Tennessee 89, Appalachian State 81
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - C.J. Watson scored 23 points and Chris Lofton added 15 as Tennessee held off Appalachian State 89-81 Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers (3-4) led by 12 in the first half, but Tennessee (5-0) had a long rally to regain the lead and maintained it most of the rest of the game.
The Vols are off to their best start since 2000-01, Jerry Green's last season, when the Vols began 9-0. But their next two games are on the road at No. 2 Texas on Dec. 17 and Oklahoma State on Dec. 22.
Tennessee pulled away with a late 9-0 run to go ahead 81-71 with 5:12 left, but Appalachian State scored seven quick points to threaten the lead. Then Watson nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the game to stop the spurt with 3:17 to go. He sank four free throws in the final 1:23 to seal it.
Douglass McLaughlin-Williams scored a career-high 21 points for Appalachian State and was 6-of-6 shooting before missing a putback with 10 1/2 minutes left. He finished 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Major Wingate and Stanley Asumnu each scored 12 points and Andre Patterson had 11, and Dane Bradshaw added 10 rebounds for Tennessee.
The Vols trailed 41-29 after D.J. Thompson's 3-pointer with 6:14 left before halftime and then got aggressive and scrappy in a 19-2 run to finish the half and regain the lead.
Watson hit a 3 and Wingate dunked to start the rally, and Jordan Howell tied it with another 3-pointer and then dove to the ground to secure a loose ball that led to Asumnu's three-point play to take the lead at 46-43 with 2:07 left in the first half.
The Mountaineers made seven of their first eight 3-point attempts and finish 11-of-24 in 3-pointers. The Vols were 11-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Appalachian State also had 14 points from Thompson, 13 points by Jarvis Jackson and 10 from Tyler Webb.
Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information
UNC Greensboro 78, East Carolina 70
GREENVILLE, NC ? Ricky Hickman scored 15 of his 24 points in the final 7:34 and Kevin Oleksiak added a career-high 23 points as UNC Greensboro knocked off East Carolina, 78-70, in non-conference men’s basketball action.
The win marked the second-straight season UNCG has knocked off a Conference USA member. Last year, UNCG beat Southern Mississippi. UNCG shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half, knocking down 17-of-27. The Spartans were 8-for-13 from three-point range in the second half and 10-for-22 for the game.
“This is a big win for us,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “We haven’t played very well on the road thus far so hopefully this will give us a big confidence boost, particularly with such a young team. We hit some big shots down the stretch; Hickman banked one and Oleksiak banked another. McClenny got in there and knocked two down. It was just a great effort all around and a nice win.”
After East Carolina scored the first six points of the contest, UNCG went on a 14-2 run to take a six-point lead midway through the first half. The Pirates, who made just two of their first 13 shots from the field, responded with a 17-4 run to open up a seven-point lead. UNCG managed just two field goals over the final 10:36 of the half, one of them a three-pointer by Oleksiak with just nine seconds left in the half, but went into halftime tied 25-25.
Oleksiak then came out of the locker room on fire. The sophomore from Abington, PA knocked down a pair of three-pointers to open the half, the second of which was a bomb from NBA range, and added a third two minutes later from deep in the right corner to give UNCG its largest lead to that point, 38-31.
After a timeout, the Pirates went on a 15-2 run from there to regain the lead. Japhet McNeil’s jumper with 12:32 to play gave the Pirates the lead once again, 41-40, and a three-pointer by Tom Hammonds from the left corner gave ECU a six-point advantage a minute and a half later.
But UNCG battled back as Hickman took over and scored eight straight points for UNCG. Coming out of a timeout, Hickman knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing to give UNCG the lead again, 49-48, and cap a 9-2 spurt. ECU momentarily regained the lead, but Hickman fired a rainbow three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to take the lead back and then hit a bank shot on UNCG’s next possession.
Freshman David McClenny then knocked down back-to-back buckets, the second a three-pointer to give UNCG a seven-point lead again, 59-52.
The team traded three-point buckets and then Hickman hit the improbable. With the shot-clock winding down and Hickman double-teamed, he hit a step-back jumper from 15-feet and got fouled. Following a media timeout, he knocked down the free throw to complete the conventional three-point play. After the Pirates made one of two at the line, Oleksiak banked home another three-pointer to give UNCG a nine-point lead and the Spartans were on their way.
Chattanooga 69, Creighton 64
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Casey Long scored 16 points, including two free throws in the last 1:39, as Chattanooga outlasted Creighton 69-64 Tuesday night.
Keddric Mays added 13 points for the Mocs (2-5), while Alphonso Pugh had 12 and Ricky Hood 11.
Creighton (3-2) went scoreless from 4:04 until 4 seconds were left, relinquishing a 62-59 lead.
Jimmy Motz led Creighton with 15 points but hit just 4-of-11 from the field, all 3-pointers. Nick Porter had 11.
Chattanooga led 33-32 at the half after shooting 50 percent from the floor.
The Mocs shot 43.6 percent for the game while Creighton hit 41.8 percent. Creighton played without leading scorer Nate Funk, who was out with a shoulder injury. He was averaging 19.3 points per game.
There were seven ties and six lead changes.
Clemson 62, Wofford 60
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) - Akin Akingbala scored 14 points and had eight rebounds as Clemson held off Wofford 62-60 Tuesday night.
The Terriers (3-5) had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Tyler Berg's 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the back of the rim.
The Tigers (7-0) appeared to come out flat after Saturday's 19 point win over South Carolina. They could never put Wofford away, even though the Terriers played most of the second half without leading scorer Eric Marshall who was out with a knee injury.
Wofford's final lead of the game came with just under five minutes to go when Adam Sheehan's 3-pointer put the Terriers ahead 56-54. The Terriers would only hit four free throws for the rest of the game.
The Tigers would take the lead for good at 60-58 when Vernon Hamilton stole a pass and broke for layup with 3:20 remaining.
Clemson's Shawan Robinson led all scorers with 17 points, while Hamilton added 12 for the Tigers.
Shane Nichols scored 11 points and Howard Wilkerson, Tyler Berg and Byron Fields each added 10 for Wofford.
Both teams were sloppy in the first half as each committed 13 turnovers. The opening half also saw eight lead changes and five ties, finishing with Clemson leading 29-26.