Pittsburgh’s Willard to Step Down

Pittsburgh Coach Ralph Willard, unwilling to wait until March to learn if a string of losing seasons would lead to his firing, resigned effective at the end of the season.

Willard, 60-75 in five seasons at the school, is 11-9 this season. The Panthers started 6-0 and were ranked in the top 25 but lost two players to off-the-court problems. Guard Kellii Taylor missed six games while undergoing alcohol rehabilitation and guard Fred Primus has not played since his arrest on theft charges before a Jan. 16 game at Villanova.

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Monmouth ended the longest losing streak in Division I at 22 games by defeating Wagner, 66-61, at West Long Branch, N.J. Monmouth, 1-19 overall and 1-13 in the Northeast Conference, won for the first time since Feb. 16, 1998, when it also defeated Wagner, 81-69. Monmouth was only winless team in Division I. . . . Pat Foster will step down at the end of the season as coach at Nevada (5-13).