UConn guard Nika Muhl, center, celebrates a 72-69 win over DePaul after on Saturday in Chicago. Erin Hooley/Associated Press
CHICAGO — Aaliyah Edwards scored 16 points, including two clutch baskets down the stretch, and No. 4 UConn edged DePaul 72-69 on Saturday to clinch at least a share of the Big East regular season championship.
DePaul led by as much seven in the second half and was nursing a four-point lead late in the fourth of a tight, physical, contest, but Edwards and Lou Lopez Sénéchal scored to tie it at 65 with 3:10 left.
Then Edwards scored off a turnover with 2:40 to go to put the Huskies ahead. Nika Mühl nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:13 to go for a 70-65 UConn lead.
Anaya Peoples hit two free throws and then layup with 17 seconds left to pull the Blue Demons to within one. DePaul star Aneesah Morrow raced down the court in the final seconds with a chance to win it, but was forced into a turnover with nine seconds left.
Muhl, who finished 13 points, sank a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice it. Peoples missed a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Aubrey Griffin finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for UConn (26-5, 17-2 Big East)
Huskies forward Dorka Juhász scored 13 points and pulled in eight rebounds despite suffering an injury with 1:12 left in the first quarter. She scored 10 of UConn’s first 17 points before getting hurt, then returned in the second quarter after receiving treatment.
Morrow scored 25 points and pulled in eight rebounds, but the Blue Demons (15-15, 8-11) lost another tight one to the Huskies. DePaul has dropped 23 straight to UConn, dating to Dec. 29, 1983
(8) UTAH 84, (3) STANFORD 78: Gianna Kneepkens scored 28 points to lead the Utes (25-3, 15-3 Pac-12) to a victory over the Cardinal(27-4, 15-3) in Salt Lake City, that gave the Utes a share of their first regular-season Pac-12 Conference title.
Alissa Pili finished with 14 points and Kennedy McQueen had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and six steals for Utah, which shares the conference title with Stanford.
(17) UCLA 70, WASHINGTON 62: Charisma Osborne scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Bruins (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12) to a win over the Huskies (15-13, 7-11) in Los Angeles.
KiKi Rice added 15 points for the Bruins, who pulled away by making 9 of 15 shots. Londynn Jones had 10 points as all 10 players scored for UCLA.
(18) GONZAGA 58, BYU 51: Yvonne Ejim scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the Bulldogs (27-3, 17-1 WCC) secured the West Coast Conference regular season title, in Provo, Utah.
(19) TEXAS 67, (13) OKLAHOMA 45: Shaylee Gonzales scored 19 points and the Longhorns (22-7, 13-33 Big 12) snapped a first-place tie with the Sooners (22-5, 12-4) in Norman, Oklahoma.
(20) IOWA STATE 84, TCU 56: Ashley Joens scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Cyclones (18-8, 10-6 Big 12) beat the Horned Frogs (7-20, 1-15) in Ames, Iowa.
(25) MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 61, LOUISIANA TECH 59: Kseniya Malashka scored 27 points, the last two on a short, contested jumper with 2.8 seconds to play, and blocked a last-second shot to give the Lady Raiders (23-4, 16-2 Conference USA) a win over the Techsters (17-11, 10-8) in Ruston, Louisiana.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
(1) HOUSTON 76, EAST CAROLINA 57: Marcus Sasser scored 22 points to help the top-ranked Cougars (27-2, 15-1 AAC) beat the Cougars (14-14, 5-10) in Greenville, North Carolina and clinch outright possession of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Tramon Mark added 20 points for the Cougars, while J’Wan Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds in Houston’s ninth straight victory.
And as with the long-running formula under Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars didn’t need a huge offensive performance to assert control of this one while leaning on defense and rebounding.
(2) ALABAMA 86, ARKANSAS 83: Brandon Miller scored 24 points and Mark Sears made 7 of 8 free throws over the final 1:04 to help the Crimson Tide (25-4, 15-1 SEC) secure a win over the Razorbacks (19-10, 8-8) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Miller had his second straight huge game for the Crimson Tide since police alleged in courtroom testimony that Miller brought a gun to former teammate Darius Miles, who is charged with capital murder in a fatal shooting.
(3) KANSAS 76, WEST VIRGINIA 74: Dajuan Harris was one point shy of a career high, scoring 17 points to help lift the Jayhwaks (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) over the Mountaineers (16-13, 5-11) in Lawrence, Kansas.
The stifling Jayhawk defense kept West Virginia from attempting a shot in the final 20 seconds. The Mountaineers’ Joe Toussaint traveled on their final possession of the game.
Baskets by K.J. Adams and Kevin McCullar extended the Jayhawks’ lead to 75-68 late as they grinded out the victory.
(17) INDIANA 79, (5) PURDUE 71: Jalen Hood-Schifino scored a career-high 35 points and Trey Galloway added 10 of his 13 in the second half Saturday, leading the Hoosiers (20-9, 11-7 Big Ten) to a win over the Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5) in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Hoosiers snapped a seven-game losing streak in West Lafayette and pulled their first season sweep in this bitter rivalry since 2012-13.
NORTH CAROLINA 71, (6) VIRGINIA 63: Pete Nance scored 22 points as the Tar Heels (18-11, 10-8 ACC) secured an important win, defeating the Cavaliers (21-6, 13-5) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
For UNC the victory is a much-needed boost to its NCAA Tournament resume as it counts as a Quadrant 1 win, the first of the season for the Tar Heels.
Nance shot 7 of 10 from the floor and was a perfect 4 of 4 from behind the arc. It’s the most 3-pointers the fifth-year forward has made in ACC play, and Nance also added two assists and four blocks.
ARIZONA STATE 89, (7) ARIZONA 88: Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer and the Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7 Pac-12) rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Wildcats (20-9, 11-7) in Tuscon, Arizona.
(9) BAYLOR 81, (8) TEXAS 72: Jalen Bridges had 17 points for the Bears (21-8, 10-6 Big 12), who overcame a huge deficit with an impressive run right after freshman standout Keyonte George left injured early, and went on to beat Big 12 co-leader and the Longhorns (22-7, 11-5) in Waco, Texas.
Adam Flagler had 14 points for the Bears. Dale Bonner added 13 points, including seven in an quick spurt after halftime while Flo Thamba had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
(10) MARQUETTE 90, DePAUL 84: Kam Jones and Tyler Kolek each scored 22 points while helping the Golden Eagles (23-6, 15-3 Big East) clinch a share of its first Big East regular-season championship in a decade with a victory over the Blue Demons (9-20, 3-15) in Milwaukee.
Kolek also had 14 assists as Marquette (23-6, 15-3) rolled to a 49-28 halftime lead and hung on after DePaul (9-20, 3-15) got close down the stretch. Marquette has won nine of its last 10, while DePaul has lost 10 straight.
(11) TENNESSEE 85, SOUTH CAROLINA 45: Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 SEC) to a victory over the Gamecocks (10-19, 3-13) in Knoxville, Tennessee.
James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, hit 4 of 7 3-pointers for the Volunteers. Jahmai Mashack scored 14 points, Zakai Zeigler had 13 points and 11 assists, and Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic scored 10 each.
FLORIDA STATE 85, (13) MIAMI 84: Matthew Cleveland’s 3-pointer as time expired capped Florida State’s comeback from a 25-point second-half deficit and the Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 ACC) stunned the Hurricanes (23-6, 14-5) in Coral Gables, Florida.
Jordan Miller had given Miami the lead on a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left. But Cleveland let fly from about 25 feet and the ball swished to give the Seminoles their best moment of the season.
(14) KANSAS STATE 73, OKLAHOMA STATE 68: Markquis Nowell had 22 points, eight assists and four steals and the Wildcats (22-7, 10-6 Big 12) defeated the Cowboys (16-13, 7-9) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for their third straight win.
Keyontae Johnson added 17 points for the Wildcats, who swept the regular-season series.
(18) UCONN 95, ST. JOHN’S 86: Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points, Adama Sanogo added 18 points and nine rebounds, and the Huskies (22-7, 11-7 Big East) beat the Red Storm (17-13, 7-12) in New York.
Andre Jackson Jr. had 15 points, Joey Calcaterra also scored 15 to lead a strong effort by Connecticut’s bench and the resurgent Huskies avenged an 11-point loss to St. John’s at home last month.
VILLANOVA 79, (19) CREIGHTON 67: Eric Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 31 points in the first half, Cam Whitmore added 17 and the Wildcats (15-14, 9-9 Big East) defeated the Bluejays (18-11, 12-6) in Philadelphia.
Dixon also set a career high with six 3-pointers for Villanova, which has won five of six.
OKLAHOMA 61, (23) IOWA STATE 50: Jacob Groves led Oklahoma with 16 points as the Sooners (14-15, 4-12 Big 12) knocked off the Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) in Ames, Iowa.
The Sooners had lost nine of their previous 11 games but erased an early 11-point deficit and seized control with a 17-2 run in the second half.
(24) TCU 83, TEXAS TECH 82: JaKobe Coles made two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining, and the Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-8 Big 12) held on for a victory over the Red Raiders (16-13, 5-11) in Lubbock, Texas, despite blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight minutes.
MISSISSIPPI 69, (25) TEXAS A&M 62: Tolu Smith had 17 points and Shakeel Moore had 14 as the Bulldogs (19-10, 7-9 SEC) knocked off the Aggies (21-9, 13-3) in Starkville, Mississippi.
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