Clemson 72, Appalachian State 49
CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson University jumped out to a 17-2 lead and never looked back in defeating the Appalachian State University men’s basketball team, 79-49, at Littlejohn Coliseum Friday evening.
The Tigers shot 62 percent in the opening half to build up a 39-13 halftime lead that prove to be insurmountable. D.J. Thompson (Raleigh, N.C.) led the Mountaineers with 14 points in the losing effort. Clemson’s K.C. Rivers came off the bench to torch the nets for 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
For the game, Clemson shot 50 percent to ASU’s 30-percent effort from the field and outrebounded ASU, 46-32, with 21 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points. Nate Cranford (Harrisburg, N.C.) was the only other Mountaineer in double figures with 11 points.
ASU turned the ball over on three of its first four possessions to help the Tigers take a 9-0 lead that would quickly become 11-0 before Demetrius Scott (Orlando, Fla.) scored ASU’s first points 4:22 into the contest. Clemson continued to build its lead, helped by ASU only hitting 19 percent of its shots and committing 12 of its 19 turnovers in the opening half. Trevor Booker scored 12 first-half points for Clemson on perfect 6-of-6 shooting from his position in the post.
The Mountaineers outscored Clemson, 17-10, in the first seven minutes of the second half with Cranford scoring eight points on two three pointers and a jumper. However, Clemson quickly regained control of the contest, going on a 9-0 run with Rivers scoring six points during that stretch to put Clemson up 61-35 with a little over seven minutes left. Clemson added to that lead in the final portion of the half as shots continued to fall for the Tigers as they grew their lead to the final 30-point margin
Appalachian’s 49 points was its lowest total offensive output since losing 49-74 to Chattanooga on February 21, 2004. The team will look to regroup on Monday when it plays host to Montreat at 7 p.m. in the Holmes Center.
Wake Forest 73, Elon 48
WINTSON-SALEM, N.C. ? LeVonn Jordan’s career-high 30 points were not enough for Elon as the Phoenix fell to Wake Forest 73-48 on Friday night at the Joel Coliseum. Kyle Visser led the Demon Deacons with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Jordan was 10-for-15 from the field and 2-for-3 from behind the arc while converting eight of his 10 free throw attempts and grabbing five rebounds. Jordan accounted for 22 of Elon’s 30 second-half points. Devan Carter added seven points and four assists in a career-best 30 minutes. Ola Atoyebi added six points and Brett James contributed five. Scott Grable notched five rebounds while Chris Chalko, Adam Constantine and James each grabbed four. The Phoenix shot 34.7 percent from the field and just 13,.3 percent from long range.
Michael Drum added 13 points for the Demon Deacons, sinking three of his four three-point attempts while Kevin Swinton added 11 points. Ishamel Smith tallied seven assists along with six points. Wake Forest shot 45.8 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point range.
Wake Forest went ahead 9-0 before Elon posted its first points ? two free throws by James ? with 16:08 left in the first half to cut the lead to seven at 9-2. The Demon Deacons would score the next five points to push the lead to 12 at 14-2 with 14:20 remaining. Elon used a 8-2 run to cut the lead to six at 16-10 on a lay up from Atoyebi with 9:48 on the clock. Wake Forest then outscore the Phoenix 13-2 to take its largest lead of the half at 29-12 with 4:08 left. Elon cut the lead to 13, 31-18, with 34 seconds left in the half before a free throw by Chas MacFarland gave the Deacons a 14-point half-time lead at 32-18.
Elon tried to rally in the opening of the second half, cutting the lead to 10, 34-24, on a lay up from James at 17:33. The Demon Deacons then used an 11-2 run to go ahead by 19 at 45-26 with 13:09 on the clock. The Phoenix would not get back within 13.
Elon returns to action on Friday, Nov. 25 in an 8 p.m. game at Vanderbilt. Wake Forest hosts Vanderbilt in a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
Illinois 85, Georgia Southern 50
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --- Illinois scored the first nine points of the contest and never looked back to take a 85-50 win against Georgia Southern Friday evening at the Assembly Center.
Senior Jimmy Tobias (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) recorded a team-high 10 points for Georgia Southern (1-2). Junior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) added eight and a game-best six assists.
Junior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) swatted two Illinois shots to set a new GSU career shot blocking record with 114. He came into the contest tied with Kashien Latham (1998-02). Graham finished with three points and seven rebounds.
The Illini made their first four shots of the game and used seven points from Warren Carter for the 9-0 lead. Carter capped off the run with a ?3’ at the 18:01 mark.
A trifecta from Chester Frazier gave Illinois a 37-16 lead with 6:31 to play. The GSU defense held the Illini without a point for three and a half minutes but the Eagles were unable to capitalize, scoring just four points, two Foreman jumpers, during that span.
Illinois shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half, including 4-of-7 from 3-point land. Carter had 11 at the break while Trent Meacham had 10.
The Illini dominated the rebounding (19 to 10) and free throw (13-15 to 3-5) categories in the first half.
The Eagles hit 41.7 percent of their shots in the opening period. Foreman led the team with six points.
“I take my hat off to Illinois,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “I thought they did a great job. I was really disappointed in the way we came out to start the game with how well we were prepared. That falls back on me. I didn’t think we were ready to start the game. You can’t come on the road in a game like this and let the other team score seven of the first eight times and turn the ball over six times before the first media timeout. Some of that was our nerves and a lot of that is a credit to Illinois and their intensity and the way they play.”
A jumper by Tobias started the scoring in the second half, but after Anthony Marshall’s (Lake Worth, Fla.) bucket with 16:55 remaining, the Eagles went over eight minutes without another field goal and the Illinois lead expanded to 32 points.
The Fighting Illini held a 2-to-1 margin at the free throw line, going 31-41 compared to 10-20 for the Eagles.
“We put them on the line 41 times, and that’s a lot,” Price added, “and a lot of those were fouls by us. We probably gave up 15 points at the line. I’m not at all happy with the margin of victory.”
Georgia Southern returns to the hardwood next Saturday, Nov. 25, opening its home schedule with Winston-Salem State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Purdue 82, Western Carolina 57
West Lafayette, Ind. - Western Carolina, described as a “thorn in the side” due to there hard-nosed play by the Purdue radio analyst, would not go away without a fight before falling down the stretch, 82-57, to the Boilermakers Friday night at Mackey Arena. After two games on the road to open the 2006-07 season, the Catamounts will return to Cullowhee Monday (Nov. 20) to host Atlanta Christian at 7 pm in Western’s season home opener.
The Catamounts (1-1) were led by Antonio Russell’s 15 points off the bench, all of which came in the second half, while freshman Nick Aldridge scored 12 points with eight rebounds and five assists. Senior Kyle Greathouse added 11 points. Purdue’s top scorer, Marcus Green, also came off the bench and pumped in 15 points.
After Purdue (2-0) started the game with a 3-pointer, Western quickly knotted the game with a Greathouse 3-pointer. The game went back-and-forth with Aldridge hitting a trey to make the score 13-10. From that point, the Boilermakers went on a 10-0 run and never looked back. The Catamounts would go scoreless for over five minutes. However, the Cats were able to stay in the game by holding Purdue to just five points from the 11:45 until 4:33, making the score 31-18. Western went cold over the final four minutes of the half and trailed 41-24 at the break.
Western shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from the floor in the first half, including just 4-of-14 from 3-point range, while being out-rebounded 24-14.
The Cats came out inspired in the second half, thanks to a pair of 3’s from Greathouse and a jumper from Aldridge, to make it a 10-point contest (42-32) just over four minutes into the period. Purdue pulled away, but a an Aldridge jumper brought WCU’s deficit back to 10 (48-38). The teams basically traded baskets over the next several possessions. After Greathouse drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 10:10 left, Western, who made seven of its first 15 shots in the second half, would trail by just 12 (56-44). From that point, Purdue went on a 24-7 run to go up 29 and put the game out of reach.
Villanova 81, College of Charleston 68
U.S. Virgin Islands --- Curtis Sumpter had 17 points and five rebounds to lead Villanova over the College of Charleston, 81-68, Friday night in the opening round of the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mike Nardi added 16 points and Will Sheridan had 14 points and eight rebounds for Villanova. Shane Clark had 14 points and six rebounds.
Josh Jackson led the College of Charleston with 13 points and four rebounds. David Lawrence added 11 points and three assists.
College of Charleston faces Virginia Commonwealth at 8:30 on Saturday in the second round of the four-day tournament.