Jordan Murphy scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, posting his national-best 15th double-double to pace Minnesota during a grind-it-out 65-55 victory over Harvard on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Dupree McBrayer returned from a two-game absence because of a lower left leg injury with a team-leading 15 points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range, a big boost for the Gophers’ backcourt with senior point guard Nate Mason sitting out to protect a sprained left ankle.
Freshman Isaiah Washington started in Mason’s place and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to help soften the blow of a 4-for-17 shooting performance from the field.
Corey Johnson led the Crimson with 12 points, going 4 for 10 from 3-point range. The rest of the team was 3 for 22 behind the arc, including an 0-for-8 performance by Seth Towns, their second-leading scorer this season.
‘‘We didn’t get a lot of confidence and momentum there with his offensive production, which we needed,’’ Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.
Amir Coffey, who had 12 points and five assists for the Gophers (12-3), started the second half with a corner 3-pointer to push their lead back to double digits. The Crimson (5-8) didn’t fade despite their perimeter-shooting persistence, finally attempting their first free throw with 12:11 remaining in the game.
Chris Lewis, who had 10 points, converted a reverse layup before a 3-pointer by Johnson brought the Crimson within 45-42. But McBrayer sank a 3-pointer at the eight-minute mark and the Gophers survived.
Northeastern 81, James Madison 70 — Vasa Pusica scored 31 points and Shawn Occeus had 21, both career highs, and the Huskies (8-5) opened Colonial Athletic Association play by beating the host Dukes (4-10).
Leading by 4 early in the second half, the Huskies outscored JMU, 19-9, including 6 straight points from Jeremy Miller and 5 consecutive by Bolden Brace to go up, 72-58, with six minutes left.
Pusica, a junior transfer from San Diego who sat out last season, and Occeus scored 12 points each to open the game then Pusica scored Northeastern’s final 12 of the half for a 44-36 advantage.
Devon Begley added 10 points for the Huskies, who shot 49 percent and have won six of their last seven games. Stuckey Mosley scored 18 points for the Dukes.
St. Bonaventure 98, UMass 78 — Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley combined for 60 points and nine 3-pointers to propel the host Bonnies (11-2) to a rout of the Minutemen (7-7) in an Atlantic 10 Conference opener.
Luwane Pipkins scored 17 points to lead UMass, which fell to 0-6 on the road. Malik Hines scored a career-high 16, while C.J. Anderson added 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
St. Bonaventure beat the Minutemen for the sixth straight time and has won 10 of the last 12 meetings.
Butler 101, Villanova 93 — The Wildcats’ perfect season is over and their reign at No. 1 probably is, too.
Kelan Martin scored 24 points and Paul Jorgensen had a career-high 23 to help the host Bulldogs upset the previously unbeaten Wildcats. It’s the second straight year Butler (12-3, 2-0 Big East) has ended Villanova’s perfect start.
Jalen Brunson had 31 points and Mikal Bridges finished with 21 to help Villanova (13-1, 1-1) cut a 23-point deficit to 6 with 1:33 left. But Brunson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with a chance to make it a 4-point game.
It was a stunning twist for Villanova, which had won 10 of its 13 games by 14 or more points and was allowing 65.8 points per game.
But the difference Saturday was the Bulldogs’ 3-point flurry. They made seven in the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 53-45 lead then made all five of their threes in the second half. Butler wound up 15 of 22 on 3s.
Duke 100, Florida State 93 — Marvin Bagley III had 32 points and 21 rebounds and the fourth-ranked Blue Devils (13-1, 1-1 ACC) pulled away late to beat the No. 24 Seminoles (11-2, 0-1) in Durham, N.C.
Phil Cofer scored a career-high 28 points and Braian Angola finished with a career-best 23 for the Seminoles, who shot nearly 45 percent and hit 15 3-pointers.
Angola’s three with just under four minutes remaining put them up, 91-89, but they missed their final eight shots — six of which came from long range.
Wichita State 72, UConn 62 — Landry Shamet scored 16 points to lead the No. 8 Shockers (11-2) over the Huskies (7-6, 0-1) in Hartford in Wichita State’s first American Athletic Conference game.
Rashard Kelly, Conner Frankamp and Austin Reaves each added 11 points for Wichita State, which has won three straight.
Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier each had 18 points for the Huskies, who have lost three in a row and four of their last five. Christian Vital chipped in with 17 points for UConn.
Wisconsin 82, UMass Lowell 53 — Ethan Happ scored 18 points in 20 minutes, and Brevin Pritzl added 18 points to lead the host Badgers (8-7) to the easy win over the River Hawks (6-7). Josh Gantz scored 16 points for UMass Lowell.
Rhode Island 83, George Mason 64 — E.C. Matthews had 18 points and five rebounds and the host Rams (9-3) blasted the Patriots for their fourth straight win (6-8).
Columbia 83, Maine 71 — Quinton Adlesh had 16 points with a career-high seven assists and Mike Smith added another 16 points as the host Lions (2-10) thumped the Black Bears. Aaron Calixte led Maine (3-12) with 19 points.
Northwestern 95, Brown 73 — Dererk Pardon scored 18 points and the host Wildcats (10-5) wiped out an early deficit and rolled past the Bears. Brandon Anderson had 26 points for Brown (6-6), which saw its two-game winning streak end.
Men’s hockey
Northeastern 3, AIC 1 — Zach Solow broke a 1-1 tie at 7:17 of the third period and the eighth-ranked Huskies (11-5-2) got past the visiting Yellow Jackets (6-12-2).
Nolan Stevens scored 1:06 into the game and Matt Filipe added an empty-netter with 15 seconds left to seal it for NU, which is 4-0-1 in its last five games.
BC 2, UConn 0 — Sophomore Ryan Edquist had 23 saves to post his first career shutout and the 14th-ranked Eagles (10-7-2, 10-3-0 Hockey East) blanked the visiting Huskies (8-12-2, 5-8-1).
David Cotton got BC on the board at 12:43 of the first on the power play and Ron Greco sealed the win with 9:08 left in the game.
Harvard 4, Vermont 1 — Ryan Donato had a hat trick and the Crimson (5-6-1) knocked off the Catamounts (4-12-3) in the consolation game of the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt.
Donato scored twice in the first period to break a 1-1 tie and sealed the win with an empty-netter with 36 seconds left.
St. Lawrence 3, UMass Lowell 0 — Daniel Mannella turned aside 35 shots and the Saints (3-14-1) shut down the River Hawks (10-9-0) to win the Catamount Cup title.
Football
Penn State 35, Washington 28 — Trace McSorley threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, Saquon Barkley ran for two more scores, and the No. 9 Nittany Lions outlasted the No. 12 Huskies in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.
Penn State (11-2) had its way with Washington’s vaunted defense early, building a 28-7 lead by the second quarter. Washington (10-3) woke up from an offensive slumber with two touchdowns and pulled to 35-28 on Myles Gaskins’s 69-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Women’s hockey
Princeton 4, BU 1 — Sophomore Breanna Scarpaci got her first goal of the season but the host Tigers (5-9-3) pulled away to hand the Terriers (7-10-3) their third loss in the last four games.
