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Bruins best Kentucky

UCLA's Arron Afflalo, right, pulls up for a shot over Kentucky's Jodie Meeks. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
UCLA's Arron Afflalo, right, pulls up for a shot over Kentucky's Jodie Meeks. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Luc Richard Mbah A Moute scored 18 points despite playing the final 8 1/2 minutes with four fouls, leading No. 5 UCLA to a 73-68 victory Tuesday night over No. 20 Kentucky in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.

The Bruins (3-0) will play No. 19 Georgia Tech in the championship game tonight.

Mbah A Moute scored six of UCLA’s last 10 points, ignoring the foul trouble to go inside for the first four points and then throwing down a dunk on the break to make it 69-65 with 25 seconds to play.

Kentucky (3-1) got to 71-68 on a layup by Randolph Morris with 2 seconds to go, but Arron Afflalo, who struggled from the field all game, made two free throws with .6 seconds to go for the final margin.

(19) Georgia Tech 92, (12) Memphis 85: At Lahaina, Hawaii, Jeremis Smith and Ra’Sean Dickey, two junior big men on a team known for its freshmen stars, dominated the boards in the second half and the Yellow Jackets overcame a 16-point deficit for a win over the Tigers in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

The Yellow Jackets (5-0) will play in the championship game tonight against UCLA.

The Yellow Jackets held Memphis (2-1) to one field goal during an 8 1/2-minute stretch that started with 14 minutes to play. During that span, Georgia Tech had six field goals on offensive rebounds, two of which were part of three-point plays. Smith and Dickey each had two of the rebound baskets.

(1) Florida 94, Prairie View 33: At Gainesville, Fla., Joakim Noah and Al Horford showed added dimensions to their games, leading the top-ranked Gators to a rout of the overmatched Panthers (1-3).

Noah was 7 of 7 from the free-throw line, and he scored on a spinning layup and used a crossover dribble to drive past a defender to the basket. He finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Noah and Horford looked little like the two sophomores who led the Gators (5-0) to the national championship last season and could have been NBA lottery picks. They turned down lucrative contracts to return to Gainesville, enjoy college and try to repeat. Now, they’re bigger, stronger, better and have much more diverse games.

(13) Marquette 73, (9) Duke 62: At Kansas City, Mo., Dominic James scored a season-high 25 points and led a late surge to help the Golden Eagles beat the ninth-ranked Blue Devils in the championship game of the CBE Classic.

The Blue Devils could not mount a rally over the final couple of minutes, giving Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean his seventh win in 18 games against teams ranked in the top 10.

Jerel McNeal added 17 points for the Golden Eagles (6-0) in the first meeting between the teams since Duke (4-1) beat Marquette 59-49 in the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Josh McRoberts led the Blue Devils with 15 points. DeMarcus Nelson added 13.

(7) Wisconsin 64, Delaware St. 52: At Madison, Wis., Alando Tucker scored 25 points and Brian Butch added 18 to lead the Badgers to a win over the Hornets in the South Padre Island Invitational.

Delaware State (1-4) trailed just 39-35 with 14 minutes left as the Hornets tried to slow the tempo against the Badgers (4-0) by waiting 15 seconds into the 35-second shot clock before running any plays.

Roy Bright and Jahsha Bluntt each scored 18 points to lead Delaware State.

(10) Kansas 89, Tennessee St. 54: At Lawrence, Kan., Sherron Collins scored 19 points and Brandon Rush had 14 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Jayhawks to a win over the Tigers in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

In its best 20 minutes so far this season, Kansas (3-1) raced to a 50-19 halftime lead, outscoring Tennessee State 23-5 in one stretch.

Clarence Matthews made a field goal for the Tigers (0-2) with about 6:30 left in the first half, but the Tigers didn’t score again until his three-point play 33 seconds into the second half.

(21) Nevada 83, UC Irvine 64: At Reno, Nev., Nick Fazekas had 29 points and 14 rebounds, his fourth double-double in four games, and Marcelus Kemp added 23 points to lead the Wolf Pack past the Anteaters (2-4).

Kyle Shiloh added 15 points for Nevada (4-0), which went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to win its 12th straight at home. The Wolf Pack shot 11 of 19 on 3-pointers.