Virginia Tech, Northeastern win at tournament
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Northeastern forward Jeremy Miller loves playing Power Five opponents. He and his teammates made sure the Huskies got a chance to play another by routing Alabama at the Charleston Classic.
Vasa Pusica had 20 points while Miller and Bolden Brace had 11 points each as the Huskies (2-1) advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 68-52 victory over the Crimson Tide on Thursday.
The win was the program’s first over a Southeastern Conference school and set up a game Friday with No. 16 Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference with a spot in the eight-team tournament finals on the line.
Miller says the Huskies can’t wait – and the higher the stakes the better.
“Everyone’s hype, everyone’s really into it” against Power Five opposition, he said. “I think it brings out a different side to us.”
Miller, a senior, was part of the team that stunned Michigan State 83-71 in December 2016. He’s ready to go up against the Hokies (2-0), who advanced with a 73-64 win over Ball State.
“We have something to prove year,” Miller said.
Pusica went 4 of 4 on 3-pointers and had team highs with five assists and three steals.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 21 points for a second straight game to lead Virginia Tech.
Alexander-Walker said the Hokies took steps forward on offense and defense from their first game, an 87-59 win over Gardner-Webb last Friday.
No. 23 Purdue 92, Appalachian State 70: Carsen Edwards had 25 points, 17 in the first half, as No. 23 Purdue powered past Appalachian State this 92-70 at the Charleston Classic.
The Boilermakers improved to 3-0. They will face the winner of the final opening-round game here, either Wichita State or Davidson, on Friday for a spot in the tournament finals.
Purdue took a 46-32 lead by halftime and gradually grew the lead to 26 down the stretch.
Ryan Cline added 21 points for Purdue. Edwards and Cline each hit four of their team’s 13 3-pointers.
Justin Forrest had 14 points to lead Appalachian State (1-2). The Mountaineers will take on the Wichita State-Davidson loser Friday.
UConn 83, No. 15 Syracuse 76: Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert scored 16 points each to lead Connecticut to a 8376 upset of No. 15 Syracuse in the first game of the 2K Classic.
In its first season under Dan Hurley, Connecticut improved to 3-0. The Huskies took the 95th all-time meeting between the schools, and are 39-56 against UConn.
Tarin Smith added 14 for the Huskies. Eric Cobb finished with 13, and Christian Vital had 11.
Syracuse dropped to 2-1 with its first loss of the season.
Jalen Carey led all scorers with 26. Tyus Battle had 16, and Elijah Hughes chipped in with 15.
Leading by four with 3:38 left, UConn outscored Syracuse 13-10 to end the game.
Pac-12 men
Utah 93, Mississippi Valley State 68: Parker Van Dyke scored 16 points off the bench, while Donnie Tillman tallied 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, to lead Utah over Mississippi Valley State.
Timmy Allen finished with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Utah (2-1) has won 11 straight regular season nonconference home games dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Dante Scott scored 16 points to lead the Delta Devils (0-4). Mississippi Valley State leading scorer Jordan Evans scored just two points after going 0 of 11 from the field. Evans averaged 19.0 points over his first three games.
Top 10 women
No. 4 Baylor 94, Southern U. 49: Freshman guard Honesty Scott-Grayson scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting to lead seven Baylor players in double figures as the Lady Bears easily got past Southern University even without AllAmerica post player Kalani Brown.
The 6-foot-7 Brown sat out after rolling her ankle earlier this week, ending her streak of 113 consecutive games and 64 starts in a row. Coach Kim Mulkey had said Brown was available if needed, but the Lady Bears (4-0) overmatched Southern even without the post.
No. 6 Mississippi State 104, Lamar 53: Anriel Howard and Teaira McCowan both finished with double-doubles as Mississippi State overcame a slow start to roll past Lamar.
Howard had her most effective game since coming to Mississippi State as a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds. McCowan didn’t play much in the second half but earned her double-double by the second quarter, finishing with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
The Cardinals (3-1) were led by Chastadie Barrs who had 16 points and four steals.
The Bulldogs (3-0) led just 35-28 at the half before outscoring the Cardinals 42-15 in the third quarter to put the game away.
No. 10 South Carolina 69, Clemson 57: Te’a Cooper scored 15 points to lead South Carolina to a sloppy win over Clemson.
The Gamecocks (2-0) are still trying to adjust to a new style of play. They were dominant inside the past few years, but now are focusing more on faster guard play. It’s still a work in progress. South Carolina turned the ball over 27 times and shot just 36 percent. mer league refs Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner and current official Lauren Holtkamp as women who have the full-time designation. Holtkamp is not working games this season while she recovers from a knee injury.
The league also promoted Mousa Dagher, Matt Myers and Phenizee Ransom to the full-time level. All five of the newcomers started this season as nonstaff officials.
The promotions give the NBA six new officials for 2018-19.
Federer advances to 15th ATP Finals semifinals
LONDON – Roger Federer is peaking at the right time – again.
The six-time champion advanced to the last four of the ATP Finals for a record-extending 15th time with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Kevin Anderson on Thursday.
Federer, chasing the 100th title of his career, needed only a set to advance and produced his best performance at the season-ending tournament to end the round-robin stages with a 2-1 win-loss record.