No. 8 Syracuse knocks off Baylor to win Maui Shootout
LAHAINA, Hawaii --Jim Boeheim and Syracuse remained perfect in Maui.
C.J. Fair scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 8 Syracuse beat No. 18 Baylor 74-67 on Wednesday night for the title.
The Orange (7-0) delivered three wins in three days, taking control against Baylor midway through the first half and limiting the Bears' hopes of a comeback. Syracuse beat Minnesota on Monday and California on Tuesday, improving to 9-0 all-time at Maui. The Orange also won the tournament in 1990 and 1998.
No. 11 Gonzaga beats Arkansas 91-81 in Maui
LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Kevin Pangos and No. 11 Gonzaga got back on track after stumbling at the start of their trip to Hawaii.
Pangos scored 34 points and the Bulldogs easily beat Arkansas 91-81 on Wednesday to win their final two games at the Maui Invitational following a first-round defeat.
Pangos made seven of eight 3-point attempts, including four during a 3-minute stretch in the second half that led the Zags to an 18-point lead. He got a standing ovation from fans in the tiny gym when he came out of the game with less than 2 minutes left.
''The shots were just falling. You hit the front rim, it just absorbs it,'' Pangos said. ''As a shooter, you feel more confident putting it up knowing that there's that extra good chance it's going to roll in or get a good bounce.''
Gonzaga (6-1) never trailed and responded each time the Razorbacks tried to string together baskets.
No. 3 Kentucky rips Eastern Michigan 81-63
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- What pleased Aaron Harrison even more than a good night scoring was seeing Kentucky teammates such as Willie Cauley-Stein also thrive, particularly when the ball was lobbed in the air for easy dunks.
Both Wildcats had plenty of good examples to reflect on against Eastern Michigan.
Aaron Harrison scored 22 points, Cauley-Stein added 15, and third-ranked Kentucky earned its 500th Rupp Arena win by beating the Eagles 81-63 on Wednesday.
Two days after escaping Cleveland State with a late rally, the Wildcats (6-1) were more methodical in improving to 500-62 lifetime in the 37-year-old home named for legendary coach Adolph Rupp. Leading just 35-32 at halftime, Kentucky steadily built it to double digits with 12:52 left and led by as many as 21 with 2:39 remaining.
Kentucky controlled the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 52-33 including 19 offensive and scoring 23 second-chance points. The Wildcats' only blemish was 20 turnovers leading to 18 points for the Eagles.
No. 4 Arizona beats Drexel 66-62
NEW YORK -- Nick Johnson scored 20 points and freshman Aaron Gordon had 10 points and 13 rebounds and No. 4 Arizona rallied from a terrible first half to beat Drexel 66-62 on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The Wildcats used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to wipe out an 18-point first-half deficit and take their first lead of the game, 33-31 on a basket by Brandon Ashley with 16:11 to play.
That was the first of 11 lead changes in a span of 8 1/2 minutes as the Dragons stayed around a lot longer than most thought they would.
The Wildcats (6-0) will face the winner of the No. 6 Duke-Alabama semifinal on Friday night for the championship at Madison Square Garden.
Kaleb Traczewski had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona, which shot 46.7 percent in the second half (14 of 30) after shooting 26.1 percent (6 of 23) in the first half.
Chris Fouch led Drexel with 29 points on 11-of-27 shooting and Frantz Massenat added 17.
No. 6 Duke beats Alabama 74-64
NEW YORK -- Jabari Parker matched his season-high with 27 points, setting the Duke record for consecutive 20-point games to start a career and the sixth-ranked Blue Devils beat Alabama 74-64 on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
Parker, one of the heralded freshmen in college basketball this season, was 9 of 12 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line in matching his point total in the Blue Devils' only loss, 83-54 to No. 2 Kansas and breaking the 20-point mark for the seventh time.
The Blue Devils (6-1), who committed a season-high 19 turnovers will face No. 4 Arizona, which beat Drexel 66-62, in the championship game on Friday at Madison Square Garden. It's a matchup of the program with the most NIT Season Tip-Off titles - Duke with four - against one of three programs tied for second with three.
Dekker's double-double helps No. 10 Wisconsin stay perfect
CANCUN, Mexico --Four minutes into Wednesday's Cancun Challenge championship game and Wisconsin's Sam Dekker had four points and four rebounds. After 12 minutes, he had eight rebounds and eight points, and the No. 10-ranked Badgers had just scored 18 unanswered points against West Virginia.
Dekker finished with a career-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Wisconsin beat the Mountaineers 70-63 to remain unbeaten and win the tournament championship.
''He hits some big threes,'' said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, whose team is off to its best start ever under his stewardship. ''I think he's getting better and he hit some big shots for us. He got on the glass, he was pretty active.''
