Penn St. stuns No. 4 Michigan
The Associated Press
| Thursday, February 28, 2013, 10:05 a.m.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jermaine Marshall scored 25 points, and Penn State upset No. 4 Michigan 84-78 on Wednesday night for its first Big Ten victory in more than a year.
The Nittany Lions (9-18, 1-14) had lost 18 straight regular-season conference games dating to last season, but they roared back from a 15-point deficit with 10:39 left behind the energetic play of Marshall. The junior guard scored 19 in the second half, including four 3s that whipped the Jordan Center fans into a frenzy.
D.J. Newbill added 17 points for Penn State, which hit a season-high 10 3-pointers. Marshall’s twisting drive to the basket gave the Nittany Lions a three-point lead before Michigan’s Glenn Robinson III misfired on a 3 with 17 seconds left.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for the Wolverines (23-5, 10-5). All five of Michigan’s losses have come on the road in the Big Ten.
It was Penn State’s first win over a top five team since defeating No. 5 North Carolina 82-74 in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament. Penn State also got its first conference win since beating Iowa 69-64 on Feb. 16, 2012.
No. 5 MIAMI 76,
VIRGINIA TECH 58
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami went 11 minutes without a basket, then finally shook a 10-day scoring slump and pulled away from Virginia Tech.
Shane Larkin had 22 points and six assists to lead the Hurricanes, who were coming off a loss at Wake Forest that ended their 14-game winning streak and their bid to go unbeaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Despite a slow start, Miami (23-4, 14-1) never trailed and improved to 13-0 at home. The Hurricanes hold a 2½-game edge over second-place Duke in the ACC and can clinch their first conference basketball championship by beating the Blue Devils on Saturday.
Virginia Tech (12-16, 3-12) fell deeper into last place in the league. Erick Green, the nation’s leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, took a painful spill in the first half and scored only 16 — just the third time this season he has been held below 20.
No. 7 GEORGETOWN 79,
CONNECTICUT 78, 2 OT
STORRS, Conn. — Otto Porter Jr.’s layup with 9.5 seconds remaining in the second overtime gave Georgetown a wild victory over Connecticut, the Hoyas’ 10th straight win and first-ever at Gampel Pavilion.
Porter scored 21 of his 22 points after halftime to help Georgetown (22-4, 12-3 Big East) stay in first place in the conference. The Hoyas had a 12-point lead with 4:36 to go in regulation.
In the final 2:03 of the second overtime Georgetown overcame a seven-point deficit, improving to 1-3 in Connecticut’s 23-year-old on-campus arena.
The Huskies (19-8, 9-6) play most of their big conference games at the XL Center in Hartford.
Markel Starks had 19 points for Georgetown, while D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 14.
DeAndre Daniels had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies.
No. 10 LOUISVILLE 79, DEPAUL 58
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Russ Smith scored 17 points, Peyton Siva had 16 and Louisville beat DePaul for its fourth consecutive victory.
Chane Behanan added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals (23-5, 11-4 Big East), who held the Blue Demons to 36 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. Smith also had five assists and four steals.
Louisville is unbeaten since it lost 104-101 in five overtimes at Notre Dame on Feb. 9 in the longest regular-season game in Big East history. With the victory over sliding DePaul, the Cardinals moved into a tie with Marquette for second place in the conference behind Georgetown.
Brandon Young scored 22 points and Cleveland Melvin had 20 for the Blue Demons (11-17, 2-13), who have dropped three in a row and 12 of 13 overall.
USC 89, No. 11 ARIZONA 78
LOS ANGELES — Eric Wise scored 22 points to lead five Southern California players in double figures against No. 11 Arizona.
USC (13-15, 8-7 Pac-12) shot 61 percent from the field, led by Wise’s 9-for-12. Byron Wesley added 18 points, J.T. Terrell had 14, and Jio Fontan scored 12 with nine assists. Aaron Fuller also had 12 points.
Solomon Hill led Arizona (23-5, 11-5) with 21 points, and Kevin Parrom had 16. It was the Wildcats’ first loss to USC in five meetings.
No. 14 NEW MEXICO 70,
SAN DIEGO STATE 60
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Alex Kirk had 25 points and Cameron Bairstow scored 16, including nine straight in the closing minutes to help New Mexico beat San Diego State.
Kirk scored seven points during a key 15-3 run early in the second half that pushed New Mexico’s lead to 48-33. The Lobos (24-4, 11-2 Mountain West) are one win from clinching the regular-season conference title.
The Aztecs (20-8, 8-6) got 16 points from Jamaal Franklin, but none of his teammates reached double figures.
Kendall Williams, who scored 46 in his previous game, had eight points and eight assists for New Mexico.
No. 15 OKLAHOMA ST. 64,
TCU 47
FORT WORTH, Texas — Le’Bryan Nash scored a career-high 28 points, Marcus Smart had a strong all-around game not far from the high school where he won two state championships, and Oklahoma State beat offensively challenged TCU.
Nash had the first two baskets in an 18-1 run that bridged the first and second halves and put the Cowboys (21-6, 11-4 Big 12) in control for good.
Smart, a freshman who won back-to-back state titles at Flower Mound Marcus High School, had nine points, five assists and three steals — all categories in which he is among the Big 12 leaders.
Kyan Anderson led the Horned Frogs with 15 points.
TCU (10-18, 1-14), one of the lowest-scoring teams in the country, missed 12 straight shots while going more than 10 minutes without a field goal and ended up shooting 27 percent.
No. 18 SAINT LOUIS 70,
SAINT JOSEPH’S 53
ST. LOUIS — Dwayne Evans had 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in perhaps his most complete effort of the season, helping Saint Louis run its winning streak to 10 games with a victory over Saint Joseph’s.
Rob Loe had 11 points and six rebounds and Mike McCall Jr. contributed 10 points, five assists and four rebounds for the balanced Billikens (22-5, 11-2 Atlantic 10), who held Saint Joseph’s (15-11, 6-7) to a season-worst 32.7 percent shooting.
Saint Louis cracked the Top 25 this week for the first time this season after beating a pair of ranked opponents on the road. The Billikens have won by double digits eight times during their winning streak.
Ronald Roberts had a season-best 25 points for Saint Joseph’s, which has lost four of six.
No. 23 PITTSBURGH 64,
SOUTH FLORIDA 44
PITTSBURGH — Tray Woodall scored 14 points, and Pittsburgh pulled away in the second half, handing South Florida its 10th consecutive loss.
Dante Taylor had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers (22-7, 10-6 Big East), who have won nine of 12. They remained in the middle of the race for a double-bye in next month’s conference tournament.
J.J. Moore added nine points, and 10 players scored in all for the balanced Panthers, who were trailing when they began a 16-0 run with Lamar Patterson’s jumper 4:42 into the second half.
The Big East’s leader in scoring defense, Pitt held South Florida (10-17, 1-14) to 31.9 percent shooting. The Panthers have allowed 50 points or fewer 10 times this season.
Victor Rudd had 16 points to lead the Bulls, who have lost 14 of 15.