Hatten Finds Some Time to Beat Duke

Marcus Hatten was fouled with no time left on the clock and he stepped to the free-throw line with a chance to give struggling St. John’s an upset of No. 6 Duke.

Before a sellout crowd of 19,610 at Madison Square Garden, Hatten made the free throw to cap a 12-0 run and give the Red Storm a 72-71 victory that ended a losing streak at four.

Hatten, a senior, had 29 points, including 16 of the last 22 for St. John’s (13-12). Duke (20-5) was held scoreless over the final four minutes.

“This has been an up-and-down season with a lot on the downside, but we never quit on each other and this win means a lot to us going to the end of the season and the Big East tournament,” said Hatten, who didn’t even bother with the second free throw.

Duke had the ball with the score tied and 30 seconds to play after Hatten missed a jumper. The Blue Devils did not call a timeout and ran their offense to try for a possible game-winning attempt.

But Hatten stole the ball from Daniel Ewing near midcourt and drove to the basket, getting fouled by Ewing as the buzzer sounded.

The Red Storm had lost seven of nine and was 1-5 in its last six home games.

No. 2 Kentucky 74, No. 21 Georgia 66 -- The Wildcats forced five consecutive turnovers during a game-deciding run at Athens, Ga., in extending their winning streak to 18 games.

Kentucky (24-3, 14-0 Southeastern Conference) clinched a share of the Eastern Division title. The Wildcats lead Florida by two games with two games left for each team, including a regular season-ending matchup Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.

The Bulldogs (17-8, 9-5) were playing their first game without assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr., suspended Friday after a former player accused him of paying part of his expenses and committing academic fraud.

No. 8 Pittsburgh 71, Connecticut 67 -- Julius Page clinched the victory for the Panthers (21-4, 11-3 Big East) with a free throw with five seconds left at Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh led, 67-60, with 2:43 remaining but didn’t secure the victory until Brandin Knight and Page each made a free throw in the final 17 seconds.

In between, the Huskies (18-7, 9-5) had the ball and a chance to tie, but Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson each missed a three-point shot.

No. 14 Maryland 68, North Carolina State 65 -- Drew Nicholas made a three-point basket with 1.5 seconds left at Raleigh, N.C., to give Coach Gary Williams his 500th career victory.

The Terrapins (19-7, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed by 11 with 8:51 left before going on a 21-7 run to close out the game.

The Wolfpack (15-10, 8-6) tied the score with 15 seconds left on basket by Marcus Melvin and then called a timeout. That allowed Maryland to set up a final play.

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OTHER GAMES

Alabama (16-9, 6-8 SEC) shot 59% and had four players with at least 16 points at Tuscaloosa, Ala., in handing Mississippi (12-13, 3-11) its ninth consecutive loss, 86-63.