College Basketball Roundup : Jackson’s 27 Points, Baldi’s 2 Help St. John’s Defeat Seton Hall, 60-57

There was no question that No. 16 St. John’s wanted Mark Jackson taking the big shots down the homestretch Tuesday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

Having big Marco Baldi at the free-throw line with the game on the line was another story, although the 6-foot 11-inch center didn’t seem to mind it as much as Seton Hall minded the outcome.

Jackson scored 27 points, and Baldi made two free throws with 1:35 to play in overtime to give St. John’s the lead for good as the Redmen edged Seton Hall, 60-57, in a Big East Conference game.

Baldi’s only two points of the night gave the Redmen a 58-57 lead. He had been fouled underneath the Seton Hall basket after Mark Bryant missed a free throw that could have put the Pirates ahead by two points.

After Baldi converted his free throws, Bryant missed a shot in the lane, and then was called for traveling after getting his own rebound.

St. John’s, 17-4 overall and 8-4 in the conference, took over the ball with 57 seconds to play. Jackson handled the ball most of the time and expanded the lead to three points, hitting an off-balance jumper with 12 seconds to play.

“I grew up in New York City and made that shot 1,000 times in the park,” said Jackson, who hit 11 of 22 shots from the field, including 4 of 8 from three-point range.

For Seton Hall (13-9, 3-9), it was another close call. Eight of its last nine games have been decided by four points or less, and five have been losses.

Georgia Tech 78, Maryland 74--Craig Neal came off the bench to hit five three-point shots and then made two free throws with nine seconds remaining as the Yellow Jackets won an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

The fifth victory in a row gave Georgia Tech a 14-7 overall record, 5-4 in the ACC. The Terrapins fell to 6-12, 0-10.

Maryland twice rallied from 10-point deficits in the second half, the first time after six consecutive points by John Johnson and the second time after Ivan Powell and Teyon McCoy each sank a pair of three-pointers.

After Maryland pulled to within 56-52 on Johnson’s spurt, Tom Hammonds sank three consecutive field goals for the Yellow Jackets to restore the 10-point margin.

DePaul 88, Marquette 76--Rod Strickland scored 24 points and Kevin Edwards scored 10 of his 14 in the first four minutes of the second half to lead the No. 5 Blue Demons at Milwaukee.

DePaul (21-1) trailed by one point at halftime, but Edwards led the Blue Demons on a 16-7 run for a 48-40 lead with 15:46 remaining.

Marquette (13-8) clipped the margin to two on several occasions but could get no closer as Strickland controlled the game with his quickness.

Villanova 71, Pennsylvania 60--Harold Jensen scored 18 points as the Wildcats rallied in the second half at Philadelphia.

After Perry Bromwell’s three-point play gave Penn (7-11) a 46-40 lead with 15 minutes to play, the Wildcats scored 10 straight points, six by Gary Massey, to go ahead, 50-46.

Mark Plansky had 16 points and Massey 12 for Villanova (13-10).