Purdue holds off Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — JaJuan Johnson scored 24 points and consistently hit big shots to build the lead and keep No. 9 Ohio State at bay in No. 4 Purdue's 60-57 victory Wednesday night.

With the victory, the Boilermakers (22-3, 10-3) tightened the race for first place in the Big Ten with 11th-ranked Michigan State (21-6, 11-3).

"It's a huge win for us," Johnson said. "This puts us closer to our goal of winning the Big Ten championship."

E'Twaun Moore had 15 points and Keaton Grant added 13 off the bench for Purdue, which had lost in all nine of its previous trips to Value City Arena. The Boilermakers won their eighth straight game overall.

Evan Turner had 29 points, William Buford 11 and Jon Diebler 10 for Ohio State (20-7, 10-4), which had won its past nine Big Ten games.

Diebler had a chance to tie the game, but his last-second three-pointer clanked off the back of the rim.

Top 10 men

No. 6 Duke 81, at Miami 74

Kyle Singler scored 22 points and Duke used smothering defense to rally from a 12-point halftime deficit and beat Miami.

Jon Scheyer missed his first nine shots and Nolan Smith missed his first six for the Blue Devils, who shot 31 percent in the opening half to fall behind 37-25. But 22 turnovers doomed the Hurricanes, who attempted only 45 shots to 60 for the Blue Devils.

Duke outscored Miami 29-9 to start the second half and shot 9 for 15 from three-point range after halftime.

The Blue Devils (22-4, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) increased their league lead with their fifth win in a row. Miami (17-9, 3-9) lost for only the second time in 13 home games.

At No. 7 Kansas State 91, Nebraska 87

Denis Clemente scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, including a clinching bucket in the final seconds, and Kansas State rallied from two big deficits to beat last-place Nebraska.

Riding the crest of their highest national ranking since 1962, the Wildcats (21-4, 8-3 Big 12) trailed by 10 points in the first half and were down nine early in the second to a team coming off a 40-point loss at No. 15 Texas.

Dominique Sutton also had 21 points as the Wildcats swept the season series for the first time in six years.

Anderson had 22 points for Nebraska (13-13, 1-10), and Brandon Richardson had 15.

No. 8 West Virginia 88,

at Providence 74

Devin Ebanks scored 21 points and West Virginia used its big height advantage to dominate inside and break a two-game losing streak with a win over Providence.

The Mountaineers took a 25-4 lead by scoring 23 straight points, but Providence cut that to 46-28 at halftime and 48-42 with a 14-2 rally to open the second half. West Virginia then recovered by scoring the next nine points and stayed in front by at least 10 the rest of the way.

West Virginia (20-5, 9-4 Big East) had dropped from the No. 5 ranking with losses to Villanova and to Pittsburgh in triple overtime. Providence (12-14, 4-10) lost its sixth straight game. The Friars were led by Jamine Peterson, their tallest starter at 6 feet 6, with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Four starters for the Mountaineers were taller.

Top 5 women

At No. 3 Nebraska 60,

No. 13 Iowa State 50

Freshman Lindsey Moore scored 15 of her season-high 18 points in the second half, and unbeaten Nebraska set a school record for wins in a season.

Cory Montgomery had 16 points and Kelsey Griffin 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (24-0, 11-0 Big 12).

Kelsey Bolte scored 15 points and Jessica Schroll 14 to lead the Cyclones (19-5, 7-4), who played without injured All-America candidate Alison Lacey. Lacey suffered a mild concussion in practice Tuesday.

Moore made 4 of 7 three-pointers, her biggest coming after the Cyclones pulled within 33-31 in the middle of the second half.