NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 62, WICHITA STATE 52
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Louisville added a late-night wrinkle to its defense, ran out to a big lead and hung on to earn a trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
Donovan Mitchell made two three-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes and scored 14 points to help No. 10 Louisville beat Wichita State 62-52 on Thursday.
Quentin Snider also scored 14 points for the Cardinals (5-0). They locked down defensively in the first half, then turned away the Shockers' second-half comeback.
Playing on a short turnaround after Wednesday's overtime victory over Old Dominion, Louisville showed some match-up zone in the first half for a different look against an offense that was averaging 91 points. Coach Rick Pitino said his staff had about 55 minutes to teach it to this season's group.
"The thing I like about our team right now is they are flexible," Pitino said.
Wichita State shot just 27 percent (7 of 26) and managed 17 first-half points, allowing Louisville to take charge and play from in front all afternoon.
"We just wanted to confuse them as much as possible," Mitchell said, "and we did that very well."
Trailing 33-17 at the half and by 16 with about 14 minutes left, Wichita State (5-1) hit three consecutive three-pointers to get back in it and twice got within six. But the Cardinals repeatedly came up with timely offensive rebounds or baskets to keep control.
Wichita State shot just 32 percent for the game, while Louisville -- which shot 37 percent -- helped itself by making 17 of 23 free throws and taking a 46-33 rebounding advantage.
"We saw a different defense than what we've been seeing, a very good matchup zone," Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall said. "And we didn't attack it very well. We didn't get the ball inside enough."
Markis McDuffie and Shaquille Morris each scored 10 points for the Shockers.
In other games involving Top 25 teams Thursday, Jonathan Williams and Zach Collins led a balanced offense with 13 points apiece, helping No. 11 Gonzaga pull away to an 82-62 victory over Quinnipiac in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney World. The Bulldogs (5-0) also got 10 points each from Jordan Mathews and Josh Perkins to advance to the semifinals of the eight-team tournament. Gonzaga used a 12-2 spurt to open a 37-25 lead late in the first half. Silas Nelson's basket put the Bulldogs up 48-35 with just under 15 minutes to go, and the closest Quinnipiac (0-3) got after that was 10. ... Nathan Adrian had 13 points and eight rebounds in No. 19 West Virginia's 89-57 victory over Illinois in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in New York. Jevon Carter added 10 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists for the Mountaineers (4-0). They will face Temple in the title game today. Esa Ahmad and Elijah Macon each had nine points, and Teyvon Myers and Daxter Miles Jr. added eight each. Michael Finke led Illinois (4-2) with 13 points, and Mike Thorne Jr. had 12. ... Johnathan Motley scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half and No. 20 Baylor dominated after halftime to beat No. 24 Michigan State 73-58 to reach the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. added 14 points and eight rebounds -- nearly all in the second half -- for the Bears (5-0), who sprinted out of the break with a 12-2 run on the way to shooting 55 percent in the second half. That quickly turned a 33-30 halftime deficit into a double-digit lead against the cold-shooting Spartans (3-3). ... Monte Morris scored 20 points and No. 21 Iowa State took the lead for good in the final minute before holding off Indiana State 73-71 in the opening game of the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney World. Iowa State (4-0) advanced to the tournament semifinals, despite going 5 for 15 from the foul line over the final 10 minutes. The Cyclones trailed for most of the first half before using an 11-0 run to wipe out a nine-point deficit. Brenton Scott led Indiana State (2-2) with 20 points on 7 of 18 shooting, a pair of long three-pointers that gave the Sycamores leads in the closing minutes. ... Quinton Rose scored 26 points, including two free throws with 2 seconds left, to lead Temple to an 89-86 victory over No. 25 Florida State in the first game of the 2016 NIT Season Tip-Off. Despite having four players in double-figure scoring, Florida State (5-1) lost for the first time this season. Trailing by 12 with 9:26 left in the game, Temple went on a 15-2 run to take a 73-72 lead. Florida State had a chance to win, but Jonathan Isaac air-balled a layup attempt with 4 seconds left. Rose's two free throws sealed the victory.
SEC
Gators nip Pirates
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — KeVaughn Allen scored 21 points and Canyon Barry added 20 off the bench as Florida beat Seton Hall 81-76 in a firstround game at the AdvoCare Invitational.
Allen had a layup and Barry hit a 3 to make it 69-61 with 5 minutes to play. After Khadeen Carrington’s three-point play got Seton Hall within two with 2 minutes remaining, Allen made a layup to put Florida up 75-71.
The Gators secured it by making 6 of 8 free throws during the final minute of play.
Florida (5-0) also got 14 points from Chris Chiozza.
Carrington had 28 points and Myles Powell 16 for Seton Hall (3-1).
In other games involving SEC teams Thursday, D.J. Hogg scored 25 points, Admon Gilder added 17 points and 7 rebounds, and Texas A&M cruised to a comfortable 95-73 victory over Cal State Northridge in the first round of the Wooden Legacy at Cal State Fullerton. The Aggies (3-1) used a 27-4 run over the final 7:31 of the first half to separate from the Matadors (2-3), holding CSUN without a field goal for the final 9:12 and off the scoreboard entirely for the final 4:28. … Deandre Burnett hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final two minutes and finished with 21 points and Mississippi (6-1) held off Montana for an 86-81 victory. Cullen Neal added 19 points, including five three-pointers, Terence Davis scored 18 points, and Sebastian Saiz had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Sayeed Pridgett led Montana (1-5) with 19 points. … Andrew Chrabascz had his second career double-double, Tyler Lewis scored 15 points and Butler (5-0) pulled away late for a 76-66 victory over Vanderbilt (2-3) in the Las Vegas Invitational. Chrabascz had 12 points and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds, Kelan Martin scored 14 points and Kamar Baldwin added 12 for Butler. … Brandon Sampson scored 24 points to help LSU beat Old Dominion 66-60 in the Battle 4 Atlantis consolation bracket. Duop Reath added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (4-1), who shook off a blowout loss in Wednesday’s tournament opener by hanging on down the stretch against the Monarchs (2-2).
Sports on 11/25/2016