NCAA News Wire
Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Notre Dame tops No. 4 Duke
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Sophomore Steve Vasturia nailed a key 3-pointer from the corner with 22 seconds left to help eighth-ranked Notre Dame beat fourth-ranked Duke 77-73 on Wednesday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
It was Notre Dame’s sixth comeback win from a double-digit deficit this season.
Duke, which beat St. John’s 77-68 on Sunday to make coach Mike Krzyzewski the only Division I men’s basketball coach with 1,000 victories, fell to 17-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. Notre Dame improved to 20-2 overall and 8-1 in the ACC.
Senior guard Jerian Grant led Notre Dame with 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Vasturia, a guard, finished with seven points, but the 3-point dagger was his only field goal of the game in five attempts.
Freshman center Jahlil Okafor led the Blue Devils with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
No. 9 Kansas 64, TCU 61
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kansas guard Frank Mason went to the hoop for the big baskets the Jayhawks needed and TCU’s last-second prayer went unanswered.
Mason scored 16 points and guard Brannen Greene made five key free throws and blocked a shot in the final minute as Kansas (17-3, 6-1 Big 12) held on at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center. TCU reserve guard Charles Hill’s 30-footer at the buzzer hit the back iron and bounced away.
Point guard Kyan Anderson led TCU with 17 points. However, the Horned Frogs (14-6, 1-6 Big 12), who have had free-throw struggles during much of conference play so far, made just 15 of 29 from the line.
No. 10 Louisville 79, Boston College 72
BOSTON — Louisville ended a tough day of travel with a tough ACC victory over Boston College.
Guards Chris Jones and Terry Rozier combined for 51 points, 34 in the second half, as the Cardinals (17-3, 5-2 ACC), in their first year in the conference, never trailed. They arrived in Boston about six hours before game time because of Tuesday’s blizzard.
Rozier, who also got BC guard and main offensive weapon Olivier Hanlan in foul trouble in the second half, scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and wound up with a career-high 28 points.
Boston College (9-10, 1-6) lost despite a career-high 28 points by guard Aaron Brown.
No. 12 Wichita State 58, Loyola (Chicago) 47
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State survived an ugly grinder against Loyola (Chicago) at Koch Arena.
It took almost 10 minutes in the second half for the Shockers (19-2, 9-0 Missouri Valley Conference) to build a comfortable lead. A 9-0 run, capped by junior guard Ron Baker’s 3-pointer, gave the home team a 44-30 lead. Wichita State held Loyola (13-8, 3-6) scoreless for almost six minutes.
Wichita State is 9-0 in the MVC for the second straight season. It extended its modern-day MVC record to 27 regular-season wins and its home win streak, also a record, to 28 games.
Junior guard Fred VanVleet led Wichita State with a career-high 27 points, 16 in the first half. Baker added 16, 14 in the second half. Junior guard Devon Turk led Loyola with nine points.
No. 18 Northern Iowa 59, Southern Illinois 52
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Northern Iowa went from upset alert to cruise control in a six-minute span of the second half on Wednesday night. Scoring on nine straight possessions, the Panthers turned a tight Missouri Valley Conference game into their eighth straight win.
Guard Paul Jesperson came off the bench to score 13 points for Northern Iowa (19-2, 8-1), making 5 of 6 shots from the floor. Forward Seth Tuttle added 13 points and nine rebounds, and reserve forward Nate Buss contributed 11 points for the Panthers.
Reserve center Ibby Djimde scored 10 points for Southern Illinois (9-13, 2-7), which lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Guard Anthony Beane, the team’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, sank only 2 of 9 shots from the field and had just five points.
Purdue 83, No. 22 Indiana 67
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue used 63 percent shooting from the field in the first half and tenacious defense throughout to cruise to a Big Ten win over Indiana in Mackey Arena.
Junior guard Rapheal Davis led the Boilermakers with 19 points. Junior
