USF races past Cal as teams renew rivalry
Minlend, Lull lead Dons to big win over Bears; Barrett lifts Duke
Charles Minlend had 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, Jordan Ratinho made consecutive 3-pointers as part of a big run early in the second half, and USF pulled away and beat Cal 79-60 on Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion.
Ratinho finished with 12 points, and Jimbo Lull scored 14 for USF. Frankie Ferrari added nine points, seven assists and five rebounds as the Dons (8-1) bounced back from their only loss of the season to win going away in the first meeting between the two Bay Area teams in more than a decade. It was the 77th meeting between the two schools.
USF led by 10 at halftime then broke the game open with a 22-5 run coming out of the break. Ratinho got the Dons rolling after halftime with his shooting beyond the arc. Ferrari and Remu Raitanen also made 3s when USF pushed its lead to 56-32.
Cal (2-5) couldn’t keep up and lost its fourth in five games. Andre Kelly had a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds for the Bears.
The Bears continue to struggle through their nonconference schedule. They had as many turnovers (nine) as they did made shots in the first half and were dominated on the boards. Cal’s depth also took a hit when Juhwan Harris-Dyson sat out the second half with an injury.
NO. 3 DUKE 84, HARTFORD 54 >> Freshman RJ Barrett had 27 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, and the host USF’s Jimbo Lull (14 points) works past Cal’s Connor Vanover to drop in a shot in Wednesday’s game.
Blue Devils (8-1) pulled away after the Hawks (3-7) got within eight points with just over 12 minutes to go. Zion Williamson added 18 points as Duke shot 62 percent in the second half. MINNESOTA 85, NO. 24 NEBRASKA 78 >> Amir Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, and Jordan Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Gophers (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) rallied at home. Isaac Copeland led the Cornhuskers (7-2, 1-1), who led by as many as 13 in the second half.
WASHINGTON STATE 90, IDAHO 70 >> Robert Franks scored 22 points as the host Cougars (5-2) went on an 11-0 run to start the second half.
BYU 95, UTAH STATE 80 >> Yoeli Childs matched a season high with 31 points, and the Cougars (6-4) ended a threegame losing streak when Nick Emery returned to the floor for BYU after more than a season’s absence. Emery was playing in his first game since March 15, 2017. The junior guard had withdrawn from school and missed last season for personal reasons. SAN DIEGO 73, SAN DIEGO STATE 61 >> Isaiah Pineiro scored 21 points, and Isaiah Wright had five of his 18 points in a key stretch in the second half for the Toreros (7-2), who stunned the Aztecs (5-3) for just the second time in the past 13 years.
OREGON MEN, WOMEN PENALIZED >> The NCAA has imposed two years of probation on Oregon after finding the school violated rules related to the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The decision said women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves failed to “monitor and promote an atmosphere of compliance in his program.” He must serve a two-game suspension this season. The team is 7-0 and ranked No. 3 in the country.
That infraction stemmed from an assistant strength coach’s participation in on-court activities during and after practices, which caused the team to exceed the number of allowable coaches.
The NCAA found men’s coach Dana Altman failed to properly monitor his director of basketball operations, who took part in or observed at least 64 individual voluntary workouts in violation of NCAA rules.
Women
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 65, STETSON 55 >> Rennia Davis had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Volunteers (7-0) overcame a 20-point, second-half deficit to Stetson (1-7) to stay unbeaten.