Okulaja Leads North Carolina in NIT Opener

Ademola Okulaja scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds as No. 10 North Carolina beat Florida International, 65-44, Monday night in the first round of the Preseason NIT.

The Golden Panthers (2-1) were playing their third game in four days and wore down against the deep Tar Heels (2-0), who will play host to Georgia in the second round.

Brendan Haywood added 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Tar Heels, who have won 51 straight against nonconference teams.

Carlos Arroyo led Florida International with 13 points.

No. 13 Oklahoma St. 90, Northwestern St. 65--Joe Adkins scored 23 points and Adrian Peterson had 21 as Oklahoma State won its 24th straight home opener.

Richard Taylor scored 25 points for the Northwestern State (0-2), which committed 39 fouls and had five of its 10 players foul out. The Demons were outscored 37-12 from the free throw line, although Oklahoma State missed 15 of its chances.

Peterson, one of four starters back from a team that went 22-7 last year, scored 14 of his points in the first half when the Cowboys took a 20-point lead.

No. 15 Purdue 77, Ill.-Chicago 61--Jaraan Cornell scored 23 points to lead Purdue past Illinois-Chicago in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.

Purdue (2-0) led from start to finish, taking command with a 22-7 lead in the opening 10 minutes when the Flames (0-1) missed 13 of 16 shots from the field.

The Boilermakers will play host to Gonzaga, which beat Memphis 88-73, in the second round on Wednesday. Bryant Notree topped Illinois-Chicago with 24 points.

No. 23 Massachusetts 87, Niagara 73--Monty Mack scored 24 points, including three 3-pointers, as Massachusetts beat Niagara in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.

Lari Ketner added 16 points and nine rebounds for UMass (1-0), which will play St. John’s in the second round.

Charlton Clarke hit a 3-pointer to trigger a 9-0 run that helped the Minutemen take command early in the second half.

Niagara (1-1) was led by Alvin Young and Terry Edwards with 18 points each.

No. 24 Clemson 66, Stetson 39--Clemson broke it open by scoring the first 20 points of the second half.

Terrell McIntyre scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half for Clemson (2-0), which led by only one point at halftime. Johnny Miller added 13 points, and Harold Jamison grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tigers.

OTHER GAMES

Courtney Alexander scored 32 points to lead Fresno State (2-0) to a 114-101 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Fresno.