Month: January 2020

Ron Harper Jr. had 22 points to help Rutgers beat No. 20 Penn State 72-61 on Tuesday night.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ron Harper Jr. had 22 points to help Rutgers beat No. 20 Penn State 72-61 on Tuesday night.

Rutgers took a lead at 34-33 on a second-chance basket by Myles Johnson with 17:53 to go. It was the Scarlet Knights first lead since 4-3, when Harper. hit two foul shots from a flagrant foul on Jamari Wheeler. As Rutgers was trying to inbound, Wheeler elbowed Harper in the chin.

The teams would trade a few of leads, before Rutgers (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten) took the lead for good on Montez Mathis’ 3-pointer. He had a layup on the ensuing possession to make it 54-51 with 6:45 to go.

Penn State (12-3, 2-2) led by as many as 10 in the first half, at 24-14. Rutgers would balloon it’s lead to 14 in the waning moments of the game.

Penn State was led by Myreon Jones’ 21 points, while Mike Watkins had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Jacob Young added 13 points for Rutgers.

BIG PICTURE

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights are off to their best start through 15 games since the undefeated regular season in 1975-76 that culminated in a Final Four, and with its second win over a Top 25 team following a Dec. 14 win over No. 22 Seton Hall, dreams of a postseason look attainable. Rutgers hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1990-91, and last made the NIT in 2006.

Penn State: While a five-game win streak was snapped, the Nittany Lions are still in good shape under ninth year coach Pat Chambers. sitting at .500 and in the middle of the pack of a loaded Big Ten Conference.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Penn State moved up one stop in this week’s poll from 21 to 20 but will need a win at Wisconsin. Rutgers meantime looks like a team that could start to garner some votes, especially if they go 2-0 this week with a win at Illinois.

UP NEXT

Rutgers: At Illinois on Saturday

Penn State: Host Wisconsin on Saturday.

Jared Hamilton hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37 seconds left and added a pair of free throws to clinch it as Boston College beat No. 18 Virginia 60-53 on Tuesday night.

BOSTON — Jared Hamilton hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 37 seconds left and added a pair of free throws to clinch it as Boston College beat No. 18 Virginia 60-53 on Tuesday night and sent the defending national champions to their first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season.

Jay Heath scored 17 for the Eagles (9-6, 3-1), who had not beaten Virginia since 2013. It was BC’s first win over a ranked team since a victory over No. 11 Florida State last January.

Braxton Key scored 16 points with eight rebounds for the Cavaliers (11-3, 3-1), who have now lost two of their last four games.

A 10 1/2-point underdog coming off a 39-point loss to Duke, BC scored eight of the first 10 points in the game and still led 42-30 with 14 minutes left before Virginia ran off 10 points in a row to cut the deficit to two points. With about seven minutes left, Key missed a layup and Mamadi Diakite slapped the rebound out to the top of the key, where Kihei Clark hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 45-all.

Diakite followed with a three-point play to give Virginia its first lead since the opening basket of the game. Clark scored seven points during the 20-3 run, while BC was held to just one basket over almost nine minutes.

BC took a 53-51 lead with just over two minutes left, but Key scored from underneath to tie it. Hamilton scored from in front of the Eagles bench to put them ahead, then leaned back into the embrace of his teammates to celebrate.

EARLY STRUGGLES

The Cavaliers committed four fouls in the first 67 seconds, and Diakite went to the bench with two. The biggest man in Virginia’s starting lineup – and the only one listed as a forward, along with four guards – played just 4:36 in the first half, with two points and two rebounds.

After making its first shot, Virginia missed the next seven, and it was still just 8-2 with almost six minutes gone.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia: After climbing as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25, the Cavaliers have now lost to South Carolina and Boston College in the last two weeks. They have lost as many games as they did all of last season.

Boston College: The Eagles are usually good for one big upset a year at home. So far under coach Jim Christian, they haven’t been able to build on it.

UP NEXT

Virginia: Hosts Syracuse on Saturday.

Boston College: Host Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 20 points, and No. 12 Maryland used an unyielding defensive performance to defeat No. 11 Ohio State 67-55 and remain unbeaten at home.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Anthony Cowan Jr. scored 20 points, and No. 12 Maryland used an unyielding defensive performance to defeat 11th-ranked Ohio State 67-55 Tuesday night and remain unbeaten at home.

Jalen Smith had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Terrapins (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who have won three straight. Maryland went up by 10 on a 3-pointer by Cowan with 12:58 left and cruised to the finish.

Ohio State (11-4, 1-3) shot a miserable 31%, went 5 for 27 from 3-point range and committed 14 turnovers.

Maryland led 31-29 before Cowan made a free throw and a shot from well beyond the arc for a 41-31 advantage. The margin swelled to 12 points on a breakaway dunk by Aaron Wiggins with 8:49 remaining, and that sent the Terrapins on their way to a 10-0 record at home.

The clincher came on a follow-dunk by Wiggins for a 59-50 lead with 2:54 to go.

Both teams were ranked third in the nation at different times last month before going through a poor stretch. The Buckeyes came in with three losses in their last five games, including two straight. Maryland’s descent in the poll was a result of successive defeats on the road against Penn State and Seton Hall.

The Terrapins regrouped with three consecutive wins at home, including this one against an Ohio State team that has struggled to score during its current slide. The Buckeyes reached the 70-point mark in 11 straight games before getting 59 against West Virginia and 57 last week at home against Wisconsin.

Kaleb Wesson scored 15 for Ohio State, and Andre Wesson and D.J. Carton had 14 apiece. Luther Muhammad went 0 for 6 from the floor, Duane Washington Jr. finished 2 for 11, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range.

The Terrapins committed 11 turnovers in the first half and missed eight of nine attempts from within the arc but went 7 for 11 on 3-point tries to forge a 28-22 lead at the break.

Maryland struggled through the opening six minutes without a field goal and trailed 8-0 before Eric Alaya accounted for half the points in a 12-3 surge that gave the Terrapins their first lead.

SHORT-HANDED

The Buckeyes played without 6-foot-8 junior forward Kyle Young, who missed a second straight game since having his appendix removed. Young ranks fourth on the team with 8.3 points per game and second in rebounding with 6.8.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Ohio State: Since opening the season with nine straight wins, the Buckeyes have endured in a free fall in the AP poll. This didn’t help.

Maryland: The Terrapins just might work their way back into the Top 10 if they can sustain the momentum created by this victory.

UP NEXT

Ohio State faces Indiana on the road Saturday. The Buckeyes have won four straight in the series, the last three by a combined nine points.

Maryland plays four of its next five games on the road, beginning Friday night at Iowa.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said this week that the trend of players skipping the annual All-Star Game is “a concern.”