Category: Basketball

Toneari Lane scored 22 points, Cesare Edwards had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Zarigue Nutter added 20 points, and Georgia State beat Georgia Southern 80-71 on Thursday in the Sun Belt Tournament. Lane shot 6 for 8 (4 for 5 from 3-point range) and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line for the Panthers (14-18). Edwards went 7 of 13 from the floor, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range, and 6 for 8 from the line.

Tony Duckett led San Diego with 21 points, including four free throws in the closing seconds, as the Toreros defeated Pacific 81-77 on Thursday in the West Coast Conference Tournament. Duckett shot 7 of 14 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line for the Toreros (6-26). Kody Clouet scored 20 points while going 4 of 11 from the floor, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range, and 9 for 9 from the line.

Johnny Kinziger had 13 points in Illinois State's 70-54 victory against Missouri State on Thursday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Dalton Banks added 12 points while going 5 of 9 from the floor, including 1 for 4 from 3-point range, and 1 for 3 from the line while he also had eight assists. Chase Walker shot 4 of 10 from the field and 3 for 5 from the line to finish with 11 points.

This first season was always going to be graded on a curve for USC basketball coach Eric Musselman, who inherited one returning player (who barely plays) and basically started from scratch last spring in resetting the program. Well, USC had lost seven of eight games (including five straight) before a much-needed 92-61 victory at home Wednesday night over Washington.

Realignment has shaken things up for college programs everywhere, yet it has been particularly grueling in the ACC and Big Ten as power-conference leagues spanning the four contiguous U.S. time zones with footprints touching both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.

Ali Dibba led Southern Illinois with 30 points and Davion Sykes made a game-winning layup with 4.1 seconds remaining as the Salukis took down Indiana State 86-85 on Thursday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Southern Illinois (14-18) advances to play top-seeded Drake in the quarterfinals on Friday. Dibba also contributed nine rebounds for the Salukis.