Liberty not only has an eight-game winning streak, it now includes three guys on the team who have scored 1,000 points for the Flames.
Liberty (14-3, 6-0 Conference USA) extended its winning streak with a 73-71 escape Thursday night against New Mexico State.
Trailing 46-29 at halftime in Lynchburg, the Aggies (9-7, 2-4) mounted a furious comeback and had a look to win. The Aggies’ Jemel Jones’ 3-point attempt bounced off the front of the rim with 2.8 seconds remaining, and Liberty secured the rebound.
Senior forward Zach Cleveland (11 points, six rebounds, seven assists) became the 34th player in Liberty history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, joining teammates Colin Porter (Jan. 8) and Kaden Metheny (Dec. 16) in recently accomplishing that milestone.
Liberty sports information said the Flames and No. 5 Purdue (Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn) are the only Division I teams with three active players who have scored 1,000 points for their current schools.
Thursday, JJ Harper and Brett Decker Jr. scored 17 each for Liberty. Anthony Wrzeszcz had 16 and Jones 15 for NMSU.
Appalachian State 80, James Madison 65: The Mountaineers (11-8, 4-3 Sun Belt) took a 12-0 lead and never trailed as they shot 52.5%, making 13 3-point shots. Kasen Jennings and Alonzo Dodd scored 23 points each for App State.
JMU (9-9, 2-4) shot just 35%. Cliff Davis scored 15 to lead the Dukes, all from behind the arc. Bradley Douglas had 10 points and four assists.
Mercer 77, VMI 67: Armani Mighty had 25 rebounds and 18 points for the Bears (11-7, 3-2 Southern Conference) in Lexington, and teammate Brady Shoulders scored 20 points.
Linus Holmstrom led the Keydets (6-12, 1-4) with 18 points and three steals. VMI also got 15 points from TJ Johnson.
No. 9 Gonzaga 86, Washington State 65: Graham Ike scored 23 points for the Bulldogs (18-1, 6-0 West Coast Conference) in Pullman, Washington. Jalen Warley, a Virginia transfer, had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks.
Simon Hildebrandt, Ace Glass and Jerone Morton had 16 points apiece for the Cougars (8-11, 3-3).
Women
Virginia Tech 79, SMU 42: Unlike the men’s game the previous night in Dallas, the Hokies’ women were much too far ahead to be victimized if they had yielded a half-court basket as the clock hit zeroes.
Samyha Suffren and Kilah Freelon scored 18 points apiece as Virginia Tech dominated at Moody Coliseum. Suffren’s total was a career high, and Freelon had nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals.
Carys Baker scored 15, Carleigh Wenzel had 10 points, and Mel Daley had eight points and seven rebounds.
The Hokies (14-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved ahead 8-0. After the Mustangs pulled to 10-8, Tech moved ahead 32-19 by finishing the first half on an 8-2 run. It was 57-33 after three quarters, and the Hokies made it even more lopsided in the fourth.
SMU (7-11, 0-6) got 22 points and nine rebounds from Anaya Brown but shot just 12 of 54 (22.2%).
Duke 65, Virginia 58: The Cavaliers (13-5, 5-2 ACC) turned a 13-point deficit into a 51-45 lead early in the fourth quarter at Cameron Indoor Stadium, only to see the Blue Devils (12-6, 7-0) get hot with nine consecutive points and retain the lead. UVA was just 2 of its last 13 from the field, while Duke was 7 of 9.
Tabitha Amanze’s 20 points led UVA; the Cavaliers were 11 of 11 on free throws, and she sank eight of those. Duke’s Toby Fournier had 25 points and nine rebounds. Ashlon Jackson sank two key 3-pointers in the final stages.
James Madison 80, Marshall 43: Off to a disappointing Sun Belt start, the Dukes (12-7, 4-3) went ahead 27-2 by the first quarter’s end in Harrisonburg and handed the Thundering Herd (15-4, 6-1) its first conference loss in emphatic fashion. Marshall fell into a first-place tie with Arkansas State and Georgia Southern, a half-game ahead of Troy.
JMU, with its most lopsided Sun Belt victory in its three-plus years in the conference, gained a split of the two games between East Division rivals.
Bree Robinson (19), Peyton McDaniel (18) and Lake Taylor High graduate Ashanti Barnes (18) combined for 55 JMU points. Barnes grabbed 15 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season, and Princess High alumna Zakiya Stephenson, a junior, had seven assists and a career-high-tying five steals. McDaniel became the fourth JMU player to eclipse 2,000 career points.
Auburn 58, No. 21 Alabama 54: The Tigers (13-6, 2-3 SEC) beat an AP Top 25 foe for the first time in three tries under former Norfolk State coach Larry Vickers, turning back the visiting Crimson Tide (17-2, 3-2). Auburn was 10 for 10 on free throws in the fourth quarter, including two to clinch by Ja’Mia Harris with three seconds remaining.
Khady Leye scored 16 points and Kaitlyn Duhon scored 10 for Auburn. Jessica Timmons scored 16 points for Alabama but committed a charging foul on her team’s last meaningful possession.
No. 1 Connecticut 99, Villanova 50: Sarah Strong had 24 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, and UConn extended its winning streak to 34 games with a blowout in Storrs.
Azzi Fudd had 14 points, KK Arnold tied her season high with 13 points to go with seven assists and four steals, and Blanca Quinonez added 13 points as UConn (18-0, 9-0 Big East) won its 47th consecutive regular-season league game.
Freshman Kennedy Henry had 12 points for the Wildcats (14-4, 7-2).
No. 2 South Carolina 68, No. 4 Texas 65: Joyce Edwards had 14 points and eight rebounds, Tessa Johnson added 13 points, and host South Carolina avenged its only loss this season by earning its 11th straight victory.
Ta’Niya Latson scored 12 points and Raven Johnson came up with some big shots down the stretch, scoring six of her 10 points in the pivotal fourth quarter for the Gamecocks (18-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference).
Madison Booker had 24 points and Rori Harmon added 16 to lead Texas (18-2, 3-2), which was 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
No. 5 Vanderbilt 89, Mississippi State 84: Mikayla Blakes scored a season-high 38 points as Vanderbilt won its school-record 18th straight game to open the season. The Commodores are 5-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1992-93.
Madison Francis led MSU (14-5, 1-4) with 15 points.
No. 7 Kentucky 94, Florida 89: Tonie Morgan scored a season-high 26 points and had 13 assists for the Wildcats (17-2, 4-1 SEC), who improved to 10-0 at home and fended off a late rally by the Gators (12-8, 0-5).
Junior Clara Strack, who accompanied coach Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech before last season, had 21 points for Kentucky.
No. 8 Michigan 85, Illinois 69: Olivia Olson scored 21 points, including 15 in the first half, and Te’Yala Delfosse added 15 for the Wolverines (15-2, 6-1 Big Ten), who improved to 10-0 at home.
Berry Wallace scored 26 and Jasmine Brown-Hagger 16 for the Illini (14-4, 4-3).
No. 9 Louisville 79, No. 23 Notre Dame 66: Reyna Scott scored 20 points as visiting Louisville (17-3, 7-0 ACC) captured its 10th straight victory. Led by Scott, Louisville’s reserves outscored Notre Dame 31-2.
Hannah Hidalgo had 24 points, five rebounds and eight assists for Notre Dame (12-5, 2-3).