Western Carolina 73, Binghamton 44
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Paced by junior transfer Mike Williams, three Catamounts scored in double figures as Western Carolina remained unbeaten in sub-regional play of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic with a 73-44 win over Binghamton Tuesday night in the Ramsey Center.
WCU limited its second-straight opponent to 44 points, while holding its third Ramsey Center foe under 45 points (St. Catharine's only scored 41). The Catamounts held Binghamton to 27-percent shooting from the floor, the second-lowest percentage by an opponent this season.
At 3-1 overall on the season, the Catamounts are out to their best start since the 2006-07 season when WCU opened 4-1 through its first five.
Williams eclipsed his previous WCU-career high set on Monday night by two points in leading the Catamounts in scoring for the first time this season. The Baton Rouge, La., native hit 3-of-4 from long range as the Catamounts drained a season-high 11 3-pointers.
Red-shirt sophomore Harouna Mutombo added 11 points including three, 3-pointers with senior Jake Robinson nailing two triples en route to 10 points. Classmate Brigham Waginger dished out five assists and swiped four steals in the win, while junior Richie Gordon scored seven points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds as WCU won the battle of the boards, 42-to-30, which included 19 offensive rebounds.
All but one of the 12 Catamounts to log minutes on Tuesday night recorded points in the 29-point victory.
Leading by four, 10-6 midway through the first half, the Catamounts outscored Binghamton 23-to-7 over the final 10 minutes, building a half-high, 23-point lead before taking a 33-13 lead into the halftime locker room.
Western Carolina maintained at least a 20-point lead the majority of the second half. The Bearcats clawed to within 21, 55-34, on a Moussa Camara free throw just inside the 10 minute mark, but the Catamounts were able to stretch the advantage to a game-high 34 after consecutive buckets by Gordon, with Williams providing the largest tally on a steal and lay-up with five minutes remaining in the game.
For the Binghamton, Greer Wright led the way with a game-high 21 points which included 4-of-5 shooting from behind the 3-point arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Wright did commit seven of Binghamton's 19 turnovers in the losing effort. Dylan Talley added 11 points for the Bearcats, with Chretien Lukusa boarding a game-high eight.
Wednesday is the final day of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic with Arkansas-Monticello facing Binghamton at 5:00 pm, while the Catamounts will entertain the only other unbeaten team in the Cullowhee Sub-regional, Duquesne, at 7:30 pm in the Ramsey Center. The Dukes have opened the season at 4-0, which included a road win over Big Ten foe, Iowa, in the opening round of the CBE Classic.
UNC Greensboro 76, USC Upstate 70
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Brandon Evans had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Ben Stywall had 17 points and nine boards as UNC Greensboro picked up its first win of the season, 76-70, over USC Upstate in men's basketball action Tuesday night at the Hodge Center.
Mikko Koivisto added 13 points, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Koivisto now has at least one three-pointer in 15 consecutive games dating back to last season. He lost his consecutive free throw streak at 20 in row.
Nick Schneiders, Upstate's 7-3 man in the middle, had game-highs with 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the host Spartans (0-4).
UNCG, the visiting Spartans, led by as 11 with 5:02 to play after a four-point play by Evans, knocking down a trey from the right side as he got fouled. But USC Upstate chipped away and cut it to 70-65 with 1:41 to play on Schneider's bucket. USC Upstate violated on the ensuing free throw, giving the ball back to UNCG.
Evans made one of two at the line to run the lead back to six and Gordon knocked did the same on the other end 20 seconds later for USC Upstate.
But Stywall made one of two at the line and then got free for a breakaway dunk to extend the lead to eight with 25 seconds to play.
After both teams shot better than 50 percent in the opening half, defenses took over in the second half. UNCG held Upstate without a three-pointer in the second half (0-for-9) after the host squad was 4-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half to hang within a basket.
"They've been playing well on the road and the big kid in the middle has been playing real well," said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "We played in front of him and he dunked it. We played behind him and he made some nice post moves. We don't have anyone height-wise that matches up with him real well.
When he's making those jump shots, he's real tough.
"I thought our guys did a great job in the second half defending the three-pointer. They hit some in the first half. Both teams missed some free throws, but we made just enough down the stretch to win."
The Spartans opened the game by making seven of their first 10 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers by Koivisto, to take an early 16-13 lead. But Upstate was equally effective on the offensive end of the floor. An 11-2 run by the home team gave Upstate a 32-25 advantage with five minutes left before intermission.
UNCG had an answer, though, with a 15-2 run, capped off by a Koivisto trey from the left corner to give UNCG a 40-34 lead with just under two minutes to play before half.
The Spartans wound up shooting 65.4 percent from the floor in the opening half - the sixth best shooting half in school history and third best opening half ever - and still found themselves only up three, 42-39, thanks to USC Upstate's 50 percent shooting from the field.
Both teams cooled off to open the second half. UNCG's lead was five with 12 minutes to play when both teams when into a scoring drought. UNCG went four minutes between field goals, but Montell Smith's coast-to-coast layup gave UNCG a 58-52 advantage with 8:02 to play.
UNCG returns home to face East Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum. Game time is set for 4 p.m. and the first 2,000 fans through the gates will receive a foam Spartan Spear.
#8 West Virginia 69, The Citadel 50
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Junior guard Cameron Wells had his breakout performance, on a national stage, with a game-high 19 point outing against eighth ranked West Virginia on Tuesday night. Wells, who hit 8-of-17 from the field, also dished out four assists and forced three steals in front of a sellout crowd of 12, 345 at the Charleston Civic Center. Despite the performance from Wells, the Mountaineers emerged with a 69-50 victory over The Citadel.
"Cameron showed tonight that he is one of the elite guards in the nation," Citadel assistant head coach Doug Novak said. "He shows that he can get to the basket, score some tough points, is very unselfish and can play into the draw-and-kick game. Most of the 3-pointers that we got were a result of him penetrating and pitching in the latter moments of the play."
Fellow junior Zach Urbanus had a hot hand from 3-point range, converting 4-of-6, ending with 12 points and tied for a team-high six rebounds. Joe Wolfinger rounded out double-digit scorers, 11 points, also had six boards in 37 minutes of play. The two teams were knotted with 30 rebounds in the post as The Citadel finished with six offensive boards.
The Bulldogs (3-3) knocked down 19-of-41 attempts (46.3%), including 9-for-16 from beyond the arc.
The trio of Kevin Jones (11 points), Darryl Bryant (10 points) and Casey Mitchell (10 points) accounted for double figures with the Mountaineers (2-0). Forwards Wellington Smith, along with Jones, grabbed a game-high eight boards. Despite being outshot by The Citadel, West Virginia managed to hit on 29-of-63 (46.0%) attempts. The Mountaineers finished with a 35-14 edge in the post which led to a 13-3 differential in second chance points.
After four games in six days, Ed Conroy returns the team to McAlister Field House for the CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Invitational. Conroy, who has matched his team with four opponents over the last five days, received credit from Huggins for his effort. "They did a great job, particularly in light of the fact that this is their fourth game in five days, and he did a great job," said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. They are extremely well coached."
A Wells breakaway dunk at the 15:41 mark of the game that cut the lead to 10-7 sparked a Mountaineers defense that handcuffed the Bulldogs for the next 7:37. The Citadel rallied to hit three consecutive 3-point buckets, two from Urbanus and bank shot by Wells, slicing the lead to 27-16 with 6:17 remaining in the half.
Trailing 32-18 with 4:19 to go on the clock, Wolfinger drained a 3-pointer that led to a 6-1 run to close out the half.
The Mountaineers held a 33-24 advantage at the break, hitting 14-of-23 from the field (42.4%). The Bulldogs was led offensive by Wells with a game-high 11 points. Urbanus and Wolfinger, both with six points, along with Matt Clark's late free throw accounted for the 8-of-19 (42.1%) Citadel shooting.
The Citadel returns to home to host the CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Invitational on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29. The Bulldogs will face UVA-Wise on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. followed by a Sunday evening contest with Central Connecticut State at 7:30 p.m.
Yale 63, Elon 60
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Two free throws by Porter Braswell with 13 seconds to play gave the Yale Bulldogs their first advantage since the opening minutes of the game as the Bulldogs battled back from a nine-point second-half deficit to hand the Elon men's basketball team a 69-65 loss in the final consolation game of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Mack Sports Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
A Josh Bonney layup gave Elon a three-point edge, 63-60, with two minutes showing on the clock. The Phoenix forced a Bulldog miss on the next possession, but quickly gave the ball back to Yale on one of its 15 second-half miscues. Yale guard Alex Zampier took advantage, drilling the game-tying three-pointer with a hand in his face with 1:04 remaining.
Consecutive free throws by Chris Long put Elon back in the driver's seat, but the lead was short-lived. A Michael Sands dunk tied the game at 65 and Braswell forced an Elon turnover to give Yale a chance at its first lead of the second half. After the front end of a one-and-one rattled around the rim before going down, Braswell hit nothing but net on the second to give Yale a 67-65 edge. Elon couldn't convert on the ensuing possession and was forced to foul. Braswell sealed the deal with two more from the charity stripe in the final seconds of the contest to lift Yale to the 69-65 win.
Elon (2-4) had three players in double figures, led by Adam Constantine's 16 points on 7-of-9 from the field. Josh Bonney added 15 and Terrence Birdette netted a career-high 11 points, draining 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Yale (2-4) got a game-high 17 points from Zampier, while Sands contributed 15. Braswell (10) and Jordan Gibson (12) also scored in double figures for the Bulldogs. Both teams shot 50 percent or better in the contest.
The Phoenix had the hot hand in the early going, hitting from downtown on five of its first eight baskets as Elon pulled out to a 22-16 lead at the 7:52 mark of the opening half. The Elon defense seemed to frustrate the Bulldogs, forcing 10 first-half turnovers and scoring 15 points of those miscues. Elon held Yale without a field goal over the final four and half minutes of the first half, but the Bulldogs hit on all six opportunities from the stripe to keep it close. The Phoenix took a 33-28 lead into the break.
Elon's lead hovered around six points before two Bonney free throws gave the Phoenix its largest advantage of the night at 44-35 with under 15 minutes to play. A quick 7-0 run by the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to two, 44-42, at 12:08.
While Yale held the Elon three-ball attack at bay in the final half, back-to-back triples by Drew Spradlin and Birdette put Elon back up eight, 56-48, with eight minutes to go. The Bulldogs would not go away and continued to chip away at the lead while also forcing eight Phoenix turnovers in the final eight minutes of play en route to the victory.
Elon will play only its second game in Alumni Gym this season when it hosts UNC Wilmington on Sunday, November 29 at 5 p.m.
Missouri 99, Chattanooga 56
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team dropped a 99-56 decision at Missouri (3-0) on Tuesday night. Chattanooga (2-2) fell victim to Missouri's press along with a record performance from three-point range.
DeAntre Jefferson came off the bench to lead the Mocs with 12 points in 17 minutes. He was the lone double-digit scorer on the evening.
Missouri was led by Kim English and his game-high 26 points including five of the Tigers' Mizzou Arena record 18 three-pointers. Mizzou also set a school record with 24 steals in forcing 29 Mocs turnovers.
The Tigers got off to a phenomenal start shooting and pressuring the Mocs into mistakes. Mizzou converted 16 first-half Mocs turnovers into 28 points. It also hit an amazing 12 three-pointers in 22 attempts in surging to the 59-28 halftime lead. English scored 21 of his game-high 26 in the first half.
The Mocs battled but could not overcome the turnovers coupled with the Tigers hot hand from outside. For the game, Mizzou score 51 points off the 29 Mocs miscues. Chattanooga did out-score the Tigers in the paint 30-24.
The road show continues for the Mocs as they head to South Padre Island, Texas for the tournament portion of the invitational. Chattanooga matches up with Texas-Pan American in the first round at 3:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday. The loser plays at 12:30 p.m. (EST) on Saturday against Friday's loser between Bethune-Cookman and Longwood, while the winners play for the bracket title at 3 p.m.
Illinois 78, Wofford 64
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Wofford men's basketball was defeated 78-64 by Illinois at Assembly Hall on Tuesday night in the HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational. After the Terriers tied the game at 50 in the second half, the 20th ranked Illini went on an 8-0 run and were able to build a 15-point lead late in the game.
Wofford is 2-3 overall, while Illinois is 4-0 on the season. The Terriers were led by Junior Salters with 15 points and Noah Dahlman with thirteen points. Corey Godzinski added twelve points and was the leading rebounder with five. The Illini were led by Demetri McCamey with 21 points and D.J. Richardson had fifteen points. Mike Davis had a double-double with 16 points and eleven rebounds.
"We made eight first half threes and that is not luck as we have good shooters," said head coach Mike Young. "We cooled off a little bit in the second half. All in all I was really pleased with our determination and our willingness to share the ball. We got better tonight. This Illinois team is going to win a lot of games and could advance deep in the NCAA Tournament. We came in here and we fought them. I am discouraged that we lost, but encouraged with a lot of things that I saw from our team."
The Terriers scored first and built an 8-2 lead after three pointers from Junior Salters and Cameron Rundles. Illinois tied the game at 10 each four minutes into the game. Wofford went up 18-12 after threes by Corey Godzinski and Brad Loesing at 13:43. The Terriers pushed the lead to eight points at 26-18 after another three by Junior Salters with eight minutes left in the half.
Wofford was able to maintain the lead at seven with a 32-25 score at the 4:19 mark. However, the Illini went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the night at 33-32 with 1:54 left in the half. Wofford answered and after a three by Junior Salters with 25 seconds left, the Terriers were up 39-37. Illinois scored the last five points of the half, including a three at the buzzer by Demetri McCamey to take a 42-39 lead at the break.
In the second half, Illinois added to the lead and were up 49-44. Wofford battled back and tied the game at 50-50 after threes from Junior Salters and Kevin Giltner at the 14:18 mark. The Illini ran off the next eight points and used a 14-3 run and had a 64-53 lead at the seven minute mark. Illinois pushed the lead to 15 points twice, but the final score was 78-64 as the Illini defense stifled the Wofford offense in the final twelve minutes.
The Terriers will continue the four-game road trip as part of the HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational. On Friday and Saturday, the Terriers will play Southern and Seattle in Las Vegas. Wofford will then play two more road games before hosting Appalachian State at Benjamin Johnson Arena on December 7.
Rice 77, Furman 65
HOUSTON, Texas -- Trey Stanton scored a career-high 23 points and added nine rebounds and three assists to lead the Rice Owls past the Furman Paladins 77-65 before a crowd of 1,791 on Tuesday evening at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The 12-point decision snapped Furman's three-game, season-opening winning streak while helping the Owls improve to 4-1 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse. The loss marks Furman's 20th straight defeat away from Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
Stanton, a junior, came off of the bench to connect on 9-of-15 field goal attempts and 4-of-5 trips to the charity stripe. The 6-foot-10 center helped Rice build a 33-16 lead with 11 first half points as the Owls held Furman to just one field goal in the opening 11 minutes of the game. Senior Darryl Evans tallied seven points in the final 5:10 of the half to help Furman trim the margin to 39-30 at intermission despite the Paladins shooting just 32.1% from the floor.
After Furman cut the lead to 44-39 with 16:14 left in the game, Rice outscored the Paladins 21-6 over the next eight minutes, keyed by seven more points from Stanton, to push the lead to 65-45 with 7:19 remaining. Jordan Miller, who totaled 16 points on the night, netted the next seven points to spark a Paladin rally, but the Owls held on for the 12-point win.
Tamir Jackson joined Stanton in double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Connor Frizzelle and Lawrence Ghoram each added nine points while Suleiman chipped in with eight. The Owls shot 52.7% (29-55) from the field and 15-of-21 from the foul line while holding Furman to just 38.5% (20-52) from the floor. Furman did manage to make 7-of-18 three-pointer and 18-of-21 free throw attempts.
Junior Amu Saaka led the Paladins with 18 points and six rebounds while Miller and Justin Dehm reached double digits with 16 and 11 points, respectively. Evans contributed nine points, five boards and three assists without committing a turnover.
Rice held a 35-28 edge on the glass and forced 13 Furman turnovers while committing just nine miscues.
Furman returns to action Friday evening when it travels to face UNC Asheville at the Justice Center in Asheville, N.C. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised live on WMYA My 40 in the upstate of South Carolina and western North Carolina.