueled an 11-3 run to begin the second half for a 52-43 lead. A basket by Black made it a double-digit lead with eight minutes left as the Razorbacks sank 7 of 9 over that span to finish the game. They made 8 of 10 free throws over the final two minutes.

Kentucky coach John Calipari was given a technical foul with 33 seconds left in the first half. Black sank the resulting free throws for a three-point lead before Daimion Collins’ midrange jumper made it 41-40 at halftime.

Both teams shot over 50% in the first half with Wallace leading all scorers with 11 points. Kentucky dipped under 50% for the game while Arkansas finished at 63% and outscored the Wildcats 46-28 in the paint.

Arkansas is home against Mississippi State and Kentucky is at Georgia, both games on Saturday.