Dylan Darling scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, leading No. 17 St. John’s to a 79-69 win over host Providence on Saturday afternoon in a game that included a benches-clearing altercation that led to six ejections.

The game changed for good with 14:25 left in regulation. Providence’s Duncan Powell committed a hard foul on former Friar Bryce Hopkins on a breakaway layup. Powell, Jaylin Sellers and Dillon Mitchell were ejected along with Kelvin Odih, Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopoulos, who left the St. John’s bench area.

Following a delay for video review and debriefing, the Red Storm sank three of the four ensuing free throws to start an 8-0 run and take a 47-40 lead. Darling finished that stretch with his first of back-to-back 3-pointers and stole an inbounds pass for a layup.

St. John’s outscored Providence 40-29 to finish.

Darling sank three 3-pointers, went 8 of 9 from the foul line and added eight rebounds en route to a season-best performance for the Red Storm (20-5, 13-1), who extended their win streak to 11 since a Jan. 3 home loss to Providence.

Zuby Ejiofor scored 14 points, Oziyah Sellers added 11 and Hopkins had nine points and nine rebounds to add to the St. John’s attack.

Stefan Vaaks had 20 points, Ryan Mela scored 14 and Jaylin Sellers added 13 for Providence (11-15, 4-11), which has lost six of its last eight.

Before the brawl, Providence had been on a 14-1 run dating back to the final minutes of the first half, with a Jaylin Sellers 3-pointer highlighting the spurt and kicking off a back-and-forth stretch during which the game was tied two other times.

After the altercation, Providence got within four after Vaaks’ outlet feed led to a Jamier Jones three-point play with 13:55 left, but got no closer as Darling scored the game’s next five points and Ejiofor responded to multiple Mela baskets midway through the half.

Oziyah Sellers’ midrange jumper with 5:52 left gave St. John’s a double-digit lead again as part of a 9-3 run that put the game out of reach.

The Red Storm stormed out of the gates, responding to Oswin Erhunmwunse’s opening layup with a 10-0 run. Two Providence turnovers extended the segment, with Hopkins scoring the first of back-to-back baskets off steals.

After Mela’s layup stopped the run, Stu Jackson sank a 3-pointer and turned another turnover into a dunk for a 15-4 St. John’s lead in less than five minutes. A 5-0 burst brought Providence within seven, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Darling and Joson Sanon gave the Storm a 13-point lead.

A Jones three-point play and a Vaaks trey bookended Providence’s longest first-half run, making it 25-20 with 7:09 to play. St. John’s answered a near six-minute field-goal drought with a 9-2 run including a Hopkins transition dunk, but five Jaylin Sellers points and a Powell triple ended the first half.

–Field Level Media

Milan Momcilovic scored 18 points and No. 5 Iowa State’s ferocious defense smothered No. 9 Kansas for a 74-56 Big 12 victory on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, to snap the Jayhawks’ eight-game winning streak.

Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey, Jamarion Batemon and Blake Buchanan added 11 points apiece for the Cyclones (22-3, 9-3 Big 12), who moved into a third-place tie with the Jayhawks (19-6, 9-3). Jefferson and Lipsey each added four assists while Buchanan grabbed six rebounds.

Iowa State made 11 of 30 (36.7%) from long range while forcing 13 turnovers and limiting Kansas to 37.2% percent shooting from the floor.

Melvin Council Jr. paced Kansas with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Flory Bidunga had 11 points and 13 rebounds, but prized freshman Darryn Peterson was limited to a season-low 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting in 24 minutes.

Kansas went up 6-2 during a rugged start as Bidunga, Peterson and Bryson Tiller made baskets, but the home crowd came to life when Buchanan threw down a vicious slam dunk off Lipsey’s missed layup at 12:11 to knot it 6-6. Killyan Toure then sank a 24-footer to cap a 9-0 run and give Iowa State its first lead at 11:43.

Council sparked the Jayhawks by canning a trio of three-pointers and adding an alley-oop assist on Bidunga’s dunk to give the visitors a 20-16 lead at the 6:41 mark.

With his team struggling from long range, Jefferson drove past Bidunga on one possession and Peterson on another to make layups while being fouled. Jefferson completed both 3-point plays to make it 29-22 with 3:37 left in the half.

Iowa State forced 10 first-half turnovers and closed the on a 21-7 run to take a 37-27 lead into the break.

Momcilovic, who made 4 of 9 3-point attempts for the day, connected on his first two treys in the opening 90 seconds of the second half before Lipsey hit two from deep for a 49-29 lead at 17:06.

When Momcilovic cashed the Cyclones’ fifth straight 3-point attempt to start the second half, Iowa State held a 52-32 lead with 15:56 to go.

Kansas got as close as 68-56 on Council’s jumper with 4:22 left, but the Jayhawks didn’t score again as Iowa State wrapped up its sixth win in seven games.

–Field Level Media

Jarin Stevenson and Seth Trimble scored 19 points apiece on Saturday to help short-handed No. 11 North Carolina post a 79-65 victory over visiting Pittsburgh in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Zayden High had 15 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina (20-5, 8-4 ACC), which played without its two leading scorers in Caleb Wilson (19.8 points per game) and Henri Veesaar (16.4 ppg), who both missed the game with injuries. Luka Bogavac added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who won their sixth game in seven tries.

Cameron Corhen led Pittsburgh (9-17, 2-11) with 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Roman Siulepa scored 14 points and Barry Dunning Jr. contributed 10 in the Panthers’ fifth straight loss.

After building a 14-point halftime lead, North Carolina extended the margin to 19 on Bogavac’s mid-range jumper and High’s dunk with 15:26 left. The Tar Heels took their first 20-point lead on Trimble’s layup at the 13:41 mark.

Trailing 62-41, Pittsburgh pulled within 14 as Nojus Indrusaitis’s layup began a 7-0 spurt. From there, North Carolina opened the lead back up as Bogavac’s 3-pointer put the Tar Heels ahead by 22 at the 7:57 mark.

Corhen’s dunk with 4:55 remaining pulled the visitors within 16, before the Panthers cut the deficit to 76-62 on Dunning’s 3-pointer. Trimble then made three free throws to ice North Carolina’s comfortable victory.

After Siulepa’s layup trimmed Pittsburgh’s early deficit to 8-5, Trimble’s 3-pointer stamped an 8-0 spurt to push the Tar Heels’ edge to 11 with 15:04 remaining in the first half.

Siulepa’s floater later sliced North Carolina’s lead to 20-15, before Trimble and Jonathan Powell’s back-to-back layups gave the Tar Heels a 30-19 edge. Jaydon Young hit a triple to extend the lead to 36-23 with 6:10 left in the opening half.

Stevenson scored the Tar Heels’ final four points of the first half, giving North Carolina a 46-32 lead at the break. Stevenson’s 14 first-half points paced the Tar Heels, while Corhen’s 17 led all scorers before halftime.

–Field Level Media