Stingy ‘D’ helps UAB stun Memphis
Birmingham, Ala. ? The points just stopped coming for No. 3 Memphis – and so did the victories.
Marvett McDonald had 17 points, and UAB held the Tigers scoreless for more than eight minutes down the stretch in an 80-74 upset Thursday night, sending another top-five team tumbling.
McDonald’s jumper gave the Blazers (21-5 overall, 12-2 Conference USA) a five-point lead with 2:47 to go, and UAB made six consecutive free throws in the final 33 seconds to snap the Tigers’ 15-game winning streak.
“Everything is magnified in March,” UAB coach Mike Anderson said. “You want to get momentum, and I think we played some of our best defensive basketball, especially against a very talented Memphis team.”
UAB fans poured onto the court to celebrate a victory that certainly bolstered the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes, and Wen Mukubu jumped on the scorer’s table pumping his fists.
With that late offensive funk, Memphis (26-3, 12-1) missed a chance to wrap up the league title outright and strengthen its hopes for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. The chance was there, with No. 1 Duke falling to unranked Florida State on Wednesday night and No. 4 Villanova losing to second-ranked Connecticut on Saturday.
No. 14 Washington 91, Arizona State 66
Tempe, Ariz. – Mike Jensen made four of five three-pointers and scored 14 points to lead the Huskies to their seventh straight victory.
Jamaal Williams, Ryan Appleby and Jon Brockman added 13 apiece for Washington (23-5, 12-5 Pac-10).
Kevin Kruger scored 23 points for Arizona State (10-16, 4-13).
No. 15 UCLA 67, California 58, OT
Berkeley, Calif. – Arron Afflalo scored 21 of his 25 points after halftime, including a tiebreaking three-pointer midway through overtime, to help UCLA clinch at least a share of its first Pac-10 title in nine years.
The Bruins (23-6, 13-4) can win the conference outright by beating Stanford on Saturday or with a Washington loss at Arizona.
Leon Powe scored 20 to lead Cal (17-9, 11-6).
No. 24 Nevada 83, San Jose State 60
Reno, Nev. – Nick Fazekas had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Nevada clinched the Western Athletic Conference title.
Marcelus Kemp had 14 points for the Wolf Pack (23-5, 12-4).
Demetrius Brown had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Spartans (6-23, 2-13).
No. 25 Michigan St. 74, Wisconsin 65
East Lansing, Mich. – Paul Davis scored 27 and grabbed nine rebounds in his next-to-last home game.
Maurice Ager had 19 points, including 12 in the final 5:07, and Shannon Brown added 18 for the Spartans (20-9, 8-7 Big Ten), who reached 20 wins for the seventh time in nine years.
Alando Tucker scored 23 but was the only player in double figures for the Badgers (19-9, 9-6).