MINNEAPOLIS -- Darryl Morsell drained the go-ahead three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left for No. 9 Maryland, capping a comeback from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Minnesota 74-73 on Wednesday night.
Jalen Smith had 16 points and 12 rebounds, including a soaring rebound and slam with 14.5 seconds remaining that pulled the Terrapins within 73-71. Gabe Kalscheur short-armed the front end of a one-and-one free throw with 12 seconds to go for the Gophers, who missed three foul shots in the final 39 seconds. Then the Terrapins hustled the ball up to find Morsell, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, for the winner from NBA range.
Anthony Cowan Jr. had 10 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds for Maryland (23-5, 13-4), which maintained a two-game lead for first place in the Big Ten with three games to go.
Daniel Oturu had 28 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota (13-14, 7-10), which saw its NCAA Tournament hope all but disappear with a third consecutive excruciating home defeat.
No. 12 VILLANOVA 71,
ST. JOHN'S 60
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Saddiq Bey scored 23 points and Justin Moore added 21 to lead Villanova past St. John's.
The Wildcats (22-6, 11-4 Big East) had trouble shaking St. John's until late on a night the program honored former star Kyle Lowry. Lowry, a five-time All-Star guard for the NBA champion Toronto Raptors, played two seasons for the Wildcats and was one of the early pieces that helped build Coach Jay Wright's program into a national power.
NO. 16 PENN STATE 65,
RUTGERS 64
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Myles Dread hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 28 seconds left to lift No. 16 Penn State over Rutgers after the Nittany Lions blew a 21-point lead.
Trailing 40-19 late in the first half, the Scarlet Knights tied the game at 62 with 1:32 left in the game on Geo Baker's layup. His jumper gave Rutgers a two-point lead with 42 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Dread hit his three-pointer and Akwasi Yeboah's shot at before the buzzer was off.
Izaiah Brockington scored 16 points and Lamar Stevens added nine for the Nittany Lions (21-7, 11-6 Big Ten).
Jacob Young scored 13 points for the Scarlet Knights (18-11, 9-9).
SEC men
FLORIDA 81, LSU 66
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Keyontae Johnson had a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds and the Gators handled LSU from start to finish.
Freshman Scottie Lewis also enjoyed a career night for Florida, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
The Gators (18-10, 10-5) won for the fourth time in five games. Florida now has six wins against teams in the top 50 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, the primary method used to select and seed the 68-team field.
This one was as impressive as any of the others as Florida handed LSU (19-9, 10-5) its worst loss of the season. The Tigers have dropped four of their last five on the road.
SOUTH CAROLINA 94,
GEORGIA 90, OT
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina sophomore forward Alanzo Frink obliterated his former career-high with 22 points and Jermaine Couisnard hit five free throws in overtime to help the Gamecocks rally past Georgia.
Frink led a South Carolina (17-11, 9-6) interior that posted 54 points in the paint, an offensive outburst for which the Bulldogs (14-14, 4-11) had no answer.
The Gamecocks' Maik Kotsar drew a charge with less than two seconds to play in OT to seal the victory.
MISSOURI 61,
VANDERBILT 52
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Xavier Pinson scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, and Missouri beat Vanderbilt for its first conference road win this season.
The Tigers (14-14, 6-9) had not won away from Columbus since a victory at Georgia on March 6, 2019.
Vanderbilt (9-19, 1-14) lost its sixth in a row.
Sun Belt men
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 77,
ARKANSAS STATE 74
Cedric Russell hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds to play to put Louisiana-Lafayette ahead and added two free throws with 18 seconds left as the Ragin' Cajuns held off the Red Wolves in Lafayette, La.
Louisiana-Lafayette trailed 37-27 at the half and 44-34 with 16:57 to play before the Cajuns (12-17, 7-11) scored 18 of the next 24 points to take a 52-50 advantage at the 9:32 mark. The Ragin' Cajuns' lead grew to as much as seven, 61-54.
Marquis Eaton, who hit 10 of 19 shots from the floor and finished with a game-high and career-high 28 points, put the Red Wolves (15-15, 7-12) back in front with 50 seconds remaining with a jumper. Eaton scored eight of ASU's final nine points.
Canberk Kus added 12 points and Caleb Fields 11 for ASU.
Russell finished with 22 points.
Sports on 02/27/2020