College basketball roundup: Virginia, Wisconsin to play for tournament title
De’Andre Hunter matched his career high with 23 points to help fourth-ranked Virginia hold off Dayton 66-59 Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
Hunter made a 3-pointer with 53.1 seconds left and Virginia protecting a 60-56 lead. It turned out to provide just enough cushion to keep the Cavaliers (5-0) in control and send them into the championship game Friday against No. 25 Wisconsin.
No. 25 Wisconsin 78, Oklahoma 58: D’Mitrik Trice set career highs with 25 points and a tournament-record seven 3-pointers to help Wisconsin beat Oklahoma 78-58 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Trice started 7 for 7 from behind the arc, the last coming when he pump-faked a defender and stepped to his right to bury the shot for a 66-47 lead with 6:22 left. He finally missed a 3 less than a minute later to finish 7 for 8 for the Badgers (5-0).
Christian James scored 18 points for the Sooners (4-1).
No. 6 Nevada 96, Tulsa 86: Nevada passed its first challenge away from home this season thanks to Jordan Caroline and the Wolf Pack’s free-throw shooting.
Caroline had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 6 Nevada made 35 of 42 free throws to beat Tulsa 96-86 in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Nevada (5-0) will face Massachusetts in the championship game Friday night. Massachusetts beat Southern Illinois 84-62.
Fresno State 78, Northwestern 59: Fresno State went to work early with a fast, aggressive and efficient offense to build a big lead and never looked back in a 78-59 win over Northwestern in the first round of the Wooden Legacy at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym.
Villanova 83, Canisius 56: Villanova took a step forward after dropping out of the Top 25 for the first time since December 2013.
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had 15 points and 13 rebounds and the defending national champion Wildcats stopped a two-game skid by beating Canisius 83-56 in the opening round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Disney World.
Wednesday’s result
No. 3 Gonzaga 89, No. 1 Duke 87: Rui Hachimura scored 20 points and No. 3 Gonzaga blocked four shots in the final 46 seconds to hold off five-time champion Duke 89-87 in the Maui Invitational title game.
Duke (5-1) trailed by 16 in the second half before mounting a massive charge with a series of dunks and drives to the basket. After the Blue Devils tied it at 87-all, Hachimura scored on a hard drive to put Gonzaga ahead.
The Zags (6-0) missed four free throws to give Duke a final shot, but Brandon Clarke blocked R.J. Barrett’s drive on the game’s final play.
Gonzaga beat a No. 1 team for the first time and ended Duke’s unbeaten streak on the Valley Isle (17-1) with its second Maui Invitational title.