NCAA Hoops Hits: St. John's Downs Georgetown

St. John’s 64, Georgetown 59
Paris Horne scored 23 points and St. John's beat Georgetown 64-59 on Tuesday, the Red Storm's first win in the Big East tournament since 2003.
 
Sean Evans had 12 points and 13 rebounds for St. John's (16-16), which made just one appearance in the tournament at Madison Square Garden over the past five years. The 13th-seeded Red Storm advanced to the second round where they will face fifth-seeded and 21st-ranked Marquette.
 
Chris Wright had 14 points and Greg Monroe added 13 for the 12th-seeded Hoyas (16-14), who were ranked as high as No. 9 in the country this season but have lost 11 of their last 15 games.
 
Georgetown used a 12-0 run to take a 49-46 lead with 6:04 to play. Horne's three-point play with 3:42 left gave the Red Storm the lead for good at 53-52, and they went 6-of-7 from the free throw line the rest of the way, finishing 24-of-29 from there for the game.
 
 
 
Notre Dame 61, Rutgers 50
Notre Dame has been one of the top offensive teams in the Big East. The Fighting Irish weren't too effective Tuesday night, but they'll take the win that keeps them alive in the Big East tournament.
 
Tory Jackson scored all 12 of his points in the second half to lead Notre Dame to a 61-50 victory over Rutgers in the opening round of the Big East tournament.
 
The Irish came in averaging 77.6 points per game, fifth in the 16-team conference, but with center Luke Harangody having an off night and Rutgers dictating the pace, Notre Dame came away with a win courtesy of its defense.
 
Kyle McAlarney added 11 points for the 10th-seeded Fighting Irish (18-13), who will play seventh-seeded West Virginia in the second round on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
 
 
 
DePaul 67, Cincinnati 57
Will Walker and Dar Tucker scored 17 points apiece and DePaul ended its 18-game losing streak with a 67-57 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament.
 
The 16th-seeded Blue Demons (9-23) avoided the most losses in a season in school history and advanced to the second round against eighth-seeded Providence on Wednesday.
 
Mac Koshwal had 12 points and nine rebounds for DePaul, which last won Dec. 28 against Alcorn State.
 
Deonta Vaughn had 15 points for the Bearcats (18-14), who dropped to 0-3 all-time in the Big East tournament.
 
Cincinnati led 41-38 before the Blue Demons went on a 15-2 run during which the Bearcats missed 13 of 14 shots from the field.
 
 
 
North Dakota State 66, Oakland 64
North Dakota State coach Saul Phillips figured there was no need for a timeout in the final seconds. The ball was already right where he wanted it: in Ben Woodside's hands.
 
Woodside made a 17-foot jumper from the top of the key with 3 seconds left to give the top-seeded Bison a 66-64 victory Tuesday night against Oakland and send them to the NCAA tournament in their first season in Division I.
 
 
 
Seton Hall 68, South Florida 54
Jeremy Hazell scored 23 points to lead Seton Hall to a 68-54 victory over South Florida on Tuesday night, snapping the Pirates' five-game losing streak in the Big East tournament.
 
Eugene Harvey added 16 points for Seton Hall (17-14) in the opening-round win that sent the 11th-seeded Pirates on to face sixth-seeded and 18th-ranked Syracuse in the second round on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
 
Dominique Jones had 14 points for the Bulls (9-22), who were making their first appearance in the Big East tournament since joining the conference four years ago.
 
Hazell scored 12 points in the Pirates' 21-9 run to open the second half that gave them a 51-41 lead with 12:05 left. Seton Hall, which last won a game in the tournament in the opening round in 2003, pulled away by holding South Florida to three field goals over the final 11 minutes.
 
 
 
Cleveland State 57, Butler 54
Cedric Jackson scored 19 points and Cleveland State used a flurry of 3-pointers to beat No. 16 Butler 57-54 Tuesday night, winning the Horizon League tourney championship and its first NCAA tournament berth since 1986.
 
Six of Cleveland State's first seven field goals in the second half were 3-pointers, helping the Vikings (25-10) erase an 8-point lead by the Bulldogs (26-5).
 
Butler's last lead was 48-47 midway through the period, then Jackson hit a 3-pointer and a floater in the lane to put the Vikings in front for good. Butler had two chances to tie in the closing seconds, but Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward missed 3-pointers.
 
Mack led Butler with 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
 
 
 
Kent State 64, N. Illinois 61
Al Fisher scored 25 points, including two key scores in the final minutes, as Kent State rallied to beat Northern Illinois, 64-61 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament this afternoon (Tuesday).
 
Kent State (19-13) trailed for most of the second period and was behind 58-52 with 5:55 left. But Julian Sullinger made a layup, Brandon Parks scored twice and Sullinger followed with two free throws to put the Golden Flashes in front with 2:45 remaining.
 
Jake Anderson scored 19 points and Mike DiNunno added 13 for Northern Illinois (10-20).
 
 
 
Hampton 51, Delaware St. 32
Darrion Pellum scored 12 points and Hampton held Delaware State to a season-low point total in a 51-32 victory on Tuesday night in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
 
The seventh-seeded Pirates (16-15) advance to play second-seeded South Carolina State in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
 
 
 
Florida A&M 71, Howard 58
Lamar Twitty scored 20 points and Dale Hughes added 16, helping Florida A&M beat Howard 71-58 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
 
The eighth-seeded Rattlers (10-20) will play top seed Morgan State in Wednesday's quarterfinals. FAMU, which won the MEAC tournament two years ago, handed Morgan State one of its three conference losses during this season.
 
Twitty went 8-for-11 from the field and added eight rebounds. Hughes made all four of his 3-point attempts, helping the Rattlers shoot 11-for-16 from beyond the arc.
 
 
 
Fresno State 62, Hawaii 58
Dwight O'Neil hit a go-ahead jumper with 21.7 seconds left and the Bulldogs hung on to win the first game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
 
Sylvester Seay scored 16 points and O'Neil had 14 to lead the ninth-seeded Bulldogs (13-20), who advanced to play No. 1 seed Utah State in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
 
Roderick Flemings scored 18 points and Kareem Nitoto added 15 for the eighth-seeded Rainbow Warriors (13-17), who led by as many as 11 points in the second half before faltering.
 
 
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