BEVERLY, N.C. STATE STUN NO. 2 WILDCATS

Freshman Braxton Beverly scored a season-high 20 points and sparked the decisive late run that helped North Carolina State upset No. 2 Arizona 90-84 in Wednesday’s first round at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Allerik Freeman scored 24 points to lead the Wolfpack (5-0). But it was Beverly — who missed the first two games in an NCAA eligibility dispute tied to his attending summer courses at Ohio State before coming to N.C. State — who led the way in the critical moments.

Allonzo Trier scored 27 points for the Wildcats (3-1), while freshman Deandre Ayton had 27 points and 14 rebounds.

WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

Jalen Brunson scored 18 points to help No. 5 Villanova beat Western Kentucky 66-58 in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Also, Grant Williams scored all 22 of his points after halftime and hit the go-ahead shot with 14.5 seconds left in regulation to lift Tennessee past No. 18 Purdue 78-75. … Nick Richards had career highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 8 Kentucky shot 70 percent in the first half in an easy 86-67 win over Fort Wayne. … Dewan Huell scored 16 points and No. 11 Miami beat La Salle 57-46. … Zach Lofton scored 30 points, making 12-of-15 shots from the field, and Eli Chuha added 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting as

beat 89-76. Che Bob led the Rams with 21 points. … Gary Clark scored 17 points and Kyle Washington had 16 points and 11 rebounds as No. 12 Cincinnati won the inaugural Cayman Islands Classic with a 78-53 win over Wyoming. Hayden Dalton led the Cowboys with 15 points.

FOOTNOTES

Vandy signs another top recruit.

Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew landed his second top recruit this month with Simisola Shittu signing his national letter of intent for the class of 2018. A five-star recruit, the 6foot-9 Shittu is a consensus top-10 player and rated the nation’s eighth-best prospect by Rivals.com. … Louisville has announced that freshman forward Brian Bowen will not play for the school and that the Cardinals have parted ways with men’s basketball assistant coach Kenny Johnson. The 6-foot-7 Bowen signed with Louisville in June but had been held out of practice and games since the school announced in September that it was being investigated in a federal corruption probe of bribery.

Women

Northern Colorado (4-1), which received votes in this week’s top 25 poll, lost 60-49 to Quinnipiac.

WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS