COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Arizona Too Big and Strong for Arkansas

Arizona’s big front line overpowered Arkansas in the second half Friday night and the No. 3 Wildcats came from behind to win the preseason NIT tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Led by center Sean Rooks and forward Chris Mills, the Wildcats used a 42-11 second-half run to defeat the No. 2 Razorbacks, 89-77.

In the second half, the 6-foot-11 Rooks had 19 of his career-high 31 points and seven of his 10 rebounds, and the 6-6 Mills 17 of his 29 points and five of his 13 rebounds. Brian Williams, a 6-10 forward, finished with eight rebounds.

Arizona outrebounded Arkansas, 54-32 for the game and 31-14 in the second half.

The Wildcats (4-0) trailed, 57-49, with 12:28 left, but Arkansas (3-1) went the next 4:38 without scoring and Arizona took control with the inside play of Rooks and Mills, a transfer from Kentucky who was named MVP of the tournament.

A tip-in by Mills started a 13-0 run. The next nine were scored by Rooks, who scored 19 points in the second half.

No. 4 Michigan State 78, Furman 75--The Spartans decided the game at East Lansing in the first 13 minutes when the Paladins made only one of their first 16 shots. Michigan State led, 24-3, with 7:07 left in the half when Furman made its second basket.

Chris Bass’ six points in the last 10 seconds served only to reduce the margin.

Guard Steve Smith scored 24 points for the Spartans.

No. 6 Duke 85, Notre Dame 77--The Blue Devils turned 15 Irish turnovers in the first half into 22 points, then withstood a late second-half rally in the third-place game of the preseason NIT.

Notre Dame, with LaPhonso Ellis scoring 13 of his 19 points and Daimon Sweet 16 of his 18, pulled to within six points twice, the last time at 79-73 with 1:21 left.

No. 12 Pittsburgh 84, Northwest Missouri State 50--The Panthers trailed for most of the first 10 minutes at Pittsburgh, then scored 17 consecutive points during a 25-6 run.

No. 21 Georgia 89, Wichita State 58--The Bulldogs held the Shockers without a basket in their first 22 possessions in the first round of the Richmond (Va.) tournament.

No. 25 St. John’s 85, Monmouth 60--Malik Sealy scored a game-high 22 points as the Redmen won for the 31st consecutive time in the Joe Lapchick tournament at New York.