CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — LJ Cryer scored 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers after Utah had wiped out No. 6 Houston’s 14-point lead, and the Cougars beat the Utes 76-66 on Friday to reach the Charleston Classic championship game.
The Utes trailed 50-36 in the second half before Gabe Madsen hit three of his eight 3-pointers during a 20-6 run to tie it at 56-all with seven minutes left.
Terrance Arceneaux broke the tie with a bucket before Cryer, a Baylor transfer, hit two from beyond the arc to put the Cougars ahead 64-58.
Houston (5-0) will play Dayton for the Charleston title on Sunday night.
Madsen finished with a career-high 29 points for Utah (3-1), and Branden Carlson scored 17.
Emanuel Sharp led the Cougars with 15 points, and Jamal Shead had 14. J’Wan Roberts had his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 9 DUKE 90, BUCKNELL 60
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Mark Mitchell scored a career-high 20 points and Duke rolled past Bucknell.
Mitchell, a sophomore forward, shot 8 of 13 from the field. He was one of five Blue Devils with at least one 3-pointer.
Jared McCain made five 3s on the way to 17 points. Tyrese Proctor had 13 points and Kyle Filipowski added 10 for Duke (3-1).
Jack Forest had 17 points and Ruot Bijiek scored 11 to pace Bucknell (1-4), which played its fourth road game in 10 days.
NO. 12 MIAMI 79, GEORGIA 68
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Matthew Cleveland scored 18 points, Nijel Pack added 16 and Miami topped Georgia in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.
Wooga Poplar finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Hurricanes (4-0). Bensley Joseph also scored 13 for Miami, and Norchad Omier battled through foul trouble to score 11.
Blue Cain scored 18 points for Georgia (2-2), Noah Thomasson added 14 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim finished with 13. The Bulldogs fell to 5-22 over the last five years against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25.
NO. 13 TEXAS A&M 74, ORAL ROBERTS 66
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Henry Coleman III had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Texas A&M overcame woeful 3-point shooting to beat Oral Roberts.
The Aggies (4-0) finished 2 of 22 (9%) from beyond the arc, but made up for it with 42 points in the paint.
The 6-foot-8 Coleman did his work inside, finishing 7 of 7 from the field and 5 of 6 at the free-throw line. Wade Taylor IV scored 16 points and Tyrece Radford had 11 points for the Aggies.
Isaac McBride scored 27 points for Oral Roberts (1-3), going 4 of 7 on 3s.
UNC GREENSBORO 78, NO. 14 ARKANSAS 72
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Keyshaun Langley scored 23 points, Mikeal Brown-Jones added 17 and UNC Greensboro stunned Arkansas.
The Spartans (2-1), who came in as 15 1/2-point underdogs according to FanDuel Sportsbook, went on a 13-2 run late in the first half and led by 15 early in the second, taking advantage of sloppy play by the Razorbacks (3-1).
Arkansas pulled within 54-50 on a layup by Davonte Davis with 9:54 left, but UNC Greensboro responded with a 3-pointer by Donovan Atwell and a layup by Joryam Saizonou for a nine-point lead.
Tramon Mark scored 20 points and El Ellis added 19 for Arkansas.
NO. 17 KENTUCKY 101, STONEHILL 67
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Freshman Reed Sheppard scored 25 points and Kentucky beat Stonehil.
Sheppard made seven of Kentucky's 17 3-pointers. Rob Dillingham, also a freshman, scored 20 points for the Wildcats (3-1), and Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell added 15 each.
Max Zegarowski and Tony Felder led Stonehill (1-4) with 15 points each.
NO. 18 MICHIGAN STATE 74, BUTLER 54
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Tyson Walker scored 21 points, including 16 in the first half, and A.J. Hoggard added 14 to lead Michigan State past Butler in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
Malik Hall scored 12 points for the Spartans (2-2), who moved to 4-0 in the Gavitt Games and have won four of the last five meetings with the Bulldogs. Michigan State avoided starting the season 1-3 for the first time since 1976.
Jahmyl Telfort scored 15 points for Butler (3-1). Pierre Brooks, who transferred from Michigan State following last season, had 13 points.
NO. 20 NORTH CAROLINA 77, UC RIVERSIDE 52
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Armando Bacot had 21 points and North Carolina blew the game open with 19 straight points out of halftime to beat UC Riverside.
Harrison Ingram added 10 points and nine boards for the Tar Heels (3-0).
Ben Griscti scored 14 points for UC Riverside (1-3).
NO. 21 VILLANOVA 57, MARYLAND 40
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Tyler Burton scored 10 of his 15 points in Villanova’s dominant first half, and the Wildcats rolled past cold-shooting Maryland.
TJ Bamba added 11 points as the Wildcats (3-1) rebounded from Monday’s loss to unranked Penn.
Julian Reese had 10 points for Maryland (1-3), which dropped its third straight. The Terrapins finished with just 12 field goals while shooting 24% from the field.
NO. 22 ALABAMA 98, MERCER 67
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 24 points and Alabama beat Mercer in an Emerald Coast Classic campus game.
Sears shot 8 of 12 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Nick Pringle and Jarin Stevenson scored 14 points each for the Crimson Tide (4-0).
Jalyn McCreary scored 17 points for Mercer (1-3).
NO. 23 ILLINOIS 87, VALPARAISO 64
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 22 points and Dain Dainja had 16 as Illinois came from behind with a 49-point second half to beat Valparaiso.
Luke Goode had 13 points for the Fighting Illini (3-1), and Ty Rodgers added 10.
Isaiah Stafford scored 30 points for Valparaiso, including 23 in the first half.
Cooper Schwieger and Jerome Palm each had 12 points and Jaxon Edwards pulled down 15 rebounds for the Beacons (2-2), whose first-year coach is former Illini forward Roger Powell Jr.
NO. 24 JAMES MADISON 76, RADFORD 73
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — Terrence Edwards scored 21 points, TJ Bickerstaff had 20, and James Madison rallied past Radford in a Cancun Challenge campus game.
The Dukes survived their first game as a ranked team thanks to their defense in the closing minutes. DaQuan Smith put Radford ahead 73-70 on a jumper with 3:35 left, but the Highlanders didn’t score again. Bickerstaff put JMU (4-0) ahead to stay when he took a hard foul and made two free throws with 1:22 remaining.
Smith finished with 20 points for the Highlanders (2-3), Kenyon Giles scored 15 and Justin Archer contributed 14.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
