MORE COLLEGE BASKETBALL FROM WEDNESDAY

MEN

St. John’s 79, No. 1 Villanova 75

PHILADELPHIA

St. John’s took down another of the nation’s elite, and stunned top-ranked Villanova 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.

No. 2 Virginia 59, Florida State 55

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

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. MJ Walker paced the Seminoles (17-6, 6-6) with 10 points.

No. 7 Texas Tech 76, Iowa State 58

LUBBOCK, TEXAS

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.

Duane Wilson made one of two free throws with four seconds left to lift Texas A&M. 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. Robert Williams scored 16 points and Tyler Davis had 15 for the Aggies. Admon Gilder added 11 points, and Starks shot 4 of 5 on 3-pointers. Heron led Auburn with 28 points.

No. 25 Miami 87, Wake Forest 81

CORAL GABLES, FLA.

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.

WOMEN

No. 1 UConn 55, Central Florida 37

ORLANDO, FLA.

Katie Lou Samuelson scored 19 points and Azura Stevens added 12 to help UConn beat UCF. It was the lowest scoring effort of the season for the Huskies (23-0, 11-0 American), who came into the game averaging an NCAA best 93.1 points. Napheesa Collier had 11 points and had 12 rebounds for the Huskies, who led by 17 at the end of the first quarter and were never seriously challenged the rest of the game.

No. 4 Louisville 65, Clemson 46

LOUISVILLE, KY.

Asia Durr scored 15 points to lead Louisville, which survived a sluggish start, to a win over Clemson. The Cardinals (25-1, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) held the Tigers without a field goal for the final 8:36 of the first half. However, even with that Clemson (11-14, 1-11) still managed to take a 19-18 lead with 4:41 left in the second quarter after Alexis Carter sank two free throws.

No. 19 Duke 59, Wake Forest 51

DURHAM, N.C.

Lexie Brown scored 21 points, six combing in the last 2 1/2 minutes, and Duke turned back Wake Forest in the first game since injured starter Haley Gorecki was lost for the season. Gorecki, a 6-foot sophomore guard, was sidelined with a left hip injury after playing just nine minutes in the Blue Devils’ last game and missing the game before that. She was averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the 11 games since becoming a starter.

No. 22 Oklahoma State 71, No. 24 TCU 54

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

Kaylee Jensen and Loryn Goodwin combined for 46 points and 29 rebounds and Oklahoma State pulled away from TCU. The teams entered the game with identical 16-4 records and tied for third in the Big 12 at 7-4, each with two wins over ranked opponents. It was the first game at TCU between two ranked games since 2004. The Cowgirls outscored the Horned Frogs 11-2 in the last three minutes of the second quarter, including the last seven points, to lead 31-23 at the break.

Associated Press