Feb 28, 2018 3 min read

Dukes top St. Louis

Tydus Verhoeven scored a career-high 21 points, Eric Williams Jr. added 20 and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Duquesne shot a season-high 56.5 percent from the field in beating Saint Louis 76-69 on Wednesday night to end a six-game skid and split the season series.

Mike Lewis II scored 10 points for the Dukes (16-14, 7-10 Atlantic 10 Conference), which entered the game in a three-way tie for 10th place and led 32-29 at halftime after shooting 54.2 percent.

Jalen Johnson’s 3 tied it at 32, but Lewis scored seven straight amid an 11-3 run and the Dukes led 49-39 on Verhoeven’s layup. The Billikens closed to 53-52 after Johnson hit back-to-back 3s during a 13-4 run, then led 60-57 on Hasahn French’s free throw. Williams’ go-ahead 3 sparked a 14-4 run for a 73-67 Dukes lead with 30 seconds left and the Billikens got no closer than six from there.

Javon Bess scored 20 points with seven rebounds, Johnson added 18 points with five 3-pointers, and Davell Roby and Aaron Hines added 11 points apiece for Saint Louis (16-14, 9-8), which entered in sole possession of fourth place.

Robert Morris wins

Dachon Burke shook his defender to hit an open 3-pointer that created some breathing room in the final minutes and finished by blocking a shot, racing the length of the court to throw down a dunk at the buzzer and Robert Morris edged No. 2 seed Mount Saint Mary’s 60-56 in a Northeast Conference quarterfinal upset Wednesday night.

The seventh-seeded Colonials (16-16) overcame Mount Saint Mary’s leads of as many as 13 points and travel to meet NEC regular-season champion Wagner (22-8) in a semifinal on Thursday.

Matty McConnell and Jon Williams each had three of Robert Morris’ 10 3-pointers. McConnell scored 18 points with nine rebounds and Williams scored 11. Burke scored seven of his 14 points in the final 3:19

McConnell hit a 3 that gave Robert Morris the lead for good with 9:34 remaining, but the Mountaineers never trailed by more than six.

Junior Robinson led the Mountaineers with 15 points.

Curry to

auction shoes

You can own a pair of shoes worn in a game by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry – and support a cause, to boot.

Curry posted on Instagram that he’ll be auctioning off the sneakers he wore in Golden State’s game at the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night to raise money for My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.

He says the effort “was created to reduce barriers and expand opportunity” in support of “young men and boys of color in their pursuit of achievement and higher success in life.”

Miller contract

to be reviewed

The Arizona Board of Regents has scheduled a special meeting on Thursday to get legal advice and discuss the men’s basketball program at the University of Arizona and the contract of coach Sean Miller.

The board announced the meeting in an official notice Wednesday afternoon.

Miller has not been with the team since last Saturday, when ESPN reported that federal investigators had recorded the coach in a wiretap talking about a $100,000 payout involving star freshman Deandre Ayton.

Miller has said he’s confident he’ll be vindicated. Ayton and his family have denied the player received any money to attend Arizona.

The Board of Regents is the governing body for public universities in Arizona. Thursday’s meeting will be closed to the public, which is standard when personnel matters are discussed.