St. John’s Goes Postell Route for Upset

Lavor Postell had 23 points, seven rebounds and four big plays over the final 40 seconds as St. John’s beat No. 5 Connecticut, 82-77, Sunday in a Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

It was the Red Storm’s sixth consecutive victory.

St. John’s, 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big East, had no starter taller than any player on Connecticut’s front line, but the Red Storm came up with the biggest rebounds of the game, most of them by the 6-foot-6 Postell.

Connecticut (12-3, 1-2) trailed, 57-43, with 11:34 to play but clawed its way back with a 26-14 run that left the Huskies within 71-69 with 2:22 left.

But Erick Barkley of St. John’s scored five points in a row and Postell came up with one big play after another down the stretch.

The Huskies were hurt by 16 turnovers.

“It was huge,” St. John’s Coach Mike Jarvis said of the victory. “Not just the win was huge but overcoming the odds.

“We don’t believe our height, or lack of it, should be a hindrance. In fact, our lack of height is an advantage as long as we stay healthy.”

Only seven players played for St. John’s and four of the starters went 30 minutes or more.

Jarvis had particular praise for Postell, saying, “Quickness is wonderful if you know how to control it and Lavor did. Combine that with a little bit of power and strength and jumping ability and you have Lavor.”

No. 4 Auburn 51, Mississippi State 45--Chris Porter, who had taken only two three-point shots all season, made a big one with 25 seconds left as the Tigers (15-1, 3-0) won a Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Miss.

“Like I always say, ‘Big-time players step up and make big-time shots,’ ” Porter said.

The Tigers, who beat Kentucky for the first time in 10 years last Tuesday, shot only 35% from the floor and missed numerous open opportunities against Mississippi State (10-6, 2-2).

Doc Robinson was Auburn’s leading scorer with 14 points.

No. 6 Duke 85, Florida State 54--The Blue Devils (13-2, 4-0) surged from a two-point halftime deficit to rout the Seminoles (7-7, 2-1) at Tallahassee, Fla., as freshman Carlos Boozer had 21 points and Jason Williams 20.

Duke, which has not lost a regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference game since Feb. 5, 1998, at North Carolina, outscored Florida State, 53-20, in the second half for its 13 consecutive victory.

Duke needs a home victory Wednesday night against North Carolina State to match the ACC mark of 27 consecutive wins set by the Wolfpack between 1972-75.

No. 7 Syracuse 80, Notre Dame 57--Preston Shumpert made four three-pointers in a span of just over three minutes in the second half as the Orangemen (14-0, 4-0) beat the Irish (11-6, 2-1) at Syracuse, N.Y., to remain the only undefeated team in Division I.

Shumpert, who made seven of nine three-pointers, finished with a career-high 26 points and tied the school record for three-pointers in a game set by Dave Johnson in 1992. The Orangemen made seven of their first nine three-pointers in the second half and finished 14 for 27.

No. 19 Tulsa 67, Rice 49--Greg Harrington scored 21 points and led a second-half charge as the Golden Hurricane (16-1, 2-0) beat the Owls (4-9, 0-2) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Houston.

No. 21 DePaul 77, Houston 68--Paul McPherson scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as the Blue Demons (12-4, 3-1) held off the Cougars (7-10, 1-3) in a Conference USA game at Houston.

Quentin Richardson also scored 18 points and had 14 rebounds for DePaul, which was coming off a 69-60 loss to Marquette.

DePaul led 36-24 at halftime, but the Cougars rallied with a trapping defense that forced the Blue Demons into 16 second-half turnovers and got within 56-50 with 8:59 to play.

Michigan 95, No. 22 Illinois 91--Jamal Crawford, benched most of the first half for an undisclosed team violation, scored six of his 14 points in overtime as the Wolverines (11-3, 2-1) beat the Illini (9-6, 1-3) in a Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

LaVell Blanchard led Michigan with 22 points, and Cory Bradford had 28 points for Illinois.

WOMEN

No. 5 Penn State 78, Iowa 64--Katrena Carr led five double-figure scorers with a career-high 16 points and Lisa Shepherd made three key three-pointers as the Nittany Lions (15-2, 6-0) beat the Jayhawks (5-10, 2-4) in a Big Ten game at Iowa City.

Penn State, the only Big Ten team undefeated in conference play, didn’t win it easily, even with runs of 13-0 and 11-0. Penn State led by only two with 14 minutes left.

“I think that’s the welcome liability of being the only undefeated team in the conference,” Penn State Coach Rene Portland said. “It’s real easy to be on the underdog side. I think you have to show some poise when you’re on the side we’re on, and I do think there were times during that game we did show some poise.”

No. 10 Auburn 55, Vanderbilt 54--Conswella Sparrow sank two free throws with one second left to give the Tigers (14-2, 3-1) an SEC victory over the Commodores (14-3, 2-1) at Nashville, Tenn. LeCoe Willingham led Auburn with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 11 Duke 60, Clemson 51--The Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0) won their 15th in a row with an ACC victory over the Tigers (11-6, 2-3) at Durham, N.C.

Louisville 75, No. 13 Tulane 72--Jill Morton had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cardinals (10-6, 3-2) over the Green Wave (14-2, 3-2) in a Conference USA game at Louisville, Ky.

Wake Forest 69, No. 15 North Carolina 56--Alisha Mosley scored a career-high 24 points to help the Demon Deacons (6-10, 2-3) send the Tar Heels (9-7, 1-5) to their fifth consecutive defeat in an ACC game at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest ended an 18-game losing streak to North Carolina and recorded its first win over a ranked team since 1996.

No. 18 Purdue 77, Minnesota 60--The Boilermakers (10-5, 2-3) ended a three-game Big Ten losing streak with a victory over the Gophers (7-9, 1-5) at West Lafayette, Ind.

No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 95, Idaho 69--Erin Buescher scored 20 points to lead the Gauchos (13-3, 2-0) to victory over the Vandals (8-7, 1-1) in a Big West game at Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos scored a school-record 66 points in the first half, which included a 29-2 run to start the game.

The Gauchos’ Kristi Rohr had 12 points and nine rebounds. Tawnee Cooper added 12 points.

Susan Woolf led the Vandals with 19 points.

No. 22 Old Dominion 74, James Madison 57--Lucienne Berthieu had 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Lady Monarchs beat James Madison (9-7, 2-2) in a Colonial Athletic Assn. game at Norfolk, Va.

It was Old Dominion’s 87th consecutive NCAA victory.