The annual “Battle of the Real HU” came down to the final second, and Cam Gillus made the clinching play for Howard in its 61-57 victory Saturday over Hampton at CareFirst Arena in Washington.

With the Pirates (5-6) looking to tie the score in the waning seconds, Gillus stole the ball from Hampton’s lane-driving Christian Watson and was fouled with half-a-second remaining. Gillus sank two free throws to clinch the triumph for the Bison, who went ahead to stay when he hit a layup at the 7-minute mark for a 45-44 edge. That came after Hampton had overcome an eight-point deficit early in the half.

Bryce Harris scored 16, while Gillus had 13 points and five of his team’s seven steals.

For Hampton, Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt had 20 points, Watson had 15 points and Xzavier Long had five points and 11 rebounds. The Pirates couldn’t overcome 26% (13-of-50) field-goal shooting.

More men

No. 6 Purdue 79, Marquette 59: Oscar Cluff made all nine of his shots and finished with a season-high 22 points, and Braden Smith achieved yet another milestone with 10 more assists to lead the Boilermakers (10-1) to a home win over the Golden Eagles (5-6). It took Smith only 12 seconds to find Fletcher Loyer for a 3-pointer, making him the second Division I men’s basketball player with 1,500 points, 850 assists and 550 rebounds. The other is D.J. Cooper, who played for Ohio State from 2009-13.

Purdue guard Braden Smith drives against Marquette guard Zaide Lowery on Saturday in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Michael Conroy/AP)

No. 7 Houston 99, New Orleans 57: Kingston Flemings, Chris Cenac Jr., Chase McCarty and Mercy Miller each scored 15 points, and host Houston (10-1) won its fourth straight.

No. 9 Michigan State 76, Penn State 72: Divine Ugochukwu scored a career-high 23 points and Michigan State (9-1, 2-0 Big Ten) overcame a sloppy performance to win at Penn State (8-3, 0-2). Jaxon Kohler posted his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Spartans.

No. 14 North Carolina 80, USC Upstate 62: Caleb Wilson had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (9-1) against the Spartans (6-6) in Chapel Hill. Wilson shot 6 of 7 from the floor and didn’t miss a field-goal attempt until there was less than a minute to play.

The Tar Heels also got a boost from Jonathan Powell’s 17 points, which tied a career high. Luka Bogavac added 15 points and five assists, and Henri Veesaar scored 14. Learic Davis paced the Spartans with 14 points.

No. 17 Arkansas 93, No. 16 Texas Tech 86: Trevon Brazile scored 18 of his 24 points after halftime and finished with 10 rebounds as the Razorbacks (8-2) overcame Texas Tech (7-3) in Dallas in a rematch of a Sweet 16 game in last season’s NCAA Tournament. JT Toppin had 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Red Raiders.

No. 18 Florida 80, George Washington 70: Xaivian Lee scored 24 points to lead Florida (6-4) to a victory over George Washington (8-4) in the second game of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise, Florida.

No. 22 St. John’s 91, Iona 64: Oziyah Sellers scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, Zuby Ejiofor tied a career-high by blocking eight shots for the second straight game, and St. John’s (6-3) survived a difficult start and pulled away for a victory over Iona (8-4) at Madison Square Garden.

UMass 103, Florida State 95: Daniel Hankins-Sanford scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, K’Jei Parker added a career-high 24 points and the Minutemen (8-3) rolled past Florida State (5-5) in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in Sunrise, Florida.

Miami 104, Louisiana Monroe 79: Malik Reneau, Tre Donaldson and Ernest Udeh Jr. all turned in double-doubles for the Hurricanes (9-2) in a home victory over the Warhawks (3-8). Reneau had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Udeh logged 14 points and 15 rebounds and Tre Donaldson had 18 points and 11 of a program-record 29 assists for Miami, which won its fourth straight. MJ Russell had 18 points for ULM.

Notre Dame 82, Evansville 58: Braeden Shrewsberry sank 8 of 10 3-point tries on his way to 26 points as the Irish (9-3) grounded the visiting Purple Aces (4-7). Sir Mohammed scored 21 for Notre Dame.

Clemson 70, Mercer 63: Dillon Hunter scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, when Brad Brownell gained his 300th victory as the Tigers’ head coach. Brownell is 300-199 with Clemson and 467-284 overall. RJ Godfrey had nine points and eight rebounds for the Tigers (8-3), who were coming off losses to No. 10 BYU and No. 12 Alabama. Memphis transfer Baraka Okojie scored 20 for the visiting Bears (7-3), who had a five-game win streak snapped.

Women

Howard 64, Hampton 60: A pair of April Edwards free throws with nine seconds left proved decisive for the Bison (8-5) against the Pirates (6-4) in the “Battle of the Real HU” at CareFirst Arena in Washington.

The Pirates trailed 46-28 with 6:41 left in the third quarter, but they came within 53-46 by the third quarter’s end. An 8-2 run, capped by Kiki McElrath’s pullup jumper with 15.8 seconds left, closed Hampton to 62-60. Edwards’ free throws provided the final points.

Aaryn Battle paced Hampton with 16 points and a career-high nine rebounds. McElrath and Lezama added 12 points apiece. Howard’s Zennia Thomas had 11 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and four blocks.

William & Mary 72, Coppin State 65: Natalie Fox had a career-high 18 points, four rebounds and four assists as the Tribe (5-4) outplayed the Eagles (2-10) at Kaplan Arena. Cassidy Geddes and Monet Dance scored 12 apiece, while Alexa Mikeska had 11 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Coppin State’s Khila Morris had 19 points and four assists, and Erin Henry had 17 points.

A 17-2 surge in the second quarter put W&M ahead 36-25. Coppin State drew to 64-62, but Mikeska’s basket and free throw at the 1:21 mark and Dance’s layup with 49 seconds left put the Tribe ahead 69-62.

No. 6 Michigan 85, Akron 59: Syla Swords and Ashley Sofilkanich both had 17 points to lead five Michigan players in double-digit scoring as the host Wolverines (9-1) downed the Zips (1-8).

Richmond 76, Liberty 61: Maggie Doogan poured in 24 points as the Spiders (8-3) beat the Flames (6-3) in Lynchburg. Ify Nwaobi led Liberty with 16 points.

Temple 88, VCU 63: Behind Kaylah Turner’s 29 points, the Owls (5-5) rolled past the Rams (3-7) in Philadelphia. Katarina Knezevic scored 21 for VCU.

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