BERKELEY, Calif. - David Kravish had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, Jordan Mathews added 13 points off the bench and California beat Utah Valley 77-64 on Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Bears will host No. 3 seed Arkansas in the second round Monday night. Cal beat the Razorbacks 85-77 on Nov. 25 in the Maui Invitational.

The short-handed Golden Bears (20-13) played Wednesday night without Pac-12 leading rebounder Richard Solomon, forcing coach Mike Montgomery to go with a four-guard lineup to complement Kravish. It worked well, as the trio of Justin Cobbs, Jabari Bird and Tyrone Wallace repeatedly beat the Wolverines down the lane and with timely buckets from the perimeter.

Cobbs finished with 13 points and seven assists, Bird scored 11 and Wallace had nine points for California.

Holton Hunsaker scored 22 points for seventh-seeded Utah Valley (20-12).

SOUTHERN MISS 66, TOLEDO 59

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Michael Craig scored 16 points, Neil Watson added 12 and Southern Mississippi rallied to beat Toledo.

It was a strange night for Southern Miss (28-6), which grabbed a big lead in the first half, lost it early in the second and then rallied to win by a fairly comfortable margin.

The Golden Eagles took a 34-19 lead into halftime by shooting 14 of 28 from the field, but Toledo responded with a 24-6 run to open the second half and had a 43-40 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

The game remained tight until Aaron Brown’s corner three-pointer with 4:22 left gave Southern Miss a 57-51 advantage.

Julius Brown led the Rockets (27-7) with 19 points.

SMU 68, UC IRVINE 54

DALLAS - Cannen Cunningham scored 17 points to lead SMU to a victory over UC-Irvine and give Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown his first college postseason victory in 26 years.

Ben Moore added 11 points in the Mustangs’ first NIT since 2000. Nick Russell chipped in 10.

SMU (24-9) used a 23-7 run in the second half to erase a 35-29 deficit, scoring inside and hitting free throws to balloon the lead to 52-42 with 8:16 left.

However, less than two minutes later, the refereeing crew determined the Mustangs inadvertently were given a one-and-one opportunity too early, and they removed a point from the hosts to make it 51-44 with 7:24 left.

Luke Nelson led UC-Irvine (23-12) with 13 points, and Alex Young chipped in 10. SMU will face either LSU or San Francisco in the second round.

LSU 71, SAN FRANCISCO 63

SAN FRANCISCO - Jarell Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half and LSU beat San Francisco.

Shavon Coleman and Johnny O’Bryant III each added 13 points as the Tigers (20-13) won their first NIT game in 12 years.

Cole Dickerson scored 24 points to lead the Dons (21-12). Tim Derkson added 12 points.

San Francisco’s Matt Glover was called for a flagrant foul after officials went to the replay with 9:33 remaining to play. Andre Stringer made the ensuing free throws, keying a 9-0 run that put LSU ahead 61-45 less than 90 seconds later.

Anthony Hickey and Tim Quarterman hit three-pointers 7 seconds apart to cap the spurt.

The Tigers will visit top-seeded SMU in the second round.

Hickey’s lay-up in the closing seconds of the first half gave the Tigers a 33-30 lead at the break.

LOUISIANA TECH 89, IONA 88

RUSTON, La. - Kenneth “Speedy” Smith put back a rebound with 2.2 seconds left to give Louisiana Tech a victory over Iona.

The back-and-forth game featured 14lead changes and eight ties, with four lead changes in the final 69 seconds as the teams matched shot-for-shot.

The Bulldogs (28-7) had six players in double figures led by Jaron Johnson’s 15 points. Smith added 14.

David Laury, whose two free throws gave the Gaels (22-11) a one-point lead with 13.2 seconds remaining, led Iona with 21 points and 16 rebounds. A.J. English scored 21 points as well, 19 of which came in the first half.

Chris Anderson, whose missed shot Smith grabbed for the game-winning basket, had a double-double for the Bulldogs with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

GEORGIA 63, VERMONT 56

ATHENS, Ga. - Charles Mann scored a career-high 29 points, including a three-point play with 2:25 remaining that gave Georgia the lead, and the Bulldogs beat Vermont.

Georgia (20-13) led by 11 points early in the second half before Vermont took a 47-38 lead with an 18-2 run. Georgia went 8 minutes without a field goal before Kenny Gaines’ steal and fast-break layup ended the drought.

Mann’s basket and free throw gave Georgia a 56-54 lead. Marcus Thornton, who had 16 points, added another three-point play as Georgia ended the game with a 14-2 run.

Sandro Carissimo led Vermont (22-11) with 11 points.

ILLINOIS 66, BOSTON UNIV. 62

BOSTON - Rayvonte Rice scored seven consecutive points late in the game and finished with 28, rallying Illinois past Boston University.

The second-seeded Illini fought back from a 30-13 first-half deficit. Rice made the key play with 2:07 left when his steal and three-point play trimmed it to 61-60. He added two free throws and a driving layup to give Illinois a 64-61 lead.

Dom Morris missed a contested layup on an inbounds play with 11 seconds left that would have tied it for BU, the regular-season champion in the Patriot League. Nnanna Egwu added two free throws to ice it for Illinois (20-14). Malcolm Hill had 10 points for the Illini.

It was the first meeting between Illinois and BU (24-11), which was seeking its first victory in the NIT after five losses. D.J. Irving had 17 points for the seventh-seeded Terriers.

NIT glance All times Central

FIRST ROUND TUESDAY’S GAMES Robert Morris 89, St. John’s 78 Florida State 58, Florida Gulf Coast 53 Georgetown 77, West Virginia 65 Belmont 80, Green Bay 65 Minnesota 88, High Point 81 Clemson 78, Georgia State 66 Arkansas 91, Indiana State 71 Missouri 85, Davidson 77 Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 70, Utah 58

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Illinois 66, Boston University 62 Louisiana Tech 89, Iona 88 Georgia 63, Vermont 56 Southern Miss 66, Toledo 59 SMU 68, UC Irvine 54LSU 71, San Francisco 63 California 77, Utah Valley 64

SECOND ROUND FRIDAY’S GAME Robert Morris (22-13) at Belmont (25-9), 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY’S GAMES Southern Miss (28-6) at Missouri (23-11), TBA St. Mary’s (Calif.) (23-11) at Minn. (21-13), TBA

MONDAY’S GAMES G’town (18-14) at Fla. St. (20-13), TBA Arkansas (22-11) at California (20-13), 10 p.m. TBD Clemson (21-12) vs. Illinois (20-14) Louisiana Tech (28-7) vs. Georgia (20-13) SMU (24-9) vs. LSU (20-13)

QUARTERFINALS MARCH 25-26 TBD

SEMIFINALS At Madison Square Garden New York April 1 TBD, 6 p.m.

TBD, 8:30 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP At Madison Square Garden New York April 3 Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

WNIT glance All times Central

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Villanova 74, Quinnipiac 66 George Washington 86, East Carolina 68 Minnesota 62, Green Bay 60 Colorado 78, TCU 71 Montana 90, Washington State 78

TODAY’S GAMES IUPUI (22-9) at Cent. Mich. (20-11), 6 p.m.

High Point (22-10) at Bowling Green (27-4), 6 p.m. Belmont (14-17) at Indiana (18-12), 6 p.m.

Furman (18-12) at Auburn (17-14), 6 p.m.

Harvard (21-7) at Iona (26-5), 6 p.m.

Delaware (20-10) at Rutgers (22-9), 6 p.m.

VCU (22-9) at Princeton (20-8), 6 p.m.

American (22-9) at Seton Hall (18-13), 6 p.m. Navy (24-7) at Old Dominion (17-15), 6 p.m.

Stetson (26-7) at Miami (16-14), 6 p.m.

Marquette (21-10) at Ind. St. (20-11), 6:05 p.m. Texas Southern (20-12) at SMU (17-13), 7 p.m. Butler (15-15) at S. Dakota St. (22-9), 7 p.m.

Missouri (17-13) at Creighton (19-13), 7 p.m. Ball St. (18-16) at N’western (15-15), 7 p.m.

Tulane (20-10) at Miss. St. (19-13), 7 p.m.

Lamar (18-12) at Southern Miss. (26-6), 7 p.m.Cal Poly (18-13) at San Diego (22-8), 8 p.m.

S. Utah (22-9) at Colorado St. (25-7), 8 p.m.

Pacific (18-12) at Oregon (15-15), 9 p.m.

FRIDAY’S GAMES Stony Brook (24-8) at Michigan (18-13), 6 p.m. Mt. St. Mary’s (19-13) at Duquesne (19-12), 6 p.m. Charlotte (15-15) at St. Bona. (23-10), 6 p.m. N. Carolina A&T (24-6) at S. Fla. (19-12), 6 p.m. CS Bakersfield (19-11) at Saint Mary’s (Calif.) (22-9), 8 p.m.

Ark. St. (22-11) at Texas-El Paso (24-7), 8 p.m. Hawaii (17-13) at Washington (17-13), 9 p.m.

Sports, Pages 21 on 03/20/2014