College basketball highlights: Grayson Allen behaves, but Duke lifeless in loss at Pitt
Pittsburgh 76, No. 15 Duke 62: The whereabouts of Grayson Allen’s legs were the least of Duke’s problems on Sunday at Pittsburgh.
Two days after being reprimanded by the Atlantic Coast Conference following a second tripping incident in less than a month, Allen kept his feet to himself while scoring 22 points but the Blue Devils were never in it during a loss to the Panthers.
“They just put it on us for 40 minutes and we never really responded,” Allen said. “All the hustle stats they got, such as loose balls and rebounds, it was all theirs.”
Duke (21-9, 10-6) was outrebounded 39-20, outscored in the paint 24-6 and never led while allowing the Panthers to pull an upset that didn’t look or feel like one.
“We just didn’t play well and they made us not play well,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We might have played great tonight and not beat them.”
Jamel Artis led Pitt with 17 points. James Robinson added 14 points, seven assists and three rebounds against just one turnover in his school-record 130th start, and his last one at the Petersen Events Center as the Panthers beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season.
Seton Hall 90, No. 5 Xavier 81: Desi Rodriguez had career-highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds and Seton Hall all but clinched its first NCAA Tournament berth in a decade with a stunning victory over Xavier in Newark, N.J.
“We still have to be selected,” said sophomore point guard Isaiah Whitehead, who added 22 points for the Pirates (21-7, 11-5). “We still have two more games to go but today was a huge, huge win.”
What was remarkable was that Seton Hall dominated in knocking off Xavier (25-4, 13-4), just four days after it upset No. 1 Villanova. It won the battle inside with Angel Delgado adding 17 points and eight rebounds and it used a suffocating defense that made the Musketeers struggle to score until the game was out of reach.
The Pirates, who have not been in the NCAA Tournament since 2006, had a season-high point total and shot 50 percent from the field in winning their fourth straight and eighth of nine.
No. 6 Michigan St. 88, Penn St. 57: Denzel Valentine started slow and finished strong with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Michigan State. The Spartans have won four straight and eight of nine.
Tennessee State 87, Belmont 72: Keron DeShields scored 25 points and Tennessee State defeated Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Belmont for the Tigers’ 20th victory. Former Lexington Christian star Taylor Barnette had 14 points for Belmont.
Women’s games
No. 10 Louisville 65, Pittsburgh 36: Myisha Hines-Allen and the Louisville women are hitting their best stride at the right time. The sophomore forward had 25 points and 13 rebounds, her third double-double in the last five games, as the Cardinals host sprinted to a big early lead and closed the regular season in style.
Louisville (24-6, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its sixth straight. The Cardinals have won 21 of their last 22 after starting the season 3-5.
Louisville Coach Jeff Walz credited Hines-Allen’s efficiency for her late-season surge. She is now averaging 17 points and eight rebounds a game and is a contender for ACC player of the year.
“She’s not taking bad shots,” Walz said. “Her ability to drive and finish, she’s just a real tough matchup right now for a lot of people. If you’re getting 25 points on 14 shots, that’s pretty darn good.”
No. 3 South Carolina 75, LSU 39: The Gamecocks (28-1) finished off a perfect run through the Southeastern Conference. Tiffany Mitchell scored 24 points to lead the way. The Gamecocks joined the 2011 Tennessee squad as the only 16-0 league champions.
Tennessee 80, Georgia 60: Diamond DeShields scored 22 points while making her first start in over a month as host Tennessee closed the regular season with a victory. DeShields had come off the bench for nine straight games and had gone scoreless in two of her last three outings before Sunday.
Vanderbilt 56, No. 24 Missouri 52: Christa Reed scored 20 points and made a key block late as visiting Vanderbilt snapped an eight-game skid.
Mississippi State 61, Alabama 52: Dominique Dillingham scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half for the host Bulldogs.
Lindsey Wilson 94, Fisk (Tenn.) 52: Former Mercer County standout Heidi Huffman led the Blue Raiders (25-5) with a career-high 20 points, including going 6-for-8 from three-point range.
This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 7:36 AM with the headline "College basketball highlights: Grayson Allen behaves, but Duke lifeless in loss at Pitt."