Simon Turns His Game Up a Notch to Lead Arizona

Arizona’s Miles Simon decided before the Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic that he wasn’t playing hard enough, especially with only two games to go before the Pac-10 season opener.

So he was aggressive from the start against James Madison, and got the results he wanted.

“I needed to be energized tonight,” Simon said Sunday after scoring 16 of his 20 points in the first half of a 92-68 rout of the Dukes at Tucson.

“I got my energy back. I felt like I’d let the team down in the last two games.”

Michael Dickerson also had 20 points as the fifth-ranked Wildcats (8-3) rebounded from an 84-79 loss to Florida State last week, and Mike Bibby added 15 points and eight assists.

Simon also had seven assists and three rebounds for Arizona, which will play undefeated Kansas State in tonight’s championship game.

It wasn’t the talent-laden Arizona lineup that got to the Dukes (4-4), Coach Sherman Dillard said.

“They’re the defending national champions, and I thought they played that way tonight,” Dillard said. “They’re talented, and we know that. They have high-school All-Americans, but they also compete so hard. What did we learn from this game? We learned what it takes to play big-time basketball.”

Jamar Perry had a career-high 25 points, and Eugene Atkinson added 19 points and 11 rebounds. But Atkinson also had seven of James Madison’s 23 turnovers, and Perry committed six.

No. 11 Connecticut 100, Hartford 69--Connecticut made a school-record 15 three-point shots, seven by freshman Khalid El-Amin, as the Huskies defeated Hartford at Hartford, Conn.

El-Amin finished with 29 points in 30 minutes for Connecticut (11-1). He was 11 of 18 from the field, including seven of 10 from three-point range. Richard Hamilton scored 19 points, making four of seven three-point attempts.

Anthony Bethune led the Hawks (4-5) with 18 points.

No. 15 Iowa 91, Bucknell 52--Kent McCausland went five of six from three-point range and scored 17 points and Ryan Bowen added 15 as the Hawkeyes rolled past Bucknell at Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa (11-1) dominated its final tuneup for Wednesday’s Big Ten opener at Indiana, shooting 57% and taking Bucknell (3-8) out of the game with its full-court press and overplaying half-court defense.

The Hawkeyes held Bucknell to one field goal over the final 13 minutes of the first half and used three big scoring runs to build a 49-15 halftime lead and end any suspense right there.

No. 21 Clemson 84, South Carolina State 60--Harold Jamison, Greg Buckner and Iker Iturbe had 13 points each and Tony Christie scored 10 for Clemson, including consecutive three-point baskets to start the second half for the Tigers at Clemson, S.C.

Clemson (9-3) used a 21-6 run, led by Iturbe’s nine points, in the final 10 minutes of the first half to put South Carolina State (1-5) away.

Terrell McIntyre scored five points for Clemson in his first game since bruising his right foot on Dec. 13.

OTHER GAMES

Kenyon Jones scored 14 points to lead California (3-4) to a 75-67 victory over New Hampshire (4-5) at the Golden Bear Classic. . . . Bobby Lazor scored 25 points to lead five players in double figures as Arizona State (10-3) defeated Eastern Michigan (5-4), 102-90, in the championship game of the Tribune Classic at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Mike McShane made two free throws with only 16 seconds to play to give Oregon (5-4) a 67-66 victory over Southern Illinois (5-5) at Eugene, Ore. . . . DeMarco Johnson scored 23 points and Sean Colson added 19 as North Carolina Charlotte (4-5) defeated Southwest Missouri State (4-7), 83-69, for third place in the Hoosier Classic at Indianapolis. . . . Willie Anderson scored 17 points as Louisiana State (6-3) cruised to an easy 77-66 victory over Southern University (3-5) at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Aaron Hutchins scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to lead undefeated Marquette (8-0) to a 73-67 victory over Illinois Chicago (10-2) at Chicago.

WOMEN

Junior guard Tomora Young scored 14 points and freshman guard Natasha Pointer had 13 points and five assists to lead Rutgers to a 77-59 victory over USC in the first game of the Pac-10/Big East Conference Challenge at Pauley Pavilion. The Scarlet Knights (5-4) had five players in double figures and shot 50.9 from the field. USC (5-4) was led by freshman forward Whitney Houser, who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. . . . UCLA forced 33 turnovers on its way to romping Seton Hall, 88-58, in the second game of the Pac-10/Big East Conference Challenge at Pauley Pavilion. Sophomore guard Melanie Pearson scored 15 points and sophomore forward Maylana Martin added 14.