Aggies beat Davidson in tourney
To face Utah State in Myrtle Beach semis
CONWAY, S.C. — New Mexico State overcame Davidson’s 26-4 first-half run with a barrage of second-half 3-pointers to defeat the Wildcats 75-64 in the first round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational Thursday.
The 3-0 Aggies get Utah State on Friday. USU defeated Penn 87-79 in double overtime in another Thursday quarterfinal.
New Mexico State hit 11 3-pointers in the contest. NMSU trailed 33-28 at halftime but clawed back to take a permanent lead at 44-42 midway through the second period, but Davidson remained within striking distance for most of the half.
After trailing by as many as nine points after the Aggies regained the lead, Davidson clawed back to cut the lead to 65-64 with 2:56 remaining.
Sophomore transfer forward Mike Peake collected a critical rebound after redshirt junior guard Teddy Allen missed a 3-pointer with just over two minutes remaining, and redshirt junior guard Jabari Rice found Peake for a corner 3-pointer to stretch NMSU’s lead to 68-64 and spark a 10-0 run to close the game.
Allen finished with 22 points and Rice finished with 17 to lead the Aggies in scoring. Redshirt senior forward Johnny McCants and senior forward Donnie Tillman finished with 11 points and 14 points, respectively, to give NMSU four players with double-digit points.
Luka Brajkovic had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (1-2). Hyunjung Lee and Foster Loyer each had 14 points.
MWC
UTAH STATE 87, PENN 79 (2 OT): Also in Conway, Justin Bean had a career-high 33 points plus 16 rebounds to carry Utah State to a double overtime win over Penn in another Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinal.
Jordan Dingle led the Quakers with 31 points, also a career high.
Rylan Jones had 21 points for Utah State (2-1). Brandon Horvath added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Max Martz had 12 points for the Quakers (2-3). Jelani Williams added seven rebounds and seven assists.
No. 22 ST. BONAVENTURE 67, BOISE STATE 61: In Charleston, S.C., Kyle Lofton had 17 points and seven assists, and Jaren Holmes added 14 points and 10 rebounds as St. Bonaventure (3-0) beat Boise State (1-2) in the Charleston Classic.
St. Bonaventure trailed 59-57 with 5:40 remaining after Boise State guard Marcus Shaver Jr. hit a 3-pointer. But the Bonnies locked down defensively and held Boise State to 1-for-9 shooting after that. The Bonnies, however, made five straight shots to build a 65-61 lead.
CAL BAPTIST 67, SAN JOSE STATE 66: In Riverside, Calif., Taran Armstrong had a triple-double with 16 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to carry Cal Baptist (4-0) to a win over San Jose State.
Armstrong made a pair of free throws to cap the scoring with 7.8 seconds to play. San Jose State had the final possession but Alvaro Cardenas Torre missed a layup to end it. SJSU is 1-2.
Nation
XAVIER 71, No. 19 OHIO STATE 65: In Cincinnati, Jack Nunge had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Paul Scruggs also scored 14 points and Xavier led wire to wire in knocking off Ohio State.
Jamari Wheeler hit a 3-pointer to get Ohio State within two points with 17 seconds left, the closest the Buckeyes had been all evening.
A pair of free throws by Scruggs pushed the Xavier lead back to four. Scruggs then stole Ohio State’s inbounds pass and sank two more free throws to ice the game for the Musketeers (3-0).
Nate Johnson had 12 points and Adam Kunkel added 10 for Xavier.
E.J. Liddell had a season-low 17 points for the Buckeyes (3-1), who had dropped two spots in the AP Top 25 after two closer-thanexpected games to start the season. Meechie Johnson Jr. had 14 points and Kyle Young scored 12.
No. 24 FLORIDA 81, MILWAUKEE 45: In Gainesville, Fla., Colin Castleton had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double and Florida dominated Milwaukee in the Gators’ first game as a ranked team in nine months.
Milwaukee freshman Patrick Baldwin Jr., a projected NBA lottery pick, had 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting. He added three rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist. Baldwin landed at Milwaukee (1-2) mostly because his dad is the head coach.
Castleton led four Florida players in double figures. Tyree Appleby had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Gators (3-0).
Women
No. 3 MARYLAND 108, UNCWILMINGTON 66: In College Park, Md., Angel Reese had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Katie Benzan scored 22 points and No. 3 Maryland remained undefeated Thursday with a 108-66 rout of UNC Wilmington.
It was the fourth double-double in five games for Reese, who is averaging 19.4 points and 12 rebounds for the Terrapins (5-0).
Carrie Gross led the Seahawks (1-2) with 17 points.
No. 14 IOWA STATE 98, DRAKE 76: In Des Moines, Iowa, Ashley Joens scored 31 points with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals and Iowa State pulled away from Drake.
Aubrey Joens, Ashley’s sister, added a career-high 18 points for the Cyclones (3-0), who won at Drake for the first time since 2013.
Katie Dinnebier scored 19 points for Drake (1-2).
No. 17 FLORIDA STATE 64, JACKSONVILLE 39: In Tallahassee, Fla., Valencia Jones scored 15 points, and Morgan Jones scored 11 of her 12 points in the third quarter to help Florida State’s massive turnaround as the Seminoles (3-0) beat Jacksonville.
Jacksonville (2-1) led all the way — and by as many as 10 — through the first half.
No. 20 UCLA 73, CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 46: In Los Angeles, IImar’I Thomas scored 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting and UCLA pulled away from Cal State Northridge.
Charisma Osborne added 19 points for the Bruins.
No. 24 TEXAS A&M 82, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 75: In College Station, Texas, Kayla Wells scored 24 points, Qadashah Hoppie hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points, and Texas A&M (4-0) beat Stephen F. Austin.