Maryland Goes the Rout Against Virginia

Juan Dixon’s 21 points led five players in double figures Saturday at College Park, Md., as No. 16 Maryland dismantled No. 7 Virginia, 102-67, to end the regular season with consecutive victories over top 10 teams.

“We’ve earned our way back into things,” Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. “We’ve earned a right to be confident, not cocky. I like to coach confident teams.”

The 35-point victory, matching Maryland’s biggest over Virginia, clinched third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Terrapins (20-9, 10-6), who will play sixth-seeded Wake Forest on Friday in the first round of the conference tournament.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Cavaliers (20-7, 9-7), who finished 2-6 in road ACC games. Virginia, which will play fifth-seeded Georgia Tech on Friday, defeated Maryland by 21 points five weeks ago but hasn’t won at Cole Field House since 1993. The 56-point swing in the two games tied the third largest in ACC history.

“I don’t think we could have beaten anybody in the ACC today,” Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. “It’s back to the drawing board. We just haven’t played well on the road.”

Maryland, which had a three-game losing streak in November and a 1-5 dive in late January and early February, finished the season with five consecutive victories over four ranked teams. The Terrapins won at Duke on Tuesday, giving them consecutive victories over top 10 teams for the first time since 1976 and only the second time ever.

Backup point guard Drew Nicholas had 16 points and a career-high 10 assists for the Terrapins and Lonny Baxter added 15. Maryland shot 62%, including 72% in the second half. Roger Mason led Virginia with 16 points.

No. 3 Michigan State 78, Michigan 57--Senior Andre Hutson had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Charlie Bell, who started his school-record 129th game, had six points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Spartans earned a share of the Big Ten championship at East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans (24-3, 13-3) hold a half-game lead over No. 5 Illinois, which plays today at Minnesota. If Illinois wins, the teams share the title.

Michigan (10-17, 4-12) has lost eight of nine, with all but one decided by a double-digit margin. Bernard Robinson Jr. led the Wolverines with 19 points.

No. 8 Iowa State 86, Nebraska 73--Jamaal Tinsley scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half as the Cyclones won the Big 12 championship outright for the second consecutive season at Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State, which trailed by 10 points in the first half, used a 35-9 edge in free throws to offset Nebraska’s 54% shooting and won for the 36th time in a row at Hilton Coliseum.

But Nebraska (14-15, 7-9) gave the Cyclones a scare despite playing without center Kimani Ffriend, who injured his right knee in practice Friday.

No. 11 Boston College 96, West Virginia 65--Troy Bell scored 28 points as the Eagles extended their winning streak to four games at Morgantown, W. Va.

West Virginia (17-10, 8-8 in the Big East) saw its hopes for an NCAA tournament bid grow faint because of poor ballhandling and defense.

Kenny Walls and Kenny Harley scored 15 points each for Boston College (23-4, 13-3). Calvin Bowman led West Virginia with 19 points.

No. 14 Mississippi 105, No. 20 Alabama 71--The Rebels set a school record for victories and clinched the Southeastern Conference West title in convincing fashion at Oxford, Miss.

Jason Holmes scored a career-high 26 points, and fellow seniors Rahim Lockhart and Jason Flanigan combined for 31 points as Mississippi (23-6, 11-5) completed a worst-to-first regular season. The Rebels won only five conference games last season.

The Crimson Tide (20-9, 8-8) has lost four in a row and finished the regular season 1-7 on the road.

No. 17 Oklahoma 68, Oklahoma State 56--Maurice Baker scored a career-high 31 points for the Cowboys, but the Sooners offset that with balanced scoring and strong interior defense at Norman, Okla.

Hollis Price scored 16 points, including a clock-beating three-point basket with 1:23 to play, as the Sooners (23-6, 12-4 in the Big 12) gained revenge for a 28-point loss to Oklahoma State (19-8, 10-6) on Feb. 14 at Stillwater, Okla.

La Salle 91, No. 18 Saint Joseph’s 90--Victor Thomas scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final two minutes, as the Explorers withstood a late rally and snapped the Hawks’ 10-game winning streak at Philadelphia.

Julian Blanks, who finished with 20 points, made seven of 10 free throws in the final minute and his two with 7.2 seconds left put La Salle (11-16, 5-11 in the Atlantic 10) ahead, 91-87.

La Salle, which had lost four in a row, led 78-68 with 1:19 left, but Marvin O’Connor kept St. Joseph’s (24-5, 14-2) in the game by scoring 18 of his 37 points in the final 59 seconds.

No. 22 Wisconsin 59, Iowa 57--Kirk Penney scored 17 points, including two clutch free throws in the final minute, as the Badgers ended a two-game losing streak and dealt a damaging blow to the Hawkeyes’ NCAA tournament hopes at Iowa City, Iowa.

Wisconsin (18-9, 9-7 in the Big Ten) scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half for a 37-30 lead, then expanded it to 50-39 on Penney’s shot from the left corner at the 8:46 mark.

Dean Oliver scored 18 points for Iowa (18-11, 7-9), which has lost three consecutive games.

No. 24 Texas 78, Texas Tech 55--The Longhorns broke a 20-20 tie by scoring 50 of the next 68 points and routed the Red Raiders at Lubbock, Texas.

Chris Owens scored 22 points and Maurice Evans added 18 for Texas (23-7, 12-4 in the Big 12), which has won six in a row.

Cliff Owens had 21 points and Jayson Mitchell added 10 for the Red Raiders (9-18, 3-13).