Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules
East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Keith Appling scored 17 points in a reserve role, as top-ranked Michigan State cruised to a 98-65 victory over Mount St. Mary’s at the Breslin Center. Appling, second-leading scorer Adriean Payne and leading rebounder Branden Dawson started the game on the bench as punishment for classroom attendance issues. Leading scorer Gary Harris was also sidelined because of a minor ankle injury he sustained last week against Oklahoma. Travis Trice made his first career start and chipped in 15 points for Michigan State (7-0), which is off until Wednesday when North Carolina visits as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Harris is likely to play against the Tar Heels. Will Miller scored 15 points to lead Mount St. Mary’s (2-6), which had won its last two games after an 0-5 start. Julian Norfleet added 13 points in defeat.
Final Score: Villanova 63, (2) Kansas 59
Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) – Ryan Arcidiacono came into Friday shooting 5-of-24 from 3-point range. He was encouraged to keep shooting. The sophomore guard hit the biggest shot of his collegiate career as Villanova shocked No. 2 Kansas, 63-59, in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. Arcidiacono received an inbounds pass and drained the go-ahead 3-point shot from left wing over Perry Ellis with 10.1 seconds left to boost the Wildcats (6-0) to the stunning victory. Villanova, which will take on 23rd-ranked Iowa in the championship game of the tournament Saturday, wasted a double-digit lead in the second half before coming up with the big shot. The Jayhawks (5-1) will play UTEP in the third-place game.
Final Score: (4) Arizona 72, (6) Duke 66
New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Nick Johnson scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead fourth-ranked Arizona to a 72-66 victory over No. 6 Duke and claim the NIT Season Tip-Off championship. The Wildcats (7-0) trailed 43-37 with under 14 minutes left before outscoring the Blue Devils by a 26-10 margin en route to their fourth all-time title at the prestigious early-season event. Brandon Ashley added 13 points for Arizona and Kaleb Tarczewski, Aaron Gordon and T.J. McConnell all had 10 in a balanced offensive effort. The Wildcats’ defense turned out to be the difference in this heavyweight matchup, however, limiting Duke (6-2) to a 35.7 field goal percentage over the final 20 minutes. Heralded freshman Jabari Parker netted 19 points for the Blue Devils, but 11 of them came prior to halftime. Rodney Hood led the Blue Devils, who are in the midst of their first November with more than one loss since 1999-00, with 21 points and eight rebounds. Quinn Cook finished with 13 points in the setback.
Final Score: (5) Oklahoma State 69, Butler 67
Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Butler almost did it. The Bulldogs nearly stole one from fifth-ranked Oklahoma State, but Michael Cobbins blocked Elijah Brown’s 3-point try as time expired and the Cowboys held on for a 69-67 victory in the semifinals of the Old Spice Classic. Marcus Smart scored 17 points and Le’Bryan Nash added 15 for Oklahoma State (7-0), which has had two close calls in a row after winning its first five games by an average of 37.8 points. The Cowboys were coming off a 97-87 win over Purdue on Thursday in the opener of this tournament and led by as many as 16 in the first half of this one, but Butler clawed its way back and pulled within 68-67 on a layup by Khyle Marshall with just over two minutes remaining. Neither team scored over the next two minutes, as Smart missed a pair of free throws with 49 seconds to play and Marshall also missed two with nine seconds remaining. Nash was fouled on the rebound of the second Marshall miss and went to the stripe. He made the first and missed the second for a two-point margin. Brown then raced up the floor and tried to win it with a right-wing trey, but Cobbins rose up and swatted the shot away as time expired.
Final Score: (7) Ohio State 99, North Florida 64
Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – Amir Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead seventh-ranked Ohio State past North Florida, 99-64, on Friday. LaQuinton Ross added 17 points and eight rebounds and Aaron Craft poured in 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field for the Buckeyes (6-0) who will host Maryland on Dec. 4. Dallas Moore and Beau Beech scored 14 points apiece and Charles McRoy finished with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Ospreys (4-4), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Final Score: (9) Louisville 69, Southern Miss 38
Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) – Chris Jones netted 18 points and Montrezl Harrell added 11 points and nine rebounds as No. 9 Louisville routed Southern Miss, 69-38, on Friday night. Louisville led 34-13 at the break as Southern Miss struggled immensely against the Cardinals’ vaunted full-court pressure. The Golden Eagles made just four field goals and turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes. Russ Smith tallied 11 points, six assists and four steals for the Cardinals (6-1), who lost to North Carolina on Sunday in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament. Michael Craig had nine points to lead the Golden Eagles (6-1).
Final Score: (14) Oregon 85, Pacific 62
Eugene, OR (SportsNetwork.com) – Mike Moser had 19 points and the 14th-ranked Oregon Ducks used a big second half to beat the Pacific Tigers, 85-62, in the Global Sports Hardwood Challenge. Jason Calliste and Joseph Young added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Ducks (5-0), who shot 56 percent from the field and went 21-of-30 from the foul line. T.J. Wallace and Trevin Harris both had 14 points for the Tigers (4-1), who shot 36.4 percent from the floor.
Final Score: (15) Florida 67, Florida State 66
Gainesville, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Dorian Finney-Smith’s free throw with 1.3 seconds left lifted No. 15 Florida to a 67-66 win over Florida State on Friday. Casey Prather finished with 19 points and Michael Frazier had 17 for the Gators (6-1), who remained unbeaten at home this season and have won 20 straight at Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Boris Bojanovsky scored 14 points, Ian Miller added 13 and Aaron Thomas poured in 12 for the Seminoles (5-2).
Final Score: (19) UCLA 95, Northwestern 79
Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) – Zach LaVine, Bryce Alford and Jordan Adams each scored 18 points to power 19th-ranked UCLA to a 95-79 win over Northwestern in the championship round of the Las Vegas Invitational. Kyle Anderson nearly had a triple-double, as the sophomore swingman totaled 16 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals. The Bruins (7-0) shot a sizzling 63.6 percent from the field. UCLA was even better in the first half at 76 percent, when the Bruins grabbed a 51-38 lead after 12 minutes. The Bruins shot 13-of-16 from 3-point range. UCLA’s Steve Alford became the program’s first-ever head coach to lead the Bruins to a 7-0 record in his first season in charge. JerShon Cobb had 22 points for the Wildcats (4-4), who were coming off an 11-point loss to Missouri on Thursday.
Final Score: (20) Creighton 86, San Diego State 80
Fullerton, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Xavier Thames had a career-high 26 points as San Diego State held off No. 20 Creighton, 86-80, in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy on Friday night. Winston Shepard added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Aztecs (4-1), who will play No. 25 Marquette in the title game on Sunday. Doug McDermott netted a game-high 30 points for Creighton (5-1), which will face George Washington in the third-place game.
Final Score: (21) Memphis 76, LSU 69
Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Austin Nichols scored 19 points with eight rebounds and Chris Crawford netted 17 points to lead the Memphis Tigers to a 76-69 win over the LSU Tigers in the semifinals of the Old Spice Classic. Joe Jackson added 16 points with seven assists and four steals for Memphis, which will play fifth-ranked Oklahoma State in the finals on Sunday. The championship game will be a rematch of a Nov. 19th battle between the two schools, which saw Oklahoma State give Memphis its lone loss on the season, a 101-80 rout in Stillwater. Marcus Smart had a career-high 39 points in that tilt. Anthony Hickey paced all scorers with 20 points and Johnny O’Bryant III added 14 with nine rebounds. O’Bryant, though, had 10 turnovers in the loss, the amount Memphis had as a team. LSU will play Butler in the third-place game.
Final Score: (22) Michigan 87, Coppin State 45
Ann Arbor, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Zak Irvin stepped up for the short-handed Wolverines to the tune of 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting as No. 22 Michigan rolled past Coppin State, 87-45, in a non-conference bout on Friday. Caris LeVert and Glenn Robinson III added 15 and 14 points, respectively, as Michigan (5-2) returned to the friendly confines of Chrisler Center after playing the last four games away from home. Nik Stauskas, who entered the contest with five straight 20-plus point efforts, was held out of the Michigan lineup after spraining his ankle in the second half of the Wolverines’ last-second loss to Charlotte in the finals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Sunday. Dallas Gary paced Coppin State (2-3) with 11 points off the bench. Taariq Cephas tallied 10 points and five assists.
Final Score: (23) Iowa 89, UTEP 53
Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) – Aaron White scored 17 points to power 23rd-ranked Iowa to an 89-53 rout of Texas-El Paso Friday. Peter Jok and Zach McCabe added 14 points apiece, and Jarrod Uthoff totaled eight points and 10 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (7-0), who marched into the Battle 4 Atlantis title game. Melsahn Basabe had 10 points and seven rebounds. Iowa will play Villanova for the tournament championship Saturday. Villanova upset No. 2 Kansas, 63-59, in the final game of the night at Imperial Arena. Julian Washburn had 13 points for the Miners (4-3), who shot 34.6 percent from the field.
Final Score: (25) Marquette 76, George Washington 60
Fullerton, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Davante Gardner netted 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help move No. 25 Marquette into the championship of the Wooden Legacy with a 76-60 triumph over George Washington on Friday. Jake Thomas tallied 13 points and Derrick Wilson added 11 points, four assists and four boards for the Golden Eagles (5-2), who will take on San Diego State in Sunday’s title game. Kethan Savage led the Colonials (5-1) with 16 points, while Maurice Creek managed 14 points on 2-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in George Washington’s first loss of the season.
Categorized in: NCAA Basketball