basketball
No. 5 Nevada dominates USC as No. 23 Villanova avoid La Salle upset
BLACKSBURG, Va, Dec 2, (AP): Ahmed Hill scored 24 points to lead No. 13 Virginia Tech to a 94-40 win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
Bouncing back from a scoreless game Tuesday night at Penn State, Hill connected on 9 of 13 from the floor and tied a career high with six 3-pointers, helping the Hokies (6-1) rebound from a one-point loss to the Nittany Lions in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Hill’s game was part of a recordsetting evening for the Hokies, who set a school record by making 18 3-pointers against the Blue Devils (4-5). Kerry Blackshear Jr added 18 points for Virginia Tech, hitting two 3-pointers, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Ty Outlaw each hit three 3-pointers en route to double-figure games. Outlaw finished with 15 points, while Alexander-Walker added 14 for the Hokies, who shot 57.1 percent (36 of 63).
Virginia Tech’s torrid shooting buried Central Connecticut State right from the start. The Hokies made 11 of their first 13 shots, including five 3s. Getting seven points from Blackshear, Tech used an 18-2 run to build a 15-point lead within the first eight minutes of the game and led 49-23 at halftime.
Playing its second game in three nights, CCSU never got untracked. The Blue Devils got a 3-pointer from Ian Krishnan to open the game, but made just eight of their final 26 shots in the first half and trailed for all but a minute in the game.
Joe Hugley led the Blue Devils with 13 points. They only shot 25.9 percent (14 of 54).
Nevada 73, USC 61 In Los Angeles, struggling offensively, Nevada went into halftime trailing by one in front of a partisan crowd. The Wolf Pack’s seniors emerged with a different mindset.
Caroline scored 22 points and No. 5 Nevada took control with a dominant second half to beat Southern California 73-61 on Saturday and equal its 8-0 start from last season.
Tre’Shawn Thurman added 14 points and nine rebounds and Caleb Martin had 12 points for the Wolf Pack, who outscored USC 39-26 over the final 20 minutes.
It marked a major turnaround from the first half, when the Trojans shot 50 percent from the field and led by as many as seven points. The Wolf Pack missed more than half their field goal attempts and leading scorer Martin had just seven points, leaving them trailing by one at the break.
Nick Rakocevic had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Trojans (5-3) as their three-game winning streak ended. Bennie Boatwright, their leading scorer at 16.8 points, was held to seven points.
USC came out aggressively to start the game, driving to the basket, crashing the boards and closely defending Martin, who entered the game averaging 21 points.
Caroline and Thurman carried Nevada in the first half, each scoring 11 points.
USC didn’t appear to be the same team in the second half, when the Trojans never put together a scoring run.
The Wolf Pack turned things around quickly, outscoring USC 9-0 to open the second half. It was the start of a 3111 run that produced Nevada’s largest lead, 65-46. The spurt included three consecutive 3-pointers by Jazz Johnson
(two) and Thurman.
Villanova 85, La Salle 78 In Philadelphia, Villanova coach Jay Wright was raised on Big 5 hoops and considers himself a bit of a keeper of the city series’ legacy. He’s also quick to warn the Wildcats that anything can happen when Philly teams play at the Palestra.
Winless La Salle came primed for an upset - but the only unpredictable part of a Villanova game against a city rival is the final score of its latest win. Eric Paschall scored 27 points, Phil Booth had 19 and No. 23 Villanova held off one more upset in an 85-78 win over La Salle on Saturday.
Villanova (6-2) remained the class of the city and won its 23rd straight Big 5 game, round-robin play among five Philadelphia Division I basketball teams. The Wildcats haven’t lost a city series game since Dec 5, 2012 against Temple.
They got a pretty good scare against winless La Salle (0-8).
Army 63, Fairfield 60 In West Point, New York, Matt Wilson scored 19 points, John Emezie added 16 with four steals and a crucial block in the last half-minute as Army fought past Fairfield 63-60 on Saturday.
The Black Knights (4-5) saw a 5749 advantage evaporate in two minutes as Fairfield surged to a 58-57 lead. There was still a minute left in the game, however. In that span, Emezie blocked Neftali Alvarez’s drive to the hoop and, when Fairfield’s Wassef Methnani grabbed the defensive rebound, Emezie stole the ball.
Jordan Fox was fouled and pushed Army ahead 60-58 at the free-throw line with 27 seconds remaining. Tommy Funk made both free throws with five seconds left, pushing the Black Knights ahead by three. Alvarez missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Methnani scored all 12 of his points in the second half, including five in the late rally to spark the Stags (2-6). Alvarez led with 14 points.
Emezie’s points and steals were both season highs and Army, with 10 steals, scored 27 points off 21 Fairfield turnovers. Buffalo 85, San Francisco 81 In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nick Perkins scored 22 points, Jeremy Harris added 15 with eight rebounds and No. 21 Buffalo held off San Francisco for an 85-81 victory Saturday in the title game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic.
C.J. Massinburg scored 15 points, making 5 of 6 free throws in the final 20 seconds to close out the win, and Montell McCrae added 11 points as Buffalo (7-0) won the matchup of unbeatens to continue its best start since 1930.
Frankie Ferrari scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half for San Francisco (7-1), which had won its first six games for the first time since 1980.