Arizona tops Creighton for Maui title

Oumar Ballo dominated inside with 30 points and 13 rebounds for No. 14 Arizona, which held off No. 10 Creighton 81-79 on Wednesday to win the Maui Invitational for the third time.

The combination of the unstoppable 7-foot, 260pound Ballo and his speedy, talented supporting cast was just enough for the Wildcats (6-0) to remain undefeated. Kerr Kriisa added 13 points and nine assists. Arizona scored its final points with 2:21 to play but managed to hold on.

Ryan Nembhard scored 20 points for Creighton (6-1), which was trying to beat a ranked opponent for the third straight day. Ryan Kalkbrenner added 16 points, Trey Alexander scored 15 and Baylor Scheierman had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Down by three, Creighton called time out with 7.4 seconds left to set up a final play. Kalkbrenner didn’t have an open three and passed to Nembhard, who was fouled with two seconds left. He made the first shot and intentionally missed the second; Arizona rebounded.

No. 9 Arkansas 78, No. 17 San Diego State 74 (OT):

Trevon Brazile had 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench, Ricky Council scored 19 points, and Arkansas (5-1) took third place at the Maui Invitational.

Kamani Johnson’s twohanded follow of a missed layup tied the score as time ran out in regulation.

In overtime, a threepointer by Darrion Trammell gave the Aztecs (4-2) a 70-69 lead with 3:56 left, but Council countered with a jumper that gave the Razorbacks a lead they did not surrender.

No. 3 Kansas 80, North Carolina State 74:

Firstyear guard Gradey Dick scored a season-high 25 points and coach Bill Self returned from a four-game suspension to help the Jayhawks (5-0) win their Battle 4 Atlantis opener in the Bahamas.

at No. 7 Baylor 89, McNeese State 60:

Freshman

Keyonte George scored 17 points, LJ Cryer scored 16 and Adam Flagler added 13 with nine assists as the Bears (5-1) pulled away.

No. 11 Indiana 87, Arkansas Little Rock 68:

Race Thompson scored a seasonhigh 20 points for the Hoosiers, who are 5-0 for the second straight season.

No. 13 Auburn 43, Northwestern 42:

Allen Flanigan made a contested, go-ahead layup with 31 seconds left and the Tigers held on to win the championship game of the Cancun Challenge.

at No. 15 Kentucky 96, North Florida 56:

Jacob Toppin scored a career-high 20 points and had 10 rebounds to help the Wildcats (4-2) recover from a loss at No. 6 Gonzaga and win their 23rd straight home game against an unranked team.