Basketball: Cal suffers first loss; SCU’s upset bid falls just short

Brownridge scores 44 points, but SCU falls to Arizona in OT

Winston Shepard scored all of his 15 points during a second-half comeback, and Skylar Spencer added 15 points to help San Diego State upset No. 14 Cal 72-58 in the Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday night.

Shepard scored nine straight points during a 140 run for the Aztecs (4-2) that cut Cal’s lead to 45-44 early in the second half.

Along 3-pointer by Cal’s Jordan Mathews ended the Bears’ nearly 5-minute drought.

But Cal made only two of its next 10 shots, and the Aztecs took the lead. Spencer threw down a pair of one-handed dunks, and Shepard followed with an alley-oop lay-in for a 50-48 lead with 9:29 left.

Five Cal turnovers during a 6-minute stretch late in the game helped the Aztecs extend their lead to 58-50 with less than 5 minutes left in the game. Ivan Rabb scored 18 to lead the Bears (4-1).

Arizona 75, Santa Clara

73: Jared Brownridge scored a career-high 44 points for the Broncos, but they fell short against the No. 11 Wildcats with an overtime loss in the open- ing round of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton.

Ryan Anderson led Arizona (5-0) with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Gabe York scored seven of his 11 points in overtime.

Brownridge hit seven 3pointers and made all 15 of his free throws for SCU (06). His point total matched Nick Vanos (1985) and Russ Vrankovich (1964) for the second-highest in school history. Bud Ogden scored 55 points in a 1967 game.

Brownridge’s 3 tied the game for the last time at 73-all with 32 seconds left after the Broncos committed two straight turnovers. Arizona made two free throws to seal the win.

Santa Clara plays Evansville on Friday.

Villanova 59, Stanford

45: The Cardinal missed its first 15 shots and lost to the No. 8 Wildcats in the NIT Season Tipoff in New York.

Jalen Brunson scored 18 points to lead Villanova (50), which advanced to the title game Friday against Georgia Tech, which beat Arkansas 83-73.

Marcus Allen scored 12 points for Stanford (2-3). Dorian Pickens added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cardinal outrebounded Villanova 5535 but couldn’t overcome 26 percent shooting and 23 turnovers. It was Stanford’s third straight loss by double digits. Stanford will face Arkansas in the consolation game Friday.

Monmouth 70, Notre

Dame 68: Justin Robinson scored 22 points, including two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, and the Hawks (3-1) upset the No. 17 Fighting Irish (3-1) in the AdvoCare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

USC 72, Wichita State

69: Freshman Bennie Boatright scored 22 points and the Trojans (5- 0) beat theNo. 20 Shockers (2-2) in the AdvoCare Invitational. Wichita State was without injured senior guard Fred Van Vleet.

Texas A&M 62, Gonzaga

61: Danuel House scored 19 points, and the No. 25 Aggies edged the No. 10 Bulldogs to advance to the title game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Kyle Wiltjer led Gonzaga (3-1) with 18 points. The Bulldogs had to play without big man Domantas Sabonis for a large chunk of the second half after he picked up his fourth foul. Texas A&M (6-0) plays Syracuse in Friday’s title game. Gonzaga meets UConn for third place. Syracuse (5-0) won 79-76 over No. 18 Connecticut (4-1).

Michigan State 99, Boston College 68: Denzel Valentine had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10assists as the No. 3Spartans(5-0) beat the Eagles (3-1) in the Wooden Legacy tournament, giving coach Tom Izzo his 500th career victory.