NCAA News Wire
Top 25 roundup: Baylor beats Iowa State on Chery’s shot
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
WACO, Texas — Baylor guard Kenny Chery hit a jumper from just outside the lane with four seconds left to lift the 22nd-ranked Bears to a thrilling, 74-73 win over the 11th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
Seconds earlier, Cyclones guard Bryce Dejean-Jones nailed a 3-pointer from the left side to put Iowa State in front after a furious comeback.
After Chery’s basket, Iowa State forward Georges Niang had a look to win it with about two seconds left, but his shot bounced off the front of the rim.
The Bears (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) notched their first win against a top-25 opponent this season by holding off Iowa State (12-3, 2-1).
The Bears led by as many as 17 points in the first half and had a 14-point margin in the second half.
Forward Royce O’Neale led Baylor with 15 points, while forward Rico Gathers did plenty of work inside, finishing with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Baylor forward Johnathan Motley added 14 and Chery finished with 13.
Guard Naz Long led Iowa State with 19 points and DeJean-Jones scored 14.
Villanova 88, Xavier 75
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Villanova used its best 3-point shooting effort of the season to jump out to a big lead and hold on for the victory at the Pavilion.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (16-1, 4-1 Big East) surpassed their previous season high of 13 treys in a game with 6:35 to play on a 3-pointer by junior guard Ryan Arcidiacono.
Arcidiacono, the Big East leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, finished with a team-high 18 points and six assists against just one turnover, continuing a strong stretch of games after a wrist injury limited his effectiveness early in the season.
Guard J.P. Macura and forward Jalen Reynolds scored 14 points apiece for Xavier (11-6, 2-3).
North Carolina 81, North Carolina State 79
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State failed to pull off a second straight victory over a ranked team as guard Marcus Paige scored 23 points to help 15th-ranked North Carolina beat the Wolfpack at PNC Arena.
North Carolina State (12-5, 3-2 ACC) had knocked off then-No. 2 Duke on the same court on Sunday, and the Wolfpack used a late rally to give themselves a chance against North Carolina (13-4, 3-1 ACC).
Paige’s 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down pushed North Carolina’s lead to 71-60 with 4:22 left before the Wolfpack comeback.
N.C. State guard Trevor Lacey made two foul shots with 1.7 seconds left despite trying to miss the second one to cut North Carolina’s lead to one point. Paige answered with two more free throws with one second left for a three-point margin.
N.C. State’s Abdul-Malik Abu was fouled with 0.2 of a second left. Abu made the first free throw to reduce the deficit to two and intentionally missed the second. Wolfpack freshman Cody Martin’s tip attempt in traffic didn’t drop as the horn sounded.
Notre Dame 62, Georgia Tech 59
ATLANTA — No. 12 Notre Dame survived its second close call against Georgia Tech in the last 11 days.
The Fighting Irish (16-2, 4-1 ACC) needed double overtime to beat Georgia Tech in the conference opener on Jan. 4 and never found a way to pull away from the pesky Yellow Jackets in the rematch.
Notre Dame secured the victory with 19.6 seconds left when guard Jerian Grant hit a short jumper to give the Irish a 59-56 lead. Grant led the Fighting Irish with 12 points and five assists. Georgia Tech (9-7, 0-4) was led by center Demarco Cox with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Notre Dame played without forward Zach Auguste, who will be out for an undetermined period to deal with an academic matter.
Wichita State 67, Southern Illinois 55
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State won its 23rd straight regular-season Missouri Valley Conference game to set a modern-era record.
The 13th-ranked Shockers defeated Southern Illinois to take the record from the Salukis, who won 22 in a row from 2003-04. Former MVC members Cincinnati (1957-59) and Oklahoma State (1947-49) also won 22 in a row.
Senior forward Darius Carter scored a career-high 25 points for Wichita State (15-2, 5-0 MVC), which kept pace with
