Self bests Pitino in their 1st meeting
No. 4 Kansas bounces back after stunning loss to Dayton
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Christian Braun had 18 points and seven rebounds, Ochai Agbaji added 17 points, and No. 4 Kansas beat Iona 96-83 on Sunday in the first meeting between Hall of Fame coaches Bill Self and Rick Pitino.
David McCormack scored 13 points for Kansas (5-1). The Jayhawks were was coming off their first loss of the season, 74-73 to Dayton on a buzzer-beater in an ESPN Events Invitational semifinal on Friday.
Beating Pitino’s Iona team, which opened the tournament with a win over No. 10 Alabama, was enough to salvage third place in the tournament for Self’s Jayhawks.
“Now that I’ve faced Kansas, I’m glad we didn’t play them in all those years,” Pitino said. “I’ve always admired him. I’ve always thought he’s one of the best coaches in the game. What I admire most is, whether it’s his fast break, his offensive sets, his rebounding, he doesn’t have a weakness as a coach.”
When asked what he had to say to Pitino, a smiling Self said: “Good game and he said good game, too.”
“The way that his teams always competed on a very national high level and doing it without five-star recruits compared to the way some other people do it means they develop and they get the most out their guys,” Self said.
Iona (6-2) got 14 points apiece from Tyson Jolly and Ryan Myers. The Gaels also lost for the first time Friday, dropping a 72-65 decision to Belmont.
Both teams had five players score in double figures.
Unlike its first two games in the invitational, Kansas built a double-digit firsthalf advantage and held onto it, taking a 46-31 lead at the break behind 13 points from Braun.
“We didn’t accomplish the goal,” Braun said of the Jayhawks’ tournament performance. “All of us weren’t pleased. We have stuff to improve on. We’re going to do it.”
NO. 7 VILLANOVA 72, LA SALLE 46: In Philadelphia, Collin Gillespie scored 13 points in a balanced team effort for Villanova, which beat La Salle.
Brandon Slater added 12 points and Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon each had 11 for the Wildcats (4-2), who played for the first time since a Nov. 21 loss to No. 3 Purdue.
Khalil Brantley scored 17 points and Jhamir Brickus had 13 for La Salle (2-3), which had just one assist on 14 field goals.
NO. 10 ALABAMA 96, MIAMI 64: In Orlando, Fla., Keon Ellis had 22 points, Jaden Shackelford contributed 15 and Alabama defeated Miami in the fifth-place game at the ESPN Events Invitational.
Alabama (6-1), which also got 13 points each from JD Davison and Juwan Gary, found itself in the consolation bracket after losing its tournament opener to coach Rick Pitino’s Iona team.
Davison added 10 assists. Kameron McGusty had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Miami (4-3), and Isaiah Wong scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
NO. 13 ARKANSAS 76, PENNSYLVANIA 60: In Fayetteville, Ark., JD Notae scored 28 points in Arkansas’ win over Pennsylvania.
Stanley Umude had 19 points and Au’Diese Toney scored 12 for the Razorbacks (6-0). They combined with Notae to score 32 of the team’s 37 points in the first half as Arkansas built an 11-point lead.
Clark Slajchert led Penn (3-6) with 25 points and Lucas Monroe had 14. Max Martz had 13 rebounds but was held to four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
NO. 21 SETON HALL 84, BETHUNECOOKMAN 70: In Newark, N.J., Jared Rhoden scored 18 points, Alexis Yetna had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Seton Hall pulled away in the second half to beat Bethune-Cookman.
Bethune-Cookman had a 34-33 lead at halftime, but Rhoden’s jumper a minute into the second half gave Seton Hall (5-1) the lead for good and started a 9-0 run. The Pirates stretched their advantage to as much as 23 points.
Joe French scored 30 points for the Wildcats (1-6), and Marcus Garrett scored 11.
NO. 23 FLORIDA 84, TROY 45: In Gainesville, Fla., Myreon Jones and Tyree Appleby scored 12 points apiece and Florida beat Troy.
Florida (6-0) scored the first 13 points of the game and never relinquished its double-digit lead. Colin Castleton finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Mountain West
CAL 65, FRESNO ST. 57: In Berkeley, Calif., Jordan Shepherd scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime, Andre Kelly finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and California pulled away late to beat Fresno State.
Orlando Robinson scored nine straight points for the Bulldogs, capped by a 3-pointer that made it 37-all with 11 minutes to go. Cal’s Jalen Celestine and Fresno State’s Deon Stroud traded 3s to tie again with 10:34 remaining but Grant Anticevich answered with another 3-pointer to give the Golden Bears the lead for good and spark a 16-4 run that made it 59-45.
Robinson led Fresno State (5-1) with 25 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. The 7-footer, in his third season with the Bulldogs, has scored at least 16 points in every game this season.
Top 25 women
NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 71, COLORADO STATE 56:
In Fort Collins, Colo., Ahlana Smith and Kianna Smith led hot-shooting No. 10 Louisville with 11 points apiece as the Cardinals won their fifth straight by beating Colorado State 71-56 on Sunday.
The Cardinals (5-1) shot 52.8% from the floor in a contest they never trailed.
CSU (5-1) was led by Sydney Mech and Karly Murphy with 12 points apiece.
NO. 13 IOWA STATE 76, MASSACHUSETTS 71: In Estero, Fla., Ashley Joens had 23 points, including a critical late 3-pointer late, and Lexi Donarski scored 23 points for Iowa State, which blew most of a 21-point lead before beating Massachusetts to win the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Iowa State (7-0), which played its third game in as many nights and its fourth in a week, nearly ran out of gas with only seven available players.
NO. 19 UCLA 73, ST. JOHN’S 65: In Estero, Fla., Iimar’i Thomas scored eight of her 19 points in the last six-plus minutes and UCLA broke away late to beat St. John’s at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Charisma Osborne also scored 19 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Bruins (4-2).