College basketball
WVU, Duquesne victorious PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) – Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler each scored 17 points to lead West Virginia to an 89-83 win over Rutgers on Wednesday night.
Darris Nichols had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Mountaineers (17-4, 6-3 Big East), who won their third straight and handed Rutgers (9-13, 2-7) its sixth loss in seven games. Frank Young added 11 points and Jamie Smalligan finished with 10 for West Virginia, which shot a season-high 65.2 percent from the floor and was 14-for-21 from 3-point range.
Jaron Griffin scored a career-high 19 points for Rutgers, which lost despite making 53.1 percent of its shots and posting a season-high in points. J.R. Inman finished with 16 points for the Scarlet Knights, while Adrian Hill added 15 points and eight rebounds and Marquis Webb had 11 points.
The game featured 11 lead changes, but West Virginia went ahead for good when Nichols converted a three-point play with 12:56 left, giving the Mountaineers a 54-52 advantage. They eventually stretched the lead to nine points and sealed the win by going 10-for-14 from the free throw line in the final two minutes.
Duquesne 93, Xavier 91
PITTSBURGH – Aaron Jackson scored on an in-bounds play with 22 seconds remaining and surprising Duquesne squandered a 19-point lead in the second half, then recovered to upset Xavier 93-91 behind Robert Mitchell’s 26 points on Wednesday night.
Xavier (15-7, 5-3), the Atlantic 10 preseason favorite, trailed 69-50 and was down by 16 with eight minutes remaining, before going on a 23-7 run that seemed to deflate the underdog and inexperienced Dukes (8-11, 4-4). The Musketeers tied it at 91 on Derrick Brown’s two free throws with 41 seconds remaining after trailing 91-82 with four minutes remaining.
Gary Tucker added 17 and Scott Grote had 13 for Duquesne despite missing two key 3-pointers down the stretch that helped get Xavier back into the game. Justin Doellman had 23 points, Justin Cage had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Brandon Cole had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Musketeers.
Duquesne is now 3-1 since first-year coach Ron Everhart, playing with a depleted roster following the shootings of five players in September, scrapped his offense and defense and went with a frantic, full-court pressure system that has forced 99 turnovers in the four games. Duquesne scored 30 points off Xavier’s 21 turnovers.
Duquesne – a 3-24 team a season ago – has beaten Dayton, Temple and Xavier in the last eight days by averaging 94 points, the first time in school history it has beaten all three in same season. The Dukes have had losing records 19 of the last 20 seasons.
Indiana 71, No. 2 Wisconsin 66
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – A.J. Ratliff scored 18 of his season-high 20 points in the second half and Indiana held off a late comeback to beat No. 2 Wisconsin 71-66 on Wednesday night, ending the Badgers’ 17-game winning streak.
Ratliff had a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-1 run and another 3-pointer that gave the Hoosiers (16-5, 6-2 Big Ten) a 53-43 lead with under 10 minutes remaining.
A rebound basket by Alando Tucker, who led Wisconsin (21-2, 7-1) with 23 points, and two 3-pointers by Kammron Taylor helped the Badgers tie the game at 59. But Ratliff scored six of Indiana’s next eight points, including two free throws with a minute to go to for a 70-66 lead, and the Badgers never recovered.
D.J. White added 16 points for the Hoosiers, who beat their highest-ranked opponent since an NCAA tourney upset of No. 1 Duke in 2002.