Ball State stuns No. 9 Notre Dame
Tayler Persons hit three-pointer from the left wing with 1.7 seconds remaining and Ball State shocked host No. 9 Notre Dame, 80-77, on Tuesday night. Persons scored 24 points, Tahjai Teague added 13 and Sean Sellers had 11 as Ball State knocked off a nationally ranked opponent for the first time since downing No. 4 UCLA, 91-73, more than 16 years ago.
Notre Dame (7-2) lost a nonconference home game for the first time since falling to North Dakota State four years ago. The Cardinals (5-4) led by a high of 67-58 with 6:45 to go, but the Irish charged all the way back to a tie of 77 on Matt Farrell’s three-pointer with 20 seconds to go. Persons then drained his three off the dribble for the victory. Ball State had lost each of nine previous meetings to its in-state rival, the most recent being almost 32 years ago by a 119-78 count. The closest the Cardinals had come against the Irish was 14 points, and ND’s average margin of victory was 29. Bonzie Colson had 26 points for the Irish. Farrell added 14 points and eight assists, while Martinas Geben finished with 12 points.
Michigan State 62, Rutgers 52: Miles Bridges scored 21 points and No. 3 Michigan State overcame its worst offensive performance of the season and held off surprising host Rutgers. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored all 11 of his points in the second half and had eight of the Spartans’ season-high 13 blocks in helping Michigan State (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten) post its seventh straight win. Joshua Langford added 15 points. Rutgers (6-3, 0-2) made Michigan State work for this one, holding the Spartans to season lows in points and shooting percentage (38.6). The previous low was 63 points and 40 percent shooting against North Carolina.
Miami 69, Boston U. 54: Freshman Lonnie Walker IV scored 26 points and host No. 10 Miami surged in the second half. Walker, making his first career start, shot 9 for 15, went 5 for 7 from three-point range and added seven rebounds in 28 minutes. Dejan Vasiljevic had 15 points for Miami (8-0), which remained unbeaten in non-conference home games since November 2015. Boston U (3-4) still hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 1959.
WVU 68, Virginia 61: Jevon Carter had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Lamont West scored 22 points and host No. 18 West Virginia sent No. 15 Virginia to its first loss. Daxter Miles Jr. added 12 points for the Mountaineers (8-1). Devon Hall led Virginia (8-1) with 19 points and Kyle Guy added 18, all in the second half.
