Arizona topples Duke
Nick Johnson scored all but two of his 15 points in the second half and No. 4 Arizona beat No. 6 Duke 72-66 on Friday night in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The game was expected to be a matchup of two of the best freshmen in the country and, although Aaron Gordon of Arizona and Jabari Parker of Duke didn’t spend a lot of time covering each other, they were both key factors in the outcome.
Gordon, the quiet forward, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and came up big late with a dunk on an alley-oop pass and then fed Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk less than a minute later to give the Wildcats (7-0) a 61-51 lead with 3:59 to play.
Parker, who had 19 points for his first game with fewer than 20 points this season, struggled against Arizona’s physical defense and was 7 of 21 from the field. He came into the game shooting 60 percent from the field.
The victory gave Arizona its fourth NIT Season Tip-Off title, tying Duke for the most ever.
Johnson, the Wildcats’ leading scorer at 17.3 per game, shook off a quiet first half to become the focal point of Arizona’s offense. His 3-pointer with 11:07 to play tied the game at 45. He hit another 3 with 6:22 left to give Arizona a 57-48 lead.
He was chosen the tournament MVP.
The Wildcats, who finished with a 36-28 rebound advantage, had five players in double figures. Brandon Ashley had 13 points and Kalen Tarczewski and T.J. McConnell both scored 10. Tarczewski had nine rebounds and McConnell had eight assists.
No. 5 Oklahoma State 69, Butler 67: Oklahoma State won for the second straight day after blowing a comfortable lead.
Marcus Smart scored 17 points as the No. 5 Cowboys survived a major scare in a 69-67 win over Butler in an Old Spice Classic semifinal on Friday.
“A great game,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “It was very emotional and very high-level. It felt like an NCAA tournament-type game. Two teams that were wanting to win really badly.”
Oklahoma State (7-0) again came out flat to start the second half, one day after the Cowboys saw a 23-point halftime lead dwindle to four with 3 minutes to play before beating Purdue 97-87.
“We’re not paying attention to details as much as we are in the first half,” Ford said.
With the Cowboys holding a 68-67 lead in the final minute, Smart missed three free throws, including the front end of a 1-and-1.
Late-game heroics lead Memphis to title game: Memphis will get a quick rematch with Oklahoma State in a second meeting between the Top-25 teams this season.
Austin Nichols scored 19 points, Chris Crawford had 17 and No. 21 Memphis beat LSU 76-69 Friday night in a semifinal at the Old Spice Classic.
Joe Jackson added 16 points for Memphis (4-1), which will play No. 5 Oklahoma State in Sunday night’s championship game.
Women
Penn State 61, Oregon State 56: Tori Waldner and Dara Taylor scored the first six points of the second half in a 90-second burst as no. 13 Penn State surged ahead of Oregon State en route to a 61-56 victory in the Junkanoo Jam in a high school gym on Friday.
High-scoring (92 ppg), 3-point-shooting Oregon State (4-1) led for much of the first half, forcing nine Penn State turnovers, holding the Nittany Lions to 21 percent shooting and leading 21-14 by 5:50 of the opening period.