No. 9 Syracuse beats St. Francis (N.Y.) 56-50
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Jerami Grant scored 13 points, including a tying follow with 1:43 left, and set up the go-ahead basket by Michael Gbinije in the final minute, as No. 9 Syracuse held off St. Francis (N.Y.) 56-50 on Monday night in an opening-round game of the Maui Invitational.
Syracuse (4-0), making its first appearance in the tournament since winning it in 1998, plays its next game in Hawaii in a week against Minnesota.
Syracuse's last non-conference home loss was to Cleveland State on Dec. 15, 2008. In that one, Cedric Jackson took an inbounds pass with 2.2 seconds left, turned and swished a two-handed, 60-foot shot at the buzzer to give the Vikings a shocking 72-69 victory against the 11th-ranked Orange.
Dajuan Coleman matched his career high with 14 points and Trevor Cooney added 12 for Syracuse.
Jalen Cannon led St. Francis with 16 points and Anthony White had 10.
No. 1 Michigan State beats Portland 82-67
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Keith Appling matched a career high with 25 points to help No. 1 Michigan State pull away to beat Portland 82-67 on Monday night in its first game as a top-ranked team in 13 years.
The Spartans (4-0) struggled in the first half, leading by four points after seven lead changes and three ties.
Travis Trice's 3-pointer broke a tie with 12:26 left and he followed that up seconds later with a steal and layup. Garry Harris made a 3-pionter -- the team's 11th from behind the arc -- midway through the second half that put Michigan State ahead by 10 points for the first time.
The Pilots (1-2) were balanced on offense with Kevin Bailey leading the way with 12 points and pesky on defense and the boards.
No. 5 Arizona rolls past Fairleigh Dickinson in NIT opener
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Gabe York scored 20 points and Nick Johnson added 16 to lead Arizona past Fairleigh Dickinson 100-50 in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Arizona (4-0) allowed the Knights to stay close early before blowing open the game with runs of 18-3 and 18-2 in the first half, keyed by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell.
Hollis-Jefferson finished with 13 points, McConnell had nine assists with one turnover and Arizona shot 54 percent to help Sean Miller become the fifth coach to win 100 games in Tucson.
The Wildcats move on to face Rhode Island on Tuesday night with a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line.
Sidney Sanders Jr. had 16 points to lead Fairleigh Dickinson (1-3), which shot 31 percent.
Parker, Hood help No. 6 Duke rout Asheville
DURHAM, N.C. -- Jabari Parker had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Duke beat North Carolina-Asheville 91-55 on Monday night in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Rodney Hood had 15 of his 18 points in the first half for the Blue Devils (3-1), who never trailed and shot 57 percent.
Duke held a 42-28 rebounding advantage, built a 20-point first-half lead and coasted to its 104th consecutive non-conference win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Sam Hughes scored 16 points for the Bulldogs (1-3). They shot 33 percent and never got closer than 18 points in the second half.
UNC Asheville was beaten soundly by its second top-10 opponent in 11 days after being routed 89-57 by then-No. 1 Kentucky.
Andre Dawkins had 13 points and Quinn Cook and freshman Semi Ojeleye added 10 apiece to help Duke improve to 23-2 in the preseason NIT.
No. 16 Florida loses Hill, beats Southern 67-53
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Sixteenth-ranked Florida lost point guard Kasey Hill to an ankle injury in a 67-53 victory against Southern on Monday night.
Hill, a freshman averaging 10 points a game, badly sprained his left ankle early in the second half and had to be helped to the locker room. He did not return.
The injury could be problematic for Florida (3-1), which already is without point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who is suspended indefinitely, but he could return as early as next week.
The Gators had little trouble without Hill against the Jaguars (1-4).
Casey Prather had 10 points and nine rebounds, one of three players in double figures, as the Gators extended their home winning streak to 18. Florida led by 16 at halftime and cruised from there.
Calvin Godfrey led Southern with 18 points and nine rebounds. Trelun Banks added 12 points.
No. 22 UCLA eases past Sacramento State 86-50
LOS ANGELES -- Jordan Adams scored 21 points, including seven in a row during a 14-0 second-half run, to lead No. 22 UCLA past Sacramento State 86-50.
Adams has led the Bruins (3-0) in scoring in each of their games after breaking his foot to end last season.
Zach LaVine and Norman Powell added 14 points each, David Wear had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Tony Parker scored 10 points. Kyle Anderson had a career-high eight assists in the first of three games for the Bruins this week.
Dylan Garrity scored 18 points — all on a career-high six 3-pointers — to lead Sacramento State (1-2).
The Hornets, of the Big Sky Conference, fell to 0-13 against ranked opponents since joining Division I in 1991-92, and 3-36 all-time against Pac-12 schools.
