VILLANOVA, Pennsylvania — Josh Hart scored 25 points and No. 2 Villanova held off a late Georgetown run in a 75-64 victory Tuesday night.
With Hart on a second-half scoreless skid, the Hoyas (13-12, 4-8 Big East) sliced a 17-point deficit to two and had the Wildcats reeling at the Pavilion. L.J. Peak buried a 3 and Rodney Pryor hit a jumper to key a 17-4 run that pulled the Hoyas to 60-58 with 3:49 left.
The Hoyas, swept by Villanova in three games last season, seemed poised to pull off the upset they needed to try and make a run at the NCAA Tournament.
But the Hoyas just couldn’t stop Hart in the clutch.
The Wildcats (23-2, 10-2) held on and won the 79th game in the series between these decades-long rivals.
Peak led Georgetown with 21 points and Pryor had 20.
No. 15 Kentucky 92, LSU 85: Wenyen Gabriel scored a career-high 23 points and Malik Monk also had 23 for Kentucky.
The Wildcats (19-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) won for just the second time in five games and had to withstand the Tigers’ late rally that got them within 91-85 with 14 seconds remaining. Monk’s free throw with 8 seconds left sealed a win that followed Kentucky’s 22-point loss at No. 17 Florida on Saturday.
Antonio Blakeney had a season-high 31 points and Brandon Sampson added 17 for the Tigers (9-14, 1-10), who have lost 10 straight for the first time since 2011.
No. 17 Florida 72, Georgia 60: Chris Chiozza scored 15 points and Florida recovered after blowing a 16-point lead.
Kasey Hill had 12 points for Florida (19-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference), which has won five straight.
Yante Maten led Georgia (13-11, 4-7) with 19 points.
Alabama 90, No. 19 S. Carolina 86 (4 OT): Riley Norris scored six of his 11 points in the fourth and final overtime, including the go-ahead free throws with 56 seconds left, and Alabama overcame a career night by South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell.
Thornwell finished with career highs of 44 points and 21 rebounds. He made 25 free throws, surpassing LSU great “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s mark of 21 in a Southeastern Conference game. But it was not enough for South Carolina (19-5, 9-2).
Avery Johnson Jr. and Ar’Mond Davis had career highs of 23 points and 19 points for Alabama.
Penn St. 70, No. 21 Maryland 64: Lamar Stevens scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half for Penn State.
Tony Carr added 14 points and Mike Watkins had 10 for the Nittany Lions (13-12, 5-7 Big Ten) .
Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter scored 12 points each and Melo Trimble added 11 for the Terrapins (20-4, 8-3) who lost their second in a row.
No. 22 Butler 68, Marquette 65: Andrew Chrabascz scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half and Avery Woodson scored 17 points in his first start in more than three weeks for Butler.
Markus Howard had 19 points for Marquette (15-9, 6-6).
