No. 1 Wake Forest holds off Arizona

Justin Gray scored 21 points for the second straight game and No. 1 Wake Forest beat No. 18 Arizona 63-60 in New York on Friday night for its first Preseason NIT title.

The loss ended Arizona’s 15-game winning streak in the Preseason NIT. The Wildcats won the tournament the last three times it participated – 1990, ‘95 and ‘99. The Demon Deacons (5-0) also ended an 11-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden for Arizona coach Lute Olson. The Hall of Famer’s run started in 1973, when he was coaching at Long Beach State.

Hassan Adams had 19 points and eight rebounds for Arizona (4-1), while Salim Stoudamire had 16 points.

(3) Georgia Tech 79, Arkansas-Little Rock 54: At Atlanta, B.J. Elder scored 23 points, the Yellow Jackets started the game with a 23-2 run and Georgia Tech (3-0) cruised past the Trojans (1-2).

Brandon Freeman scored 18 points to lead the Trojans, who missed 10 of their first 11 shots and shot just 29 percent in the first half.

(8) Kentucky 77, Georgia State 59: At Lexington, Ky., Chuck Hayes and Kelenna Azubuike each had 16 points and nine rebounds, leading the Wildcats (3-0) past the Panthers (1-2). Freshman center Randolph Morris added 14 points and nine rebounds for Kentucky. Marcus Brown led Georgia State with 16 points – going 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

(13) Maryland 84, (25) Memphis 61: At Springfield, Mass., John Gilchrist had 16 points, 10 rebounds and led a scrappy defense that helped the Terrapins (3-0) over the Tigers (4-2). Nik Caner-Medley added 15 points for Maryland, which led 37-29 at halftime then scored the first seven points of the second half before taking a 28-point lead with 10 minutes to go. Rodney Carney (4-2) scored 23 points for Memphis.

(17) N.C. State 99, Campbell 44: At Raleigh, N.C., Cameron Bennerman scored 20 points to lead the Wolfpack (4-0) past the Fighting Camels (1-2), marking their fourth straight lopsided victory to start the season. Julius Hodge added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Wolfpack, who shot 70 percent in the second half and committed just six turnovers for the game. Diago Aguiar scored 16 points for Campbell.

(19) Alabama 78, Minnesota 72: At Anchorage, Alaska, Earnest Shelton made five 3-pointers and scored 29 points to lead the Crimson Tide (3-0) over the Golden Gophers (2-1) in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout. Shelton scored nine of the Crimson Tide’s last 15 points to hold off a Golden Gophers second-half rally in which Minnesota pulled within two at 70-68 with a minute left to play. Kennedy Winston added 18 points and nine rebounds for Alabama. Dan Coleman led Minnesota with 16 points.

(21) Notre Dame 54, Charleston Southern 38: At South Bend, Ind., Chris Quinn scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, Chris Thomas added 15 points and the Fighting Irish (3-0) held the Buccaneers (1-2) to 16 points in the second half. The Irish held the Buccaneers to just 27 percent shooting in the second half, and 33 percent for the game. Kurtis Rice scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Buccaneers.

Pac-10 men

UNLV 86, Oregon State 61: At Las Vegas, Odartey Blankson scored a game-high 25 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Rebels (1-1) over the Beavers in the Las Vegas Invitational. For Oregon State (2-2), Sasa Cuic led with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Lamar Hurd added 11 points and five assists. The Beavers were outrebounded 46-32 and shot 22 of 58 from the field for 37.9 percent. UNLV was 30 of 66 for 45.5 percent.

UTEP 66, Arizona St. 65: At Las Vegas, UTEP’s Filiberto Rivera made a trio of 3-pointers with under 7 minutes to play as the Miners (3-0) beat the Sun Devils (2-1) in the Las Vegas Invitational. UTEP survived a last-second shot that rimmed in and then out. Arizona State’s Tyrone Jackson drove the length of the court with seconds to play, missing a driving lay-up as the clock expired.