For almost all of the second half, Norfolk State seemed in control of its men’s basketball game Monday night against Morgan State before 2,139 at Echols Hall.
Then came the last 90 seconds. Morgan State left in jubilation after a stunning 79-78 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory, and NSU was left with frustration.
Senior Alfred Worrell Jr. sank a 14-footer with 3.4 seconds remaining to finish with a career-high 33 points and give the underdog Bears (8-13, 4-2) their first lead since 34-33. NSU called timeout, got the ball to the frontcourt and called another timeout with 1.9 to go, but Anthony McComb III’s desperation 26-footer missed off the glass and rim as time expired.
Elijah Davis added 16 points for third-place Morgan State, Marland Harris had 14 rebounds, six blocks and six points, and Rob Lawson had nine points, six assists and two steals.
For fifth-place NSU (10-13, 3-3), Jaquel Morris scored 23 points and 11-of-12 field-goal shooting, McComb had 14 points and Devon Ellis had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
The Spartans were 16 of 27 from the free-throw line, while the Bears were 20 of 26. Morgan State hit nine 3-pointers to NSU’s four, negating the Spartans’ 45-35 rebounding edge.
NSU trailed much of the first half, including 33-25. But the Spartans finished the period with a flourish, outscoring the Bears 17-3 as Morris made a late 3 for a 42-36 lead.
The Spartans boosted the edge to as many as 14, the last time at 65-51 with less than 12 minutes to go. When Morris made a layup at the 1:55 mark, it was 76-69. And then it began to unravel for coach Robert Jones’ club.
After two NSU turnovers and a miss, Worrell sank a step-back 3-pointer to trim the margin to 77-76 while drawing a McComb foul. Worrell missed the subsequent free throw, and McComb went 1 for 2 at the line with 18 seconds left.
Davis drew a foul and went 1 for 2 at the line, forcing the Bears to foul to stop the clock with about 8 seconds to go. But Jamison missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Morgan State went downcourt without a timeout and set up Worrell for the winning shot, his 10th basket on 19 tries.
No. 1 Arizona 86, No. 13 Brigham Young 83: Brayden Burries scored 29 points and made the game-saving block in the final seconds in Provo, Utah, as Arizona remained unbeaten by holding off a furious rally by BYU.
Jaden Bradley added 26 points for the Wildcats (21-0, 9-0 Big 12), who matched the best start in school history.
BYU trailed by 19 midway through the second half before trimming the deficit to one with a 12-2 run that began with just more than a minute left. Keba Keita’s putback dunk pulled the Cougars to 84-83 with 16 seconds to go, and they forced a turnover via the possession arrow on the inbounds play.
Robert Wright III drove toward the rim and wriggled free for a good look near the basket, but Burries came flying over from the weak side to block the shot from behind. He grabbed the loose ball and converted two free throws before BYU missed a long heave at the buzzer.
No. 4 Duke 83, No. 20 Louisville 52: Cameron Boozer had 19 points and 10 rebounds at Cameron Indoor Stadium to help the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorites earn a two-game sweep of their projected top challenger. Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II each added 15 points for the Blue Devils (19-1, 8-0).
Duke has won 27 straight home games and improved to 7-1 against AP Top 25 teams this year. The Blue Devils scored 13 unanswered points spanning halftime to assert control after leading by just one.
Ryan Conwell scored 18 points to lead the Cardinals (14-6, 4-4). Louisville star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. had seven points on 1-of-13 shooting.
Cavaliers fall to 17th: Virginia dropped three spots to No. 17 in the new AP poll, while Arizona (20-0) received all 60 votes as a unanimous No. 1.
St. John’s, the preseason No. 5, returned to the poll for the first time since dropping out in mid-December. Against Xavier, Rick Pitino got his 900th win.
North Carolina fittingly rose to No. 15, just ahead of UVA, after beating the Cavaliers Saturday in Charlottesville.