Josh Hart leads No. 3 Villanova past Wake Forest

Josh Hart scored a career-high 30 points with six three-pointers and No. 3 Villanova powered past Wake Forest, 96-77, on Friday to reach the finals of the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.

Hart, a preseason All-American, made five of his team’s first six baskets to open a 16-8 lead and the Wildcats (4-0) kept going. They’ll face Central Florida for the tournament title on Sunday night after the Knights defeated host Charleston, 60-40, in the other semifinal.

Villanova used a combination of accurate shooting and solid defense to slow down Wake Forest (3-1), which had scored 103 points Thursday in defeating Texas El Paso.

Hart surpassed his previous best of 27 points against Akron last season.

at No. 7 Kansas 86, Siena 65: Frank Mason III scored 18 points to lead a late-game charge, Carlton Bragg added a career-high 15 points and 11 rebounds and the Jayhawks (2-1) pulled away to beat the pesky Saints (1-2) and extend their home winning streak to 42 straight at Allen Fieldhouse.

at No. 10 Arizona 95, Sacred Heart 65: Freshman forward Lauri Markkanen, a 7-footer from Finland, scored 22 points to lead six players in double figures for the Wildcats (3-0) in a game at Tucson that was part of the Las Vegas Invitational.

No. 11 Xavier 83, Clemson 77: J.P. Macura scored a career-high 28 points and Trevon Bluiett contributed 21 as the Musketeers (3-0) defeated the Tigers (3-1) in the second round of the Tire Pros Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

at No. 13 Michigan State 100, Mississippi Valley State 53: Miles Bridges scored 21 of his 24 points in the first half, grabbed 11 rebounds and had six assists in his home debut to help the Spartans (1-2) rout the Delta Devils (0-4), a confidence-boosting win after getting routed by No. 2 Kentucky and losing to No. 10 Arizona by two points.

at No. 14 Gonzaga 109, Bryant 70: Przemek Karnowski scored 22 points and Johnathan Williams had 20 to help the Bulldogs (3-0) blow out undersized Bryant (1-2) at Spokane, Wash.

at No. 18 Syracuse 71, Monmouth 50: Andrew White scored 18 points, Taurean Thompson had 12 and the Orange (3-0) ran away from the overmatched Hawks (1-2) in the second half.

at No. 15 Purdue 64, Georgia State 56: Caleb Swanigan scored 18 points and the Boilermakers (2-1) tore off the final 20 points of the game to rally past the Panthers (1-2) in a Cancun Challenge opener.

No. 22 Creighton 103, Washington State 77: Cole Huff scored 19 points, and the Bluejays (3-0) put the Cougars (2-1) away early in the opening round of the Paradise Jam tournament at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Conor Clifford scored 29 for Washington State.

SOUTHLAND

Women

at No. 9 UCLA 95, Southern 47: Jordin Canada had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, the sixth triple-double in UCLA history, and passed 1,000 points in her career. The Bruins(2-1) hit a school-record 14 three-pointers, five by Kennedy Burke.

Saturday’s schedule (men)

Fresno Pacific at UC Riverside, 4 p.m.

Cal State Fullerton at Nevada Las Vegas, 7 p.m.

Pacific at UC Irvine, 7 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Bakersfield, 7 p.m.

Northern Illinois at Cal State Northridge, 8 p.m.