Louisville Beats Hofstra Unconvincingly

Freshman Marques Maybin scored 22 points as No. 19 Louisville defeated Hofstra, 75-66, in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Louisville (1-0) twice opened double-digit leads, only to see Hofstra (1-2) storm back each time. With Louisville leading 48-45 in the third quarter, Maybin made a three-point shot to stop the last Hofstra rally.

“It wasn’t a fluke,” Hofstra Coach Jay Wright said. “They got it done, so you have to give Louisville credit. But I told our guys this is something. We can use it to believe in each other and believe in what we’re doing.”

In other Puerto Rico Shootout first-round games:

St. John’s 93, American University-Puerto Rico 81--Freshman Ron Artest scored 24 points and Felipe Lopez had 27 as the Red Storm (3-0) defeated the Pirates (0-1).

Artest converted nine of 11 shots, including five of seven from three-point range. He was often left open as American University, a Division II school, concentrated on the Red Storm’s 6-foot-11 center Zendon Hamilton.

St. John’s will meet Georgia Tech in the semifinals today.

Georgia Tech 62, Alabama 60--Matt Harpring scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (2-0) against the Crimson Tide (1-3).

Georgia Tech fell behind by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets worked their way back into the game behind the play of Harpring, who shook off an 8-for-26 shooting night.

Alabama will play American University in the consolation bracket today.

Illinois 70, Wichita State 57--Jerry Hester scored a team-high 21 points and the Illini (4-0) had a 21-9 third-quarter run to beat the Shockers (2-1).