Hokies rally from 12 down to win title
Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 25 points, Ahmed Hill and Justin Robinson had 23 points apiece and No. 16 Virginia Tech rallied from 12 points down in the second half to beat No. 23 Purdue 89-83 in the Charleston Classic championship in Charleston, S.C.
The Hokies (4-0) trailed 50-38 after Ryan Cline’s three-pointer with 18:27 left, but wiped out the deficit over the next six minutes.
After Carsen Edwards tied things at 77-all with a layup with 4:21 to go, Hill hit a driving basket and got fouled to put the Hokies ahead 80-77.
Hill followed with a threepointer and Purdue (4-1) could not recover.
Edwards finished with 26 points, his fifth straight game with 23 or more, for the Boilermakers.
Edwards and Purdue got plenty of support while building on their perfect start.
Most of the fans in the crowd of more than 4,000 were dressed in the familiar gold and black of the Boilermakers.
“It’s awesome,” Edwards said. “It’s pretty cool to see people do this.”
at No. 10. Kentucky 92, Virginia Military Institute 82: Quade Green came off the bench to score a seasonhigh 17 points, including five in the final 90 seconds, to help Kentucky hold off VMI. Leading by 19 midway through the second half, the Wildcats (3-1) had to work to put away the stubborn Keydets, who made 12 secondhalf three-pointers and got within 85-79 with 1:49 remaining. Green answered with a three-pointer 19 seconds later and Ashton Hagans made a free throw for a 10-point edge.
at No. 11 Michigan State 101, Tennessee Tech 33: Nick Ward scored 23 points and Cassius Winston added 19 to lead Michigan State over Tennessee Tech, tying the largest margin of victory in program history. Ward’s status for the game was uncertain after he missed the final 32 minutes of Wednesday’s game against Louisiana Monroe with a right ankle sprain. Michigan State (3-1) had a 19-0 run to close the first half, and an 11-0 run to open the second half for a 53-14 lead. Tennessee Tech (0-5) had closed the deficit to 23-14 with a Corey Tillery three-pointer with 7:42 left in the first half.
No. 12 Kansas State 64, Pennsylvania 48: Dean Wade scored 17 points, and Kansas State overcame an early deficit to beat Penn in the second semifinal at the Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Kamau Stokes added 16 points and Xavier Sneed had 11 for the Wildcats (4-0), who will face Missouri in Monday night’s title game.
No. 18 Michigan 66, at Providence 47: Michigan showed off its offensive versatility and a relentless defense in winning this weekend’s Air Force Reserve TipOff tournament. Ignas Brazdeikis scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines (5-0) over Providence in the championship game.