St. John’s beats Nova; Purdue’s winning streak ends
PHILADELPHIA (AP) St. John's took down another of the nation's elite, and stunned No. 1 Villanova 79-75 on Wednesday night for its second win over a top-five team this week - and first over the top-ranked team in 33 years.
Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points to spark the Red Storm (12-13, 1-11 Big East) to their first conference win of the season and easily their best week since Chris Mullin was in uniform, not the coach.
Mullin played for St. John's when it beat No. 1 Georgetown 66-65 on Jan. 26, 1985. And he was on the sideline exhorting his players in the final minutes of this shocker.
St. John's beat then-No. 4 Duke Blue Devils 81-77 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, snapping an 11-game losing streak. It was the first win for St. John's since Dec. 20 against Saint Joseph's.
The Wildcats (22-2, 9-2) ended a nine-game winning streak and will surely tumble from the top of the national rankings, where they've spent the last five weeks at No. 1.
No. 2 VIRGINIA 59, FLORIDA STATE 55
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Devon Hall scored 17 points, Ty Jerome added 15 and Virginia rallied in the second half to beat Florida State.
Kyle Guy scored 10 of his 13 points in the final 20 minutes as the Cavaliers fought back from a 32-22 halftime deficit to remain unbeaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia was 5 of 10 on 3-pointers in the second half and committed just one turnover.
Virginia (23-1) is the third team since 2000-01 to win its first 12 ACC games, joining North Carolina (2000-01) and Miami (2012-13). It is the Cavaliers' best conference start since they were 12-0 in 1980-81.
Florida State had two stretches over the final 26 minutes where it went over five minutes without making a field goal - including the final 9:01 of the game. The Seminoles shot 40 percent from the field (18 of 45) and made only two of their last 12.
MJ Walker paced the Seminoles (17-6, 6-6) with 10 points.
No. 14 OHIO STATE 64, No. 3 PURDUE 63
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Keita Bates-Diop scored 18 points, including the decisive putback with 2.8 seconds left, to give Ohio State an upset at Purdue, ending the nation's longest winning streak at 19 games Wednesday night.
The Buckeyes (21-2, 12-1 Big Ten) grabbed a share of the conference lead as Ohio State won for the 11th time in 12 games.
Carsen Edwards finished with a career-high 28 points to lead the Boilermakers (23-3, 12-1), who lost for the first time since Nov. 23. Isaac Haas had 18 points but missed an 8-foot jumper at the buzzer to win it.
Purdue's school record 14-game winning streak in conference play and 21-game winning streak at home also ended with a surprising finish.
No. 7 TEXAS TECH 76, IOWA STATE 58
Texas Tech freshman Zhaire Smith scored a career-high 21 points, including a steal that led to his alley-oop slam, and the Red Raiders beat Iowa State.
After Iowa State (12-11, 3-8 Big 12) had scored seven straight points in a 77-second span to get within one point after halftime, Smith had a steal. He passed the ball on the break to Jarrett Culver, who then lobbed up the pass that resulted in Smith's two-handed slam.
Culver added 16 points for the Red Raiders (20-4, 8-3), whose last loss was 70-52 at Iowa State on Jan. 20.
Texas A&M 81, No. 8 AUBURN 80
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - Duane Wilson made one of two free throws with four seconds left to lift Texas A&M to an upset of Auburn.
The Aggies (16-8, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) held on for their third straight win after squandering a 17-point lead in the second half. Freshman guard T.J. Starks scored a career-high 23 points.
Mustapha Heron's 3-point attempt from a few feet across midcourt bounced off the rim at the buzzer, capping a wild second half and final minute.
Malik Dunbar forced a jump ball off an inbounds pass with 50 seconds left, but Auburn (21-3, 9-2) gave it right back when Wilson caused a turnover.
D.J. Hogg missed a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down and Horace Spencer was fouled with 10 seconds left.
Spencer tied it with a pair of free throws. Wilson then drove toward the basket and was fouled by Chuma Okeme.
After a long review by the officials, the 80 percent foul shooter swished the first one and missed the second. Spencer grabbed the rebound with 3.2 seconds left.
Auburn just got it across midcourt to set up a desperation final shot.
UNLV 86, No. 23 NEVADA 78
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Jovan Mooring scored a career-high 31 points with six 3-pointers, Shakur Juiston had 19 points and 12 rebounds and UNLV beat Nevada in a Governor's Series matchup to snap the Wolf Pack's 16-game home winning streak.
Jordan Johnson added 11 points for UNLV (17-7, 6-5 Mountain West), which outrebounded Nevada 45-32.
Nevada, which entered the Top 25 this week, was without its leading scorer Caleb Martin, at 19.8 points per game, due to a foot injury.
Jordan Caroline had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Nevada (20-5, 9-2). Lindsey Drew added 17 points and Cody Martin and Kendall Stephens each scored 16.
No. 25 MIAMI 87, WAKE FOREST 81
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Lonnie Walker IV scored 19 points to lead Miami to a victory over Wake Forest.
Walker's 3-pointer with 5:01 remaining capped a 10-2 run and gave the Hurricanes a 66-56 lead.
Miami withstood a late Demon Deacons comeback attempt fueled by consecutive 3s from Bryant Crawford in the final minute. Crawford's second long-range shot with 31 seconds left pulled Wake Forest to 82-79.
Sam Waardenburg's two free throws with 25 seconds to go made it 84-79. Chaundee Brown cut the Demon Deacons' deficit to three again, but Walker's two free throws with eight seconds left sealed it for Miami (18-5, 7-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Crawford scored 23 points and Brown finished with 20 for Wake Forest (9-15, 2-10).
