Valpo ends Huskies’ season
Brian Bouchie tossed in 20 points and Brandon McPherson scored 18 as Valparaiso held on to beat Washington 72-71 Wednesday night in Seattle in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
Jon Brockman had 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the hometown Huskies but missed two free throws with 4.7 seconds left.
Shawn Huff scored on a drive with 2:45 remaining for the final points for the Crusaders (22-13).
Washington (16-17) missed seven shots from the field in the final 2 minutes in the West Region game. Justin Dentmon scored 11 points for the Huskies and Quincy Pondexter had 10.
Urule Igbavboa had 17 points for the Crusaders, who fell behind 71-70 on a 3-pointer by Joel Smith with 3:08 left.
Pondexter missed an inside shot that could have put the Huskies ahead by one with 25 seconds left and then fouled Huff, who missed two free throws with 18.4 seconds.
The Huskies worked the ball to Brockman, who missed a shot, got the rebound and was fouled. The Huskies shot 11 for 24 from the foul line.
Brockman, who entered the game seven minutes into the first half, had 14 points and five rebounds to help the Huskies to a 36-33 halftime lead. He missed the previous game, a Pac-10 tournament loss to California, with a sprained ankle.
In other first-round CBI games, Jeremy Crouch scored 20 points to lead the Bradley Braves (18-15) to a 70-67 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats (13-19) in Peoria, Ill. … Brett McDade scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half to lead the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (21-13) to a 61-45 win over the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (17-16) in Tulsa, Okla. … Luke Nevill had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Utah Utes (18-14) to an 81-69 win over the Texas-El Paso Miners (19-14) in El Paso, Texas.
NIT
Brian Roberts scored 21 points to lead the Dayton Flyers (22-10) to a 66-57 win over the Cleveland State Vikings (21-13) in Dayton, Ohio, in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.
Alabama-Birmingham 80, Virginia Commonwealth 77: Reggie Huffman had 21 points, including a game-saving layup with 5.6 seconds left, as the Blazers (23-10) took a commanding second-half lead and held off the Rams (24-8) for a victory in Richmond, Va.
Virginia Tech 94, Morgan State 62: A.D. Vassallo made 11 of 14 field-goal attempts and scored 27 points in 25 minutes as the Hokies (20-13) rolled to a win over the Bears (22-11) in Blacksburg, Va.
Florida 73, San Diego State 49: Marreese Speights scored 18 points, Nick Calathes added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, and the Gators (22-11) snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Aztecs (20-13) in Gainesville, Fla.
Nebraska 67, Charlotte 48: Ade Dagunduro scored 15 points and the Cornhuskers (20-12) rolled to a win over the 49ers (20-14) in Lincoln, Neb.
Mississippi 83, UC Santa Barbara 68: Dwayne Curtis had 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Rebels (22-10) to a win over the Gauchos (23-9) in Oxford, Miss.
Illinois State 61, Utah State 57: Osiris Eldridge scored 14 points to propel the Redbirds (25-9) to a win over the Aggies (24-11) in Normal, Ill.
California 68, New Mexico 66: Ryan Anderson scored 26 points and Jamal Boykin made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to help the Golden Bears (17-15) hold off the Lobos (24-9) in Berkeley, Calif.