Cyclones rally, take down No. 1 Heels
IOWA STATE 70, NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 65
PORTLAND, Ore. — Caleb Grill has followed T.J. Otzelberger from South Dakota State to UNLV and now back to Iowa State hoping the pair could share a moment like they did Friday.
Taking down the No. 1 team in the country was another bookmark moment in a long journey for the pair.
“I’m actually really enjoying sitting next to him from this moment right now just thinking about how long we’ve known each other and how cool this really was,” Otzelberger said.
Grill hit seven three-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points and Iowa State rallied in the final five minutes to stun No. 1 North Carolina 70-65 in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Invitational.
Iowa State (5-0) picked up just its third win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. The Cyclones are 3-22 against No. 1 teams, with the other wins coming against Kansas in 1957 and Oklahoma in 2016.
The Cyclones can now add North Carolina (5-1) to the list.
“I was just staying the course of the game. I never really thought about it and the game just kind of came to me,” Grill said.
Grill was averaging 7.3 points and had made just 4 of 24 three-point attempts for the season entering Friday. But he couldn’t be stopped from beyond the arc, hitting a pair of big 3s to spark Iowa State’s late rally. His deep fadeaway jumper just inside the three-point line with 1:40 left gave Iowa State a 63-61 lead and the Cyclones did just enough at the free throw line in the final minute to close out the upset victory.
NO. 22 TENNESSEE 64, NO. 3 KANSAS 50
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — Santiago Vescovi scored 20 points while No. 22 Tennessee locked down on thirdranked Kansas to beat the reigning national champions in the championship game at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Vescovi hit five three-pointers to drive the offense for the Volunteers (5-1), who dominated the glass, overcame their own turnover troubles and made the Jayhawks work for clean looks. And for the third time in as many days, Tennessee won despite not having leading scorer Josiah-Jordan James due to knee soreness.
This win led to a title and Vescovi being picked as the tournament’s most valuable player.
NO. 5 VIRGINIA 72, MD-EASTERN SHORE 45
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jayden Gardner scored 26 points and nearly matched Maryland-Eastern Shore’s point total in the first half as Virginia beat the Hawks (2-4).
The Cavaliers (5-0) led 40-22 at halftime, with Gardner accounting for 18 of those points and Kadin Shedrick adding nine. Shedrick finished with 13.
NO. 8 DUKE 71, XAVIER 64
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jeremy Roach scored a season-high 21 points, Mark Mitchell added 16 and Duke withstood Xavier’s second-half comeback try in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament.
The Blue Devils (6-1) advanced to Sunday’s championship game. The Musketeers (4-2) were held to two points over the final five minutes and missed their final four shot attempts. Souley Boum scored 23 points and Adam Kunkel had 13.
NO. 11 INDIANA 90, JACKSON STATE 51
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Tamar Bates scored a career-high 22 points and Xavier Johnson added a season-best 16 in Indiana’s win over Jackson State.
Jackson State was led by Trace Young with 13 points.
NO. 23 MARYLAND 95, COPPIN STATE 79
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Julian Reese scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half, Hakim Hart added 22 points and Maryland beat Coppin State in its first game as a ranked team this season.
Jahmir Young had 21 points for the unbeaten Terrapins (6-0).
TOP 25 WOMEN
In games involving Top 25 teams Friday, Haley Jones had 24 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 2 Stanford pull away from Florida Gulf Coast 93-69 in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu. The Cardinal (6-1) got back in the win column five days after losing to top-ranked South Carolina. Jones had 14 points by halftime and finished 12of-18 shooting from the field. She also had three assists and a steal. … Lou Lopez-Senechal scored 23 points and No. 3 UConn routed Duke 78-50 in the semifinal round of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament in Portland, Ore. Aaliyah Edwards added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Azzi Fudd scored 14 points to help the Huskies (4-0) remain undefeated on the season. Shaeyann Day-Wilson led the Blue Devils (5-1) with 15 points. … Chrislyn Carr scored 17 points in No. 10 Louisville’s 100-37 win over Longwood. The Cardinals (5-2) were without Hailey Van Lith, who did not play because of an unspecified injury. Her teammates made quick work of the Lancers (1-4), jumping out to an 18-2 lead in the first four minutes and never giving up the lead. … River Baldwin had 18 points with 11 rebounds, Diamond Johnson scored 12 of her 16 points with three-pointers, and No. 13 North Carolina State (6-1) cruised past West Virginia 78-40 in the Cancun Classic. … Aneesah Morrow scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and DePaul dominated down the stretch to knock off No. 14 Maryland 76-67 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off. … Lauren Jensen made a clutch three-pointer and scored 18 points and she and Morgan Maly made six free throws in the final 30 seconds to give N0. 16 Creighton a 57-51 win over Xavier in a Big East Conference opener. … Charisma Osborne scored 20 points and freshman Londynn Jones added a season high 16 as No. 20 UCLA held off Jackson State 72-60 in Los Angeles. Coming off a Battle 4 Atlantis championship and ahead of a Tuesday trip to No. 1 South Carolina, the Bruins (7-0) had a hard time shaking the Tigers (2-3). … Sarah Andrews scored 16 points and had six assists, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs had 13 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 21 Baylor beat Saint Louis 95-58 in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. … Emily Kiser scored 20 points, Leigha Brown added 13 and No. 22 Michigan defeated Air Force 68-48 in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase. A 9-0 run overcame an early Falcons lead and the Wolverines (5-0) led 15-10 after the first quarter. … Jordan Horston scored 23 points, Rickea Jackson added 20, and No. 23 Tennessee defeated Colorado 69-51. Horston added 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for the Lady Vols (3-4). Jackson had six rebounds and four steals. No other Tennessee starter scored more than two points, but the Lady Vols got 22 points from their bench. … Maddy Siegrist scored 29 points and No. 23 Villanova rebounded from blowing a 21-point lead in the second half against Belmont for an 83-80 win. The Wildcats (5-0) were ahead 66-45 on a Lucy Olsen jumper at the 4:07 mark of the third quarter. That’s when the Bruins (1-4), reeled off 10 in a row to end the quarter, pulling within 66-55 on a Destinee Wells three-pointer at the buzzer. … Gabby Gregory scored a career-high 35 points, 20 of them in the second half, and No. 25 Kansas State defeated stubborn Northern Arizona 93-80 at the Paradise Jam. Gregory, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, hit a three-pointer to cap a 12-5 run that gave the Wildcats a 76-61 lead with 7:13 remaining. Nyah Moran hit a three-pointer with 3:05 remaining to get NAU within 10 points at 81-71 and Montana Oltrogge hit a three-pointer to make it 88-78 with :58 seconds left, but the Lumberjacks would get no closer.