Grizzlies upend Cardinal at Missoula

Virgil Matthews had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds Friday in Montana’s 88-69 non-conference men’s basketball victory over Stanford in Missoula.

Montana (4-1) jumped to a 13-0 lead and all five of its starters scored in double figures in the convincing win over the Cardinal (2-2).

Jordan Hasquet added 20 points, including all four of his 3-pointers from the top of the key, and dished out four assists.

Montana led 44-31 at halftime before Dan Grunfeld and Matt Haryasz combined for Stanford’s first 20 points of the second half. The Cardinal rallied within 60-51 on two free throws by Haryasz with 11:42 remaining.

Stanford got within 64-57 on two more free throws by Haryasz with 7:11 left, but Hasquet quieted the rally with a 3-pointer.

Montana took a 71-60 lead after Kevin Criswell came out of a scramble for a loose ball with a full-court layup attempt. Matthews tipped in the miss with 3:44 remaining.

A steal by Matthews led to a layup by Matt Martin and gave Montana a 73-60 lead with 2:38 left. Montana made 13 of 14 free throws in the final 2:29.

Criswell added 14 points for Montana, followed by Martin with 12 and Andrew Strait with 11.

Haryasz led Stanford with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Grunfeld finished with 16 after having just three at halftime. Chris Hernandez added 12 points and four assists.

Top 25 men

(3) Connecticut 113, Texas Southern 49: Rudy Gay had 22 points and Josh Boone dominated inside with 12 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Huskies (6-0) past the Tigers (1-5) at Storrs, Conn.

The point total for the Huskies was just three shy of the Gampel Pavilion record, set in 2002 in a 116-78 win over in-state rival Sacred Heart.

The sellout crowd of 10,167 had plenty to cheer about before the game began. During pregame, UConn unveiled coach Jim Calhoun’s Hall of Fame banner. Calhoun, inducted in September, has led UConn to a pair of NCAA titles (1999, 2004). His banner was unfurled between both title pennants to a thunderous ovation.

(14) Iowa 75, Fairfield 59: At Iowa City, Iowa, Greg Brunner had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes (6-1) to the win over the Stags (0-4) in the opening round of the Hawkeye Challenge tournament.

Jeff Horner scored 12 points, Adam Haluska added 11 and the Hawkeyes shot 52 percent. Iowa advanced to today’s championship game against Valparaiso, a 79-72 winner over Tulane.

Michael Van Schaick scored a career-best 17 points for Fairfield. Jonathan Han shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points, and Michael Bell added 11.

The Hawkeyes improved to 46-1 in their annual tournament, but it wasn’t as easy as the final score indicated.

The Stags, undersized but persistent, forced 20 Iowa turnovers, had nine steals and shot 42 percent from 3-point range.

(19) George Washington 75, Boston U. 62: At Washington, Maureece Rice scored 17 points and made all three of his 3-pointers, Carl Elliott scored 13 and hit 3 of 4 from long range, and Mike Hall added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Colonials (4-0).

The Colonials went 11 for 22 on 3-pointers but had trouble putting away a winless team that dressed only nine players. GW led by one with 14 minutes to play, but 3s by Hall and Omar Williams spurred a 12-3 run to swing the momentum.

GW center Pops Mensah-Bonsu made an anticlimactic season debut following his three-game suspension for NCAA violations that related to his early declaration for the NBA draft. He finished with four points on 2-for-5 shooting in 21 minutes.

Top 25 women

(7) North Carolina 71, South Florida 47: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Ivory Latta scored 16 points and Rashanda McCants added 14 to lift the Tar Heels (7-0) past the Bulls (5-1).

Erlana Larkins had 11 points for North Carolina, and La’Tangela Atkinson scored nine and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out with 6:49 to play. Jessica Dickson led South Florida with 18 points, and Shantia Grace added 14.

(15) Arizona St. 103, Memphis 57: At Tempe, Ariz., Jill Noe scored 19 points as the Sun Devils (5-1) advanced to the final of the Wells Fargo Holiday Classic. It was the 20th time in school history that the Sun Devils have scored more than 100 points.

Arizona State will face Western Kentucky, a 72-41 winner over Holy Cross, in today’s title game.

For ASU, Kristen Kovesdy finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Amy Denson added 12 points and Aubree Johnson and Engelbrecht each had 11. Denson and Central Valley High grad Emily Westerberg each finished with eight rebounds.

Devin Necaise accounted for half of Memphis’ 20 field goals in the game and finished with 28 points. The Tigers fell to 1-5.