SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Jerian Grant had 23 points and 12 assists and No. 8 Notre Dame made two shots in the final 67 seconds as the shot clock ran out to beat No. 4 Duke 77-73 Wednesday night.
Grant lost control of the ball, picked it up at the free-throw line and got a shot off just in time to give the Irish a 73-70 lead with 67 seconds left. After Quinn Cook hit a pair of free throws, Grant looked as though he was holding for a shot. But he fired it over to Steve Vasturia in the corner for a three-pointer, giving the Irish a 76-72 lead. Grant then blocked a layup attempt to end the threat by Duke.
The win keeps Notre Dame (20-2, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) in second-place in the league. Duke (17-3, 4-3) is off to its worst start in league play since opening the 1995-96 season 3-4.
Florida 52, Alabama 50
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Dorian Finney-Smith slammed home a dunk with 17 seconds remaining as Florida held off a furious second-half comeback by Alabama to beat the Crimson Tide Tuesday night.
Eli Carter scored 13 points and Chris Walker finished with 12 for Florida (11-9, 4-3 SEC), which snapped a three-game SEC losing streak.
With the score tied at 50, Finney-Smith put in his game-winning dunk, then blocked a potential tying basket by Levi Randolph and grabbed the rebound to preserve the victory, giving Florida coach Billy Donovan nine-consecutive wins over his former assistant, and current Alabama coach, Anthony Grant. It was the Gators' 10th-straight win over Alabama.
The dunk was Finney-Smith's only points of the game.
Rodney Cooper scored 14 points for Alabama (13-7, 3-4) and Ricky Tarrant tallied 13 points.
Texas A&M 71, Auburn 61
AUBURN, Ala. -- Danuel House scored 23 points and hit six three-pointers to lead streaking Texas A&M against Auburn.
The Aggies (14-5, 5-2 SEC) never trailed on their way to a fifth-straight win.
House got off to a hot start and missed only one three-point attempt after coming in averaging 18.6 points over the last five games. The rest of the damage was mostly done in the paint, where Texas A&M outscored the Tigers (10-10, 2-5) 42-14.
Auburn has lost three straight games.
Jalen Jones added 13 points for the Aggies while Alex Robinson drove to the basket repeatedly and scored 12.
Antoine Mason led Auburn with 16 points and Cinmeon Bowers finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. KT Harrell scored 11, all in the second half.
Georgia 70, Vandy 62
ATHENS, Ga. -- Nemanja Djurisic scored 15 points, Marcus Thornton added 14 and Georgia stretched its SEC winning streak to five in a row.
The Bulldogs (14-5, 5-2 SEC) broke open a tight game with a 9-0 run early in the second half, capped by Yante Maten's three-point play.
Georgia got plenty of production in the first half with a different kind of trey, going 7 of 12 beyond the arc. The Bulldogs finished 9 of 17.
Vanderbilt (11-9, 1-6) lost its sixth straight since opening SEC play with a win over Auburn, shooting just 36 percent from the field. The Commodores got as close as four down the stretch before Georgia sealed the win at the free-throw line, finishing 23 of 25.
No. 14 VCU 72
George Washington 48
RICHMOND, Va. -- Freshman Terry Larrier scored 15 points and No. 14 VCU pulled away with a 16-2 run early in the second half to beat George Washington for its 12th consecutive victory.
Larrier's point total was his highest since conference play began for the Rams (17-3, 7-0 Atlantic 10), and it came on a night when VCU scoring leader Treveon Graham managed just seven points on a still-tender left ankle and struggling Melvin Johnson continued to do so, scoring eight on 4-of-10 shooting.
Kethan Savage scored 18 to lead George Washington (16-5, 6-2) and Joe McDonald had 11.
No. 17 West Virginia 65
Kansas State 59
MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Tarik Phillip matched a career-high 12 points and West Virginia, relying on its high-pressure defense, shut down Kansas State for a victory.
In a game marred by fouls and poor play, the Mountaineers (17-3, 5-2 Big 12) forced the Wildcats (12-9, 5-3) into 25 turnovers while holding them to 36-percent shooting from the field.
West Virginia's leading scorer, Juwan Staten, had just 11 points while dealing with foul trouble all night. Second-leading scorer Devin Williams had eight points and nine rebounds.
Oklahoma State 64
No. 20 Baylor 53
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Phil Forte scored 16 points and Le'Bryan Nash added 13 to help Oklahoma State defeat Baylor.
Forte, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard, made four of seven three-pointers and matched a career high with five rebounds for the Cowboys, who claimed their second win over a ranked opponent this season.
Michael Cobbins had six points, a season-high 11 rebounds and matched a career high with five blocks. Anthony Hickey had eight points and a career-high 10 assists and freshman Tavarius Shine added a season-high 11 points for the Cowboys (14-6, 4-4 Big 12), who will host No. 24 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Lester Medford scored 13 points, Taurean Prince added 12 and Rico Gathers added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Baylor (15-5, 3-4), which had won four of five. Baylor shot just 34.5 percent from the field and posted a season-low point total.
Xavier 66
No. 21 Georgetown 53
WASHINGTON -- Myles Davis scored 19 points in his third start of the season, and Xavier held Georgetown without a field goal for more than 11 minutes in the first half in a victory that completed a sweep of the Hoyas.
Davis went six for nine from the field, including back-to-back 3-pointers to cap an 18-4 run in which the Musketeers totally shut down Georgetown's motion offense. Aaron Bowen made a layup with 11:17 remaining in the first half, and the Hoyas didn't make another field goal until Isaac Copeland's mid-range buzzer-beater made the score 29-16 at halftime.
Georgetown got as close as seven late in the second half, but the Hoyas went cold again -- going more than three minutes without a field goal -- as Xavier (14-7, 5-4 Big East) closed with a 12-6 run to snap a five-game road losing streak.
No. 3 Baylor women 89
TCU 67
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Nina Davis had 24 points and 11 rebounds as No. 3 Baylor stretched its winning streak to 18 in a row.
Khadijiah Cave, like Davis scoring almost at will inside, added a career-high 21 points for the Lady Bears (19-1, 8-0 Big 12). Sune Agbuke, another post player, had 12 points.
Only No. 1 South Carolina (19-0) has a longer active winning streak. The Lady Bears had been matched with No. 19 Princeton (17-0) for the second-longest streak.
Veja Hamilton had 15 points and Chelsea Prince 13 for TCU (12-7, 4-4).
Sports on 01/29/2015