basketball
Louisville pulls away late to beat Lipscomb 72-68
EUGENE, Oregon, Dec 13, (AP): Ehab Amin let his Oregon teammates know that sleepwalking through another first half was no longer acceptable.
After the Ducks fell behind by nine points, the graduate transfer cut loose during a timeout, and the message hit home.
Bol had 20 points and nine rebounds as Oregon relied on its defense and rebounding to get past San Diego 65-55 on Wednesday night.
Payton Pritchard added 12 points and seven assists for the Ducks (6-3), who won the rebounding battle 35-31 after trailing 18-11 at halftime.
However, the defensive catalyst was Amin, who came off the bench after starting his first seven games for the Ducks. His last start was in a four-point loss at Houston that saw Oregon trail by 20 in the first half.
Amin wasn’t about to let that happen again, so he let fly in the team huddle.
Altman said the Ducks finished with a season-high 50 deflections because they were more active with their hands.
Oregon also held the Toreros (8-3) to 34.6 percent shooting in the second half and finished with a season-high 11 steals and six blocked shots, including four by Bol.
Bol was 9-for-14 from the field and 2-for-3 from the 3-point line, where he’s shooting better than 50 percent on the season. For the third time, the 7-foot-2 freshman was one rebound shy of a double-double, of which he already has four.
Most of his other field goals came on mid-range jumpers or jump hooks in the lane.
San Diego missed a chance for its best start to a season since it joined Division I in 1979-80. Isaiah Pineiro led the Toreros with 14 points, Olin Carter III had 12 and Tyler Williams 11.
The Ducks went ahead to stay on Bol’s driving bank shot early in the second half and pushed its lead to eight points four times behind Bol’s 12 points after the break.
With Pineiro, San Diego’s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, on the bench with two early fouls, the Toreros were up 29-20 with 4-1/2 minutes left in the first half behind Carter’s 10 points. However, the Ducks cranked up their defense to close the half with an 11-3 run by forcing six turnovers to cut the deficit to 32-31.
SDSU 99, Division II Toros 46 In San Diego, the San Diego State Aztecs just needed a win. It happened that Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills was up next.
Matt Mitchell scored 20 points and San Diego State used a 23-0 run midway through the first half to rout the overmatched Toros 99-46 Wednesday night.
Jalen McDaniels and Adam Seiko added 13 apiece for the Aztecs (6-4), who needed a laugher after a rough twogame stretch. They lost at home by 12 points to crosstown rival San Diego a week earlier and then blew an eightpoint lead with less than five minutes to play in an 89-83 loss at California on Saturday night.
Playing in half-full Viejas Arena, SDSU started slowly but then began making 3-pointers and surged ahead of the Toros. With the game tied at 9, Nolan Narain converted a three-point play to start the 23-0 run, which included consecutive 3s by Jordan Schakel and Devin Watson, and a shot from behind the arc by Adam Seiko. That made it 32-9 with six minutes before halftime.
The Toros got their first points in nearly eight minutes on David Howard’s slam off an alley-oop pass.
Houston 82, LSU 76 In Houston, Galen Robinson Jr heard the “LSU! LSU!” chants with Houston down 15 points in the second half.
Robinson scored 18 points, Armoni Brooks added 13 – all in the second half – and No. 24 Houston overcame the big deficit to beat LSU 82-76 on Wednesday night.
Robinson was 7 of 15 from the field and had six assists and five rebounds, and Brooks added nine rebounds to help Houston (9-0) extend its home winning streak to 22 games. Cedrick Alley Jr added 13 points, Fabian White Jr had 10.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said the Cougars’ toughness in the second half was big, specifically rebounding where Houston got 11 offensive rebounds in the second half.
Trailing by 15 with 19 minutes left, Houston outscored LSU 31-12 over the next 12 minutes to take a 63-62 lead. Robinson had eight points and Brooks seven during the run.
LSU coach Will Wade said the Tigers couldn’t stop Houston, particularly Robinson in the second half.
Ja’Vonte Smart had 18 points, Naz Reid added 13 points and Marlon Taylor had 11 points for LSU (7-3). The Tigers shot 27 percent in the second half, including a nearly 10-minute stretch where they went without a field goal.
Tremont Waters made two free throws with 29 seconds left to pull LSU within two. Corey Davis then made two free throws for Houston with 26 seconds remaining, Waters missed a 3-pointer, and Davis hit two more free throws.
BYU 85, Portland State 66 In Provo, Utah, T.J. Haws made five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points to lead BYU to an 85-66 victory over Portland State on Wednesday night.
BYU (8-4) has won two straight since snapping a three-game skid. Portland State (5-4) has lost two of its last four games.
Haws was 9 of 15 from the floor and had five assists. Yoeli Childs added 13 points, and Zac Seljaas and Connor Harding 11 apiece for the Cougars. Nick Emery scored five points in 24 minutes in his third game of the season.
Derek Brown scored 14 points and Sal Nuhu had 12 for Portland State.
Rylan Bergersen’s dunk sparked a 16-0 run as BYU closed the first half on a 23-11 run for a 45-32 advantage. Haws scored 10 points during the stretch.
Portland State cut the deficit to 55-48 with 12:50 to play, but Haws answered with back-to-back 3s and the Vikings didn’t get closer.
Louisville 72, Lipscomb 68 In Louisville, Kentucky, Malik Williams may like to drift out and shoot a 3, but Louisville needed its power forward to grab every rebound he could get his hands on.
The sophomore did Wednesday night, grabbing 13 rebounds that included 10 on the defensive end to go with 10 points to help the Cardinals fend off Lipscomb 72-68 on Wednesday night.
Louisville (7-3) rebounded from a 68-67 loss to Indiana on Saturday that snapped a three-game winning streak.
Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 22 points and nine rebounds while Dwayne Sutton added 14 points and nine boards.
Garrison Matthews led Lipscomb (73) with five 3-pointers and 20 points. Rob Marberry added 11 points.
Louisville coach Chris Mack said his team was up against a well-disciplined and experienced team and praised Williams’ play.
Nwora ignited the Cardinals, scoring their first 11 points. His 3-pointer and dunk pushed the Louisville advantage to 29-21 with 5:53 left in the half, but Lipscomb rallied to 34-33 when Nathan Moran found Matt Rose for a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Lipscomb grabbed its first lead at 3534 on a bucket by Michael Buckland to open the second half. Louisville pushed its lead back to 12, but Lipscomb tied it at 52 with 9:25 to go.
Matthews made four free throws to pull the Bisons to 66-65 with 1:32 remaining. Williams then split a pair of free throws and Darius Perry forced a Lipscomb turnover. Following a Louisville timeout, Christen Cunningham’s jumper stretched the Cardinals’ lead to 69-65 with 21 seconds left. Another Lipscomb turnover and two free throws from Ryan McMahon made it 71-65 with 10 seconds left.
Boise St 67, Alabama St 57 In Boise, Idaho, Justinian Jessup scored 16 points, Alex Hobbs 15 and Boise State beat Alabama State 67-57 on Wednesday night.
R.J. Williams added 12 points and Zach Haney 11 for the Broncos.
AJ Farrar made a layup with 61 seconds to go before halftime and Gene Davis buried a 3-pointer as the horn sounded and Alabama State led 30-25. Fausto Pichardo’s hook shot after the break extended the run before the Broncos seized control with 17-0 run. Hobbs and Williams combined to score the first nine points of the run. Later, Jessup made back-to-back 3s and Boise State led 51-36. Jacoby Ross scored 17 points for the Hornets and Pichardo 11.
Before the game, Boise State (4-5) announced that junior guard Pat Dembley was placed on a one-game suspension for attitude detrimental to the team. It was served against Alabama State (24). Heading into the game, Dembley, a junior college transfer, was the fourthleading scorer at 9.1 points per game.
DePaul 104, Chicago State 70 In Chicago, Max Strus scored 27 points to lead DePaul in a 104-70 rout of Chicago State on Wednesday night to remain undefeated at home.
The Blue Demons improve to 6-0 at home and 17-0 all-time against Chicago State (3-9).
Strus was 8 of 11 from the floor and made five 3-pointers. Eli Cain added 17 points and 11 assists for DePaul (6-2), which rebounded from a 75-68 loss at Northwestern on Saturday. Jalen Coleman-Lands chipped in with 13 points, Femi Olujobi had 12 and Devin Gage 10. The starters combined for 24-of-44 shooting (55 percent) from the floor.
Delshon Strickland scored 25 points and Travon Bell had 14 for Chicago State.
South Dakota 78, Bellevue 52 In Vermillion, South Dakota, Cody Kelley scored 18 points, Tyler Peterson added 17 on 8-for-10 shooting, Triston Simpson 11 with six assists and South Dakota cruised past NAIA-member Bellevue University 78-52 on Wednesday night.
Kelley scored 14 points in the first half when South Dakota shot 60 percent (18 of 30) to build a 42-26 halftime lead. The Coyotes (5-5) finished shooting 59 percent from the field, 32 of 54, including six 3-pointers and had 21 assists.
Bellevue University grabbed a 5-4 lead on a Josh Lindsey-Hunter 3-pointer, but held it for just 14 seconds. Simpson sparked an 11-3 run over the next 3:39 and the Coyotes pulled away from there. Wichita St 69, Jacksonville St 65 In Wichita, Kansas, Samajae Haynes Jones scored 17 points and Markis McDuffie made the go-ahead jumper with 4:31 left and Wichita State beat Jacksonville State 69-65 on Wednesday night.
McDuffie missed 12 of 15 shot attempts, but after Haynes-Jones added a 3-pointer after his jump shot for a 64-60 lead, McDuffie made three free throws with 34 seconds left to create safe space for the Shockers (5-4). He finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Jaime Echenique scored 12 points shooting 6 of 8 with seven rebounds.
Despite shooting 5 of 18 from 3-point range, the Shockers were 29 of 67 (43 percent) to 38 percent (24 of 63) for the Gamecocks. Texas Tech 79, Northwestern St 44 In Lubbock, Texas, Jarrett Culver scored 15 points, Tariq Owens had 14 points and eight rebounds and No. 11 Texas Tech ran out to a 43-point halftime lead in a 79-44 victory over Northwestern State on Wednesday night.
The Red Raiders (9-0) matched their best start since 2008-09. All of the wins have been by double digits, and they had a 10-point lead less than five minutes into this rout. C.J. Jones scored 11 points for Northwestern State (2-8).