Men

Providence 73, No. 21 Creighton 56

Providence coach Ed Cooley has smothered good friend Greg McDermott's Creighton teams with zone defense in the past, most notably en route to the Big East Tournament title in 2014

Different personnel, but a similar story Wednesday night.

The Friars went to their zone for much of the second half and pulled away from the No. 21 Bluejays.

“It was how we scouted them. Creighton had some good moments but just couldn’t close the game out,” said Cooley after the Friars defeated a ranked foe for a second straight game after topping No. 16 Butler on the road Saturday.

“They were moving the ball around and kind of popping a little bit so we wanted to see if we could get them out of rhythm a little bit.”

Providence held Creighton to 37% shooting, including 22% from 3-point range. The struggles were even worse during the second half as Creighton managed just 30% from the field and 14% from beyond the arc.

“Any time you can a hold a team down like that ... a McDermott-led team is always going to be high-powered,” Cooley said.

On the flip side, Providence’s offense was tough for Creighton (17-6, 6-4 Big East) to slow down. One of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league sank 8 of 10 from beyond the arc and connected on 60% from the field. For the game, Providence (13-10, 6-4 Big East) sank 12 of 20 from deep.

“If they shoot 60% from 3, their record wouldn’t be where it is,” McDermott said. “They went zone and that’s when we really got stuck in the mud.”

Providence’s A.J. Reeves established a season high with 22 points and was 6 of 8 from 3-point range, one shy of the career-high seven 3s he hit in the first game of his freshman year. The Friars defeated a ranked team at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for the first time since Feb. 2018.

“When A.J. can hit shots like that, it’s a huge boost for us,” Cooley said. “I was really happy for him, but he’s never lacking confidence.”

“I felt good once I saw a couple go in,” Reeves added.

Alpha Diallo, limited to bench duty against the Bulldogs amid a two-game slump, bounced back with 14 points and six rebounds. After scoring 36 points the last time the Friars faced the Bluejays, David Duke helped with 12 points and Nate Watson had 11 points.

Ty-Shone Alexander led Creighton (17-6, 6-4) with 15 points but was just 5 of 15 from the field. Christian Bishop and Damien Jefferson each had 13 points.

Creighton led 36-22 at halftime but Providence owned the second half and outscored the Bluejays 41-20 on 49% shooting, including 12 of 20 from deep. The Friars seized control behind an 18-2 run that allowed the home team to grab a 60-52 lead with 6:14 remaining.

“It was about staying tough and physical down the stretch and making sure we defend every possession like it’s the last one,” Reeves said.

Wednesday marked the Friars’ fifth straight game against a Big East opponent with a spot in the latest Associated Press Top-25 poll. The last time that happened was 2010. The all-time program record is an eye-popping 10 straight games against nationally ranked teams that was set back in 1991.

The Bluejays came into the game shooting 47 % from the field and 38 % from three. Wednesday marked the first time in Big East play this season that Creighton connected on fewer than 40 % of its shots.

No. 5 Louisville 86, Wake Forest 76

Jordan Nwora had 21 points and scored the go-ahead basket during an 18-5 second-half run that rallied Louisville to its ninth consecutive victory.

Wake Forest led 46-34 at the break behind 60% shooting before the Cardinals (20-3, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) picked things up and mounted the pivotal run over the first five minutes of the half. Nwora followed Ryan McMahon's four-point play with a breakaway dunk for Louisville's first lead at 52-51, and the Cardinals stretched it to 67-60.

Louisville made a season-high 14 of 28 3-pointers, including 6 of 12 in the second half, to finish 48% from the field after shooting 41% in the first half.

The Cardinals also held the Demon Deacons (10-12, 3-9) to 9 of 30 from the field in the final 20 minutes and extend their longest winning streak in ACC play.

No. 12 Seton Hall 78, Georgetown 71

Myles Powell scored 34 points, Romaro Gill tied a career-high with eight blocks and No. 12 Seton Hall raced out to a big lead and beat Georgetown.

The Pirates (17-5, 9-1) jumped out to a 16-0 lead, going 4 for 4 on 3-pointers. Powell, the second leading scorer in the Big East, hit his scoring average of 21 points by halftime.

Seton Hall's Quincy McKnight was in the starting line-up and finished with eight points and a game-high 10 assists in 22 minutes. He was listed as day to day after leaving Saturday’s loss to Xavier early with a left knee injury.

Georgetown (13-10, 3-7) was playing for the second straight game without leading scorer Mac McClung, who was out with an injured right foot.

Omer Yurtseven led the Hoyas with 19 points and 15 rebounds, his 13th double-double of the season. Georgetown's Jahvon Blair had 18 points while Terrell Allen added 11 points.

Seton Hall held Georgetown to 33.8% shooting as Gill had eight of the Pirates 11 blocks. The Hoyas stayed in the game by hitting 21 of 24 free throws.

No. 13 West Virginia 76, Iowa State 61

Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Chase Harler added 14 points for West Virginia.

Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Derek Culver scored 12 points apiece, and Jermaine Haley scored 11 points for the Mountaineers (18-4, 6-3 Big 12). West Virginia never trailed.

Rasir Bolton scored 18 points for the Cyclones (9-13, 2-7) and Tyrese Haliburton added 12.

Purdue 104, No. 17 Iowa 68

Evan Boudreaux scored a season-high 18 points to lead five Purdue players in double figures. Boudreaux hit 7 of 9 shots and had a team-high eight rebounds

Jahaad Proctor, Matt Haarms and Sasha Stefanovic each scored 15 points for the Boilermakers (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten). Proctor made all six of his shots. Purdue's Eric Hunter Jr. added 13 points and a team-high seven assists.

Luka Garza led the Hawkeyes (16-7, 7-5) with 26 points and was their only player in double figures.

Vanderbilt 99, No. 18 LSU 90

Saben Lee scored a career-high 33 points and Vanderbilt upset LSU to end the Southeastern Conference's longest regular season losing streak at 26. It also gave first-year coach Jerry Stackhouse his first league victory.

The Commodores (9-13, 1-8 SEC) hadn't beaten a conference opponent since downing Mississippi on March 3, 2018 — a span of 28 league games counting tournament losses. Vanderbilt has been playing without the SEC's leading scorer Aaron Nesmith since the second game of league play this season.

Lee and Maxwell Evans, who had a career-high 31 points, teamed up to knock off the defending SEC champs. Scotty Pippen Jr. added 13 points, and Jordan Wright had 11 points for the Commodores.

LSU (17-5, 8-1) came in having won 13 straight SEC regular season games.

Women

No. 2 Baylor 99, Kansas 44

NaLyssa Smith had 23 points with 10 rebounds, Queen Egbo also had a double-double and No. 2 Baylor stretched its record Big 12 regular-season winning streak to 50 games in a row.

The 53-point win by the Lady Bears (20-1, 9-1 Big 12) was their largest margin of victory ever in a Big 12 game. Their previous high had been a 50-point win over Kansas in 2006.

Te'a Cooper had 15 points and Moon Ursin 11 for Baylor, which has won 13 games in a row overall. Egbo finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her 10th career double-double.

Aniya Thomas had 19 points with four 3-pointers for Kansas (12-9, 1-8). That included her buzzer-beating shot from half court to end the first half after stealing an inbound pass.

The Lady Bears had a 46-17 halftime lead before Smith, who finished 10-of-11 shooting, scored 11 points in a 19-0 run to start the second half. They had scored 18 points in a row in just over four minutes in the first quarter.