NIT and CBI Capsules: Layup at buzzer leads Memphis past St. John's
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Wesley Witherspoon scored 18 points, including the winning layup as time expired, to give Memphis a 73-71 victory over St. John's in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night.
Witherspoon drove down the left side of the lane and lofted a shot high off the glass over Anthony Mason Jr. The ball bounced on the rim and dropped through as the horn sounded for the victory
But Witherspoon was down on the ground, and couldn't see his winning basket.
"I saw it when I shot it, and it hit the top of the backboard and rolled around a little bit," Witherspoon said. "When I shot it, I didnÂ’t think it was going to go in. Then I heard the crowd erupt. That's when I knew it was good."
Officials reviewed the play, and ruled the basket was made before time expired.
Mason, who finished with 17 points, had connected on a 3-pointer from way beyond the arc with 17 seconds remaining to tie the game at 71, setting the stage for Witherspoon's final play.
"Mason did a good job on him," St. John's coach Norm Roberts said of defending the Tigers' winning play. "The kid made a great layup, I mean a great layup. They made big plays, and they had the ball last."
Elliot Williams scored 14 for Memphis (24-9). D.J. Kennedy led the Red Storm (17-16) with 18 points.
The Tigers and Mississippi will play in the NIT's second round on Friday in Oxford, Miss. Mississippi defeated Troy 84-65 on Wednesday.
Memphis led 44-35 at halftime after an accurate shooting display, particularly from outside the arc.
The Tigers missed only three of their 13 shots from 3-point range (76.9 percent), part of shooting 60 percent (15 of 25) overall.
"We knew we had to get out and pressure them more and not make it easy for them," Roberts said of a second-half change in defensive strategy. "I thought we let them walk into some 3s."
Roberts was right. As well as Memphis shot in the first half, the Tigers couldn't keep pace. The lead dwindled at the start of the second half. St. John's pulled within one several occasions near the midway point of the half.
The Red Storm finally took the lead 60-59 when Mason connected on a 3-pointer with 4:10 remaining.
St. John's was still leading 67-66 when Witherspoon hit a 3-pointer from the corner with KennedyÂ’s hand in his face. Memphis never trailed again, although Mason's 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining left the game in Witherspoon's hands.
"I'd like to tell you that I devised an unbelievable play," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said, "but I always say the best offense is a breakdown offense. When you have players, you let them play."
Hokies beat Quinnipiac 81-61 in 1st round of NIT
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Malcolm Delaney scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the first half to lead Virginia Tech past Quinnipiac 81-61 in a first-round NIT game Wednesday night.
The Hokies (24-8), who advanced to play Connecticut at home in the second round on a date to be determined, shrugged off the disappointment of not making the NCAA tournament by holding the Bobcats to 38.1 percent shooting from the floor (24 for 63) and outrebounding one of the nation's best teams on the boards, 42-30.
Quinnipiac came in ranked No. 1 nationally in rebounding margin (plus 9.2) and seventh in rebounds per game (40.7).
"I'm really proud of my team," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "I'm proud of their resolve. They probably handled this situation (not making the NCAA tournament) better than I did, to be honest. ... But for them to come out and play as hard as they did and to be ready, that's probably what hurt me so much. Because that's who they are."
Delaney, who was coming off a 3-for-15, seven-point performance in the Hokies' 70-65 quarterfinal loss to Miami in the ACC tournament that may have cost them an at-large bid to the NCAAs, hit four 3-pointers and went 6 for 9 from the floor in the first half alone against Quinnipiac's zone in helping Tech build a 12-point halftime margin.
Quinnipiac (23-10), regular-season champions in the Northeast Conference, trailed by just seven, 26-19, after a three-point play by Justin Rutty with 6:18 remaining. But Delaney canned 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Hokies to break open the game.
Tech opened the second half with a 7-2 run culminating with Delaney's two-handed slam with 17:48 left that built the lead to 17. Tech went on to lead by as many as 23.
"We were trying to slow the game down on offense and defense," Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. "We usually don't play that much zone. I thought it was a way to slow the pace, but Delaney blew a hole in that in the first half and they showed good patience in the second half, too. You've got to pick your poison. He's just terrific."
Delaney, the ACC's leading scorer at 20.4 point per game, hit 9 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists.
"Not making the NCAA is disappointing, but at the same time, we're still playing basketball," Delaney said. "We can't dwell on the past. We know where we should be playing right now and a lot of people know where we should be playing. But we're still playing basketball, and we're going to take this opportunity to get better and get some momentum going into next year."
Dorenzo Hudson added 19 points for the Hokies.
Rutty led Quinnipiac with 22 points, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the floor. James Johnson added 17 for the Bobcats.
Cincinnati beats Weber State 76-62 in NIT
CINCINNATI — Deonta Vaughn scored 16 points and became Cincinnati's career leader in assists and made 3-point shots Wednesday night, leading the Bearcats to a 76-62 victory over Weber State.
The senior guard signed on to revive a program that fell on hard times after coach Bob Huggins was ousted. The Bearcats (19-15) hadn't won more than 18 games in any of the last three seasons under coach Mick Cronin, who was brought in for the reconstruction.
"It's progress," Cronin said. "Getting in the NIT is progress. Playing in March is a habit. When you're building a program, that's important."
Cincinnati, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2006, will host Dayton in the second round. A date hadn't been set.
Vaughn has been through a lot of tough times, failing to reach the NCAA tournament in his four years. He was the team's top player during that span, sometimes the only scoring threat in a subpar offense.
After he set the two school records in the second half, the 2,410 fans gave him a standing ovation during a timeout. At Cronin's urging, Vaughn stood and acknowledged the crowd.
"I just wanted to sit down and get the game over and finish our first NIT game off right," Vaughn said. "It felt good to be among one of the greatest at shooting 3s and dishing the ball out to teammates."
Weber State (20-11) fell apart when Cincinnati went to a half-court trap midway through the first half. The Wildcats had seven turnovers during a decisive 17-0 run and finished with a season-high 23.
The run put the Bearcats up 37-19. Cincinnati had three steals and forced an errant pass, setting up four straight baskets in a 1-minute, 18-second span.
"It was tough," said guard Damian Lillard, who had a game-high 26 points. "When we went over their press, they were right there. Sometimes they denied me the ball and forced everybody else to have to bring up the ball and make plays."
Cincinnati hasn't been very adept at the trap, but thought it might be useful. The Bearcats executed it as well as they have all season, surprising the Wildcats.
"Part of that was my fault," coach Randy Rahe said. "We practiced it a little bit coming in. We haven't seen it a lot. We talked to people in the Big East and asked about it, and people said it wasn't a big factor (for Cincinnati). We worked on it in practice a little, but obviously not enough."
-- Joe Kay
Dayton uses big second-half run, tops Illinois St
DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Johnson scored 13 points and Dayton used a 19-1 second-half run to pull away and beat Illinois State 63-42 in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
Chris Wright grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Dayton (21-12) to a 42-27 advantage on the boards. The Flyers will play at Cincinnati in the second round.
"How we went out there and played today and how we approached this tournament was really more a test of our character and pride in who we are and what we do," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "I didn't have any doubt how they would respond."
Dayton was coming off a conference tournament loss to Xavier that was typical of many of its losses this season. The Flyers squandered a 15-point lead in the second half, but this time the formula of a deep bench, relentless man-to-man defense and rebounding worked. The Flyers held the Redbirds to 33.3 percent shooting.
Osiris Eldridge, the Missouri Valley Conference's leading scorer, shot only 4 of 15 but led the Redbirds (22-11) with 12 points.
Dayton saw its 13-point lead cut to 42-37 with 10:27 to play, but Johnson started the Flyers' huge run with a 3-pointer.
Four minutes later, Marcus Johnson hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper on consecutive trips to put the Flyers up 54-38 with 6:07 left. Dayton scored the next seven points before Eldridge hit a 3-pointer to end a nearly eight-minute field-goal drought for the Illinois State.
"We really defended well and rebounded well," Dayton's Chris Wright said. "That's a team that never quits. Down the stretch we knew we were going to have to play a lot harder."
Gregory said his players studied film more than usual the past couple days and were ready for Eldridge and point guard Lloyd Phillips.
"Yes, we had a very poor offensive night and certainly we had some shots that could have easily fallen," Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich said. "But over time, they deserve a lot of credit because they keep a great deal of pressure on you. They're very athletic and they're very deep. And it's a good recipe."
Richmond leads Rhode Island past Northwestern
KINGSTON, R.I. — Akeem Richmond scored 14 of his 16 points during a big first-half run as Rhode Island defeated Northwestern 76-64 on Wednesday night in an NIT opener.
The Rams (24-9) will host a second-round game against Nevada, which beat Wichita State.
Rhode Island lost a bid to the NCAA tournament by losing six of its last 10 games, and was determined to end its season on a winning note.
"This is our third straight NIT," Rhode Island's Will Martel said. "We laid an egg my freshman year. We were up 18 at the half against Creighton and lost (74-73). There's no way that's ever going to happen again. That was embarrassing."
Michael Thompson led the Wildcats (20-14) with 24 points, while Northwestern's leading scorer, John Shurna, was held to 15 — 3.3 below his season average.
Northwestern led 22-20 when Richmond scored 14 consecutive points for Rhode Island in a span of 3:07 which helped give the Rams a 34-28 lead. Richmond connected on all four of his 3-pointers during the run.
"We know what the NIT is," Martel said. "We've only been to the second round, but we're experienced. I think we've got a good shot (at winning the championship)."
Rhode Island's Orion Outerbridge converted a three-point play with 1:04 left in the half to give the Rams a 37-30 lead at intermission.
Richmond acknowledged that he relished the chance to play against a zone — Northwestern alternated between a 1-3-1 and a matchup — instead of man-to-man defense.
"I knew I was going to tear that apart," Richmond said. "I was telling my teammates that before I even got on the court because I could see the gaps in it. I could see where I was going to get open shots.
"My father and coaches have told me how other teams are going to play me for the 3-point shot. They've said itÂ’s going to be easy if they run out there and I hit them with a pump fake, that'll leave me wide open. It's definitely been working.
Shurna averaged 18.3 points and shot 46.4 percent before the NIT, but coach Jim Baron alternated five players on him within the context of his team's man-to-man defense.
"HeÂ’s very good because he can shoot the ball, he can pass the ball and he can handle the ball," Baron said. "We just kept throwing different guys at him and they did a great job of being physical and making him work for everything he needed to get."
The closest Northwestern could get in the second half was 41-39, but Rhode Island went on an 8-0 run to break the game open.
"We don't want to be in the NIT next year, to tell you the truth," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "We won 17 games last year, 20 this year and we have most of our players back."
Nevada hangs on to beat Wichita State 74-70 in NIT
WICHITA, Kan. — Luke Babbitt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to help Nevada hang on for a 74-70 victory over host Wichita State in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
Third-seeded Nevada (21-12) will play at Rhode Island in the second round.
"From what little we know about the Missouri Valley Conference, it's known for physical defense," said Babbitt, who set Nevada's single-season scoring record during the game. "Wichita State is definitely a physical team, and we did a good job of keeping our cool and playing our game."
Toure Murry scored 15 points to lead Wichita State (25-10), which suffered its first loss in 18 home games this season.
After Wichita State cut the lead to 42-40 on Gabe Blair's dunk, Nevada found its offensive stride again, highlighted by 6-foot-4 Brandon Fields going right at Wichita State's 7-foot center, Garrett Stutz, and throwing down a huge slam. Seconds later, two free throws by Babbitt gave the Wolf Pack a 59-49 lead with 10:33 remaining.
"Brandon's dunk was definitely huge," said Nevada's Armon Johnson, who scored 15 points. "We were already motivated, but when he did that to that big tree, it gave us a boost."
Wichita State was still down with 6:20 remaining when it scored eight straight to make it 66-64 with 4:26 left.
It was still a two-point game when Babbitt hit the biggest shot of the night, getting off a 17-footer a fraction of a second before the shot clock expired and sinking it for a 72-68 lead with 33 seconds remaining.
Wichita State's Clevin Hannah scored on a layup with 24.2 seconds to play, cutting the advantage to 72-70, but Babbitt hit two free throws for the final margin.
"We just had some bad performances," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "We had some guys not handle the (10-day) layoff very well."
Nevada was able to stymie Wichita State's offense for most of the first nine minutes, taking a 14-7 lead while holding the Shockers to 3-of-13 shooting. But Wichita State started to put it together after that and climbed back in the game. The Shockers made seven of eight shots during a 17-5 run that included three baskets by Murry and led 24-19.
Three-pointers from Nevada's Ray Kraemer and Fields helped the Wolf Pack close the deficit, and the score was tied at 31 at halftime.
White scores 27 as Ole Miss tops Troy 84-65 in NIT
OXFORD, Miss. — Terrico White scored 27 points to lead Mississippi to an 84-65 victory over Troy on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT.
White and the second-seeded Rebels (22-10) made things look easy against the seventh-seeded Trojans (20-13), the Sun Belt regular-season champions. White and Chris Warren, who scored 16 points, helped spark a 20-5 first-half run that broke a 25-25 tie.
"I thought he was aggressive and it's always helpful to make shots early because they stay aggressive," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said of White. "I would like to see that every night, but maybe he's not ready to do that every night. You forget that he's a sophomore and we want him to approach like that every night because he's certainly got the ability to do something."
The Rebels advanced to play Memphis, which edged St. John's 73-71.
Brandon Hazzard led Troy, the Sun Belt regular-season champion, with 22 points, while Michael Vogler had 16.
"They did a good job like I've seen them during the season," Troy coach Don Maestri said of Mississippi. "They're a talented team with only one senior on the team. If they keep their focus, hopefully I would like to see them play well the next game and really go further. This NIT may be a real positive for their team since they only have one senior on their team."
Ole Miss continued to add to its lead early in the second half by scoring the first six points of the period.
White went 11 for 20 from the floor in the victory, which included 3 for 5 from 3-point range, while he added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
"I was just making my shots really," said White, who finished two points shy of his season high. "In the first half, I came out and made my first couple of shots and then the whole game I was feeling it.
Murphy Holloway and Terrance Henry each scored 11 points for Ole Miss.
The Rebels led by 22 at 57-35 when White hit 1 of 2 free throws at the 15-minute mark. Troy pulled within 12 of the Rebels with 10:51 left with the aid of an 11-0 run, but the Rebels responded by scoring eight straight points to push the lead back to 20 points.
"We got a lot of mileage out of this group of kids," Maestri said. "They won a conference championship. They've got a diamond ring coming. They're going to hang two banners in our gym. They're hanging banners in the arena that we have, that's a credit to the seniors on this basketball team."
Sherman's layup leads Kent State past Tulsa in NIT
KENT, Ohio — Rodriguez Sherman's driving layup with 20.8 seconds remaining led Kent State to a come-from-behind 75-74 victory over Tulsa on Wednesday night in a first-round game of the National Invitation Tournament.
The Golden Hurricane (23-12) had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, but a baseline jumper by Ben Uzoh bounced off the rim and time ran out as the players fought for the rebound.
Sherman was one of six players in double figures for Kent (24-9), as Chris Singletary led the way with 16. Sherman had 15, followed by Anthony Simpson with 13, Randal Holt with 11 and Evans and Justin Greene with 10 each. The victory was Kent's first in the postseason since defeating Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament's round of 16 in 2002.
Kent, which won the Mid American Conference's regular-season title, came from as far behind as nine points. The second-half comeback was fueled by Tyree Evans, who scored eight of his 10 points in a stretch that barely covered 1:30. Up to that point he had been held scoreless.
"I wouldn't say I was in a slump," Evans said. "That's just what happens with shooters. But you always have to believe the next one is going in. My teammates needed me to hit some shots and I did."
What really seemed to turn things for Evans and Kent was his 3-pointer that hit the rim three times before falling, cutting the margin to one at 58-57. Evans followed that with a 15-footer and another 3-pointer, making it 62-58 with 8:09 to play.
The margin was never greater than three for the remainder of the game, setting up Sherman to hit his winner.
"I've said all year that we handle adversity better than success," Kent coach Geno Ford said. "We win our conference in the regular season and then we go out and play our worst game of the year in the MAC tournament. Tonight we found a way to beat a really good team. I have a lot of respect for Tulsa."
Tulsa, which held a 35-28 halftime lead, got the majority of its points from three players, Jerome Jordan with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Justin Hurtt with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Uzoh with 14 points.
The Golden Flashes advance to the second round of the NIT and will face Illinois, which beat Stony Brook 76-66.
Illini edge Stony Brook 76-66 in NIT
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Illinois felt the sting of being left out of the NCAA tournament.
Then, the Fighting Illini were forced to hit the road to start the NIT despite being a top seed in their bracket because Cirque du Soleil was playing at Assembly Hall.
Despite all that, Illinois still was able to beat eighth-seeded Stony Brook 76-66 in front of a loud sellout crowd of 4,423 at Stony Brook Arena on Wednesday night.
"We're still disappointed, obviously," Illinois' Mike Davis said. "But Coach has been talking all week about making something happen in the NIT, just move on to next year as far as getting ready for next year. Just win a championship and learn how to win championships because hopefully next year we can make a run."
Davis led Illinois (20-14) with 17 points, and Demetri McCamey just missed a triple-double with 16 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. D.J. Richardson also contributed 16 points and Mike Tisdale added 15 for the Fighting Illini, who had been knocked out in the Big Ten semifinals.
Next up in the second round is fourth-seeded Kent State at Assembly Hall on Monday. Illinois is two wins away from the NIT's version of the Final Four at Madison Square Garden.
"I think you're going to have to get to New York to get over what happened," coach Bruce Weber said. "You dream of being in the NCAA. You dream of that goal. At least we still get to play. I kind of said before that it might be better to go on the road. I was still nervous as heck, but it might have got them a little bit of a jump start, a shock treatment, get the juices going."
Bryan Dougher made five 3-pointers on the way to a 21-point effort for the Seawolves (22-10). The America East regular-season champs were playing the first postseason game in their 11-year Division I tenure.
It was the first time the Seawolves had hosted a Big Ten team, and it was only their third home game against a BCS conference team. It was also their first game on national television.
Stony Brook Arena, which has been scheduled for renovation, was used to accommodate more fans. The team had played its home games in the same complex, but at Pritchard Gymnasium, which holds 1,680 fans. But the bigger arena was rocking for this game.
"We've got a good program here," Seawolves coach Steve Pikiell said. "People are starting to take notice. This isn't a lacrosse town anymore, I hope. WeÂ’re trying to make it a basketball town."
After McCamey hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to give the Fighting Illini a 38-36 lead, the All-Big Ten first-team guard drilled another 3 to start the second half and launch a 10-2 run. Tisdale and Richardson also made 3s in the burst, helping Illinois open a 48-38 advantage.
The Seawolves cut it to 48-43 and later trimmed a 12-point deficit to 59-54 with seven minutes left, but they never got closer than that five-point margin.
Illinois, which had fallen behind 7-0 at the start of the game, went 8 of 8 from the line in the final minute to clinch it.
Stony Brook got hurt by the Fighting Illini on the boards, getting outrebounded 38-25.
"I thought we were the tougher team today," Pikiell said. "I just thought we were a little undersized and outrebounded by a big margin. We played a great team, great program, great coach."
CBI
Boston defeats Oregon State 96-78
CORVALLIS, Ore. — John Holland had 26 points and five rebounds as Boston rolled to a 96-78 win against Oregon State in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational at Gill Coliseum.
Carlos Strong added 22 points and Tyler Morris 18 points for the Terriers (20-13), who celebrated their first postseason victory since 1959 and their first 20-win season since 2004-05.
Jared Cunningham had 21 points for Oregon State (14-18), the 2009 CBI champion.
Boston advances to play Morehead State in a quarterfinal March 22. Morehead State won 74-60 at Colorado State on Wednesday.
Boston used a 17-2 first-half run to take a 37-19 lead. The Terriers led by as many as 21 in the first half and 46-27 at halftime. They went up by as many as 28 in the second half.
Boston shot 38 of 67 (56.7 percent) from the floor, including 12 of 32 from 3-point range. The Terriers have 13 games this season with 10 or more 3-pointers, including five of the last six contests.
Holland, a 6-foot-5 junior forward/guard and two-time America East Conference first-team selection, shot 11 of 16 and was 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Oregon State shot 24 of 56 (42.9 percent), including 9 of 25 in the first half.
The Terriers' 96 points were a season-high for Boston and the second-most allowed by Oregon State this season.
