After last night's 73-63 home loss to Villanova, Providence is looking to Pittsburgh for an assist.
The Friars dropped to 15-15 overall and 6-12 in the Big East, but can still qualify for the 12th and final spot in this week's conference tournament if DePaul loses to Pittsburgh today. Villanova, meanwhile, improved its chances of getting an at-large NCAA Tournament bid by improving to 19-11 and 9-9 in the league.
Randall Hanke had a game-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting for Providence. Dwayne Anderson had 17 points to lead Villanova.
Corey Fisher hit a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats ahead for good as Villanova led, 34-28, at halftime.
A 3-point play by Jeff Xavier, who finished with 14 points, early in the second half pulled the Friars within 2, but Anderson and Corey Stokes combined for 19 points after the break to help the Wildcats pull away.
Charlotte 74, URI 64 - Leemire Goldwire torched the host Rams for 34 points and Lamont Mack added 19 as the 49ers (18-12, 9-7 Atlantic 10) blew past Rhode Island (21-10, 7-9) with a 13-2 burst early in the second half.
Kahiem Seawright paced URI with 17 points and 15 rebounds. The Rams led, 38-35, at halftime, but still lost for the fifth time in six games.
Yale 81, Harvard 65 - Travis Pinick powered his way to 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the visiting Bulldogs (13-15, 7-7 Ivy) overwhelmed the Crimson (8-22, 3-11) behind big advantages in free throws (25-10) and rebounding (40-25).
Brown 75, Dartmouth 71 - At Hanover, N.H., Damon Huffman led a balanced attack with 18 points as the Bears (19-9, 11-3) won for the 10th time in 11 games to finish second in the Ivy League. Alex Barnett led the Big Green (10-18, 3-11) with 18 points.
Loyola (Md.) 64, Fairfield 59 - The fifth-seeded Stags (14-16) wiped out most of an 18-point deficit in the second half, but the No. 4 seed Greyhounds (19-13) made sure Fairfield played catch-up the rest of the way in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament in Albany, N.Y.
NCAA Division 3 second round - Host Brandeis (22-5) qualified for the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1978, getting a team-high 15 points from Kevin Olson in a 68-53 victory over Bowdoin (22-7) . . . Craig Johnson had 15 points and Coast Guard (23-6) held host UMass-Dartmouth (25-4) to just 2 points over the final 12:48 to pull out a 50-47 comeback victory . . . Amherst (24-3) built a 27-point halftime lead over visiting John Jay and coasted to a 96-74 triumph in which Fletcher Walters racked up a game-high 24 points . . . Bobby Bailey had 13 points to lead three double-figure scorers for Rhode Island College, but the Anchormen (23-7) couldn't get past Richard Stockton (22-6), which posted a 78-70 win in Pomona, N.J. . . . Corey Dorsey hit a 3-pointer with less than a second left, giving Gettysburg (24-4) a 66-65 home win over Elms (23-7) and ending the Blazers' most successful season.
ECAC Division 3 semifinals - Arch Mitchell scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half, rallying Newbury (20-9) to a 76-65 win over Western Connecticut (15-12) in Brookline . . . UNew England (16-11) advanced to today's final at Hellenic College, getting 22 points and 10 rebounds from Isaac Stickney to top Husson, 77-72.
