College basketball: Rui Hachimura’s shot lifts No. 1 Gonzaga over Washington 81-79

Rui Hachimura’s short jumper with half a second left lifted top-ranked Gonzaga to an 81-79 win over in-state rival Washington on Wednesday night.

Hachimura had 26 points for Gonzaga (9-0), which has won 12 of its past 13 games against the Huskies.

Washington missed a halfcourt shot as the final buzzer sounded.

Jaylen Nowell scored 26 for Washington (6-3), which was in the preseason Top 25 before losing at No. 8 Auburn.

at No. 3 Duke 84, Hartford 54: Freshman RJ Barrett had 27 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, and No. 3 Duke pulled away to rout Hartford 84-54 on Wednesday night.

Zion Williamson added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Tre Jones and Javin Delaurier finished with 10 points apiece to help the Blue Devils (8-1) win their third straight. Duke shot 62 percent in the second half to more than make up for hitting just five 3-pointers — matching a season low.

J.R. Lynch scored 13 points and Jason Dunne added 12 for Hartford (3-7), a 38-point underdog that hung around well into the second half before fading. Dunne’s long 3-pointer pulled the Hawks within eight points with just over 12 minutes left.

at No. 13 Texas Tech 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 47: Jarrett Culver scored 13 points, Matt Mooney had 11 and Texas Tech remained undefeated.

The Red Raiders (8-0) entered as the nation’s top team in field goal defense, and that trend continued in their first home game this season as a ranked team.

Martaveous McKnight scored 27 points for Pine Bluff (2-6), but he was the only Lions player with more than four. The Lions shot 32.6 percent from the field.

Kyler Edwards added 10 points for Texas Tech.

at No. 14 North Carolina 97, UNC Wilmington 69: Cameron Johnson scored 21 points to help North Carolina to the win.

Freshman forward Nassir Little added 14 points in the Tar Heels’ first game since losing at No. 5 Michigan last week. North Carolina (7-2) led 44-35 at halftime but went on a 30-3 run to blow this one open.

Jeantal Cylla had 16 points for UNC Wilmington, coached by former UNC assistant C.B. McGrath. The Seahawks (4-6) trailed just 44-39 early in the second half before the shots stopped falling and the Tar Heels got loose in transition.

at No. 15 Virginia Tech 89, VMI 68: Justin Robinson scored 18 points to help Virginia Tech cruise to the win.

Robinson hit a trio of 3-pointers for the Hokies (7-1), who won their 21st straight regular-season nonconference game at home. Virginia Tech topped VMI (5-5) for the seventh consecutive time.

The Hokies led by as many as 37 in the second half.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 15 points for Virginia Tech, which shot 51.7 percent from the floor and made 11 3-pointers.

Garrett Gilkeson paced VMI with 21 points.

at No. 17 Buffalo 89, Le Moyne 55: CJ Massinburg had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and Buffalo used a big second-half run to beat Division II Le Moyne.

Dontay Caruthers scored 20 points and reserve Nick Perkins had 18, helping Buffalo (8-0) continue its best start since the 1930-31 season.

Massinburg recorded the second triple-double in program history. Shannon Evans also accomplished the feat on Dec. 30, 2014, against Binghamton.

Zay Jennings scored 16 points for Le Moyne.

The game was tied at 37 at halftime, but Buffalo grabbed control with a 23-0 run that lasted more than eight minutes in the second half.

No. 19 Ohio State 77, at Illinois 67: Keyshawn Woods scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, helping Ohio State rally for the win at the United Center.

Kaleb Wesson had 13 points for the Buckeyes (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten), and Musa Jallow finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Trent Frazier and Kipper Nichols scored 18 apiece as Illinois (2-7, 0-2) dropped its third straight.

The Buckeyes shot 12 for 21 (57.1 percent) from the field in the second half.

at No. 21 Villanova 69, Temple 59: Jermaine Samuels hit three 3-pointers in the second half that kept Villanova from its worst home losing streak in 25 years.

The national champion Wildcats (7-2) also won their 24th straight game against Big 5 teams — the annual round-robin games against city rivals Saint Joseph’s, Penn, La Salle and the Owls. Villanova hasn’t lost a city series game in six years on the dot — 76-61 on Dec. 5, 2012, against, yup, the Owls.

This year’s Owls (7-2) gave the Wildcats a heck of a game that made another upset seem quite possible.

Samuels scored a career-high 15 points and Eric Paschall had 10 in an off night for Villanova.

Nate Pierre-Louis led Temple with 17 points.

at Minnesota 85, No. 24 Nebraska 78: Amir Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, helping Minnesota rally for the win.

Coffey surpassed his previous career high of 30 with a driving layup with 53 seconds to go, and Jordan Murphy hit 4 of 4 free throws in the final 11 seconds.

Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota (7-2, 1-1)

Isaac Copeland led Nebraska (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with 17 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Roby scored 15 points for the Huskers, who were looking to start the season 8-1 for the first time in 15 years.

SOUTHLAND

Loyola Marymount 59, at Cal State Fullerton 49: James Batemon scored 20 points, Mattias Markusson added 15 and the Lions (9-1) shut down the Titans (3-6) and rebounded from their first loss of the season against UCLA. Fullerton was held to 35% shooting and committed 16 turnovers.

at Cal State Northridge 76, Cal State San Marcos 72: Terrell Gomez scored 26 points, making five of nine three-pointers, and the Matadors (3-5) held off the Cougars, who got a game-high 30 points from Khalil Fuller.

UC Irvine 69, at Cal Baptist 66: Tommy Rutherford scored 14 points, including a basket in the final minute for what proved to be the winning points, and the Anteaters (8-2) extended their road winning streak to nine games.

at Long Beach State 81, Southern Utah 72: Temidayo Yussuf had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Deishuan Booker scored 17 of his 21 points after halftime and the 49ers (3-7) used a 19-6 run at the end of the first half to take the lead.