Drexel Lifts Ncaa’s Field To 14

Malik Rose had 21 points and 13 rebounds Wednesday to lead Drexel to a 72-52 men’s basketball victory over Northeastern for the North Atlantic Conference championship at Philadelphia, giving the Dragons an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the 14th qualifier.

It will be the second year in a row and the third time in school history that Drexel (22-7), the defending NAC champion, has advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Northeastern (18-11) has won the Northeast Atlantic Conference and advanced to the NCAA Tournament seven times.

Drexel lost last year in the first round of the NCAAs, to Temple.

Iowa 79, (9) Michigan State 78

Andre Woolridge scored all 10 of his points in the second half, including the winning shot with 2.3 seconds remaining, and helped the Hawkeyes knock the Spartans into second place in the Big Ten.

Jess Settles scored 22, Chris Kingsbury 20 and Kenyon Murray and Jim Bartels 12 each for Iowa (9-8, 19-10 Big Ten), which improved its NCAA Tournament hopes while putting a crimp in MSU’s title drive.

Michigan State (13-4, 21-5), which had been tied with Purdue, dropped a half-game behind the idle Boilermakers despite 39 points by Shawn Respert.

Indiana 72, Wisconsin 70

Brian Evans scored 23 points as the Hoosiers survived a furious Badger rally at Madison, Wis.

It was IU’s 29th consecutive victory over Wisconsin, which hasn’t beaten Indiana since Jan. 5, 1980.

The Badgers (7-10 Big Ten, 13-13), with a postseason berth and probably first-year coach Stan Van Gundy’s job on the line, had two chances to win but couldn’t come through.

Darnell Hoskins missed a layup with 6 seconds left and fouled Andrea Patterson, who got the rebound.

The victory left Indiana, which led 32-30 at the half, with an 18-11 mark, including 10-7 in the Big Ten, and a strong shot at a 10th straight NCAA Tournament bid.