College Top 25 Capsules: Syracuse survives Georgetown comeback
WASHINGTON — The rivalry between Syracuse and Georgetown has featured dozens of games that have gone back and forth, seven that went to overtime and a handful of blowouts.
Then there was the one played Thursday night, which stands in a class by itself.
Andy Rautins scored a season-high 26 points, and the fifth-ranked Orange blew most of a 23-point lead before escaping with an exhausting 75-71 victory over No. 10 Georgetown.
Syracuse (25-2, 12-2 Big East) never trailed. The Orange led by 11 before the game was 4 minutes old, by 16 late in the first half and 60-37 with 12:37 left.
What happened the rest of the way will forever be part of this rivalry's lore.
"You knew they were going to come back, and I think the reason they did is we just stopped scoring," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "You can never stop scoring, especially on the road. I thought that was the difference."
Syracuse made only three field goals over the final 12 minutes. At the same time the Orange began clanging shots off the rim, the Hoyas (18-7, 8-6) finally found the range.
The result: a stunning comeback that wasn't thwarted until the game's final seconds.
First, came a 10-0 run by the Hoyas. Then, after Rautins connected from beyond the arc, two more Georgetown baskets made it 63-51 with 7½ minutes left and brought the crowd in the Verizon Center to its feet.
Rautins made two foul shots, but the Hoyas followed with a 9-0 spree to close to 65-60. Minutes later, Austin Freeman converted a three-point play and added a dunk to make it 67-65 with 3:12 to go.
Georgetown closed to 71-70 with 1:10 remaining and had a chance to take the lead, but a shot by Jason Clark bounced off the rim. Kris Joseph then scored on a drive for the Orange with 8.4 seconds left, and after a free throw by Clark, Rautins sealed the win with two foul shots.
"Kris just had a horrendous night. He kept missing layups," Boeheim said. "That's why I went to him at the end — because I knew he was due."
Freeman scored 21 points for Georgetown, and Chris Wright and Greg Monroe had 20 apiece.
"After a loss there is nothing but misery and pain, but I'm proud of how our guys responded," Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. "In no way does this program, this team, believe in moral victories. But I'm just proud of our guys."
Then, in deference to Syracuse, which completed a regular-season sweep, Thompson added, "That is a very good team that played very well tonight. We dug a hole for ourselves and fought and had a shot to win, but that's the way the ball bounces."
Syracuse guard Wes Johnson, who suffered through a 5-of-20 shooting performance against Louisville, had 16 points and eight rebounds. Rick Jackson contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for the Orange, who improved to 7-0 in the road and 6-0 against ranked opponents.
The Hoyas, who lost at Rutgers on Sunday, are mired in their first losing streak of the season. But they certainly made it interesting against their longtime rivals, who won by 17 points at home last month.
"It's a little rough to take right now because we came all the way back and we came up short," Wright said.
Frustrated by a tight Syracuse zone defense, the Hoyas went 9 of 29 (31 percent) from the field in the first half.
The Orange made five of their first six shots to quickly go up 13-2. After a 3-pointer by Wright got the Hoyas to 15-6, Rautins followed with two free throws and a 3-pointer — giving him half of Syracuse's first 20 points.
Things then temporarily unraveled for the Orange. Georgetown went on a 12-2 run, and with 9:35 left, Syracuse starting center Arinze Onuaku picked up his third foul.
Jackson took over in the middle, contributing a layup and two free throws to a 9-2 spurt that made it 31-20. Johnson scored Syracuse's final nine points of the half, including a terrific follow-dunk, to increase the margin to 16.
The Orange kept up the pressure well into the second half.
"I thought for 30 minutes we played about as well as we could play," Boeheim said.
Down the stretch, the Orange were merely good enough to win.
Loyola Marymount upsets No. 13 Gonzaga
LOS ANGELES — Ashley Hamilton beckoned his fellow students to celebrate with him on the court after leading Loyola Marymount to its biggest victory in 20 years.
Hamilton scored 17 points and Drew Viney had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the Lions to a 74-66 upset of No. 13 Gonzaga on Thursday night.
After the final horn sounded, Hamilton and teammate Vernon Teel stood on the press tables and waved students onto the court. About 150 spectators overwhelmed campus security to mob the players.
"We just wanted to share that experience with them," said Hamilton, who tied a career high with three blocks. "Everybody talks about beating Gonzaga. To finally do it as a team, as a campus, as a community is a special feeling."
Loyola Marymount beat Gonzaga for just the third time in 31 meetings since 1996.
The victory was the Lions' first over a ranked team since the 1990 NCAA tournament, when they defeated Alabama in the West Regional semifinals. That was the team that featured Bo Kimble and the late Hank Gathers.
Reserve Larry Davis, a transfer from Seton Hall, added 12 points for the Lions (14-13, 5-6 West Coast Conference), who have won four of six. Kevin Young added 11 points and Jarred DuBois had 10 points.
"I always thought they had a very, very talented crew," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of the Lions. "I mean, they've got a lot of pieces. For the most part, they consistently beat us to the basketball time and time again."
Not since December could Loyola Marymount coach Max Good use his full complement of players.
"We had our full team probably for the first time since Long Beach State and Notre Dame," Good said of early season games. "Tonight, we had four guards and they were huge."
Elias Harris had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs (21-5, 9-2), who had won 13 of their last 14, while Demetri Goodson and Steven Gray added 11 points apiece.
But Gonzaga shot just 34.4 percent from the field and Harris missed seven of 11 shots.
"He didn't shoot well but that was because of our defense," Viney said. "We really made sure we knew where he was every moment of every play. He's a special player and we had to put all of our attention on him to stop him."
Gonzaga, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half, was up 41-36 28 seconds into the second half when Loyola Marymount started its rally.
Young scored six points during a 14-4 run that put the Lions ahead 50-45 with 13:22 to play. The Bulldogs missed seven of their first eight shots from the field in the half.
"We had some really good looks," Few said. "We got some point-blankers. But we pretty much got throttled on our inside play and we thought we had a decided advantage in there."
Harris' 3-pointer narrowed Gonzaga's deficit to 52-50 but Loyola Marymount used a 14-6 run to go ahead 66-56 with 4:21 remaining.
The Bulldogs drew within 68-64 with 1:20 left, but Davis's layup on an inbounds pass from Vernon Teel as the shot clock expired extended the Lions' lead to six points with 43 seconds to play.
"That was a huge play," Good said of Davis' layup. "If we miss that and they get running, they could cut (the lead) to two. That's almost a four-point switch. But you could see the air kind of went out of them."
Loyola Marymount scored 18 points in the paint and forced Gonzaga to miss 20 of 27 shots in the second half. The Bulldogs scored just 10 points, all on free throws, in a span of 7:15 during that half.
Minnesota beats No. 14 Wisconsin 68-52
MINNEAPOLIS — Wisconsin's opening in the crowded Big Ten race might have closed.
The 14th-ranked Badgers had all kinds of chances against Minnesota on Thursday night, but their trusty outside shots just wouldn't fall against a team as motivated as it has been all season.
Blake Hoffarber had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead inspired Minnesota to the 68-52 victory that put a sizable dent in the Badgers' conference title bid.
Trevon Hughes scored 19 points and Jason Bohannon added 18 for Wisconsin (19-7, 9-5), which went almost 8 minutes without scoring down the stretch, was outrebounded 41-28 for the game, and fell two games behind conference leader Michigan State.
The Badgers went 11 of 30 from 3-point range. They lined the shots up well, but the ball wouldn't fall when they needed it to.
"I thought we had some pretty good looks," coach Bo Ryan said.
Junior forward Jon Leuer returned from a broken left wrist that kept him out of the last nine games, but he went 2 of 12 for four points. Ralph Sampson III's defense had a hand in that for Minnesota (15-10, 6-7), and he added 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Badgers exploited the Gophers' transparent perimeter defense as most teams in the Big Ten have, but their usual dominant defense was missing some fire allowing 35 points in the first half. They are still a lock for the NCAA tournament, but this was a big blow.
"We had a crappy week of practice, and it was all my fault," Hughes said. "I was being a goofball in practice all week, and that's unacceptable. I messed up in my leadership."
The Gophers have been missing that quality all season, but with a show of support for junior forward Paul Carter they found their groove, played with poise and hustled like they haven't in weeks.
"We saw some real solidarity, some real teamwork," coach Tubby Smith said.
The Gophers looked a lot like the close-cropped Badgers, literally, with freshly shaved heads to honor Carter's younger sister, Bria, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
"Paul's a great leader. He's a very spiritual guy, a very emotional guy, so I think he really appreciated it," said Damian Johnson, who added 11 points.
Hoffarber, the nation's leading 3-point shooter, wasn't just camping out behind the circle as he sometimes does. He ran off screens and flashed to the lane a few times, too, and put himself in perfect position for some long rebounds.
Bohannon, coming off a career-high 30-point game against Indiana last weekend, knocked down two 3-pointers midway through the second half and got the Badgers within 45-42 at the 9:40 mark.
They didn't score again until a 3-pointer by Hughes with less than 2 minutes left ended the drought.
The crucial possession came with a 47-42 score and included three straight open misses from the outside, the last grabbed by the 6-foot-4 Hoffarber.
"Any time you get those open shots and you keep getting those offensive rebounds, you've got to make them pay somehow," Bohannon said. "We've got to get some points out of that possession."
Devoe Joseph swished a 3 from the right wing to make it 54-42, holding his wrist up to freeze the follow-through for emphasis as he skipped back to the other end. Sampson followed with a dunk a minute later, stretching the lead to a game-high 16 points.
With six losses in their previous eight games, including a blown 13-point lead in the last 8 minutes of an overtime loss at Northwestern last weekend, the Gophers needed some motivation.
The student section had an edge, too, frequently mocking Ryan with an obscene chant and taunting the handful of brave Wisconsin fans penetrating the sea of gold with their red wear.
Hoffarber had them hollering right away, hitting his second 3 with Hughes' hand in his face to make it 14-8 Minnesota and after a timeout joining Johnson for a jubilant body bump at midcourt.
The 6-10 Leuer is Wisconsin's most versatile player, able to score in the post and on the perimeter, but he looked out of rhythm in 26 minutes and missed his first six shots.
"He'll find his mark," Ryan said. "That wasn't Jon's fault or anything that Jon wasn't trying to do. He's still a good player. He still means a lot to us."
Smith played Sampson and Colton Iverson together at times to help neutralize Leuer and Wisconsin's other long-armed big men down low, and it worked.
Ryan was growling about the officiating, with 10 fouls on Wisconsin and four on Minnesota late in the first half, and was slapped with a technical foul. He sarcastically clapped as he walked in between the refs on the way to the locker room, the Badgers down 35-26.
-- Dave Campbell
Ogilvy leads Vanderbilt to 82-78 win over Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy had a plan to take care of No. 17 Vanderbilt's A.J. Ogilvy and an entire week to install it. Didn't matter.
"We talked about it for six days," a frustrated Kennedy said after Ogilvy turned in his best game of a very good season.
The 6-foot-11 junior center had 27 points and eight rebounds Thursday night to lead the Commodores to an 82-78 victory, their third straight and 14th in the last 16 games.
It was just the kind of quality road win Vanderbilt was looking for to lock up an NCAA tournament appearance.
"We've been talking about getting our road swagger back and we got that tonight," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said.
And the Commodores (20-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) did it their way and it wasn't pretty. They trailed the Rebels (17-8, 5-6) by 11 points less than 4 minutes in, never led by more than six points and relied on their inside game for the victory.
Vanderbilt made 26 of 34 free throws, including 19 of 22 over the final 6:07.
Ogilvy made all eight of his free throw attempts over the last 4:09, and combined with Jermaine Beal to hit 7 of 8 in the final minute.
"I knew they were shorthanded inside and my teammates were good to get me the ball," Ogilvy said. "It's definitely my best game this season."
Ogilvy was 8 of 10 from the field and 11 of 13 from the line. It seemed like every time he touched the ball late in the second half, a whistle wasn't far behind.
Center DeAundre Cranston fouled out for the fifth time in 11 SEC games and four other Rebels finished with four fouls, including point guard Chris Warren, who had 23 points.
The Rebels lost for the fourth time in five games. They have struggled in the front court and dropped out of the Top 25 two weeks ago after rising as high as No. 14.
Center Reginald Buckner returned after missing four games with a sprained ankle and gave Ole Miss an early boost as they sprinted to an early double-digit lead. But he tweaked the injury early in the second half and Kennedy was forced to shuffle big men in and out as the fouls mounted.
It was a familiar theme for Ole Miss, which has little depth above 6-6.
"It's something we have to live with," said 6-7 forward Murphy Holloway, who finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
Still, the Rebels had plenty of chances after opening the game with the quick flurry.
Ole Miss scored 16 points in the first 3:52 to take its biggest lead, 16-5. The Rebels were 5 of 6 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range in that span.
After that, though, they went cold, missing 18 of their next 22 shots and scoring just 12 more points in the half.
The Commodores used an 11-2 run to get back in the game and held the Rebels to one field goal for the final 8:25 of the first half to take a 30-28 lead.
Ole Miss used an 8-0 run for a momentary 38-36 lead with 17 minutes left and then a 10-2 spurt for a 50-44 lead with 11:01 left, but Vanderbilt quickly shifted down low.
The Commodores hit 6 of 6 free throws during an 18-8 run during which the Rebels missed 4 of 5 attempts from the line. Holloway missed the first shot of a 1-and-1 — his third failure to convert the bonus — and Buckner missed two attempts as Vanderbilt made its move.
That gave the Commodores a 65-60 lead and though the Rebels kept it close, Ogilvy and Beal sealed the win.
Vanderbilt's strategy was hardly unexpected. They have hit 251 of 346 free throws in 11 league games (72.5 percent), making more shots than seven other SEC teams have attempted. Thursday night's performance at the line helped the Commodores improve to 5-0 against the SEC West this season and solidify their hold on second place in the SEC East behind No. 2 Kentucky, which they host Saturday.
"It was a grind," Ogilvy said, "but it's a huge win for us."
-- Chris Talbott
No. 19 Pitt beats Marquette 58-51
MILWAUKEE — It was a sure sign that No. 19 Pittsburgh was about to take control: Dante Taylor throwing down his third uncontested dunk in the space of a little more than two minutes.
A freshman who has played sparingly in recent weeks, Taylor's brief scoring burst played a pivotal role in a 14-5 run that helped the Panthers take the lead early in the second half, then hold on for a 58-51 victory over Marquette on Thursday night.
"I think it was good for our guys," Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. "They know how hard Dante is working. When guys make big plays and don't play as much as the other guys, it really, I think, brings energy to a team."
The Panthers (20-6, 9-4 Big East) also got strong inside play from center Gary McGhee, who had 10 points and a career-high six blocks against an athletic but undersized Marquette team.
"They just absolutely annihilated us inside," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said.
Nasir Robinson, Brad Wanamaker and Jermaine Dixon added 10 points each for the Panthers, who ran their winning streak to four games coming off a triple-overtime victory over No. 8 West Virginia.
Jimmy Butler scored 14 points for the Golden Eagles (16-9, 7-6), who had won five straight games, launching a surprise bid to return to the NCAA tournament in what was widely expected to be a rebuilding season.
"It would have been a good one for us, but we know exactly why we lost," Lazar Hayward said.
Pitt held Hayward, Marquette's leading scorer, to 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
"He's one of the best players in the league, and one of the toughest players," Jamie Dixon said. "We were fortunate. But we did make him take tough shots, I think that was key."
Hayward came into the game averaging 19.4 points and 10.4 rebounds during the Golden Eagles' five-game winning streak, including three double-doubles.
Hayward said he needed to do a better job of getting his teammates involved on a night when the Golden Eagles got away from their winning formula.
"We weren't playing together, we weren't creating for each other and we weren't playing team defense," Hayward said.
Darius Johnson-Odom added 13 points for Marquette.
The Golden Eagles, who entered the game second in the nation in 3-point shooting at 42.3 percent, were held to 5 of 19 from 3-point range. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, came in as the Big East's best defensive team on the perimeter, holding opponents to 30.3 percent from 3-point range.
"For the most part, we did a pretty good job," Jamie Dixon said. "They didn't get many open looks."
The Panthers won despite an off night from leading scorer Ashton Gibbs, who had two points and missed all six of his field goal attempts.
Trailing by six points at halftime, Marquette grabbed momentum to start the second half with a steal and fastbreak dunk by Johnson-Odom, a 3-pointer by Johnson-Odom and a putback by Butler.
The Golden Eagles took a 34-33 lead on a driving layup by Butler, but the Panthers went on a 14-5 run from there — including the three dunks by Taylor — as Marquette's interior defense fell apart.
Robinson scored inside, giving the Panthers a 47-39 lead with 9:24 remaining.
The Golden Eagles rallied to cut the lead to five, but Robinson hit a 3-pointer and Wanamaker made a jumper to give the Panthers a 10-point lead with 5:42 left.
Marquette later cut the lead to five points on a three-point play by Hayward with 2:16 left. Wanamaker lost the ball out of bounds with 1:13 left, but Maurice Acker missed a 3-point try that could have cut the lead to two.
David Cubillan missed another 3-point attempt, leaving Williams hollering for a loose-ball foul. The Golden Eagles allowed a long inbounds pass for a breakaway slam by Dixon, putting the Panthers up 58-51 with 45 seconds left.
McGhee said the Panthers made the most of their pronounced size advantage.
"It really did help," McGhee said. "It got us a bunch of easy shots. On the defensive end, we had a lot of big bodies standing up straight and making them shoot over us. We did a good job on both ends of the floor."
-- Chris Jenkins
Women
No. 2 Stanford beats Oregon for 15th straight win
STANFORD, Calif. — When Stanford played Oregon the first time, it took the Cardinal almost the entire game to get used to the Ducks' breakneck pace and full-court press.
There were no such problems this time.
Jayne Appel had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Jeanette Pohlen scored a career-high 26 points as No. 2 Stanford broke out to a 32-point halftime lead on the way to its 43rd straight home win, 104-60 over Oregon on Thursday night.
"The style is very different," coach Tara VanDerveer said. "You can watch it, you can talk about it, but you don't know until you're actually playing against. They're very good at what they do. We just didn't let them do what they like to do. We took care of the ball, we shot the ball well."
The Cardinal (24-1, 14-0 Pac-10) have won 15 straight games and were never challenged by the undersized Ducks (16-9, 7-6). They matched their highest-scoring first half of the season to take a 59-27 lead and then just added to the margin from there, making eight of their first nine shots in the second half to take a 90-50 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
It was a far cry from the first meeting, when Stanford led by only five points with 8 minutes left before pulling away for a 20-point win. While the Cardinal were frustrated much of that game, this meeting was a laugher.
"I enjoy it," Appel said. "I think its' a fun game to play and much more exciting to watch as well."
The Cardinal can clinch at least a share of a 10th straight Pac-10 regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament by beating Oregon State in their final home game of the regular season on Saturday.
Micaela Cocks scored 20 and Victoria Kenyon added 13 points for the Ducks, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Oregon has lost 11 straight games to Stanford and dropped to 1-23 all-time in road matchups against the Cardinal.
"I'm always surprised when I lose by 40-plus points," Ducks coach Paul Westhead said. "I think our team has been playing up to their level, playing good basketball. I would probably accurately say a high-quality team took us down. Move on."
Appel got off to a slow start to her senior season following knee surgery over the summer, but is playing her best basketball as the season hits the home stretch. She is averaging 21.4 points and 13 rebounds over her past five games, peaking at the right time of year.
She had plenty of help this game. Pohlen was 6 for 9 on 3-pointers and had seven assists to go with the highest scoring game of her career. Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored 17 points and Kayla Pedersen added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Stanford shot 56 percent for the game and turned the ball over 10 times against the Oregon press. The Cardinal held the Ducks to 32 percent shooting and 25 points under their season average of 85.3 points per game. Oregon leading scorer Taylor Lilley managed only five points on 1-for-8 shooting.
"We were much more offensively efficient in the first game," Westhead said. "We were scoring, we were kind of matching baskets the first 30-plus minutes. We were getting stuff off our break and making shots. Tonight they were making shots probably even doing better than the first game and we were far under our first game offensive punch."
Stanford handled the press with ease, getting many open looks after breaking the pressure. The Cardinal took control early in this game, going on a 10-0 run midway through the opening half to take a 24-9 lead. The advantage kept growing from there as Stanford scored in almost every way imaginable. Pedersen even got one easy basket after throwing an inbound pass off the back of an Oregon defender and taking the ball in for an easy layup that made it 42-22.
A late 11-0 run, featuring a 3-pointer from Pohlen and backk-to-back long-range shots from Rosalyn Gold-Onwude helped Stanford take a 59-27 lead into the break.
"We needed to take care of the ball and everybody was going to have to help break the press," Pohlen said. "It wasn't just going to be the guards or the post. It was going to have to be everybody. Once we did break the press we had to get in a set offense."
-- Josh Dubow
Brewer scores 20, No. 5 Lady Vols edge Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — This was one win that didn't come close to making Pat Summitt happy.
Tennessee was outrebounded and hard-pressed to put away the Southeastern Conference's last-place team Thursday night before holding on for a 74-67 victory. The performance left the fifth-ranked Lady Vols' coach fuming at her team late in the game and not much calmer afterward.
"I'm very disappointed in the way we came out and played this game," Summitt said. "It was a lack of awareness and defensive intensity. We had no sense of urgency. Rebounding is heart and competitive desire.
"We disrespected the game of basketball tonight."
Or maybe the Lady Vols (24-2, 12-1) just disrespected Alabama (10-16, 2-11), which hasn't beaten them since 1984.
Alyssia Brewer had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help league-leading Tennessee claim its eighth consecutive win, if not in coach-pleasing fashion.
Alabama, which opened with an entirely new starting five, closed to within 54-49 midway through the second half.
Then, Tennessee finally kicked into gear with 10 straight points en route to a 67-51 lead on Alicia Manning's basket with 6:13 left. The Lady Vols missed five straight free throws at that point and made just 11 of 24 attempts from the line to help keep it close.
"We were horrendous from the free-throw line," Summitt said. "They're going to have to invest in that. It wasn't as much what they did, it's what we didn't do. It was just a lack of commitment on defense."
Brewer's one offensive shortcoming in the game: 6-for-12 shooting on free throws.
Shekinna Stricklen had 14 points and Angie Bjorklund added 13 for Tennessee, which forced 24 turnovers.
Tide freshman Celiscia Farmer had a career-high 21 points in her first start on 10-of-15 shooting. She came in averaging just 4.9 points a game but wound up being the team's only double-figure scorer.
Forward Tierney Jenkins was held to two points — 10 below her season average.
It was the closest meeting between these teams since Tennessee's 67-63 win in 1998. Some of the missteps late in the game left Summitt either glaring at her team, hands on hips, or screaming loud enough at one point that her voice resonated through Coleman Coliseum.
"Are you going to guard anybody?" she yelled at her players as they walked toward the bench for a timeout with the lead shrinking.
Lady Vols center Kelly Cain missed the game, staying in Knoxville because the marketing/logistics major didn't want to miss more classes.
Without her, Tennessee was outrebounded 45-33 after coming into the game leading the league in rebounding margin. Stanford is the only other team to outrebound the Lady Vols this season.
"When we're missing someone, everyone has to step up," Bjorklund said. "Yeah, Cain's a huge inside force and that's hard for us but that's not an excuse. We should have been ready to come and work a lot harder than we did."
Alabama had lost five of its last six games and was coming off a 29-point defeat at Georgia. Tennessee had dominated Florida 83-44 but couldn't put together a similar performance.
Alabama coach Wendell Hudson shook up his lineup with a new starting five because of recent practice effort from his players, and it worked.
"We're going to play the people who play hard," Hudson said. "That was the group that was playing the hardest in practice."
As for his team's performance, he said, "We did not back up. We took the fight to them."
Tennessee finally scored 10 straight points to go up 33-23 late in the first half. But Alabama rallied, then the Lady Vols missed two shots in the final seconds for a 37-31 halftime edge.
They started out shooting just 4 for 13 before warming up.
"We just came out flat," Bjorklund said. "We didn't get off to a good start and let one thing lead to another and it kind of sucked the life out of us. It's just having more of a sense of urgency to start the game.
"If we could put together 40 minutes, everybody coming together, you'd be looking at an entirely different team."
-- John Zenor
Prahalis, Lavender lead No. 7 Ohio St. past Wisc.
MADISON, Wis. — Ohio State has already clinched its sixth straight Big Ten title, but Wisconsin didn't concede anything on Thursday night.
That's exactly what Buckeyes coach Jim Foster was hoping to see. Samantha Prahalis scored 25 points and Jantel Lavender had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 7 Ohio State to an 83-78 victory over Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes (26-3, 14-2 Big Ten) beat the Badgers for the 16th straight time and lead the all-time series 43-14. But this one wasn't easy.
"We need to win games like this," said Foster, who feels the high-scoring game will help the Buckeyes prepare for the postseason. "We're figuring out what's important in close games down the stretch."
Prahalis scored four points during a 7-0 run over the final 1:18 of the first half to give Ohio State a 37-32 lead. The Badgers pulled within two points twice in the final minute of the second half, but the Buckeyes made 7 of 8 free throws to hold on for the victory.
"(Wisconsin) plays very hard and we had to match their energy in order to win the game," Foster said. "And we did that. Quite frankly, it's the kind of game I would like to see more in the Big Ten."
Alyssa Karel scored 21 points for Wisconsin (18-8, 8-7), and Taylor Wurz scored 10 of her 18 points in the first half.
The scrappy Badgers pulled within two points twice in the final minute of regulation, but the Buckeyes made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
There were six ties in the first half and the teams traded the lead seven times before Prahalis scored four points during a 9-0 run over the final 2:14 to give Ohio State a 37-32 lead at halftime.
Karel drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to help the Badgers pull within two points at 76-74 with 35 seconds left in the game.
Rae Lin D'Alie's lay up maintained a two-point margin at 78-76 with 29 seconds left, but the Badgers never got any closer.
Lavender scored 12 points in the second half for Ohio State, which shot 52 percent from the field in the victory.
Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone was pleased with her team's effort, but said the Badgers need to erase mistakes in order to contend in close games.
"You're playing a top 10 team in the country and this prepares our team," said Stone, whose Badgers are tied with Iowa for fourth in the conference. "Our team laid it on the line and battled. That was two really good teams playing out there and we fought to the bitter end."
No. 10 Florida State beats Virginia Tech 78-68
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jacinta Monroe is warming up down the stretch.
The Florida State senior had a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night to lead the 10th-ranked Seminoles to a 78-68 win over Virginia Tech.
"She's really using all her tools right now," Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger said. "She's tough because she can hit the high-post jumper, she can take you off the bounce and she can really go to the boards."
It was the 6-foot-5 Monroe's third double-double in five games as the Seminoles (23-4, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) stayed within a game of league-leading Duke in their bid for a second straight regular season title.
"I've been playing kind of stagnant throughout the season, and that's my fault," said Monroe, who became the first Seminoles player to record 200 rebounds in four straight seasons. "I've been kind of sitting back and letting things happen. I have to make sure I step up for my teammates and play better basketball, because we need that from everybody."
Florida State has won nine of 10 games since a loss at Miami on Jan. 10. Aside from a 73-43 loss Jan. 29 at Duke, the Seminoles have won by an average of 21.1 points a game.
"When we get comfortable, we're not very good," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "We've got to put pressure on ourselves so we don't get comfortable."
Monroe shot 8 for 13 and had five offensive rebounds. Courtney Ward had 14 points, including 4 for 5 on 3-pointers, Cierra Bravard scored 13 points and redshirt freshman Alexa Deluzio had 11.
Deluzio had a spectacular basket where she flipped a shot blindly up over her head after being knocked to the floor.
"She's extremely athletic," Semrau said. "She has a great knack for things."
Lindsay Biggs led Virginia Tech (13-13, 2-9) with 23 points and Porschia Hadley added 15
Dunkenberger's attempts to find the right matchups against the balanced Florida State attack were overcome by the Seminoles' outside shooting.
"We didn't get out on the shooters," Dunkenberger said.
With Ward leading the way, Florida State shot 7 for 14 from long distance.
The Seminoles built their largest lead 6 minutes into the second half at 51-35 on two free throws by Monroe. Virginia Tech pulled to 68-59 with 4:15 left on Biggs' 3, but could get no closer.
Deluzio's 3 with 6 seconds left in the half gave the Seminoles a 32-37 lead at the break.
Biggs and Hadley combined for nine consecutive points as the Hokies tied the score at 18-18 with 5:46 left in the half, but Monroe's layup gave the Seminoles the lead for good.
Florida State shot 44.3 percent and had a 40-28 advantage in rebounds.
-- Brent Kallestad
Snowden, Watkins lead No. 16 Kentucky past Florida
LEXINGTON, Ky. — After giving up an eight point lead in the first half and allowing Florida to go up by four at the break, Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell turned to two of his reserve players for some energy.
Keyla Snowden scored 21 points, Lydia Watkins had a career-high 19 and the 16th-ranked Wildcats to beat the Gators 77-51 on Thursday night.
"We needed something badly," Mitchell said. "We weren't prepared for Florida's intensity and were lucky to have been down by just four."
Snowden and Watkins — backups who had totaled 37 points in Kentucky's last six games — scored 40 of the Wildcats' 48 points in the second half. The two sparked a team that had been lackluster for most of the first half.
"The last 20 minutes were amazing," Mitchell said. "It just shows that we aren't a very good team if we aren't hustling."
Snowden shot 5 for 5 on 3-pointers and Watkins got all of her scoring in the second half to help the Wildcats (22-4, 10-3 Southeastern Conference) get their 17th straight home victory.
Snowden keyed the comeback, knocking in two straight 3s just after the break as the Wildcats went on a 29-4 run.
"We were just not aware (Snowden) was a shooter, which is astonishing" Florida coach Amanda Butler said. "(The back-to-back) 3-pointers were obviously a negative sign for us. It was a big turning point, no question."
Florida had taken the advantage late in the first half as the Wildcats saw an eight point lead evaporate with the Gators' 26-12 run.
"We had intensity in the first half," Butler said. "Then somehow in the second half we just checked out mentally. Obviously this was a tale of two halves."
Trumae Lucas scored 12 points, all in the first half, to lead the Gators (13-13, 6-7), who lost for the third time in four games.
At halftime, an irate Mitchell told his team that it was the worst performance he had seen from them all season and that in order to win they needed to boost their focus.
"He told us to go out and pick up the energy," Watkins said. "That was it, it was all about energy."
Watkins herself was critical in picking up the team's rhythm.
"I knew we weren't going to win the game if we didn't punch the ball inside," Mitchell said.
Watkins led the inside game, helping Kentucky score a third of their 34 points in the paint.
Still, she didn't get her first basket until 4 minutes into the second half.
"She was walking around in the first half in close to a zombie-like state," Mitchell said. "But she really came alive."
The Wildcats, donning pink jerseys to raise breast cancer awareness, also relied on their rugged defense. Kentucky had 32 points off 23 Florida turnovers.
"It's amazing how your hustle on defense creates opportunities on offense," Mitchell said.
More than half of the 6,638 in attendance were also clad in pink. Both the Wildcats' pink uniforms and the pink tie worn by Mitchell will be auctioned to raise money for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Graham leads No. 23 LSU past No. 25 Vandy, 55-39
BATON ROUGE, La. — Katherine Graham had a moment in the spotlight before tipoff against Vanderbilt when she was honored for recently recording LSU's first triple-double in 15 years.
Once the game started, the Commodores turned their attention to stopping LSU leading scorer Allison Hightower, so Graham stepped up again to carry the 23rd-ranked Lady Tigers.
Graham had 15 points and nine rebounds to help LSU win its third straight with a 55-39 victory over No. 25 Vanderbilt on Thursday night.
"I knew they would put a lot of pressure on trying to stop Allison," Graham said. "She is good at finding the open players when they double-team her. I was just the one that got the shots."
Hightower, who averages about 18 points, scored 13. LaSondra Barrett and Courtney Jones each scored 11 for LSU (18-7, 7-6 Southeastern Conference), which never trailed while holding Vanderbilt to its lowest point total in school history.
"Our defense was as good as gold tonight," LSU coach Van Chancellor said.
Jence Rhoads led Vanderbilt (18-8, 7-6) with 12 points, but the Commodores had trouble coping with LSU's defense. Vanderbilt, which entered the game shooting 46.1 percent for the season, shot 37 percent (17 of 46) against the Lady Tigers and turned the ball over 20 times.
"LSU did a good job of denying and taking us out of our timing," Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. "We had a ton of turnovers and didn't execute well."
Hannah Tuomi added 11 points for the Commodores and Merideth Marsh scored 10.
Although Vanderbilt never led, Marsh had a chance to tie it at 29 with a pair of free throws early in the second half. She missed one and LSU started to pull away for good when Jones drained a jumper and Destini Hughes followed with a 3.
After Rhoads' jumper made it 37-33, LSU went on a 18-6 run during the final 11:26 of the game to win with ease. Hightower scored on a pair of explosive runners during the final surge, when Jones, a reserve, scored six of her points.
It was a big win for LSU, which hopes to climb into fourth in the SEC and get a first-round bye in the conference tournament. LSU also needs to finish strong to increase its chances of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, for which the Lady Tigers have qualified the past 11 seasons.
"My nerves were about as bad tonight before the game as they've been in coaching in a long time," Chancellor said. "I just thought this was a must-win for us, NCAA-wise. I think now we'll be in the playoffs ... That just gives you some ammo with the committee and all of that."
LSU held a brief pregame ceremony to present Graham with a basketball commemorating her triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) on Feb. 7 against Mississippi — the third triple-double in Lady Tigers' history and first since 1995.
The shooting guard then gave Vanderbilt all it could handle, hitting from outside while also sneaking into the paint for key rebounds and some easy inside baskets.
"Katherine is smart and has good size," Balcomb said. "She's been very steady, hitting wide-open shots and making good decisions. I think Graham is playing very well for them, and she is the most improved player I've seen from this team from last year."
Graham and Hightower gave LSU a quick double-digit cushion to start the game. Hightower scored five early points, including a putback as she was fouled, and Graham added three jumpers and a fast-break layup as the Lady Tigers raced to a 13-3 lead.
Barrett's 3 made it 18-7.
Vanderbilt began clawing back when Rhoads started connecting from outside. She had eight points in the first half, hitting a pair of jumpers during a 10-2 run that pulled the Commodores to 23-22.
Graham, who scored 10 in the first half, helped LSU start to rebuild its lead with a jumper, and Barrett followed with a basket inside.
Marsh, who came in averaging 14.6 points, was held to only one field goal through the first 19 minutes. She then hit a runner in the lane to pull Vanderbilt to 27-24 at halftime.
-- Brett Martel
No. 21 Gonzaga shuts down Loyola Marymount, 73-40
SPOKANE, Wash. — Courtney Vandersloot had 17 points and eight assists, and No. 21 Gonzaga held Loyola Marymount scoreless for more than 9 minutes in the first half on the way to a 73-40 victory on Thursday night.
Tiffanie Shives added 14 points and Vivian Frieson had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (22-4, 11-0 West Coast Conference), winners of 13 straight. Gonzaga has won 10 of its last 11 meetings against the Lions.
Renahy Young had 17 points and Alex Cowling 11 for Loyola Marymount (11-14, 4-7).
Shives made a 3-pointer to start a 17-0 burst that saw the Bulldogs open a 23-4 lead with less than 7 minutes left in the first half. Loyola Marymount managed to close to 27-19 early in the second half on Candice Nichols' 3-pointer, but Gonzaga responded with a 7-0 run capped by another 3 from Shives with 15:55 left.
