No. 11 Tennessee beats No. 13 Baylor 77-62 to win Baha Mar Championship
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Chaz Lanier made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points — all in the first half — as No. 11 Tennessee cruised past No. 13 Baylor 77-62 on Friday night to win the Baha Mar Championship title.
Lanier took the drama out of the game early, making five 3-pointers in the first four minutes to carry the Volunteers (6-0) to a 16-2 lead. His final 3 just before the halftime buzzer gave Tennessee a 47-20 advantage.
Lanier finished 9 of 16 from the field and 7 of 10 from 3-point range and was named the tournament’s MVP. Jordan Gainey added 16 points to Tennessee.
Coming off a double-overtime victory over No. 22 St. John’s on Jeremy Roach’s buzzer-beater a night earlier, Baylor (4-2) outscored Tennessee 42-30 in the second half to make it respectable.
Norchad Omier finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds and VJ Edgecombe scored 20 points for the Bears. Roach was held to eight points.
NO. 7 HOUSTON 80, HOFSTRA 44
HOUSTON (AP) — Joseph Tugler had 17 points off the bench, Emanuel Sharp added 16 points and No. 7 Houston beat Hofstra.
Tugler finished 6 of 6 from the floor, and Sharp was 5 of 5 on 3-pointers as Houston (3-1) shot 47%, including 12 of 24 from 3. Terrance Arceneaux had 12 points off the bench as well for Houston, which won its 25th straight at home.
Houston finished with 20 assists on 29 made field goals.
Cruz Davis had 18 points to lead Hofstra (4-2), which lost its second straight. The Pride shot 31% from the field and were 8 of 25 on 3-pointers.
NO. 9 KENTUCKY 108, JACKSON STATE 59
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Reserve Koby Brea scored 22 points to lead a hot shooting performance from No. 9 Kentucky in a rout of Jackson State.
Brea, a Dayton transfer who led the country in 3-point shooting percentage last season at 49.8%, went 5 of 8 from long range and 8 of 11 overall. Kentucky shot 57.7% overall and 43.6% from deep.
Otega Oweh scored 21 points and Jaxson Robinson added 14 for the Wildcats (5-0).
Marcus Watson Jr. scored 12 points and Dorian McMillian had 11 for the Tigers (0-6), who shot 33.3%.
NO. 12 DUKE 69, NO. 17 ARIZONA 55
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Cooper Flagg scored 24 points, Kon Knueppel added 13 and the pair of freshmen led No. 12 Duke past No. 17 Arizona.
Flagg drove the lane and threw down a one-handed jam in traffic to give the Blue Devils a 46-33 lead with 12:27 left. The preseason All-America pick shot 10 of 22 from the field and added six rebounds and three assists.
Duke (4-1) never trailed in the second half.
Arizona (2-2), which has lost two straight, cut the margin to 54-48 on Jaden Bradley’s layup with 5:40 left but couldn’t get closer. Bradley led the team with 18 points, while KJ Lewis added 12.
Duke led 34-27 and had a 22-14 rebounding advantage at halftime, closing on a 6-0 run.
NEBRASKA 74, NO. 14 CREIGHTON 63
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Brice Williams and Juwan Gary each scored 16 points, and Nebraska never trailed in a victory over No. 14 Creighton.
The Cornhuskers (4-1) held preseason All-American Ryan Kalkbrenner to four points — all on free throws — while winning on their in-state rival’s home court for the second time in the past three seasons.
Texas Tech transfer Pop Isaacs scored 25 points for the Bluejays (4-1), while Kalkbrenner had 11 rebounds.
Wisconsin transfer Connor Essegian had 15 points for Nebraska. Berke Buyuktuncel added 12 points and Rollie Worster had 11.
Nebraska held Creighton to 32.7% shooting from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range. The Cornhuskers led 31-13 late in the first half.
Creighton got within 42-35 in the second half but Nebraska responded with an 8-1 run and was never seriously threatened from there.
NO. 19 WISCONSIN 86, UCF 70
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — John Blackwell scored 17 points, John Tonje added 15 and No. 19 Wisconsin rode a hot start to a victory over UCF in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
Kamari McGee added 14 points while Nolan Winter had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers (6-0), who are off to their best start in six seasons.
Jordan Ivy-Curry led UCF (4-1) with 13 points, and Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson scored 11 apiece.
Both teams played for the first time outside of their respective campuses. The game was held inside a ballroom at The Greenbrier resort, which has hosted presidents and royalty.
NO. 20 ARKANSAS 79, LITTLE ROCK 67
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Adou Thiero scored 23 points, and Boogie Fland added another 21 to lead No. 20 Arkansas to a win over Little Rock.
Thiero scored 16 of his 23 in the second half to put the Trojans away after they cut Arkansas’ lead to seven points. The Razorbacks never trailed and improved to 4-1 under Hall of Fame coach John Calipari.
Along with Thiero’s second half, Arkansas used a 7-0 run to keep Little Rock at bay. DJ Wagner and Zvonimir Ivisic scored 11 and 10, respectively.
Mwani Wilkinson led the Trojans with 18 points.
NO. 21 FLOIRDA 93, SOUTHER ILLINOIS 68
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Alijah Martin had a season-high 32 points with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, and No. 21 Florida beat Southern Illinois to extend its home winning streak to 12.
Martin went 11 of 19, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range, and drained four consecutive shots from behind the arc midway through the second half. His career high is 34 points back when he played for Florida Atlantic.
The Gators (6-0) made a season-high 16 shots from 3-point range, their third consecutive game with double-digit treys.
Thomas Haugh added a career-high 19 points to go with seven boards for Florida, which is off to its best start since 2021.
Florida’s Todd Golden coached while the university investigates sexual harassment and stalking allegations.
Ali Dibba led the Salukis (2-3) with 17 points, and Jarrett Hensley added 14.
NO. 22 ST. JOHN’S 80, VIRGINIA 55
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — RJ Luis Jr. scored 18 points, Kadary Richmond added 12 and No. 22 St. John’s bounced back from a buzzer-beating, double-overtime loss the night before to rout Virginia in the consolation game of the Baha Mar Championship.
Deivon Smith added 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Red Storm.
St. John’s (5-1) continued its hot shooting in the Caribbean, knocking down 10 shots from beyond the arc.
For a second straight game, UVA (3-2) found its offense derailed by a reliance on 3-pointers and a slew of turnovers. But on Friday, it wasn’t competitive on the defensive end either.
Elijah Saunders led the Cavaliers with 12 points. Andrew Rohde scored 11 and Isaac McKneely had 10.