Aggies dog Huskies at NIT
Donald Sloan scored a career-high 18 points and No. 16 Texas A&M held Washington without a field goal for a key 5-minute stretch in the second half to beat the Huskies 77-63 on Wednesday night in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at New York.
Joseph Jones added 17 points for the Aggies (5-0), who will play Ohio State on Friday night in the championship game at Madison Square Garden.
Jon Brockman had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead Washington (3-1).
The Aggies held a 55-54 lead with 7:14 left when they went on a 12-2 run to put the game away. Jones started the spurt, hitting two free throws and Dominique Kirk’s 3-pointer with 5:17 left gave Texas A&M a 60-54 lead. After two free throws by Joe Wolfinger cut the deficit to four, the Aggies worked down the shot clock and finished off the possession with a one-handed dunk down the lane by Bryan Davis.
Texas A&M extended the lead to 67-56 on Jones’ free throws before Justin Dentman ended the drought for the Huskies with a lay-up with 1:41 left.
Aggies freshman DeAndre Jordan continued his stellar play. He came into the game having made 16 straight field goals to set a school and Big 12 record. Jordan made his first attempt, but missed a follow to end his streak at 18 straight. He fell seven short of the NCAA record set by Ray Voekel for American during the 1978-79 season.
Jordan finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 36-32 at the half, Texas A&M went on an 8-2 run to start the second half. Jones’ follow gave the Aggies a 40-38 advantage, their first lead since early in the game. They built the lead to 49-44 on Jones’ 3-pointer with 12:04 left.
Washington closed to 52-51 on Brockman’s jump hook. Sloan hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to four before Wolfinger answered with a 3 with 7:14 left. That was the last field goal for the Huskies until Dentman’s lay-up.
(4) Kansas 87, Northern Arizona 46: At Lawrence, Kan., Darrell Arthur had 17 points and the Jayhawks (4-0) overwhelmed the Lumberjacks (3-2) in the first half – scoring the game’s first 12 points – for a victory in Kansas’ 600th win in the 52-year history of Allen Fieldhouse.
(5) Georgetown 57, Ball State 48: At Muncie, Ind., 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and the Hoyas (3-0) made seven 3-pointers in a win over outmanned Cardinals (0-3), who were playing with only seven scholarship players and nobody taller than 6-4.
(6) Louisville 68, UNLV 48: At Las Vegas, Earl Clark had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Jerry Smith added 14 points to lead the Cardinals past the Rebels.
Louisville (3-0) led by double digits in the first half, but UNLV (3-1) made four straight 3-pointers to take a 35-33 lead with 14:36 left.
Ohio State 79, (21) Syracuse 65: Freshman Kosta Koufos scored a career-high 24 points to help the Buckeyes (3-0) beat the Orangemen (3-1) in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals.
Koufos, a 7-foot freshman, has gotten better every game. He had 18 in his debut against Wisconsin-Green Bay and then scored 19 against Columbia to help Ohio State advance to New York.
(24) Clemson 74, Presbyterian 57: At Clemson, S.C., K.C. Rivers scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 14 and the Tigers (4-0) improved to 17-0 in the last three Novembers with a victory over the Blue Hose (0-6).
Women
(1) Tennessee 67, (16) West Virginia 49: At Charleston, W.Va., Candace Parker scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Lady Vols to a win over the Mountaineers (3-1). Alexis Hornbuckle added 12 points, Nicky Anosike had 10 and U-Hi product Angie Bjorklund added nine for Tennessee (4-0).
(6) LSU 72, Louisiana-Lafayette 37: At Baton Rouge, La., Sylvia Fowles scored 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and became the fifth player to dunk in a women’s college basketball game and the Tigers (4-1) smothered the Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3).