STORRS, Conn. -- Shaq McKissic scored 22 points Wednesday night as Arizona State knocked 2014 NCAA champion UConn out in the first round of this year's National Invitation Tournament, 68-61.
UConn senior guard Ryan Boatright, a unanimous first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection, missed the first game of his four-year career due to a left shoulder injury. Boatright, UConn's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game, was injured in the AAC championship game Sunday against SMU.
At a glance
MEN’S NIT
First round
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Arizona State 68, Connecticut 61 Temple 73, Bucknell 67 Old Dominion 65, Charleston Southern 56 Richmond 84, St. Francis (NY) 74 Illinois State 69, Green Bay 56 Vanderbilt 75, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 64 South Dakota State 86, Colorado State 76
Savon Goodman scored 14 for the Sun Devils (18-15).
Rodney Purvis led UConn (20-15) with 19 points.
Arizona State outscored the Huskies 20-7 over the final nine minutes of the first half and led 37-24 at halftime. The Sun Devils increased their lead to 16 in the first two minutes of the second half, and were up 48-34 before the Huskies went on a 25-11 run to tie the game at 59 on Omar Calhoun's three-pointer from the left corner with 2:42 left.
A three-pointer by McKissic with 2:10 left put Arizona State up for good.
OLD DOMINION 65,
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 56
NORFORK, Va. -- Top-seeded Old Dominion rallied from a poor-shooting first half and a six-point deficit to storm past Charleston Southern.
The victory was ODU's 22nd in a row at the Constant Center and the 400th of Coach Jeff Jones' career.
The Monarchs (25-7) of Conference USA advanced to play Illinois State.
Point guard Trey Freeman contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Monarchs.
The Buccaneers (19-12) won the Big South's regular season but were upset in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament by Longwood. They were led by senior guard Saah Nimley, who scored 27 points.
Matching Charleston Southern's style -- the Bucs shot 11 for 31 from three-point range -- the Monarchs launched 29 three-point attempts of their own, one shy of their season high. Only 2 of 16 fell in the first half, however, which contributed to ODU's 33-27 deficit. Nonetheless, the Monarchs came out firing again in the second half, and finally started hitting their target.
They made 6 of 13 from three-point range in the second half, four by Ambrose Mosley, to pull away. Mosley scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, and ODU's high scorer, Jonathan Arledge, scored 12 of his 22 after the break.
TEMPLE 73, BUCKNELL 67
PHILADELPHIA -- Will Cummings scored a season-high 30 points to lead Temple past Bucknell.
Quenton DeCosey added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for the top-seeded Owls (24-10), the first team left out of the NCAA Tournament field.
Chris Hass led eighth-seeded Bucknell (19-15) with 15 points. The Bison won the Patriot League regular-season title to earn an automatic NIT berth.
After Hass gave the Bison a 52-51 lead with a three-pointer midway through the second half, Cummings sparked an 11-3 Temple run with nine points in a 4 1-2- minute span.
Bucknell pulled within 64-62 on Hass' jumper with 1:23 left, but Temple went 7 for 8 from the foul line in the final minute to advance to a second-round matchup vs. George Washington.
Cummings added seven rebounds. His 30 points were one off his career high and the most scored by an Owl this season.
RICHMOND 84, ST. FRANCIS 74
RICHMOND, Va. -- Terry Allen had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Richmond beat St. Francis, N.Y.
The Spiders (20-13) led throughout, but allowed the Terriers (23-12) to use a 21-11 run late in the second half to close within 74-72 with 2:50 remaining. Kendall Anthony then made consecutive driving basket for the Spiders, pushing the lead back up to six, and they held on.
Alonzo Nelson-Ododa added 14 points and Anthony, ShawnDre' Jones and T.J. Cline each had 12 for the Spiders. They next face Arizona State, also at the Robins Center.
Brent Jones led the Terriers with 19 points, including 17 in the second half, and Chris Hooper added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
St. Francis earned its berth by winning the Northeast Conference regular season.
The Spiders made 10 of their first 12 shots and led 29-16 until the Terriers scored the next eight points.
ILLINOIS STATE 69,
WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 56
NORMAL, Ill. — Paris Lee scored 18 points to lead Illinois State past the Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Daishon Knight added 17 points, while Reggie Lynch and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell scored 15 and 14, respectively, for the Redbirds (22-12).
The Phoenix were led by Keifer Sykes, who scored 14 points after missing last week’s Horizon Conference final loss against Valparaiso because of an ankle injury. Alfonzo McKinnie added 11 points and seven rebounds for Green Bay (24-9).
VANDERBILT 75, ST. MARY’S 64
MORAGA, Calif. — Damian Jones scored 21 points and Riley LaChance added 17 as Vanderbilt (20-13) defeated St. Mary’s.
Garrett Jackson scored 23 points and had nine rebounds for the Gaels (21-10), who lost their third consecutive game.
Sports on 03/19/2015