Harvard tops Aggies at Orlando Invitational
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Justin Bassey scored 16 points and Harvard made all 22 of its free throws en route to a 62-51 victory over cold-shooting Texas A&M in the first round of the Orlando Invitational on Thursday.
The Crimson (5-2) advanced to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament at Disney World and will face No. 5 Maryland, a 76-69 opening-day winner over Temple.
Bassey paced a balanced scoring attack, making five of seven shots on an afternoon when Harvard was 6 of 29 from behind the 3-point line and shot 32% overall. Bryce Aiken had 15 points and Chris Lewis and Rio Haskett added 10 apiece.
“Neither team played a pretty form of basketball, but it was gritty, and it was tough, and I thought our kids were on the winning side of that,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We probably made more of those plays, and we needed to.”
Texas A&M (3-2) missed 15 of its first 16 shots, but only trailed 22-18 at halftime because of Harvard’s own poor marksmanship. The Aggies led briefly before fading down the stretch, with Crimson doing most of its damage from the foul line, where Harvard made eight during a 13-7 surge that put the Crimson up 58-46 with two minutes left.
Wendell Mitchell led Texas A&M with 17 points. Savion Flagg had 12 points and Josh Nebo added 10, while leading scorer Jay Jay Chandler was slowed by foul trouble and finished with six points in just under 22 minutes.
“I’m encouraged, not by the result, I’m encouraged by the process that led to the result,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. “That’s the best we’ve played all year. I feel completely different in regards to how hard they’re trying relative to what we’re asking them to do.”
UT Arlington 77, Elon 67
ELON, N.C. — Freshman Sam Griffin had a season-high 20 points as UT Arlington beat Elon 77-67.
Jordan Phillips and David Azore each added 11 points for UT Arlington (4-4), which broke its four-game road losing streak. UT Arlington went on a game-deciding 14-0 run midway through the second half.
All 10 UTA players who played scored, including nine in the first half. The Mavericks shot a season-best 51.9% (28-54) from the floor, and got 46 points off their bench.
Marcus Sheffield II had 25 points for the Phoenix (2-6), whose losing streak reached six games. Simon Wright added 10 points.
UT Arlington faces North Texas at home on Monday. Elon takes on Kennesaw State at home on Monday.
Michigan 73, No. 6 N. Carolina 64
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Eli Brooks matched his career high with 24 points and Michigan ran off 19 straight points in the second half to upset No. 6 North Carolina 73-64 to reach the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
Isaiah Livers added 12 points for the Wolverines (6-0), who led by five early in the second half before pulling away with the big run for first-year coach Juwan Howard’s first marquee victory. Michigan will face No. 8 Gonzaga in the final Friday.
The 19-0 burst included a dazzling run of five straight baskets. At one point, Brooks buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to 19 and left Tar Heels coach Roy Williams standing on the sideline with both hands resting on top of his head.
Yet Franz Wagner followed with another, then Brooks added a runner that pushed the lead to 60-36 with 11:18 left and finally forced the timeout-hoarding Williams to burn one.
The Tar Heels (5-1) managed a long push to get back in it, twice getting as close as eight on interior buckets by Garrison Brooks in the final 3 1/2 minutes. But Eli Brooks made a 3 with 1:12 left, pushing the margin back to double figures.
Freshman Cole Anthony had 22 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina.
No. 8 Gonzaga 73, Oregon 72 OT
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Drew Timme hit a free throw with 20.6 seconds left in overtime and Gonzaga survived Payton Pritchard’s shot for the win to beat Oregon in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Pritchard missed a jumper against Ryan Woolridge, and Gonzaga’s Filip Petrusev tied up the rebound during a tussle in the paint. The possession arrow favored the Bulldogs with 0.2 seconds left, allowing them to secure the win by inbounding to Joel Ayayi.
Petrusev had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Gonzaga (8-0). The Bulldogs blew a 17-point first-half lead in a matchup of neighboring-state programs playing three time zones away from their Pacific Northwest campuses.
Pritchard led the Ducks (6-1) with 17 points.
NO. 5 Maryland 76, Temple 69
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Anthony Cowan Jr. scored five of his career-high 30 points in the final 3 minutes, helping Maryland overcome a slow start against Temple in the opening game of the Orlando Invitational.
Eric Ayala had 13 points and Jalen Smith finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Terrapins (6-0).
Alani Moore II led Temple (4-1) with 22 points. J.P. Moorman II had 14 points and nine rebounds.
No. 16 Memphis 83, NC State 78
NEW YORK — Boogie Ellis scored 21 points to help No. 16 Memphis beat North Carolina State in the Barclays Center Classic.
Precious Achiuwa added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Tyler Harris had 14 for Memphis (6-1).
Markell Johnson led North Carolina State (5-2) with 22 points. Jericole Hellems added 17, and DJ Funderburk had 14.
Tennessee State 82, Cal Poly 72
LAS VEGAS — Michael Littlejohn posted 17 points as Tennessee State topped Cal Poly 82-72 in the Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday.
Mark Freeman had 16 points for Tennessee State (4-3). Jon Brown added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Jy’lan Washington had 10 points. The Tigers shot 48.2% from the field, including 11 of 19 3-pointers.
Littlejohn scored 14 of his points in the first half and Freeman added 11 as TSU led 44-31.
Junior Ballard had 19 points for the Mustangs (1-6), who have lost four games in a row. Colby Rogers added 14 points, and Tuukka Jaakkola had 12 points. Cal Poly was outrebounded 35-23.