Star guards come through, lead Wichita State
TOP 25 MEN
NO. 9 WICHITA STATE 75,
TULSA 55
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall was thrilled star guards Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker received so much preseason recognition.
He is even happier the attention does not affect their play.
VanVleet, a preseason All-American, had 21 points and nine assists. Baker, also on the Wooden Award watch list, made 6 three-pointers and had 19 points, leading No. 9 Wichita State to a 75-55 victory over Tulsa on Saturday.
“Our veterans played some beautiful basketball for the most part,” Marshall said. “Eighteen assists on 25 field goals is indicative of these guys who are getting so many great accolades still sharing the basketball.”
Darius Carter added 14 points for Wichita State (4-0).
James Woodard scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half for Tulsa (3-3). D’Andre Wright had 13 points for the Golden Hurricane.
Woodard said Baker’s play was key.
“He never gets sped up, always plays at his pace and is so smart,” Woodard said. “We knew if we could keep him contained, we could keep this a real game.”
NO. 8 VIRGINIA 45, RUTGERS 26
NEW YORK — Justin Anderson and Anthony Gill each had 13 points to lead No. 8 Virginia to a victory over Rutgers in the championship game of the Barclays Center Classic.
Virginia (6-0) held Rutgers to just 25 percent shooting.
The Scarlet Knights led 18-17 at the half as Virginia made just 8 of 28 from the field in the first 20 minutes. Rutgers experienced its own offensive breakdown in the second half, scoring eight points in the first 14:40.
OLD DOMINION 73, NO. 14 VCU 67
NORFOLK, Va. — Aaron Bacote scored a career-high 31 points to lift Old Dominion to a victory over No. 14 Virginia Commonwealth.
Bacote, who came into the game averaging just four points and shooting 16 percent, had scored just 20 points on the season.
He made his first 8 shots, including 4 three-pointers, and was 11 for 13 from the free-throw line to top his previous career high of 28 done twice last season.
The Rams (4-2) were led by Treveon Graham’s 34 points and never led after the opening few minutes.
ODU forged a 23-8 lead with 9:17 left in the first half when sophomore guard Ambrose Mosley sank consecutive three-pointers.
From there, VCU got no closer than 11 points until about three minutes remained in the game, when the Rams launched a frantic finish and closed to within five behind Graham’s hot shooting from long range.
NO. 19 MICHIGAN 91, NICHOLLS STATE 62
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Caris LeVert scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half, and No. 19 Michigan bounced back from its first loss of the season with a victory over Nicholls State.
The Wolverines (5-1) were without starting point guard Derrick Walton, who was on the sideline with what appeared to be a boot on his left foot. Spike Albrecht was certainly a capable replacement for Walton, finishing with 10 points, 7 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers.
Ricky Doyle added 15 points for Michigan, and Zak Irvin scored 14.
Nicholls State (0-4) was led by Ja’Dante’ Frye, who scored 15 points. T.J. Carpenter added 12.
NO. 21 WEST VIRGINIA 86, COLL. OF CHARLESTON 57
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jonathan Holton scored a career-high 21 points, leading No. 21 West Virginia (7-0) to a victory over the College of Charleston (2-4).
Jaysean Paige added 15 points for the Mountaineers and Juwan Staten had 10. Evan Bailey led the College of Charleston (2-4) with 13 points, followed by Joe Chealey’s 10.
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 57, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 47
NICEVILLE, Fla. — Austin Chatman and Isaiah Zierden each scored 10 points to help No. 23 Creighton (6-1) beat Middle Tennessee and finish third in the inaugural Emerald Coast Classic.
Jaqawn Raymond led Middle Tennessee (3-3) with nine points. Joshua Phillips put in a layup to give the Blue Raiders their only lead at 4-3, but Creighton went ahead for good on a jumper by Toby Hegner with 15:15 left in the first half.
TOP25/SEC WOMEN NO. 9 KENTUCKY 61, SOUTH FLORIDA 57
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — Jennifer O’Neill scored 17 points and Janee Thompson added 15 to help No. 9 Kentucky beat South Florida in the final game of the Paradise Jam.
With the game tied at 55, Makayla Epps scored a layup with 33 seconds left. After Courtney Williams missed for South Florida, Thompson hit the first of two free throws.
Kentucky got the rebound and Bria Goss was fouled. She hit both her free throws to give the Wildcats (6-1) a 60-55 lead with 8 seconds left and seal the victory.
NO. 22 GEORGIA 74, TENNESSEE TECH 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Shacobia Barbee scored 14 points to lead a balanced Georgia attack that gave Andy Landers his 850th victory with the Bulldogs at the expense of Tennessee Tech, which is Landers’ alma mater.
Merritt Hempe added 12 points, Krista Donald 11 and Tiaria Griffin 10 for the Bulldogs (7-0).
NO. 25 MISSISSIPPI ST. 85, NEW ORLEANS 45
NEW ORLEANS — Victoria Vivians scored 16 points, Morgan William added 10 with 6 assists and No. 25 Mississippi State rolled in a rout of New Orleans.
Kayla Nevitt finished with 15 points, Dominique Dillingham chipped in 12 and Jerica James added 10 for the Bulldogs (6-0), who scored 34 points off turnovers. Vivians and William each had four of Mississippi State’s 16 steals.
The Bulldogs opened the game on a 15-2 run and pushed that lead to 26 after a layup by Martha Alwal and two free throws from Dillingham. They led 41-21 at halftime and coasted in the second half. A 13-2 surge put Mississippi State ahead by 49 with 4:27 left.
New Orleans (0-3) committed 28 turnovers and was held to 29.4-percent shooting from the field. Mathilde Fogelstrom led the Privateers with 11 points and 10 boards, while Randi Brown contributed nine points.