GAME OF THE DAY: No. 8 Notre Dame 81, NC State 78 (OT)
The Fighting Irish and Wolfpack produced a thriller in Raleigh, with Notre Dame coming back despite trailing by as many as 18 points. Mike Brey’s team didn’t shoot well in the first half, but Jerian Grant got going in the second stanza and his teammates followed suit. Grant finished the game with 25 points, but it was V.J. Beachem’s tip-in with 1.8 seconds remaining that forced overtime.
The Wolfpack committed two critical turnovers late in regulation, with the first ultimately leading to Beachem’s basket and the second nearly costing them the game (Grant missed a half-court shot as time expired). Trevor Lacey, whose three-pointer as time expired in overtime rimmed out, led five NC State players in double figures with 13 points.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
1. No. 5 Duke 77, St. John’s 68
Mike Krzyzewski picked up his 1,000th win as a college head coach at Madison Square Garden, with his Blue Devils closing the game on a 22-4 run. Duke got better defensively when they went zone with just under nine minutes remaining, packing things in and adding Marshall Plumlee to the lineup. Guards Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones made key plays down the stretch on the offensive end as well, with Jones finishing with a game-high 22 points. Sir’Dominic Pointer led the Red Storm with 21, but they missed out on what could have been a season-changing win.
2. No. 2 Virginia 50, Virginia Tech 47
Buzz Williams’ Hokies led by ten, 43-33, with 10:34 remaining. From that point forward Virginia Tech scored just four points, with Adam Smith’s three-pointer as time expired missing the mark. Virginia looked out of sync for a significant portion of the game but got going at the right time, closing the game on a 17-4 “run” with Justin Anderson (12 points) scoring ten of the Cavaliers’ final 17 points. Tony Bennett’s team remains undefeated, and they’ll have all week to prepare for their game against Duke next Saturday in Charlottesville.
3. Ohio State 82, No. 23 Indiana 70
Entering Sunday’s game in Columbus, Thad Matta’s team had yet to pick up a win over a team in the Top 50 of either the RPI or Ken Pomeroy ratings. Thanks to the freshmen D’Angelo Russell and Jae’Sean Tate that’s no longer the case, as the Buckeyes took care of the Hoosiers. Russell went off for 22 points, ten assists and seven rebounds, and Tate added 20 points and five rebounds. Yogi Ferrell scored a game-high 26 for Indiana, but James Blackmon Jr. scored just nine points on 4-for-12 shooting and Ohio State shot better than 62 percent from the field.
STARRED
1. D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State: 22 points (9-for-15 FG), ten assists and six rebounds in the Buckeyes’ win over No. 23 Indiana.
2. Ryan Boatright, UConn: The senior point guard scored a career-high 28 points (7-for-10 FG, 10-for-11 FT) to lead the Huskies to a 66-53 win over USF.
3. A.J. English and David Laury, Iona: Iona’s two senior stars played well in their 87-65 win over Niagara, with English accounting for 25 points and eight rebounds and Laury adding 24, eight rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
STRUGGLED
1. Marcus Posley, St. Bonaventure: One game after scoring 36 in an overtime win over Duquesne, Posley struggled in the Bonnies’ 53-48 loss at Rhode Island. Posley finished with six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
2. Daishon Knight, Illinois State: Knight shot 4-for-16 from the field, scoring nine points in the Redbirds’ 54-53 loss to No. 20 Northern Iowa.
3. Nigel Williams-Goss, Washington: Williams-Goss struggled in his matchup with Utah’s Delon Wright, tallying just eight points on 4-for-14 shooting and three assists in the 77-56 loss.
THE REST OF THE TOP 25
- No. 14 Wichita State took care of business, beating Drake 74-40. Ron Baker scored 15 points and Tekele Cotton added ten for the Shockers, who are now 8-0 in the Missouri Valley.
- No. 24 Seton Hall dropped its third straight, falling 77-57 at Butler. Andrew Chrabascz led four Bulldogs in double figures with 15 points, and as a team Chris Holtmann’s team shot 50 percent from the field.
- A Nate Buss three-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining gave No. 20 Northern Iowa a 54-53 win at Illinois State. The Panthers trailed by as a much as 12 in the second half, but Ben Jacobson’s decision to go zone helped UNI get the stops it needed to make the comeback.
- No. 10 Louisville shot 65.2% from the field, putting together arguably its best offensive showing of the season in an 80-68 win at Pittsburgh. The Cardinals attempted just 12 three-pointers (making six) and scored 40 points in the paint.
- No. 4 Villanova bounced back from its loss at Georgetown, beating Creighton 71-50 at The Pavilion. The Bluejays, who blew out Villanova in both meetings last season, drop to 0-8 in Big East play with the defeat.
- No. 13 Maryland managed to steal one at home, coming back to beat Northwestern 68-67 on a Dez Wells put-back with 1.4 seconds remaining. Wells and Melo Trimble combined to score 19 of Maryland’s final 22 points in a game they trailed by as much as 14.
- No. 12 Utah moved into a tie for first in the Pac-12, beating Washington 77-56 in Salt Lake City. Larry Krystkowiak’s Utes were hot from deep, shooting 11-for-18 on the night and Dakarai Tucker led them with a career-high 19 points off the bench.
NOTABLES
- Hassan Martin accounted for ten points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks in Rhode Island’s win over St. Bonaventure.
- Manhattan bounced back from its loss at Quinnipiac to beat Monmouth 71-64 in Riverdale. The win keeps Steve Masiello’s team within contact of the leaders in what’s a highly competitive race in the MAAC.
- Cincinnati moved to 5-2 in the American with a 56-46 win over UCF. The Bearcats limited the Knights to 32.7% shooting on the afternoon.
- Vermont (6-1) remains a game behind Albany in America East thanks to its 61-50 win at UMass-Lowell. Stony Brook (5-2) also avoided falling further behind by winning 61-54 at Binghamton.
- NJIT scored 48 second-half points in its 72-55 win at South Alabama, with Tim Coleman and Damon Lynn scoring 20 apiece to lead the way.
- Iona remained in first place in the MAAC with an 87-64 win over Niagara at Madison Square Garden, with A.J. English scoring 25 points to lead the way.