No. 3 Stanford Shakes Off Stubborn St. John’s

In the end, Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery was right.

Montgomery warned the No. 3 Cardinal that its superior size wouldn’t necessarily scare No. 23 St. John’s. Stanford needed a comeback in the last six minutes to shake the stubborn Red Storm, 55-53, in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT Wednesday at New York.

Arthur Lee made two free throws with 11.8 seconds left for the winning points and then had to be helped off the court, doubled over in pain, as Stanford (4-0) survived the scare.

“It was sort of what we expected from St. John’s.” Montgomery said. “They’re good players. They gave us a different look and came after our perimeter.”

Stanford trailed by 10 points, 48-38, with 6:07 left before the Cardinal went on a 14-3 run to take a 52-51 lead with 1:41 to play. Lee and Peter Sauer made three-point baskets during the run.

After Kris Weems made one of two free throws for a 53-51 lead, Ron Artest tied it for St. John’s (3-1) with 14.9 seconds left. Artest, who had a chance for a three-point play, missed the free throw. Stanford controlled the rebound, but Artest broke up a pass to Lee and in doing so, crashed into him as the two players chased the loose ball.

The Stanford guard was stunned for a moment but went to the foul line and dropped in the winning free throws.

Mark Madsen led Stanford with 15 points; Tim Young and Lee each had 10. Artest led St. John’s with 15.

No. 9 North Carolina 54, No. 14 Purdue 47--The Tar Heels advanced to the final of the Preseason NIT by using their size and strength to wear down the Boilermakers.

Seven-foot sophomore Brandan Haywood made three consecutive slam dunks at the start of the game and finished with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ed Cota added 11 for North Carolina (5-0).

Purdue (4-1) led, 26-19, at halftime and was in front at 45-39 with less than 10 minutes to play.

But then North Carolina took over. The Tar Heels finished with a 15-2 run and scored the game’s last 12 points.

No. 11 Arizona 73, Texas 57--Jason Terry scored 19 points and A.J. Bramlett had 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Wildcats won their home opener.

Terry and Bramlett, the only two seniors on an otherwise young Arizona team, led a second-half surge that finally put away the physical but cold-shooting and turnover-prone Longhorns (0-3).

Michael Wright led the four freshmen who play regularly for Arizona (2-0) with 10 points. Richard Jefferson, who didn’t play in the first half, scored eight.

No. 19 Syracuse 76, No. 17 Indiana 63--Freshman Preston Shumpert, a 6-foot-7 guard, keyed two runs in leading the Orangemen past the Hoosiers in the championship of the Maui Invitational at Lahaina, Hawaii.

Shumpert had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Orangemen (5-0), and Jason Hart added 17 points and five assists.

Indiana (6-1) was hurt by A.J. Guyton, who failed to score for the first time in his college career. The junior guard came in with a 16.5 average this season.

No. 18 Utah 71, Michigan 54--Andre Miller scored his first six points off steals during an 18-3 run midway through the second half and Jeremy Killion added three three-point baskets during the same stretch to lift the Utes in the Maui Invitational.

Michigan (2-4), behind the outside shooting of Louis Bullock, led by seven points midway through the half when Miller got going. Hanno Mottola got the 18th-ranked Utes (3-2) started with two baskets sandwiched around one of Killion’s three-point baskets.

No. 15 Cincinnati 76, Southern Utah 63--Shawn Myrick scored 16 points to lead the Bearcats to victory in the opening game of the Great Alaska Shootout at Anchorage.

Pete Mickeal added 12 for the Bearcats (2-0), including 10 in the second half.

Tyson Hancock scored 20 points for Southern Utah (2-2).

No. 22 Clemson 79, Kansas State 45--Terrell McIntyre scored eight points during a 16-0 run as the Tigers won the consolation bracket of the Maui Invitational.

McIntyre, who finished with 13 points, highlighted the spurt with a two three-point baskets. Reserve Vincent Whitt made all five of his shots and had six rebounds for Clemson (5-1).

Clemson led, 40-19, at halftime. It was the lowest first-half output in two years for Kansas State (4-2).

OTHER GAMES

Eddie House scored 26 points and Bobby Lazor added 19 for Arizona State (2-3) in a 78-64 victory over Chaminade (0-3) in the seventh-place game of the Maui Invitational. Chaminade, the host team, has lost 18 consecutive games in the tournament. . . . Geno Carlisle scored 17 points to lead California (2-0) to a 94-63 victory over Eastern Washington (1-2) at Oakland.