Utah State Surprises No. 9 Utah, 62-54
Utah Coach Rick Majerus had said that his ninth-ranked Runnin’ Utes were inexperienced, unpolished and unworthy of their ranking.
Maybe he was right.
Donnie Johnson scored 18 points and Troy Rolle had 11 as Utah State shocked Utah, 62-54, Wednesday night at Logan, Utah.
The Utes, who advanced to the NCAA championship game last spring before losing to Kentucky, played dismally on both ends of the court. They held a 49-45 lead with 4:25 to play, but the Aggies (2-0) ran away by scoring on their last eight possessions.
Even preseason All-American Andre Miller, who had 18 points and seven rebounds, couldn’t save Utah (1-1) from its own mistakes. The Runnin’ Utes made only 34.4% of their shots, made 11 turnovers, committed 21 fouls and sank only four of 22 three-point attempts.
After the final horn, the Utah State fans stormed the court and formed a solid cheering mass, with dozens taunting the Utah players as they left the court, shouting “Overrated!” in their faces before being restrained by security.
No. 3 Stanford 86, SMU 51--Mark Madsen, Peter Sauer and Jarron Collins each scored 12 points as the Cardinal (2-0) dominated the Mustangs (0-1) at Palo Alto in the first round of the Preseason NIT.
Stanford, which never trailed, led after 10 minutes, 21-7, and increased its advantage to 43-17 by halftime.
The Cardinal will play host to Southwest Missouri State in the second round Friday night. Southwest Missouri State was a 72-69 first-round winner over Missouri.
No. 7 Temple 68, Mississippi 52--Rasheed Brokenborough had 21 points as the Owls (3-0) overcame a streaky performance to overtake the Rebels (2-1) at Philadelphia.
No. 10 North Carolina 65, Georgia 58--Kris Lang scored 21 points, Ademola Okulaja added 14 and each took turns shutting down Georgia star Jumaine Jones in helping the Tar Heels (3-0) defeat the Bulldogs (2-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C., in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
The Tar Heels, who blew a 13-point second-half lead before rallying for the victory, will play Purdue in the semifinals next week in New York.
No. 15 Purdue 83, Gonzaga 68--Jaraan Cornell scored a career-high 29 points, including eight in a row during a key second-half run, as the Boilermakers (3-0) overpowered the Bulldogs (1-2) at West Lafayette, Ind., in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
No. 21 Indiana 91, Alabama Birmingham 54--A.J. Guyton scored 21 points and Luke Recker added 20 as the Hoosiers (4-0), substituting freely almost the entire game, rolled over the Blazers (1-1) at Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana used two big runs in the first half to take control.
St. John’s 73, No. 23 Massachusetts 69--Tyrone Grant had career highs of 20 points and 17 rebounds to help the Red Storm (2-0) outlast the Minutemen (1-1) at New York in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
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Kristi Rohr scored 20 points and Rachelle Rogers scored 16 as the 22nd-ranked UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team opened its season with a 101-89 victory over Northwestern (0-2) at Evanston, Ill. . . . Danielle Green scored a career-high 23 points to lead No. 11 Notre Dame (2-0) to a 71-60 victory over Butler (1-1) at Indianapolis.
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