NO. 1 BLUE DEVILS TURN BACK NO. 8 AUBURN 78-72

» R.J. Barrett LAHAINA, HAWAII and Cam Reddish scored 18 points each, and top-ranked Duke survived its stiffest challenge of the season, holding off No. 8 Auburn 78-72 Tuesday night to reach the Maui Invitational title game.

The Blue Devils (5-0) got off to another stellar start, looking as if they run another top-10 team out of the gym.

The Tigers (4-1) clawed back, trimming a 17-point deficit to 61-56 in the second half by fearlessly attacking Duke at both ends.

But every time Auburn tried to getcloser,theBlueDevilsanswered with an alley-oop dunk or step-back jumper.

Duke will play No. 3 Gonzaga or Arizona Wednesday night for achanceatanunprecedented sixth Maui Invitational title.

Marques Bolden anchored Duke’s defense, blocking seven shots while finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds. The Blue Devils blocked 11 shots overall.

Jared Harper had 22 points and Bryce Brown 16 for Auburn.

St. John’s 87, VCU 86 in OT.

» Shamorie BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Ponds scored 35 points, including a running floater with 4.8 seconds left in overtime to lift St. John’s to an 87-86 victory over VCU for the championship of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night.

Isaac Vann made two free throwswith10.9secondsleftto give the Rams (4-1) a one-point lead. The Red Storm (5-0) called atimeoutthengotapassto Ponds, who drove to the left side before putting in a left-handed bank shot. Marcus Evans attempted a straightaway 3-pointer for VCU which came up short, though a replay appeared to show he was hit on the arm as he shot.

Ponds, who scored 32 points against Cal the night before, scored with 28 seconds left in regulation to give St. John’s a 73-72 lead before Evans made 1 of 2 free throws to tie with 5.8 seconds remaining.

Ponds also had seven assists and seven steals. LJ Figueroa added 15 points and nine rebounds.

Vann, a junior, led VCU with a career-high 30 points, making four 3-pointers and all 10 of his free throws. The Rams committed 22 turnovers, 14 off steals.

St. John’s notched its first championship in an early-season tournament since the 2010-11 Great Alaska Shootout.

Temple 76, California 59.

» Quinton Rose scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half, Shizz Alston Jr. turned in a double-double and Temple defeated California 7659 on Tuesday night for third place in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.

Lipscomb 73, No. 18 TCU 64.

TEXAS» Garrison FORT WORTH,

Mathews had 23 points, Kenny Cooper scored 17 with a couple of breakaway layups off steals and Lipscomb held on to upset No. 18 TCU 73-64 on Tuesday night, giving the Bisons their first win over a Top 25 team.

Lipscomb (4-1), the ASUN Conference preseason favorite, had been 0-13 against ranked teams since 2006. All of those losses were by double digits.

Iowa State 84, Illinois 68.

» Talen HortonTucker had 26 points and 14 rebounds, Michael Jacobson added 23 points and Iowa State ran away from Illinois in the second half for an 84-68 victory Tuesday in the Maui Invitational.

Down to eight scholarship players due to injuries and suspensions, Iowa State (4-1) bounced back from an opening loss to No. 3 Gonzaga with a strong game at both ends.

UConn 91, Cornell 74.

UConn showed off its depth in the backcourt on Tuesday night as it ran away from Cornell.

Jalen Adams had 21 points to lead five UConn players in double figures and the Huskies bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 91-74 winovertheBigRed.

Christian Vital added 19 points for Connecticut (4-1), which had four guards score at least 10 points.