Villanova routs Tennessee in Hall of Fame Tip-Off

The game between Villanova and Tennessee was billed as a classic matchup between the Wildcats veteran leader, Collin Gillespie, and the Volunteers’ young star-ofthe-future, Kennedy Chandler.

This one went to the old man.

Gillespie, Jermain Samuels, and Brandon Slater each scored 14 points as No. 5 Villanova eased to a 71-53 win over No. 17 Tennessee on Saturday in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament at Uncasville, Connecticut.

Justin Moore added 13 points for the Wildcats (3-1), who had a 20-point lead at halftime.

Santiago Vescovi scored 23 points for Tennessee (2-1), which had opened the season with lopsided wins over TennesseeMartin and East Tennessee. He was the only Volunteer to get to double figures. Chandler was held to six points on 1of-9 shooting.

“When you’re that guy [Gillespie] they are coming at every night and you’re trying to just lead your team and not get into a one-on-one, that’s a hard thing to do,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Villanova scored the game’s first nine points, holding Tennessee without a basket for more than six minutes. The Volunteers missed their first six shots before Vescovi made a 3-pointer from the right wing.

A dunk from Samuels, who had 11 rebounds, on a lob pass from Justin Moore capped a 14-0 first-half run that pushed the Villanova lead to

33-11. A breakaway dunk by Moore just before the halftime buzzer sent the Wildcats into intermission with a 35-15 lead.

Vescovi tried to get the Vols back into the game by himself in the second half, scoring all eight points during a Tennessee run that cut a 22-point deficit to 17. But he picked up his fourth foul a few seconds later and the Wildcats’ lead was never challenged.

No. 6 Purdue 93, No. 18 North Carolina 84: Sasha Stefanovic scored 23 points and Jaden Ivey put up 22 points to go along with his 10 rebounds as the Boilermakers beat the Tar Heels in the first round of the Hall of Fame TipOff tournament.

Trevion Williams added 20 points for Purdue (4-0), which has scored at least 90 points in all four of its games this season.

Dawson Garcia hit 10 of his 13 shots and led North Carolina (3-1) with 26 points before fouling out.

No. 9 Baylor 86, Stanford 48: LJ Cryer scored 21 points and James Akinjo had 11 points with a career high-tying 11 assists, leading the host Bears past the Cardinal.

Freshman Kendall

Brown scored 15 points in the first meeting between the schools in 34 years. It was the first victory for the Bears (4-0) in the fourth matchup in the series.

Jaiden Delaire and Spencer Jones scored 10 points apiece for Stanford (3-2), which shot 29% while getting outscored 52-20 in the second half of the school’s first-ever trip to Waco. Both losses are in true road games.

AANo. 23 Connecticut 87, Binghamton 63: Tyrese Martin had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the host Huskies shook off a slow start but beat Binghamton. Adama Sanogo scored 12 points for the Huskies (4-0). Jordan Hawkins had 11, and Andre Jackson finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Tyler Bertram led Binghamton (1-3) with 15 points. Ogheneyole Akuwovo scored 12.

AWOMEN’S TOP 25

No. 2 Connecticut 88, Minnesota 58: Christyn Williams was nearly unstoppable in the inaugural game of the women’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament at Paradise Island, The Bahamas. Williams scored a career-high 31 points on 12-for-14 shooting as the Huskies (2-0) ripped the Golden Gophers (3-2).

No. 13 Michigan 69, Cent. Michigan 45: Emily Kiser had 16 points and eight rebounds, Danielle Rauch scored 13, and the Wolverines (4-0) beat the host Chippewas (1-2) without star Naz Hillmon. Hillmon, who averaged 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds last season, didn’t make the trip with Michigan due to a non-COVID illness.

No. 15 Oregon St. 82, CS Bakersfield 51: AJ Marotte scored 19 points with four three-pointers, and the host Beavers (3-0) routed Bakersfield (1-2).

No. 23 South Florida 77, Syracuse 53: Bethy Mununga had a season high 18 points with 12 rebounds to help the Bulls (3-1) crush the Orange

(2-2) at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

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