Alex Karaban made 5 of 6 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 23 points, lifting No. 6 UConn to a 71-67 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday in a Big East matchup played In Storrs, Conn.

Solo Ball added 14 points for UConn (27-3, 17-2 Big East), which trailed by eight points midway through the second half.

Karaban sank two free throws to give UConn a 68-65 lead with 20 seconds to play.

After Seton Hall’s Adam Clark missed a 3-pointer, Ball made two free throws that extended UConn’s lead with eight seconds left. Following Najai Hines’ basket, Ball capped the scoring by making a free throw with three seconds remaining.

Seton Hall (19-10, 9-9) received 20 points from A.J. Staton-McCray, 12 from Elijah Fisher and 11 from Hines. Clark, who entered the game averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game, was held to four points.

The Pirates made 9 of 18 3-point attempts after going 0 for 18 from 3-point range in their last game, a 51-47 victory over Georgetown. Seton Hall was 1 of 16 from beyond the 3-point arc when it dropped a 69-64 decision to UConn on Jan. 13.

Despite 15 first-half points from Karaban, Seton Hall had a 33-32 halftime lead.

UConn took a 43-42 lead on a Jayden Ross layup with 14:57 left in the second half, but Seton Hall had a 54-46 advantage – its largest lead of the game – after a Staton-McCray 3-pointer with 9:33 remaining in regulation.

Braylon Mullins capped a 10-0 run that put UConn in front 58-56 with 5:57 left.

It was 63-63 after a Fisher jump shot with 2:02 to play, but the Huskies took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish when Ball made two free throws that erased a 65-64 deficit.

Mullins (11) and Tarris Reed (10) also scored in double figures for UConn.

–Field Level Media

Cole Certa scored 12 of his 32 points in overtime to lead Notre Dame to a stunning 96-90 win over North Carolina State Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.

It was Certa’s second 30-plus-point performance in the last four games. After the Fighting Irish (13-16, 4-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) never led in regulation, they took their first lead on Certa’s 3-pointer to open OT and took the lead for good on his second perimeter shot on the ensuing possession.

Certa was 9 of 17 from the floor, making 6 of 10 threes. Jalen Haralson scored 25 points — including the team’s other three in overtime — making 8 of 15 field goals and 9 of 10 free throws.

Braeden Shrewsberry chipped in 16 points with five rebounds and three assists, and Sir Mohammed scored all 10 of his points in the first half for Notre Dame, which pulled off the significant upset to boost its hopes of making the ACC Tournament in Charlotte.

Ven-Allen Lubin scored a season-high 24 points with 10 rebounds for NC State (19-10, 10-6), which has lost four of its last five games to inch closer to the postseason bubble.

Quadir Copeland tallied 17 points and nine assists, and Darrion Williams added 17 on 7-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.

Notre Dame held a 40-32 rebounding advantage, a 38-15 edge in bench points and a 16-2 lead in fastbreak points, shooting 52.5% from the field and 48% from 3-point range (12 of 25).

NC State was held scoreless for the final 3:23 of regulation, with Notre Dame ending on a 7-0 run to rally from a nine-point deficit with 4:46 left. Haralson scored six points during that stretch, including the game-tying free throws with 19 seconds left to send it to OT tied at 81.

NC State jumped out to a 11-2 lead and never trailed in the first half. The Fighting Irish, though, battled back to tie the game at 25.

The Wolfpack immediately went on an 8-0 run, but Notre Dame again didn’t let them fully separate, making its final five shots to trail 44-38 at the half.

NC State also led throughout the second half, responding to each Notre Dame surge, but was never able to extend its lead to double figures. The Fighting Irish cut the deficit to one score three times before finally leveling the score on Haralson’s late free throws in his return to action from an ankle injury on Feb. 10.

–Field Level Media

Ireland’s Shane Lowry shot 8-under-par 63 to surge into a share of the lead with Austin Smotherman through three rounds of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches on Saturday at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Smotherman, who was the second-round leader, had an eagle putt from inside 16 feet on the final hole but settled for birdie. He ended up with 69 on Saturday.

Lowry and Smotherman take 13-under 200 scores into Sunday’s final round at PGA National’s Champion Course.

Taylor Moore (67 on Saturday) and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (66) are one stroke back.

Lowry was 6 under through 10 holes and then tacked on birdies on the last two holes.

Smotherman, 31, is bidding for his first victory on the PGA Tour. He missed the cut in three of his four previous tournaments this year.

Echavarria’s bogey-free round put him in position to contend for his third tournament title on the PGA Tour.

Jimmy Stanger (65) is at 11 under, while Ricky Castillo (64) and Canada’s A.J. Ewart (68) sit at 10 under. Joel Dahmen (68) is four shots off the lead.

Stanger turned in a rather tame round with a bogey on No. 2 and then seven birdies the rest of the way after Friday’s adventure that included two eagles and two double-bogeys.

Defending champion Joe Highsmith shot 76 and is in 67th place at 5 over.

Tee times for the third round were moved up several hours because of weather-related concerns for later in the afternoon. The first and 10th tees were used as starting points.

–Field Level Media