Gonzaga knocks off North Carolina, 82-74

Don’t give up on Gonzaga.

Derek Raivio scored 21 points to help Gonzaga upset No. 2 North Carolina, 82-74, in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals Wednesday night at New York.

Despite losing star Adam Morrison to the NBA after last season, Gonzaga didn’t seem fazed playing against a top program on a big stage at Madison Square Garden.

“A lot of people doubt the play of Gonzaga now that Adam is gone and we’ve just been preparing for a moment like this,” the Bulldogs’ Jeremy Pargo said. “We took advantage of it today.”

Gonzaga (5-0) advanced to the championship game Friday night against Butler. In the first semifinal, Julian Betko scored 11 of his career-high 15 points in a decisive second-half run to give Butler a 56-44 victory over No. 22 Tennessee.

Trailing, 65-50, with 11:52 left in the game, the Tar Heels (3-1) used an 18-5 run to get to 70-68 on Tyler Hansbrough’s putback dunk with 4:16 left.

Gonzaga didn’t fold. Pargo scored a basket and was fouled to push the lead back to five.

North Carolina could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Brandan Wright led the Tar Heels with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

No. 12 Memphis 80, No. 20 Kentucky 63 -- The Tigers bounced back from their semifinal loss to Georgia Tech and dominated the Wildcats in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational. Memphis had blown a 16-point lead against the Yellow Jackets.

Freshman Willie Kemp scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening four minutes of the second half for the Tigers (3-1).

No. 15 Arizona 86, Samford 57 -- Marcus Williams scored 14 points in the first half and freshman Chase Budinger added 12 in the opening 20 minutes for the Wildcats, who took a 46-18 lead and cruised at Tucson. All five starters reached double figures for the Wildcats (3-1).

Purdue 81, DePaul 73 -- Carl Landry scored 22 points and Tarrance Crump had 20 to lead the Boilermakers to fifth place in the Maui Invitational.

Landry, a 6-foot-7 power forward, and Crump, a 6-1 point guard, combined for 28 of their team’s 35 points in the second half as the Boilermakers (4-1) lost most of a 19-point halftime lead before holding on.

Loyola Marymount 69, Alaska Anchorage 58 -- Matthew Knight had 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Lions (4-1) past Division II Alaska Anchorage in the opening game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. Alaska-Anchorage (4-1) shot 11 for 23 from the free-throw line.

Cal State Fullerton 67, Texas San Antonio 63 -- Marcus Crenshaw had 20 points and Cal State Fullerton (3-0) scored the final seven points at San Antonio.

Justin Burns, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, started the game-deciding spurt with a layup with 1:32 remaining. UTSA’s Keith Spencer had 16 points and 11 rebounds for UTSA (1-4).