Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Williams, Aggies cruise in a battle of unbeatens
NEW YORK — Robert Williams had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 16 Texas A&M to a 98-87 victory over Penn State in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
Duane Wilson led the Aggies (4-0) with 22 points while Tyler Davis chipped in 15, Admon Gilder had 14 and Tonny Torcha-Morelos finished with 11.
Despite getting a career-high 31 points from Tony Carr, Penn State (5-1) lost its first game of the season. Lamar Stevens added 25 points for Penn State.
The Aggies took a 42-40 lead into halftime due to Williams’ two-hand follow jam with four seconds left in the half. Seven of the eight players who got into the game in the first half for Texas A&M scored, led by Williams’ 12.
And the Aggies needed every point, as Carr was a oneman offensive onslaught for the Nittany Lions. Carr had 21 points in the opening half on 7-of-8 shooting, including 2 for 2 from three-point range. He made 5 of 6 free throws.
Texas A&M took a 63-51 lead on Wilson’s scoop layup 6:41 into the second half. Wilson’s layup was the culmination of a stretch in which the Aggies outscored the Nittany Lions 21-11.
After Wilson’s layup, Penn State Coach Pat Chambers called timeout. DJ Hogg hit a three-pointer for the Aggies, Gilder made two free throws and Williams finished a 2-on1 break with a two-handed jam off an alley-oop pass that pushed the lead to 70-53.
Penn State used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 70-61.
After a layup by Gilder pushed the lead to 72-61, the Nittany Lions scored the next five points on a layup by Carr and three free throws from Stevens. That was as close as they would get.
Williams was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Wilson, Carr, Stevens and Oklahoma State’s Jeffrey Carroll.
In other games involving top 25 teams, Svi Mykhailiuk scored 21 points, Udoka Azubuike added 20 and No. 3 Kansas cruised to a 114-71 victory over Texas Southern in the Jayhawks’ first game of the Hoophall Miami Invitational in Lawrence, Kan. Lagerald Vick, Devonte’ Graham and Marcus Garrett all had at least 10 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas. Vick posted 19 points and 10 rebounds, Graham had 17 points and 11 assists, and Garrett logged 13 points and 11 rebounds. … Landry Shamet scored 19 points, Connor Frankamp added 13 and No. 6 Wichita State rode its second-half defense into the Maui Invitational title game with an 80-66 victory over Marquette on Tuesday. The Shockers (4-0) shot 54 percent and had a 44-33 advantage in the paint to earn a spot in today’s championship game against No. 6 Notre Dame or LSU. Andrew Rowsey had 26 points and Markus Howard 25 for the Golden Eagles (2-2), who were held to 10-of-33 shooting in the second half. … Cane Broome led a balanced attacked with 13 points, Jacob Evans added 12, and No. 12 Cincinnati used a dominant first half to roll into the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic with a 75-48 victory over Richmond. The Bearcats (5-0) hit 8 of 14 three-pointers and shot 54 percent overall to race to a 40-14 lead at the half. Cincinnati forced 13 turnovers and 4-of18 shooting. Richmond (1-3) made five three-pointers and went 12 of 24 from the field but never challenged in the second half. Jacob Gilyard led the Spiders with 12 points. … Jordan Murphy had 20 points and 10 rebounds as No. 14 Minnesota defeated Alabama A&M 100-57. Four other scored at least 10 points for the Gophers (5-0). Davonte Fitzgerald had 13, Nate Mason scored 12, and Reggie Lynch and Jamir Harris each added 11. Mohamed Sherif led the Bulldogs (0-4) with 10 points. … Jordan Nwora came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points, Deng Adel had 16 points and No. 19 Louisville coasted past Southern Illinois 84-42 in Louisville. The Cardinals (3-0) turned a 9-6 deficit into a 29-18 halftime lead before putting it out of reach, leading 65-30 with 6:47 remaining. Louisville held SIU to 27 percent shooting, including 3 of 21 from long range. … Aaron Holiday got a scooping layup to drop just before the final buzzer Tuesday night, giving No. 23 UCLA a 72-70 victory over Wisconsin in the third-place game of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. Holiday got the ball for the Bruins (4-1) at the top of the key, briefly lost control, then roared down the right side of the lane past Badgers star Ethan Happ and scooped up the winning basket. Happ had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Wisconsin (2-3), which has lost three consecutive games, all to ranked teams.