Advertisement

College basketball: No. 21 Buffalo wins Belfast battle of unbeatens; No. 7 Michigan takes down No. 19 Purdue; No. 12 Kansas State and No. 15 Oregon fall

Buffalo’s Nick Perkins (33) drives to the basket against San Francisco’s Jimbo Lull (5) in Belfast, Ireland on Dec. 1.
(Peter Morrison / Associated Press)
Share via

Nick Perkins scored 22 points, Jeremy Harris added 15 with eight rebounds and No. 21 Buffalo held off San Francisco for an 85-81 victory Saturday in the title game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

C.J. Massinburg scored 15 points, making 5 of 6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to close out the win, and Montell McCrae added 11 points as Buffalo (7-0) won the matchup of unbeatens to continue its best start since 1930.

Frankie Ferrari scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half for San Francisco (7-1), which had won its first six games for the first time since 1980.

Advertisement

The Bulls led for most of the game but did not seal the win until the closing minute. After Jamaree Bouyea made a driving layup for the Dons to get the game to 78-76, Harris slashed to the hoop for Buffalo’s final field goal with 37.5 seconds remaining.

No. 1 Gonzaga 103, at Creighton 92: Zach Norvell Jr. scored 23 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, and top-ranked Gonzaga wiped out an early double-digit deficit and beat Creighton 103-92 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (8-0), who took over the No. 1 ranking this week after beating Duke in the Maui Invitational, overcame a boisterous Creighton (6-2) crowd of more than 18,000 at the CHI Health Center to win in their first true road game.

Advertisement

at No. 2 Kansas 90, Stanford 84, OT: Lagerald Vick hit the tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, and then had eight of his 27 points in overtime to lead Kansas over Stanford.

Daejon Davis hit two free throws with 13.3 seconds left to push Stanford’s lead to 75-72 after driving in and drawing a foul by Dedric Lawson. Devon Dotson then found Vick for the tying 3 with just 7 seconds left.

Vick then opened overtime with another 3, and followed it with a dunk that set the Allen Fieldhouse crowd into a frenzy. He kept it going the next time down, hitting his seventh 3 to make it an eight-point game.

Advertisement

Lawson finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Udoka Azubuike had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Jayhawks.

KZ Okpala had 22 points and eight rebounds for Stanford. Davis added 19 points and eight boards, and Isaac White had 15 points on five 3s.

at No. 3 Duke 113, Stetson 49: Freshman RJ Barrett had 26 points, seven rebounds and a season-high seven assists in Duke’s rout of Stetson.

Cameron Reddish scored 23 points and Zion Williamson finished with 17 to help the Blue Devils (7-1) win their second straight.

Barrett played just 17 minutes, but that was long enough to challenge for Duke’s first triple-double in nearly 13 years.

Abayomi Iyiola scored 19 points to lead the Hatters (1-8), who have lost eight straight and were 2 of 23 from 3-point range.

Advertisement

at No. 7 Michigan 76, No. 19 Purdue 57: Jordan Poole scored 21 points as part of a balanced offense and Michigan was stingy on defense as it routed a third ranked team this season.

The Wolverines (8-0) are off to their best start since winning the first 16 games of the 2012-13 season. They were coming off an 84-67 win over No. 11 North Carolina, and they beat then-No. 8 Villanova 73-46 on its home court last month.

The Boilermakers (5-3) have lost three of their last four games.

Michigan’s Jon Teske matched his career high with 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Purdue’s Carsen Edwards scored 19 on 7-of-21

at No. 10 Kentucky 78, UNC Greensboro 61: Reid Travis scored 22 points, Keldon Johnson added six of his 13 points during a 14-2 second half run that helped No. 10 Kentucky beat UNC Greensboro 78-61 on Saturday for its seventh consecutive victory.

The visiting Spartans seemed poised to take control with a 55-50 edge with 13:08 remaining before Kentucky (7-1) had consecutive 3-point plays by Travis and Ashton Hagans for a 56-55 lead.

Demetrius Troy’s jumper put UNCG (7-2) back ahead but that was the last lead. The Wildcats made defensive stops during an 8-0 run led by Johnson, who followed two free throws with consecutive dunks for a 64-57 lead with 6:02 left.

Tyler Herro (18 points) added consecutive baskets to make it 68-59 before capping the comeback with a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left. Kentucky shot 50 percent after halftime while holding the Spartans to 28 percent in the second half and 36 percent overall. Johnson also had 11 rebounds.

Advertisement

at Marquette 83, No. 12 Kansas State 71: Markus Howard scored 45 points and went 19 of 21 from the foul line, and Marquette used tight defense to hand Kansas State its first loss.

Sacar Anim added 16 points for the Golden Eagles (6-2), who didn’t back down from the physical Wildcats. Marquette outrebounded Kansas State 34-25 and kept attacking the rim in holding a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Howard’s productive day from the field (11 of 17) helped Marquette overcome 20 turnovers.

Playing its first true road game against its toughest foe of the young season, Kansas State (6-1) saw its defense falter. Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed scored 12 points apiece for the Wildcats.

at No. 13 Virginia Tech 94, Central Connecticut State 40: Ahmed Hill scored 24 points to lead Virginia Tech past Central Connecticut State.

Hill’s game was part of a record-setting evening for the Hokies (6-1), who set a school record by making 18 3-pointers against the Blue Devils (4-5). Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 18 points for Virginia Tech, hitting two 3-pointers, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Ty Outlaw each hit three 3-pointers.

Joe Hugley led the Blue Devils (4-5) with 13 points. They only shot 25.9 percent (14 of 54).

at Houston 65, No. 18 Oregon 61: Armoni Brooks had 22 points and nine rebounds, Nate Hinton added 14 points and Houston beat Oregon to win its 20th straight home game.

Advertisement

Brooks was 7 of 14 from the field, including 6 of 13 on 3-pointers, to lead Houston (6-0), which shot 33 percent from the field. Corey Davis had 12 points for Houston, which was opening its new $60 million Fertitta Center.

Bol Bol had 23 points and seven rebounds and Will Richardson added 16 points for the Ducks (4-3), who lost their second straight after falling at home to Texas Southern on Monday.

No. 20 Texas Tech 78, Memphis 67: Tariq Owens had 13 points and 11 rebounds and tied a career high with eight blocks, Jarrett Culver scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Texas Tech rallied to beat Memphis at the HoopHall Miami Invitational.

Deshawn Corprew scored 12 points and Brandone Francis added 10 for Texas Tech, which has won all seven of its games this season by double digits. Owens had seven of his blocks in the second half to help the Red Raiders’ comeback.

Tyler Harris scored 17 points, and Kyvon Davenport added 13 for Memphis (3-4). The Tigers missed 17 of their final 21 shots.

at No. 23 Villanova 85, La Salle 78: Eric Paschall scored 27 points, Phil Booth had 19 and Villanova held off La Salle’s upset bid.

Advertisement

Villanova (6-2) remained the class of the city and won its 23rd straight in the Big 5, round-robin play among five Philadelphia Division I basketball teams. The Wildcats haven’t lost a city series game since Dec. 5, 2012 against Temple. They got a pretty good scare against winless La Salle (0-8), who got 17 points from Traci Carter and 15 from Isiah Deas. The Wildcats could never really shake the Explorers until the waning moments and each team hit 12 3-pointers.

at No. 24 Maryland 66, Penn State 59: Freshman Jalen Smith scored 16 points, Bruno Fernando had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Maryland opened Big Ten play by slipping past Penn State.

Anthony Cowan Jr. chipped in with 15 points, including two clutch 3s in the closing minutes. The last of those long-range jumpers, hoisted as the shot clock expired, made it 64-59 with 34 seconds left.

Maryland (7-1, 1-0) held on to secure a bounce-back victory following a 76-71 loss to No. 4 Virginia earlier in the week. Lamar Stevens scored 19 for Penn State (4-3, 0-1), Josh Reaves had all 17 of his points in the first half and Rasir Bolton finished with 15.

Other game of note:

- Shamorie Ponds scored 37 points, including a personal 9-0 run down the stretch, and St. John’s rallied from 16 points down in the second half to beat Georgia Tech 76-73 at the HoopHall Miami Invitational. Justin Simon and LJ Figueroa each scored 13 for the Red Storm (7-0), who are off to their best start since 1994-95. Jose Alvarado scored 17 for Georgia Tech.

Advertisement

SOUTHLAND

MEN

at Pepperdine 77, Abilene Christian 62: Kessler Edwards had 19 points and Colbey Ross added 15 for the Waves (5-2), who never trailed. Pepperdine made 25 of 30 free-throwattempts while Abilene Christian (7-1) was just eight of 13.

at Cal State Fullerton 99, Cal Lutheran 60: The Titans (3-5) shot 61.5% from the field and knocked down seven of 14 three-pointers against Division III Cal Lutheran (2-4). Khalil Ahmad led Cal State Fullerton with 29 points.

at San Diego 74, Long Beach State 70: Olin Carter III scored 21 points for San Diego (6-2), including two crucial free throws with 31 seconds left in the game. Temidayo Yussuf led Long Beach State (2-7) with 28 points.

at Cal Baptist 107, Mississippi Valley State 71: The Lancers shot 54% from the floor and made 18 of 36 three-pointers in a blowout. Milan Acquaah made six three-pointers and finished with 30 points for Cal Baptist (4-4).

Advertisement

Utah State 89, at UC Irvine 65: Quinn Taylor scored 21 points and Neemias Queta had his first career double-double for Utah State (7-1). The Anteaters (7-2) missed their first 11 three-pointers and finished one for 14 from long range.

Sacramento State 88, at Cal State Northridge 68: Marcus Graves’ three-point play with 2:50 left in the first half made the score 39-29, and the Hornets (4-1) led by double digits the rest of the way. Graves led Sacramento State with 19 points.

WOMEN

USC 86, at Nevada Las Vegas 72: Tied at halftime, the Trojans outscored the Lady Rebels 31-15 in the third quarter and maintained a double-digit lead. Mariya Moore led USC with 20 points and Minyon Moore added 17 points and 10 assists.

SUNDAY

MEN

Advertisement

UC Riverside at Valparaiso 11:30 a.m.

UC Santa Barbara at Washington 5 p.m.

WOMEN

Indiana at UCLA 1 p.m.

Advertisement