Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules
Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – Darrun Hilliard II scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half to lead sixth-ranked Villanova to its first outright Big East title since the 1981-82 season with a 77-70 win over Xavier on Thursday. JayVaughn Pinkston netted 15 points, James Bell tallied 12 and Ryan Arcidiacono added 11 points with seven assists for the Wildcats (27-3, 15-2 Big East), who will enter Saturday’s regular season finale against Georgetown with five straight wins. Bell entered the game six points shy of reaching 1,000 points in his career, joining Pinkston as active members in the 1,000-point club. Justin Martin paced the Musketeers (20-11, 10-8) with 20 points, while Semaj Christon and Isaiah Philmore scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, in defeat. Xavier dropped its final two regular season games following two straight wins, which included a 75-69 victory over then-No. 9 Creighton on Saturday.
Final Score: (15) Cincinnati 97, (20) Memphis 84
Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – In front of a rowdy crowd on Senior Night, 15th-ranked Cincinnati’s trio of seniors dominated from start-to-finish in the Bearcats’ 97-84 win over No. 20 Memphis on Thursday. Sean Kilpatrick, the second leading scorer in program history behind NBA legend Oscar Robertson, poured in a game-high 34 points in his final game at Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati (25-5, 14-3 American) also received a career-best 24 points from Titus Rubles and 13 with nine rebounds from Justin Jackson. Cincy has now won at least 25 games in three of the last four seasons. With the victory, the Bearcats climbed into a tie with Louisville on top of the conference standings. Joe Jackson paced Memphis (22-8, 11-6) with 21 points and a game-high six assists, while Michael Dixon Jr. and Austin Nichols deposited 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Categorized in: NCAA Basketball