College basketball roundup: Essegian, Wahl lead Badgers over Iowa; No. 2 Bama wins in OT

Connor Essegian scored 17 points and Tyler Wahl had a double-double as host Wisconsin beat Iowa 64-52 on Wednesday night in men's basketball.

Though Wisconsin (16-11, 8-9) is still a game behind Iowa (17-11, 9-8) in the Big Ten standings, the Badgers would win the tiebreaker in the event of an even conference finish because of the season sweep.

Wahl (Lakeville North) scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Chucky Hepburn scored 12.

Essegian's three with 10 minutes, 26 seconds left gave Wisconsin the lead for good at 43-41 and it steadily pulled away from there.

Tony Perkins and Filip Rebraca each scored 13 points for Iowa.

Nation

No. 2 Alabama 78, South Carolina 76 (OT): Brandon Miller's layup with one second left in overtime gave the Crimson Tide (24-4, 14-1 SEC) a road win over the Gamecocks (10-18, 3-12). Miller, a 6-9 freshman, had 41 points. He was 6-for-13 on three-point shots. Gregory Jackson II led South Carolina with 19.

Boston College 63, No. 6 Virginia 48: Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points, Jaeden Zackery had all 12 of his points in the second half as the host Eagles (14-15, 8-10 ACC) held the Cavaliers (21-5, 13-4) to a season-low 32% from the field. Jayden Gardner scored 16 points for Virginia.

No. 18 Connecticut 87, No. 20 Providence 69: Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points to lead host UConn over its New England rival. Adama Sanogo and Alex Karaban each added 16 points for the Huskies (21-7, 10-7 Big East).

NSIC first round

Bemidji State 92, Augustana 88: John Sutherland was 12-for-15 from the field and scored 28 points and had nine rebounds as the host Beavers (19-10) beat the Vikings (15-14) in a first round NSIC game.

Big Ten

Nebraska 90, No. 25 Illinois 57: Jaz Shelley scored 26 points, and Isabelle Bourne had 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Cornhuskers (15-13, 7-10) won on the road. Nebraska had a 44-24 rebounding advantage and outscored the Illini 46-18 inside. Makira Cook scored 16 points for the Illini (20-8, 10-7).

Purdue 86, Penn State 62: Lasha Petree scored 23 points and Caitlyn Harper 18 as the host Boilermakers (18-8, 9-7) beat the Nittany Lions (13-15, 4-13).

Nation

Oklahoma State 73, No. 20 Iowa State 68: Anna Gret Asi capped the Cowgirls (20-7, 10-5 Big 12) best three-point shooting night of the season with a clutch, tightly contested shot in the final minute of an upset over the Cyclones (17-8, 9-6). Oklahoma State was 8-for-12 behind the arc.

NSIC first round

Concordia (St. Paul) 62, Minnesota State Moorhead 50: Ally Gietzel and former Dragon Raegan Alexander each scored 19 points for the visiting Golden Bears (14-13). Mariah McKeever had 21 points for MSU Moorhead (14-13).