PRESEASON NIT ROUNDUP : Kansas Knocks Off No. 1 UNLV

Unranked Kansas completed a sweep of the two top teams in the nation Wednesday night when Mark Randall and Mike Maddox sparked a second-half spurt that carried the Jayhawks to a 91-77 victory over No. 1 Nevada Las Vegas in the semifinals of the preseason National Invitation Tournament at New York.

Kansas (3-0), which beat second-ranked LSU, 89-83, at Baton Rouge, La., to reach the semifinals, faces No. 25 St. John’s on Friday night in the NIT final.

Randall scored 10 points and Maddox eight during a 13-minute, 34-16 run by Kansas that turned a 49-47 lead into an 83-63 margin with 3:51 left.

Maddox led the Jayhawks with 17 points, Randall had 16, Pekka Markkanen scored 14 and Rick Calloway added 13.

Anderson Hunt had 21 points, Stacey Augmon 17 and Larry Johnson 13 for UNLV (2-1).

UNLV appeared to take control with a 14-2 surge that gave the Rebels a 36-28 lead with 4:28 left in the first half. Augmon started the run with a three-pointer and finished it with a layup.

Kansas, which missed the first shot of three consecutive one-and-one opportunities during UNLV’s run, responded with its own 14-2 spurt and took a 42-38 lead at halftime.

The Rebels trailed, 49-42, early in the second half before a basket and three-point play by Hunt made it 49-47 with 16:40 left.

Calloway started Kansas’ winning spurt with two free throws and a fast-break layup.

St. John’s 53, DePaul 52--Boo Harvey’s 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave the Redmen a victory over the Blue Demons in the other semifinal.

The Redmen (3-0) seemed on the way to defeat in the final seconds as they desperately tried to foul while DePaul passed and dribbled the ball at its end. Just before he was fouled, DePaul guard Melvon Foster was called for traveling with 5.7 seconds left.

Harvey took the inbounds pass and drove three-quarters of the court for the winning jumper.