TIMBERWOLVES-HORNETS
Hornets beat Timberwolves 105-80 in Jefferson’s return
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Gerald Henderson scored 17 points, Brian Roberts added 16 and the Hornets defeated the Timberwolves 105-80 on Monday β their seventh win in eight games.
Charlotte’s Al Jefferson returned after a nine-game absence due to a groin injury. He had eight points and five rebounds in his 25 minutes off the bench.
In all, Charlotte’s bench outscored Minnesota 52-31, including 28-3 in the pivotal first half. Reserves Gary Neal had 12 points and P.J. Hairston had 11 for Charlotte.
Thaddeus Young had 18 points to lead Minnesota, which failed in its quest to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Charlotte went 12 of 22 from 3-point range after making just 2 of 15 attempts Saturday against Indiana.
The Hornets jumped out to a 50-33 lead at halftime.
HURRICANES-MAPLE LEAFS
Staal, Khudobin lead Hurricanes to 4-1 win over Maple Leafs
TORONTO (AP) β Eric Staal scored twice and Anton Khudobin stopped 34 shots to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Brad Malone and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-2-1 this month.
Nazem Kadri scored with 5:11 remaining to end Khudobin’s shutout bid and end Toronto’s scoring drought at 162:14. The Maple Leafs, back home after a winless four-game trip, have lost five straight and fell to 1-6-0 under interim coach Peter Horachek.
The Hurricanes controlled play against the Leafs, chasing starting goalie Jonathan Bernier after he gave up Staal’s first goal in the opening minute of the second period. Bernier gave up three goals on 13 shots, and was replaced by James Reimer β who stopped all 18 shots he faced.
Staal capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:34 remaining in the game.
T25-PITTSBURGH-DUKE
Coach K claims 999th win, No. 5 Duke beats Pitt 79-65
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) β Mike Krzyzewski moved one victory from 1,000 for his Hall of Fame career in No. 5 Duke’s 79-65 win over Pittsburgh on Monday night.
Freshman Tyus Jones matched a season high with 22 points for the Blue Devils (16-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
They shot 46 percent and made 11 3-pointers while holding Pitt to three of them. And for the second straight game they mixed in a 2-3 zone defense β an out-of-character move for Krzyzewski, a noted man-to-man disciple.
Coach K improved to 999-308 during his 40-year career. His first chance to become the first men’s coach in Division I history to reach four figures comes Sunday against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden.
That’s also where in 2011 he passed Bob Knight as the winningest men’s coach in college basketball’s top tier.
Jamel Artis had a career-high 21 points for Pitt (13-6, 3-3).
APPALACHIAN ST-TROY
Appalachian State holds off Troy 69-64
TROY, Ala. (AP) β Frank Eaves sank six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 29 points to lead Appalachian State to a 69-64 win over Troy on Monday night.
Eaves, coming off a 27-point performance Saturday against Georgia State, continued his hot shooting by going 8 of 16 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the line. Tommy Spagnolo added 10 points for Appalachian State (6-10, 3-4 Sun Belt).
The Mountaineers trailed by five at the break but edged into a 41-40 lead with a bucket from Landon Goesling, who padded the advantage with a three-point play with 13:17 remaining.
Troy (7-9, 2-5) stayed close β tying it at 51, 54, 56 and 59 β but couldn’t overtake Appalachian State. Griffin Kinney put the Mountaineers back in front for good with a layup with 4:24 to go.
Wesley Person Jr. led Troy with 15 points, while Kevin Thomas had 13 and Musa Abdul-Aleem 11.
NC A&T-NORFOLK ST
Short, Norfolk State beat North Carolina A&T 74-60
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) β Jeffrey Short hit four 3-pointers and scored 19, and RaShid Gaston added 16 points, to lead Norfolk State past North Carolina A&T 74-60 on Monday night.
Norfolk State (12-9, 5-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) trailed 34-33 at halftime, but made 16 of 24 field goals in the second half.
Malik Gray made a 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 52-51 lead with 8:32 left before a 3 by Short started a 20-6 run to close the game.
North Carolina A&T (5-15, 2-4), which has lost 21 of its last 22 road or neutral-site games, made just 2 of 9 field goals and committed five turnovers in the final seven-plus minutes.
Norfolk State finished 28 of 46 (60.9 percent) from the field, including 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Bruce Beckford led NC A&T, which hit just 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) second-half shots, with 21 points.
NC CENTRAL-HAMPTON
McDonald, NCCU rally from 12-down to beat Hampton 59-52
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) β Anthony McDonald scored all 17 of his points after halftime to help North Carolina Central rally from a 12-point second-half deficit for a 59-52 win over Hampton on Monday.
Dante Holmes had 15 points and Nimrod Hilliard added 11 as NCCU (14-5, 6-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) won its eighth straight game. The Eagles were 0 of 7 from distance in the first half and 5 of 8 in the second β with three by McDonald.
Hilliard gave NCCU a 46-44 lead with 7:09 remaining β its first advantage since it was 11-9 β after trailing by as many as 13 points.
Dwight Meikle made 11 of 19 shots and finished with 26 points for Hampton (8-10, 4-2). He scored 11 first-half points to help Hampton hold a 28-18 lead at the break.
The Pirates only made four field goals in the final 10 minutes of the game.
UNC ASHEVILLE-CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Nimley has 3rd straight 30-plus game for Charleston Southern
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) β Saah Nimley made four free throws in the final 31 seconds to notch his third 30-plus point game as Charleston Southern beat UNC Asheville 82-75 on Monday.
Nimley hit 10 of 19 field goals, including 4 of 11 from 3-point range, and hit all seven of his free throw attempts to finish with a career-high 31 points for Charleston Southern (11-7, 5-2 Big South). Arlon Harper also hit four 3-pointers and had 27 points.
Andrew Rowsey led UNC Asheville (8-9, 4-2) with 34 points on 9 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 16 behind the arc and 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Sam Hughes added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Rowsey scored Asheville’s final 12 points, the last at the 22-second mark to cut Asheville’s deficit to 77-75. Nimley made two free throws three seconds later and Cedrick Bowen capped the scoring with a free throw and dunk.
LONGWOOD-HIGH POINT
Wallace, Cugini help High Point hold off Longwood
HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) β Devante Wallace had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Lorenzo Cugini scored 15 as High Point overcame poor shooting in the second half to hold on for a 72-67 win over Longwood on Monday night.
After back-to-back 3’s by Cugini and Wallace made it 44-26 with 17 minutes to go, Longwood (6-14, 2-5 Big South) scored 14 of the next 15 to pull within five fewer than 3 minutes later.
A layup by Cugini capped a 10-3 run and pushed High Point’s lead to 12 with 10:59 remaining, but the Panthers (14-4, 5-1) made just 1 of 6 field goals and committed four turnovers over the next 10-plus minutes as Longwood pulled within 62-58.
Wallace hit a 3 to open up a seven-point lead with 1:14 left and High Point hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final minute to seal it.
Quincy Taylor led the Lancers with 19 points.
NORTH CAROLINA-CHIZIK
Tar Heels turn to Chizik to improve struggling defense
UNDATED (AP) – North Carolina is hoping former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik can turn around its struggling defense.
The Tar Heels have hired Chizik as defensive coordinator after allowing the most points and yards in their history last year.
Chizik accepted an offer about 2Β½ weeks ago, though the school didn’t officially announce the hiring until Monday once it was finalized. Team spokesman Kevin Best said the three-year deal will pay a base salary of $250,000 plus undisclosed outside compensation.
UNC allowed 39 points and 497.8 yards per game last year.
Chizik replaces Vic Koenning, who worked as associate head coach for defense for three years. Head coach Larry Fedora said last month that he and Koenning had reached a “mutual decision” that Koenning would pursue other college jobs.
