Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules
College Park, MD (SportsNetwork.com) – The Big Ten rookies are making their move, but still need a lot of help. Dez Wells helped Maryland take a huge step Tuesday night. Wells had 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the 14th-ranked Terrapins climbed back into the Big Ten race with a 59-53 win over No. 5 Wisconsin. The Badgers stormed back from an 11-point halftime hole by hitting 11 of their first 15 shots to start the second half and tie the game at 47-47 with 6:36 remaining. Wells took over from there, sinking four straight free throws before capping the Terps’ 6-1 spurt by blowing by Sam Dekker along the left wing and finishing with an emphatic one-handed baseline dunk. His slam staked Maryland to a 53-48 advantage with just over four minutes to play, and Wisconsin never got within less than three the rest of the way. Maryland (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten) trails Wisconsin (25-3, 13-2) by two games for first place in the conference with three to play for each team.
Final Score: (6) Villanova 89, (25) Providence 61
Villanova, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston shined on senior night in No. 6 Villanova’s 98-61 win over No. 25 Providence. Hilliard’s 24 points with six 3-pointers led all scorers and Pinkston added 16 points and eight rebounds, including the 700th of his career, to help the Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 Big East) move closer to another regular season title. Ryan Arcidiacono netted 13 points, and Kris Jenkins and Phil Booth added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Friars (19-9, 9-6) never led despite getting 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from Tyler Harris. LaDontae Henton and Kyron Cartwright each scored 12 points, while Kris Dunn was limited to four points.
Final Score: North Carolina State 58, (15) North Carolina 46
Chapel Hill, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Anthony “Cat” Barber tallied 15 points, four rebounds and four assists and NC State won its first game in Chapel Hill in 12 years, upsetting 15th-ranked North Carolina 58-46 on Tuesday. Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner added 14 points apiece for the Wolfpack, who knocked off their rival on the road for the first time since Feb. 25, 2003. NC State (17-11, 8-7 ACC) won the rebounding battle, 40-36, and held North Carolina to 3-for-12 from beyond the arc in its third straight win overall. The Tar Heels are in a free fall, with a pair of road games against Miami and Georgia Tech remaining before finishing the regular season back at home against No. 4 Duke. They have dropped five of their last seven games, with four of those losses coming by double figures. Kennedy Meeks led UNC (19-9, 9-6) with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Justin Jackson netted a game-high 16 points.
Final Score: (20) West Virginia 71, Texas 64
Morgantown, WV (SportsNetwork.com) – Devin Williams scored 14 points and No. 20 West Virginia got revenge for its worst loss of the season and knocked off Texas, 71-64. Jonathan Holton and Daxter Miles Jr. added 12 points apiece for West Virginia, which has won three straight and ended a four-game drought against Texas. The Longhorns held WVU to 24.1 percent shooting in their 77-50 blowout on Jan. 17, but it was a different story on Tuesday. The Mountaineers (22-6, 10-5 Big 12) shot 42.3 percent from the floor and 20- of-23 from the free throw line in this one. They led by 13 points with seven minutes to play before a furious Texas rally, eight straight points in less than 1 1/2 minutes, made things interesting.
Categorized in: NCAA Basketball