No. 6 Baylor rolls to open tourney
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — L.J. Cryer had 15 points and sixth-ranked Baylor beat Arizona State 75-63 on Wednesday night to wrap up first-round play at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Matthew Mayer added 14 for the national champion Bears (5-0), who led 45-31 by the break, then pushed that margin to 22 midway through the second half. Baylor again showed plenty of offensive balance with five double-figure scorers while holding Arizona State to 36 percent shooting, a combination that carried the Bears to an 11th straight victory dating to their title run.
Baylor faces VCU in Thursday’s semifinals.
NO. 22 CONNECTICUT 115 NO. 19 AUBURN 109
Tyler Polley scored a career-high 24 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:58 left in the second overtime to help the Huskies beat the Tigers in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Adama Sanogo finished with a career-best 30 points for the Huskies, who blew a 15-point lead in regulation and squandered a lead late in the first overtime in a wild game. But Sanogo and Polley didn’t let the Huskies stumble in the second overtime, scoring 14 points as UConn pushed ahead for good.
FORDHAM 84, RICE 74
Carl Pierre’s 26-point game that included 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range was wasted as the Owls lost to the Rams in the third-place game in the Gulf Coast Showcase at Estero, Fla.
Rice (4-3) had a six-point lead with under nine minutes to play but gave up a game-deciding 12-0 run.
OKLAHOMA 57 HOUSTON BAPTIST 40
The Huskies lost to the host Sooners by going cold after a hot-shooting first half gave them a five-point halftime lead.
HBU (1-4) shot nearly 60 percent, sinking 11 of 19 shots in building a 27-22 halftime lead but was held to just three field goals in 23 tries through the first 17 minutes of the second half.
Zion Tordoff led HBU by scoring nine of his 11 points in the first half.
NO. 18 BYU 81 TEXAS SOUTHERN 64
Te’Jon Lucas had 18 points and seven assists to lead the Cougars past the Tigers, who fell to 0-6 on their season-opening 13game road swing.
P.J. Henry led TSU with 21 points.
TEXAS A&M 73 NOTRE DAME 67
Quenton Jackson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half as the Aggies overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to capture fifth place in the Maui Invitational at Las Vegas.
Jackson and his fellow reserves outscored the A&M starters 60-13.
NO. 23 FLORIDA 71 OHIO STATE 68
Tyree Appleby hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Gators beat the Buckeyes in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off final.
IOWA ST. 82 NO. 25 XAVIER 70
Izaiah Brockington scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half as the Cyclones beat the Musketeers in the NIT Season Tip-Off at New York.
Iowa State will meet No. 9 Memphis, a 69-61 winner over Virginia Tech, in. Friday’s title game.
Women RICE 81, PACIFIC 73
Mali Fisher had 14 points and 17 rebounds as the Owls overcame a fivepoint second-half deficit to win at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Rice (3-2) trailed 62-57 with 7:56 to go before closing with a 24-11 run.