LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley each scored 15 points, helping No. 3 Arizona wear down Missouri for a 72-53 victory in the opening round the Maui Invitational on Monday.
Arizona (4-0) has struggled shooting from the perimeter this season and had another rough day from behind the arc, hitting a couple shots late to finish 5 of 16 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats made up for it on defense, holding Missouri (2-2) to 36 percent shooting while scoring 24 points off the Tigers’ 17 turnovers.
Freshman Stanley Johnson had 14 points for Arizona and T.J. McConnell nine assists to offset a 2-for-11 game from the floor.
Montaque Gill-Caesar led Missouri with 13 points.
No. 6 LOUISVILLE 87, SAVANNAH STATE 26
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Montrezl Harrell had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Louisville jumped to a 29-0 lead over the first 15:58 against Savannah State.
For a while the Cardinals (4-0) appeared headed toward pitching the NCAA’s first shutout in a half since Duke led North Carolina 7-0 at halftime on Feb. 24, 1979, according to STATS. But Saadiq Muhammad’s free throw with 4:02 remaining before halftime provided the Tigers’ first point and Khalen Pinkett’s jumper with 1:23 left ended their 0-for-23 shooting drought.
Savannah State (2-3) trailed 41-7 at the break behind 2-of-26 shooting (7.7 percent) as Louisville allowed its fewest points in a half since 1972-73. San Francisco (December 2010) and Cincinnati (March 1981) each scored 11 points.
Wayne Blackshear added 13 points, Terry Rozier had 11 and Chinanu Onuaku 10 with nine rebounds for the Cardinals.
No. 11 KANSAS 87, RIDER 60
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Brannen Greene scored 17 points off the bench, Perry Ellis also had 17 points and No. 11 Kansas rebounded from an embarrassing loss to Kentucky with a victory over Rider.
Svi Mykhailiuk, the 17-year-old Freshman from the Ukraine, made his first start for Kansas, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds. Cliff Alexander had with 10 points and four rebounds.
Xavier Lundy paced Rider (3-2) with 13 points. Teddy Okereafor had 10 points and four assists.
Kansas (2-1) went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half, solely led by Alexander. In those two minutes, Alexander scored all nine points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot. The freshman only played for 13 minutes.
Wayne Selden Jr. led the Jayhawks with nine asists. Kansas had 22 overall, more than in the past two games combined.
No. 12 VILLANOVA 77, No. 14 VCU 53
NEW YORK (AP) — JayVaughn Pinkston scored 15 points and Darrun Hilliard had 14 to lead Villanova past Virginia Commonwealth.
The Wildcats (4-0) used a 16-0 run early in the second half to bust this one open and advance to the Legends Classic final at the Barclays Center.
The Wildcats needed about 2½ minutes to turn a tight one into a rout. Kris Jenkins added 13 points to lead a Villanova bench that outscored VCU’s reserves 36-11.
Melvin Johnson and Briante Weber both scored 13 points for VCU.
The Rams missed 15 of 17 3-pointers and shot only 37 percent overall. VCU opened the second half on a 6-0 run to open a short-lived lead until they totally collapsed and were outhustled for the next 17 next minutes against the attacking Wildcats.
No. 13 IOWA STATE 84, ALABAMA 74
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Georges Niang scored 28 points, reserve Dustin Hogue had 17 and Iowa State beat Alabama to reach the CBE Classic championship game.
Naz Long also scored 15 points for the Cyclones (3-0), who will play Maryland for the tournament title on Tuesday night. Matt Thomas returned from a suspension to score 13 points.
The Terrapins beat Arizona State 78-73 earlier in the night.
Rodney Cooper scored 27 points for the Crimson Tide (3-1), who had won the only previous meeting between the schools. Levi Randolph finished with 18 points.
No. 19 MICHIGAN 70, OREGON 63
NEW YORK (AP) — Zak Irwin scored 19 points and Caris LeVert added 18 to lead Michigan to a win over Oregon.
The Wolverines (4-0) used an 8-0 run midway through the second half to snap a tie game and give them just the separation they needed to advance to the Legends Classic final at the Barclays Center.
The Wolverines never trailed and made 23 of 29 free throws to hold off the Ducks.
LeVert was key down the stretch, twisting his way down the lane for tough baskets and getting a rise out of the hundreds of fans in maize and blue who made the trip.
Joseph Young had 20 points for the Ducks (3-1). Ducks forward Dwayne Benjamin had eight points and 11 rebounds before leaving late in the game with an apparent left ankle injury.
No. 20 MICHIGAN STATE 79, SANTA CLARA 52
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gavin Schilling had career highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds, leading Michigan State to a victory over Santa Clara.
Travis Trice scored 19 points and had eight of his team’s 22 assists on 29 baskets. Marvin Clark Jr., starting in place of Branden Dawson — out with the flu — had 15 points and four blocked shots for the Spartans (3-1), who never trailed and built a 40-14 halftime lead. Denzel Valentine added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
But the spark came from Schilling, who hit four straight shots from the field in an eight-point, seven-rebound first half while playing just 10 minutes.
Jared Brownridge had 12 points for the Broncos (2-2), who shot just 16.7 percent from the field before the break and 29 percent overall.
