Villanova edges No. 9 St. John’s 73-71 for 3rd straight win

VILLANOVA, Pa.>> Tyler Perkins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining and Villanova defeated No. 9 St. John’s 73-71 on Wednesday night, ending the Red Storm’s 10-game winning streak.

Wooga Poplar scored 22 points and Eric Dixon added 17 in a critical victory for the Wildcats (15-10, 8-6 Big East), who have won three in a row.

Aaron Scott led four players in double figures with 22 points for the Red Storm (21-4, 12-2), who lead the Big East by one game over No. 24 Creighton.

No. 19 Mississippi 72, South Carolina 68>>Malik Dia hit a 3-pointer with just over two minutes remaining that put Mississippi ahead to stay and finished with 18 points as 19th-ranked Ole Miss beat South Carolina 72-68 on Wednesday night.

The Rebels (19-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) squandered a 12-point lead in the second half before Dia led a comeback.

It was the latest heartbreaker for the Gamecocks (10-14, 0-11), who have lost 11 straight games to start SEC play.

No. 3 Duke 78, California 57>> Cooper Flagg scored 27 points and No. 3 Duke extended its home winning streak to 14 games with a 78-57 victory over California on Wednesday night.

Tyrese Proctor scored 18 points and Khaman Maluach added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rebounded from Saturday’s loss to Clemson that snapped a 16-game winning streak.

WOMEN

Fudd powers No. 7 UConn past St. John’s

STORRS, Conn.>> Azzi Fudd had 17 of her career-high 34 points in the third quarter as No. 7 UConn rolled to a 78-40 win over St. John’s on Wednesday night to extend its Big East regular-season winning streak to 34 games.

Fudd hit a career-best eight 3-pointers. Paige Bueckers finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and five blocked shots in three quarters for UConn (23-3, 14-0 Big East).

NO. 14 KANSAS ST. 90, CINCINNATI 53>> Serena Sundell scored 21 points and dished 10 assists, Taryn Sides also had a double-double and No. 14 Kansas State rolled to a win over Cincinnati.

Sides had 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (23-3, 11-2 Big 12 Conference) for her first double-double.

NO. 20 OKLAHOMA ST. 83, ARIZONA 64>> Micah Gray scored 20 points, Stailee Heard added 17 and No. 20 Oklahoma State defeated Arizona.

Praise Egharevba and Tenin Magassa both added 10 points for the Cowgirls (20-4, 10-3 Big 12 Conference), who improved to 15-1 at home, their best mark since winning 16 in 2015-16. OSU outscored Arizona 48-28 in the middle quarters.

NO. 22 MICHIGAN ST. 91, WISCONSIN 71>> Grace VanSlooten scored 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and No. 22 Michigan State rolled to a win over Wisconsin.

Theryn Hallock added 18 points for the Spartans (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten Conference). Ines Sotelo had a career-high 17 points off the bench.