COLLEGE HOOPS ROUNDUP: Ex-DWS star Young makes highlight reel in Clemson win; No. 3 Villanova stunned

CLEMSON, S.C. — Trevor Booker had a serious talk with Clemson teammate and younger brother, Devin.

“It was time,” the Tigers’ senior star said before the game, “for the Booker brothers to take over.”

Boy, did they ever in an 82-53 win over Furman on Sunday.

Trevor had season highs with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Devin, a freshman, chipped in a career best 11 points. And the two made about every shot they took, going a combined 17 of 22 from the field for the Tigers (8-2).

“We tried to put on a show,” Trevor Booker said with a smile, partly referring to his dunk late in the game that garnered “oooos” and “ahhhs” from the Clemson crowd.

The feed came from former Deerfield star and current Tigers guard Andre Young, who scored three points in the game.

With the Bookers playing strong underneath, Furman (5-3) had little chance of breaking a series losing streak that grew to 27 straight defeats.

The Tigers turned up the defensive pressure after the break, holding Furman to a season low in points and extending the Southern Conference school’s run of futility. The Paladins last beat Clemson on Jan. 25, 1978, when they were in the midst of six NCAA tournament appearances between 1971-1980.

Furman’s top two scorers, Jordan Miller and Amu Saaka, came in averaging a combined 33 points a game. But Miller was 4 of 14 for 11 points and Saaka finished 3 of 16 for eight points.

Colin Reddick had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Paladins.

The Paladins defended hard on the outside — the Tigers went 0-for-11 on 3-pointers — but had no solution for the Bookers.

Trevor, the Atlantic Coast Conference leader in field goal percentage last year, had three of Clemson’s first five buckets and hit eight of his first nine shots.

When the elder Booker went to rest, Devin played like an even more polished version of his older brother.

Devin said it was some harsh words from the Booker’s mother, Tracey, that focused his on-court efforts.

“She just told me that the time I do get in, she knows what I can do, so just show it,” Devin said.

Tracey, a 6-footer, won a state championship at old Union High School long before her sons ever picked up a basketball.

“She was a dominator in high school, just like Trevor is right now,” Devin said.

Clemson had been ranked from the preseason poll until last week, falling out after squandering a 23-point second-half lead at home against Illinois on Dec. 2.

The Tigers, though, continued the momentum gained from the South Carolina win.

Trevor Booker’s three quick baskets built a 10-6 lead. Three minutes later, Booker stole the ball from Reddick for another easy basket.

Booker followed a miss by Devin with a flying left-handed jam.

Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said when he signed Devin that he could be further along at this stage than Trevor was as a freshman. Slowly, the younger Booker is making the impact Purnell thought he would.

“I would like to see him play more physical on the defensive end,” Purnell said.

Purnell has no such complaints about Trevor, who’s been bottled up underneath by defenses sending two and three players to keep him in check. When Furman gave him some space, Trevor took advantage.

“Trevor’s one of the biggest parts of our team,” Clemson point guard Demontez Stitt said. “When he’s fired up and playing well, then everybody else has no choice but to lift our play.”

Trevor wore an ice pack on his left hand, saying he had strained some ligaments. But he did not consider it serious and expected to play Wednesday night at East Carolina.

Furman is Clemson’s oldest rival — the Tigers’ first-ever basketball game was a 46-12 victory over the Paladins on Feb. 9, 1912 — and had come in off one of its best starts in 20 years.

The Paladins, though, had little to challenge Clemson, which forced 27 turnovers.

Furman missed nine of its last 10 shots of the half and trailed 43-26 at the break.

The Paladins ended shooting 29 percent for the game (18 of 62).

“Their pressure got to us at times,” Furman coach Jeff Jackson said. “That led to some easy baskets.”

Not everything went Clemson’s way. The Tigers were also a dreadful 12 of 25 from the foul line.

With the Booker brothers inside, though, it didn’t cost the Tigers this time

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Temple 75, No. 3 Villanova 65

PHILADELPHIA — Juan Fernandez hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points and Ryan Brooks added 20 points in Temple’s 75-65 victory over No. 3 Villanova on Sunday.

Fernandez led a sizzling 3-point attack that stunned the Wildcats (9-1) in the second half and helped them pull away for their first win over a top-five team since beating No. 1 Cincinnati on Feb. 20, 2000. The Owls (8-2) opened the half on an 11-0 run and grabbed a lead they would never surrender.

The Wildcats hadn’t lost a city series game since Dec. 4, 2008, against Saint Joseph’s. Villanova has won 21 of its last 23 Big 5 games.

Lavoy Allen had 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Owls in their fourth straight win.

Scottie Reynolds led Villanova with 23 points.

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No. 7 Syracuse 75, St. Francis, N.Y. 51

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Arinze Onuaku had 14 points and Wes Johnson added 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks for Syracuse.

The Orange (10-0) were coming off an 85-73 victory over No. 10 Florida, their second win this season over a Top 10 team. They took control against the Terriers (3-6) behind a first-half flurry inside by Onuaku and Johnson’s long-range shooting early in the second.

Rick Jackson had 11 points and Mookie Jones 10 for Syracuse.

Akeem Bennett led St. Francis with 15 points.

Syracuse scored the first eight points of the second half and didn’t allow a field goal by St. Francis for the first 6 minutes of the period.

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Xavier 83, No. 19 Cincinnati 79, 2 OT

CINCINNATI — Jason Love got his 19th rebound with 9.8 seconds left and made a clinching free throw, leading Xavier to the double-overtime victory in the crosstown rivalry.

Xavier (6-3) wasted a 10-point lead in regulation, survived Lance Stephenson’s off-target shot at the end of the first overtime, then pulled it out on its home court behind its lone senior.

Cincinnati (6-2) has dropped three straight and 10 of the last 14 against Xavier, which has a knack for gritting them out. It held true in the first double-overtime game in a series that dates to 1928.

There were two technical fouls, and players from both teams yelled at each other during a timeout after Love was called for an intentional foul with 3:20 left in the first half.

Terrell Holloway led Xavier with a career-high 26 points, including a three-point play that tied it with 19 seconds left in the first overtime. Stephenson scored a career-high 22 for Cincinnati.