Late 3 helps Nova uspet Orange

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Arcidiacono took the inbounds, heaved the ball, and ducked.

Hundreds of Villanova students trampled the court like a bull rush and the game-saving point guard was the target.

One overzealous fan tried to strip him of his No. 15 jersey.

Hey, it’s not every day the Wildcats knock off a Top 5 team — though they sure are trying.

Arcidiacono hit the tying 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, and James Bell hit consecutive 3s in overtime to send Villanova to its second win over a Top 5 team this week, 75-71 over No. 3 Syracuse on Saturday.

The Wildcats defeated No. 5 Louisville 73-64 on Tuesday and became the first unranked team to beat two Top 5 teams in the same season since Florida State in 2011-12, according to STATS LLC.

“What a week for us,” coach Jay Wright said.

What an understatement.

Philadelphia’s college fans came down with a case of court-storming fever this week after Villanova’s win over Louisville and La Salle’s 54-53 win the next night over No. 9 Butler. At the Wells Fargo Center, home of the NHL’s Flyers, the fans made it a Philly hoops hat trick, rushing the court in celebration of perhaps the biggest regular-season week in Villanova history.

Talk about upset city!

Arcidiacono’s 3-point attempt to tie with about 25 seconds left in regulation was off the mark. Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and JayVaughn Pinkston of the Wildcats grabbed the rebound.

Bell missed a 3 and Mouphtaou Yarou grabbed the offensive rebound. Syracuse decided not to foul, giving Yarou time to kick it out to Arcidiacono. He let go a leaner from just beyond the 3-point line to tie the game at 61, force overtime and send the crowd of 18,273 into a frenzy.

“I just put it up and luckily it went in,” Arcidiacono said. “I think we’re having fun.”

The Wildcats may not be ranked in next week’s AP Top 25 poll, but they have worked their way into NCAA tournament discussion.

The next time Villanova wins a big one, fans can stay seated.

“It was fun, but, hopefully people know we don’t need that anymore,” Arcidiacono said.

With the Orange (18-2, 6-1 Big East) down two points in overtime, Brandon Triche made one free throw with 46.5 seconds left.

Bell followed with a layup to for a 71-68 lead and the Wildcats (13-7, 4-3) held on from the free throw line.

Darrun Hilliard scored 25 points had six assists and no turnovers in 38 minutes. Yarou had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats while Bell scored 13 points. The Wildcats committed only one turnover in the final 14 minutes.

Yes, this is the same team that lost consecutive games to Alabama, Columbia and La Salle in November. There’s no break on the schedule: Villanova plays Wednesday at No. 24 Notre Dame.

“It takes time to build a team,” Wright said. “That’s what we’re doing here. We’re building a team.”

Florida State beat No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Duke in its big week.

Triche led the Orange with 23 points and Carter-Williams scored 17 points. The Orange had an eight-game winning streak and both of their losses came to Philadelphia teams. They lost to Temple on Dec. 22.

“We missed a lot more layups than we have all year,” coach Jim Boeheim said. “That’s part of the game.”

The Orange clearly could have use James Southerland in the tight game. Southerland, second on the team in scoring at 13.6 points and the team leader with 33 3-pointers, was declared out indefinitely because of an eligibility matter involving academics that has yet to be resolved.

Jerami Grant, who played well in Southerland’s absence, hit a 3-pointer early in the second half that gave the Orange their first lead of the game, 33-32. Grant fouled out with 5:22 left and the Orange up one. His fifth foul was against Hilliard. Hilliard missed both from the line, the Orange stormed down in transition off the defensive board, and Triche hit a 3 for a 57-53 lead.

The Orange just could never put them away. They missed six of eight shots in overtime and were only 5 of 14 overall from 3-point range.

“We played good D but their point guard just made a good shot to send it to overtime,” forward C.J. Fair said. “I knew we had a shot at coming back and winning this game. It just didn’t bounce our way.”

The Wildcats gave all the students standing behind each basket and dressed in white an early reason to think they would be rushing again. They opened the game on a 10-0 run and stretched the lead to 25-13. But the fun didn’t last long.

Triche, a 50 percent shooter on the season, hit Syracuse’s first 3-pointer of the half to slice the lead to four. He tipped in a basket at the buzzer to cut the lead to 32-26.

The next buzzer beater to end a half, Villanova was ready.

“We can’t let this be our season,” Hilliard said.

NO. 1 DUKE 84, MARYLAND 64

DURHAM, N.C. — Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon scored a season-high 25 points and Duke bounced back from one of its worst losses under Mike Krzyzewski.

Mason Plumlee added 19 points and Seth Curry had 13 for the Blue Devils (17-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

They had just four turnovers while shooting 52 percent against a Maryland defense that hadn’t allowed any team to shoot better than 44 percent.

Plumlee finished 9 of 12 while Sulaimon was 9 of 13 with six 3-pointers — twice as many as his previous high, and four in a 3-minute span of the first half.

Dez Wells and Charles Mitchell both had 13 points for the Terrapins (15-5, 3-4), who have lost four of six.

VILLANOVA 75, No. 3 SYRACUSE 71

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Arcidiacono hit the tying 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation, and James Bell hit consecutive 3s in overtime to send Villanova to its second win over a Top 5 team this week.

The Wildcats defeated No. 5 Louisville 73-64 on Tuesday and became the first unranked team to beat two Top 5 teams in the same season since Florida State in 2011-12, according to STATS LLC.

Arcidiacono let go a leaner from just beyond the 3-point line to tie the game at 61, force overtime and send the crowd into a frenzy.

With the Orange (18-2, 6-1 Big East) down two points in overtime, Brandon Triche made one free throw with 46.5 seconds left.

Bell followed with a layup to for a 71-68 lead and the Wildcats (13-7, 4-3) held on from the free throw line.

Darrun Hilliard scored 25 points and Yarou had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Triche led the Orange with 23 points and Carter-Williams scored 17 as the Orange had an eight-game winning streak snapped.

No. 3 KANSAS 67, OKLAHOMA 54

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Ben McLemore scored 18 points and Jeff Withey added 13 points and nine rebounds as Kansas extended its nation-leading winning streak to 17 games.

Withey had four blocks and three steals, and Travis Releford added 10 points for the Jayhawks (18-1, 6-0 Big 12), who won their 33rd straight at Allen Fieldhouse to match the fourth-longest home winning streak in school history.

Kansas opened a 29-21 lead at halftime and never was threatened in the second half, holding the Sooners to 35 percent shooting for the game.

Romero Osby and Amath M’Baye scored 12 points each to lead the Sooners (13-5, 4-2), who were dominated on the offensive and defensive glass. Steven Pledger added 10 points.

Oklahoma has lost 10 straight to the Jayhawks dating to 2006, and hasn’t won at the Phog since the Sooners beat then-No. 6 Kansas as an unranked team during the 1993 season.

GEORGETOWN 53, No. 5 LOUISVILLE 51

WASHINGTON — Otto Porter had 17 points and grabbed the game’s decisive rebound with 1.4 seconds to play as Georgetown handed Louisville its third straight loss.

Trailing by one, Louisville had several chances to take the lead in the final 2 minutes. After getting the ball back on a disputed held ball ruling, the Cardinals kept the ball for a final shot. Peyton Siva, who didn’t score in the game, missed the jumper, Porter grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Porter finished with 12 rebounds for the Hoyas (14-4, 4-3 Big East).

Russ Smith, taken out of the starting lineup, finished with 12 points, while Luke Hancock and Gorgui Dieng also had 12 for the Cardinals (16-4, 4-3), who have their longest losing streak since January 2010. No. 1 in the country a week ago, Louisville then fell to Syracuse and Villanova.

No. 6 ARIZONA 74, USC 50

TUCSON, Ariz. — Nick Johnson scored 14 points and Arizona used a stifling defense to rout Southern California, boucing back from a home loss to UCLA.

The Wildcats (17-2, 5-2 Pac-12) were dominant from the opening tip, jumping out to leads of 18-4 and 29-7. They were up 39-20 at halftime.

The Trojans (8-13, 3-5), who shot 28 percent, trailed by as many as 34 in the second half.

Solomon Hill added 13 points, Brandon Ashley 11 and Kaleb Tarczewski 10 for Arizona. No USC player reached double figures in the Trojans’ lowest-scoring game of the season. Jio Fontan scored nine.

USC dropped to 1-3 since Kevin O’Neill was fired and replaced by interim coach Bob Cantu

No. 8 FLORIDA 82, MISSISSIPPI STATE 47

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Kenny Boynton and Erik Murphy each scored 18 points as Florida routed Mississippi State.

Patric Young and Scottie Wilbekin both added 13 points for the Gators (16-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), who have won eight straight and were never challenged in this one. They bolted to a 20-6 lead in less than 8 minutes and a 41-19 advantage by halftime.

Florida hit a season-high 14 3-pointers, four each by Boynton and Murphy. Boynton finished 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range.

The Gators are already known as one of the nation’s premier defensive teams, giving up about 51 points per game. But their offense was just as efficient against the Bulldogs as Florida shot 55.4 percent from the field and 14 of 31 from 3-point range.

Fred Thomas led Mississippi State (7-11, 2-4) with 19 points. The Bulldogs have lost four straight.

No. 9 BUTLER 83, TEMPLE 71

INDIANAPOLIS — Rotnei Clarke scored 25 points in his return from injury and Khyle Marshall added 19 to lead Butler past Temple.

The Bulldogs (16-3, 4-1 Atlantic 10) have won 14 of 15, the only blemish being Wednesday’s 54-53 loss at La Salle.

Clarke missed the previous three games with a severely sprained neck, the result of a head-first collision with a padded basket support at Dayton on Jan. 12. And though the Bulldogs went 2-1 in his absence, they needed every point Clarke could muster Saturday — and every opening he could create for his teammates, too.

Temple (13-6, 2-3) was led by Khalif Wyatt, who scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half.

No. 10 GONZAGA 66, SAN FRANCISCO 52

SPOKANE, Wash. — Kelly Olynyk scored 13 points to help Gonzaga extend its home winning streak against San Francisco to 24 games.

Elias Harris had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Gonzaga (19-2, 6-0 West Coast Conference) and Kevin Pangos added 11 points. Gonzaga made 45 percent of its shots and was 8 of 20 from 3-point range.

Chris Adams led San Francisco (9-12, 2-6) with nine points and Avry Holmes scored eight. The Dons turned the ball over 17 times and were 9 of 24 from behind the arc.

San Francisco has not beaten Gonzaga in Spokane since the 1988-89 season, but the Bulldogs have lost their last three games at San Francisco by a combined 10 points.

Gonzaga improved to 115-8 in the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004.

IOWA STATE 73, No. 11 KANSAS STATE 67

AMES, Iowa — Will Clyburn had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Iowa State handed Kansas State its second straight loss.

Freshman Georges Niang added 15 points for the Cyclones (14-5, 4-2 Big 12), who beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.

Will Spradlin had 15 points and Rodney McGruder scored 13 to lead the Wildcats (15-4, 4-2), who lost on the road for the first time in four tries.

Kansas State’s eight-game winning streak was stopped Wednesday by No. 3 Kansas.

WISCONSIN 45, No. 12 MINNESOTA 44

MADISON, Wis. — Traevon Jackson just beat the shot clock and hit a 15-foot jumper from the right side with 4 seconds left as Wisconsin handed Minnesota its fourth straight loss.

After Jackson’s shot gave the Badgers a 45-43 lead, the Golden Gophers (15-5, 3-4 Big Ten) called a timeout with 1.8 seconds remaining and inbounded from halfcourt. The Badgers’ Mike Bruesewitz fouled Trevor Mbakwe on the play, but the big man was unable to shoot the ensuing free throws because of an apparent right hand or wrist injury.

Rodney Williams stepped to the line and made the first free throw, but missed the second and Sam Dekker grabbed the rebound to seal the win for Wisconsin (14-6, 5-2), which ended a two-game slide.

Andre Hollins had 20 points for Minnesota.

No. 14 OHIO STATE 65, PENN STATE 51

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Sam Thompson scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting for Ohio State.

DeShaun Thomas added 11 points, well below his Big Ten-leading average of 20.5. Thompson picked up the slack against the Nittany Lions, who went 11-plus minutes of the first half without a field goal.

Ohio State (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) gradually asserted control in the second half, though scrappy Penn State (8-12, 0-8) tried to hang around with defense and got within 10 points with 2:41 remaining.

Jermaine Marshall had 16 points for the Nittany Lions, who have lost 18 straight to the Buckeyes.

SAN DIEGO STATE 55, No. 15 NEW MEXICO 34

SAN DIEGO — JJ O’Brien had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jamaal Franklin added 10 points for San Diego State.

The Aztecs (16-4, 4-2 Mountain West Conference) dealt the Lobos (17-3, 4-1) their first conference loss and snapped their four-game winning streak.

New Mexico’s 34 points and 25 percent shooting (11 of 44) were season lows. Kendall Williams had 14 points for the Lobos.

New Mexico’s previous lows of 46 points and 31.8 percent shooting came in their last loss, 60-46 at Saint Louis on Dec. 31.

SDSU shot only 40.4 percent (23 of 57) but outrebounded the Lobos 41-26.

No. 16 OREGON 81, WASHINGTON 76

EUGENE, Ore. — E.J. Singler scored 18 points and Oregon stayed undefeated at home with a win over Washington.

Arsalan Kazemi added 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Carlos Emory also scored 11 for the Ducks (18-2, 7-0 Pac-12).

Andrew Andrews scored 15, C.J. Wilcox added 14 points and Abdul Gaddy and Scott Suggs had 13 each for the Huskies (12-8, 4-3), whose season-high 21 turnovers contributed to their third straight loss after opening conference play 4-0.

Oregon led 37-33 at halftime but took control with a 7-0 run early in the second half.

No. 18 N.C. STATE 91, NORTH CAROLINA 83

RALEIGH, N.C. — Lorenzo Brown had 20 points and 11 assists to help North Carolina State beat North Carolina, ending a 13-game losing streak in the long rivalry.

Freshman T.J. Warren added 19 points for the Wolfpack (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who beat the Tar Heels for the first time in nearly six years. N.C. State dominated much of the night, leading by 23 points before the break and 28 after halftime before the Tar Heels put together a second-half push that made things interesting the final minutes.

P.J. Hairston scored 19 points to lead the Tar Heels (13-6, 3-3), including four second-half 3-pointers that helped UNC slowly climb back into the game.

North Carolina cut the deficit all the way to 85-80 with 30.7 seconds left, but the Wolfpack hit six straight free throws to avoid what would’ve been a crushing late-game collapse.

LA SALLE 69, No. 19 VCU 61

RICHMOND, Va. — Ramon Galloway scored 31 points, 12 during an 18-4 run in the second half, and La Salle upset VCU to win consecutive games against ranked teams for the first time in 61 years.

The upstart Explorers (14-5, 4-2 Atlantic 10), who edged No. 9 Butler on Wednesday night, beat two Top 25 teams in a row for the first time since the 1952 NIT, when they defeated three straight. They are off to their best start since the 1990-91 team started 14-4.

Juvonte Reddic had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams (16-5, 4-2), who lost for the second time in three days after a 13-game winning streak. VCU blew a seven-point lead in the last minute and lost in overtime at Richmond on Thursday.

Treveon Graham added 13 points and 12 rebounds but shot just 4 for 17.

No. 20 WICHITA STATE 73, BRADLEY 39

WICHITA, Kan. — Nick Wiggins scored 12 points and fueled a 16-0 run in the second half with three 3-pointers as Wichita State completed a regular-season sweep of Bradley.

Jake White added 11 points for the Shockers (19-2, 8-1 Missouri Valley Conference), who won their 19th consecutive home game and ensured themselves of starting the second half of their conference schedule in sole possession of the MVC lead.

Cleanthony Early and Malcolm Armstead scored 10 apiece for Wichita State.

Walt Lemon Jr. led Bradley (12-9, 4-5) with 14 points.

WSU defeated Bradley for the seventh consecutive time, adding to its longest winning streak in series history.

No. 22 MISSOURI 81, VANDERBILT 59

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Jabari Brown scored 21 points, Alex Oriakhi tied a career high with 18 and Missouri cruised to an easy victory over Vanderbilt.

Missouri (15-4, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) led 49-20 at halftime thanks to an early 32-2 run spanning 11:47. After going 5 of 27 on 3-point attempts Tuesday against South Carolina, the Tigers hit 11 of 21 Saturday — including eight in the first half for a rare fast start.

Rod Odom matched a career high with 17 points for Vanderbilt (8-10, 2-4).

Missouri outrebounded the Commodores 40-18, including 24-7 in the first half.

No. 23 MISSISSIPPI 63, AUBURN 61

AUBURN, Ala. — Marshall Henderson scored 15 points and made the game-winning free throws with 7 seconds remaining to lift Mississippi over Auburn.

Henderson went to the line with the score tied after an off-the-ball foul was called on Shaq Johnson as Ole Miss (17-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) was inbounding under its own basket. Frankie Sullivan’s last-second heave for Auburn was off the mark, and the Rebels escaped.

LaDarius White led Ole Miss with 17 points and Jarvis Summers added 14.

Chris Denson had 18 points for Auburn (8-11, 2-4).

Ole Miss won it on free throws after a poor shooting night from the line overall. The Rebels were 2 of 15 before Henderson made two in the final seconds.

No. 24 NOTRE DAME 73, SOUTH FLORIDA 65

TAMPA, Fla. — Jerian Grant scored 18 points and Tom Knight had 17 for Notre Dame.

Eric Atkins added 13 points and Pat Connaughton contributed 12 for Notre Dame (16-4, 4-3 Big East), which had lost three of four. Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley, who entered averaging 14.8 points, finished with six points and 14 rebounds.

Zach LeDay had 17 points and Anthony Collins added 12 for South Florida (10-9, 1-6), which led 35-28 at halftime