St. John's 61, No. 13 Georgetown 58
NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Brownlee scored 15 points, including the game-changing basket with 10 seconds to play, and St. John’s won its fifth straight, 61-58 over No. 13 Georgetown on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
Dwight Hardy had 20 points to lead the Red Storm (10-3, 3-0), who are off to their best Big East start since 1999-2000 when they opened 4-0. They came into this game off two conference road wins and came up with another solid effort, especially on the defensive end.
Hollis Thompson had 16 points for the Hoyas (12-3, 1-2), who had won four of their last five and came into this game as the Big East’s best 3-point shooting team but were just 4 of 17, including missing seven of eight in the second half.
No. 10 Kentucky 86, Penn 62
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Brandon Knight scored 22 points and Kentucky shot its way past Penn.
Josh Harrellson added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Darius Miller had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Wildcats (12-2) used some scorching second-half shooting to subdue the Quakers (5-6).
Kentucky led by just one at the break but hit 12 of its first 13 second-half shots to bust it open. Doron Lamb knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during a game-clinching 15-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 66-45 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Tyler Bernardini led Penn with 22 points and Miles Cartwright added 16 but the Quakers couldn’t keep up when Kentucky hit the gas in the second half.
Penn led by as much as 12 early but had no answer when the Wildcats awoke following a sleepy opening 15 minutes.
No. 16 Texas A&M 66, Nicholls State 55
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — David Loubeau scored 18 points and Khris Middleton added 17 to help Texas A&M to its 10th straight win with a victory over Nicholls State.
The Aggies (13-1) trailed for much of the first half but took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish about eight minutes before the break.
Nicholls State (6-5) cut the lead to three points with about 13 minutes remaining, but Texas A&M used a 9-3 run to push the advantage to 57-48.
The Colonels got within seven points with about two minutes remaining but Nathan Walkup hit a jump shot and B.J. Holmes made a pair of free throws to close out the win.
Fred Hunter scored 17 points to lead Nicholls State. Anatoly Bose, who entered the game ranked third nationally in scoring with 25 points a game, was limited to six points.
No. 18 Michigan State 65, Northwestern 62
EVANSTON, Ill. — Draymond Green scored 15 points, including an offensive rebound basket after a missed free throw with 12 seconds to go, and Michigan State held off a furious finish from Northwestern.
Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas had 12 points apiece for the Spartans (10-4, 2-0 Big Ten), who beat Northwestern for the 15th time in the last 16 meetings.
Northwestern’s John Shurna, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 22.2 points who has been bothered by a sore ankle, shot just 1-for-11 and missed four of his five 3-point attempts while scoring 11. Drew Crawford led the Wildcats (9-3, 0-2) with 17 points.
Michael Thompson had 12 points, nine in a late 12-0 run that helped the Wildcats chop a 13-point deficit down to a single point with 28 seconds left.