It’s a Bleak Rainbow for No. 4 Michigan

The smallest player on the court came up with the biggest rebound.

Chris Garner, Memphis’ 5-foot-10 point guard, scored on a put-back with 26 seconds to play late Saturday night and the Tigers held off unbeaten and fourth-ranked Michigan, 73-72, in the opening round of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

In the frantic finish, Garner grabbed a missed shot by Keldrick Bradford and scored to give Memphis a 73-71 lead.

Garner finished with only six points, but the last two were the biggest as the Tigers gave up a huge first-half lead and then had to rally to hold off the Wolverines.

Brandun Hughes of Michigan missed a three-point attempt with eight seconds left but Michigan got the ball out of bounds. Maurice Taylor then missed the second of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left, but Michigan controlled the rebound and called a timeout with 0.8 seconds to play. Maceo Baston missed a tip on the inbound pass as time expired.

Memphis’ success was short-lived, however, as Michael Chadwick’s breakaway layup with 27 seconds remaining lifted Georgia (10-1) to a 70-68 victory over the Tigers (5-5) in the semifinals on Sunday.

In a consolation game, Hughes scored 19 points and Michigan (9-1) rebounded from its first loss with an 85-79 victory over Washington State (7-3).

In the other consolation, Jason Maile scored 17 points and Vonteego Cummings had 14, and Pittsburgh (6-6) coasted to a 60-42 victory over cold-shooting Northwestern (5-5).

SUNDAY’S TOP 25 GAMES

No. 16 Louisville 89, No. 25 Boston College 85--Alex Sanders scored the first six points in the second overtime to keep the host Cardinals (10-0) unbeaten.

Sanders put back Nate Johnson’s missed layup with 4:26 left for a 73-71 lead. After Duane Woodward of Boston College (6-2) made a free throw, Sanders scored on a layup for a three-point lead.

No. 17 Xavier of Ohio 95, Kansas State 54--After this lopsided victory at Cincinnati, the Musketeers are 9-0 for the first time in school history. Kansas State fell to 7-3.

OTHER GAMES

Rashamel Jones led a run of 14 unanswered points at the start of the second half and Connecticut (8-2) transformed a tight nonconference game into a 104-62 blowout over Hartford (5-3) at Hartford, Conn. . . . Shaheen Holloway scored 19 points and Seton Hall (5-4) rallied in the closing minutes for a 73-69 win over Division II Alaska-Anchorage (7-5) in the fifth Seton Hall-Meadowlands Tournament at East Rutherford. In the other semifinal game, Tyson Wheeler scored 21 points and Rhode Island (6-2) won, 93-76, over San Francisco (4-6).

Sean Lonergan scored 24 points to pace Dartmouth (8-1) to a 64-44 victory over Buffalo (4-5) in the second game of the MVP Holiday Classic in Toledo Ohio. . . . Marcus Wilson made a key basket with 28 seconds left as Evansville (6-6) snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Vanderbilt, 66-61, at Evansville, Ind. For Vanderbilt (7-3), Austin Bates had 27 points. . . . Rico Hill scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Illinois State (8-1, 0-1) to a 54-45 victory over Creighton (5-5, 1-1) in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Omaha, Neb. . . . Scott Gooden scored 27 points and George Phillips had 26 to lead Akron (2-6) to a 99-86 victory over George Mason (6-3) at Akron.

Mark Sanford had six points and an assist in an early 16-2 run as Washington (7-1) scored an 81-54 victory over Eastern Washington (4-6) at Seattle. . . . Ed Gray scored 20 points and California (9-2) won its fifth consecutive game, 77-59, over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (6-5) in the Golden Bear Classic final. . . . In a late Saturday night game, Oliver Saint-Jean, a transfer from Michigan, scored 24 points to lead San Jose State (8-2) to a 63-56 victory over Detroit Mercy (5-6) in the final of the Cable Car Classic at San Jose. . . . Anthony Johnson scored six of his 16 points in overtime and Charleston (8-2) downed Northern Illinois, 71-67, in the Franklin Life Classic final at North Charleston, S.C.

College Basketball Notes

Shortly after being sentenced in a disorderly conduct case, Kenny Pratt of Iowa State was arrested on charges of assault and driving under the influence. Pratt was involved in a car accident and was placed under arrest when he failed a field sobriety test. Police said Pratt kicked the officers while they were putting him in the police car. Pratt was the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder last season. . . . Providence Coach Pete Gillen said he was aware that Abdul Brown, a 23-year-old reserve from Baltimore, was arrested on a shoplifting charge last month but has made no decision on disciplining him.