Kansas beats Iona as Self tops Pitino in first meeting
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Bill Self prior to Sunday’s ESPN Events Invitational third-place game against Iona admitted being “excited” about getting a chance to coach against fellow Hall of Famer Rick Pitino for the first time.
“It should be fun,” Self, Kansas’ 19th-year coach said on his pregame radio show, noting he told his Jayhawks players the 69year-old Pitino just might “be the best coach in college basketball over the past 20 years.”
Self left HP Field House on the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus with a 1-0 all-time record in headto-head matchups versus Pitino as his No. 4-ranked Jayhawks (5-1) upended Pitino’s Gaels 96-83 in the consolation contest of the eight-team tournament.
Christian Braun scored 18 points (with seven rebounds and four assists) while Ochai Agbaji had 17 points, David Mccormack 13 and Remy Martin 11 as the Jayhawks bounced back from Friday’s semifinal loss Dayton of the Atlantic 10 and wound up with a 2-1 record in the holiday tourney thanks to a first-round win over North Texas and victory over Iona of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Mitch Lightfoot had 10 points and six rebounds and Joseph Yesufu contributed nine points for KU, which hit 54.9 percent of its shots, going 6 of 14 from three and 12 of 19 from the line.
Iona (6-2), which beat No. 10 Alabama in the first round for its second victory in school history over an AP top 10 team, was led by Ryan Myers and Tyson Jolly, who had 14 points apiece, and Nelly Junior Joseph, who had 10. Elijah Joiner also had 10 for the Gaels.
Braun scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Lightfoot had seven points and four rebounds and Agbaji seven points in the first half. KU, which led by as many as 22 points, led 46-31 at the break.
KU led by 23 points with 7:28 left, but Iona cut the gap to 79-66 at 5:10 and 80-68 at 4:41.
NO. 7 VILLANOVA 72 LA SALLE 46
In Philadelphia, Collin Gillespie scored 13 points in a balanced team effort for the Wildcats.
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. 13 ARKANSAS 76 PENNSYLVANIA 60
In Fayetteville, Ark., JD Notae scored 28 points, and the Razorbacks (6-0) stayed unbeaten. Stanley Umude had 19 points and
Au’diese Toney scored 12 for the Razorbacks. 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 BETHUNE-COOKMAN 70
In Newark, N.J., Jared Rhoden scored 18 points, Alexis Yetna had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Pirates pulled away in the second half.
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
Myreon Jones and Tyree
Appleby scored 12 points apiece for the host Gators.
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.
Duke Deen led Troy (4-3) with 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting. Troy committed a season-high-tying 21 turnovers.
Women MINNESOTA 81, UTSA 52
In Minneapolis, Lapraisjah Johnson led the Roadrunners (1-4) with 15 points. Jasmine Powell led the Gophers (6-3) with a season-high 23 points.
NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 71 COLORADO STATE 56
Ahlana Smith and Kianna Smith led hot-shooting No. 10 Louisville with 11 points apiece as the visiting Cardinals won their fifth straight.
The Cardinals (5-1) shot 52.8 percent from the floor in a contest they never trailed. Emily Engstler drained a 3-pointer 1:37 into the game.