Villanova wins Big East title beating Creighton

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Justin Moore scored 24 points and helped No. 10 Villanova capture the Big East title with a 72-60 win over a No. 14 Creighton team playing with coach Greg McDermott under fire for using language evocative of slavery.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl added 14 points and 14 rebounds for Villanova (16-4, 11-3), which lost star senior guard Collin Gillespie to a left knee injury in the first half. He writhed in pain on the court and immediately needed help to the locker room.

Mitch Ballock led Creighton (17-7, 13-6) with 14 points.

McDermott had apologized for urging his players to “stay on the plantation” in a postgame locker room talk. He said on Creighton’s pregame radio show that he offered to resign but that his players wanted him to stay.

No. 11 FLORIDA STATE 93, BOSTON COLLEGE 64

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — M.J. Walker scored 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and RaiQuan Gray added 16 points to help Florida State beat Boston College for its 25th straight ACC home win.

Gray scored in double figures for an 11th straight game for the Seminoles (15-4, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who are in position to win the league’s regular-season title with a win at Notre Dame on Saturday.

Jay Heath scored a career-high 28 points and Makai Ashton-Langford added 14 points for BC (4-14, 2-10). Heath shot 8 of 14 from 3-point range.

Walker scored 12 points in the first half as the Seminoles cruised to a 53-35 lead at the break and were never challenged.

No. 19 SAN DIEGO STATE 71, UNLV 62

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Matt Mitchell scored 19 points and Jordan Schakel added 16 for No. 19 San Diego State, which beat UNLV to clinch the Mountain West Conference regular-season title for the second straight year.

Nathan Mensah scored 14 points for the Aztecs (20-4, 14-3 MWC), who used a 14-0 run spanning halftime to take control and win their 11th straight game. They get a week of rest before returning to Las Vegas as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

David Jenkins Jr. scored 32 points for UNLV (11-13, 8-9), while leading scorer Bryce Hamilton was held to nine points, nine under his average, and fouled out with 1:41 to go.

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