Louisville’s Padgett wins debut

Deng Adel had 20 points, and freshmen Darius Perry and Jordan Nwora combined to score 22 in the second half to rally No. 16 Louisville past visiting George Mason 72-61 on Sunday to win David Padgett’s debut as the Cardinals’ interim coach.

Louisville shot 70 percent after halftime to win its first regular-season contest since longtime coach Rick Pitino was fired last month in the wake of a national federal investigation of corruption in college basketball.

Perry scored 12 of his 17 points after halftime, while Nwora was 3-for-3 from 3-point range for 10 points. Adel went 9 of 17 from the field.

Jaire Grayer had 20 points to lead George Mason (1-1).

PJ Washington had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Hamidou Diallo scored 16 and No. 5 Kentucky held off visiting Vermont 73-69.

The Wildcats missed seven of their last eight field goals but held off a late surge by the Catamounts. Trailing 72-69, Vermont missed two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds. Washington made one of two free throws with less than a second left for the final margin.

The Wildcats (2-0) will take on Kansas in the Champions Classic on Tuesday night in Chicago.

Jessie Govan finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds, Marcus Derrickson also scored 20 and Georgetown made Patrick Ewing’s coaching debut a success by defeating Jacksonville 73-57 in Washington.

Ewing, the Hoyas’ career leader in rebounds and blocks, took over for John Thompson III, who was fired after Georgetown posted consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the early 1970s. While at Georgetown in the 1980s, Ewing played for Thompson’s father, John Thompson Jr.

Myles Powell scored 18 points and Angel Delgado added 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading No. 23 Seton Hall to a 75-65 win over Monmouth in an NIT Tip-Off matchup in Newark, N.J. AP