Davidson 79, Penn 50
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Brendan McKillop netted a career-high 19 points to lead four Wildcats in double figures scoring as Davidson posted a 79-50 men's basketball victory over Penn at Belk Arena Monday night.
McKillop was 6-for-9 from the floor, hit 5 3-pointers and tallied four assists and two steals for the Wildcats (5-8). Jake Cohen scored 10 points, and Ben Allison collected 10 points and six rebounds.
Will Archambault tallied 10 points, five assists and eight rebounds, while Steve Rossiter had eight points and nine rebounds. Bryant Barr recorded nine points and four rebounds.
Zack Rosen was the only scorer in double figures for the Quakers (0-8) with 14 points to go along with four assists. Jack Eggleston posted nine points and eight rebounds.
Davidson shot 56.3 percent from the field and nailed eight 3-pointers in the first half en route to opening a 46-19 halftime cushion. The Wildcats committed just four turnovers in the frame and held the Quakers to 7-of-24 shooting from the field.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-2 lead early and used a 19-5 run midway through the half to open a 29-10 cushion with 7:50 left. McKillop ignited the spurt with a 3-pointer, and Barr added consecutive treys. Cohen and Archambault also hit 3-balls in the run.
With Davidson leading 32-15, the OCats closed the stanza with a 14-4 spurt to open a 27-point lead at the break. Archambault and McKillop each had five points during the run. The advantage never dipped below 20 points in the second half and reached as high as 34 on three occasions.
Davidson continues its four-game homestand with a 7 p.m. contest against UMass Wednesday in Belk Arena.
Samford 63, Chicago State 46
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team extended its winning streak to three games Monday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 63-46 win against the Chicago State Cougars at the Pete Hanna Center. Samford (6-7) shot 52.3 percent from the field and was led in scoring by junior Josh Davis' 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
"I was pleased with our guys' play tonight and I felt like we were well prepared," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We did a lot of good things, including taking care of the ball against a team that is very difficult to play against. I think we're getting better on both ends of the floor and I feel like we are slowly improving as a team."
With Monday's victory, Samford (6-7) earned its first three-game winning streak of the 2009-10 campaign and avenged last season's 66-49 loss to Chicago State (5-8). The Bulldogs also improved to 5-1 when playing at the Pete Hanna Center.
Davis led a trio of Samford players in double-figure scoring. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 sharpshooter from Lubbock, Texas, drained five 3-point baskets en route to his game-high 19 points. Davis scored 16 in the first half alone and also added three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Senior forward Bryan Friday turned in one of his best games of the season Monday and finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Samford's native of Grapevine, Texas, was 6-of-11 from the field and knocked down a pair of free-throw attempts. Fellow senior Trey Montgomery added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs as they sailed to their 17-point victory.
Chicago State was limited to 29.6 percent shooting from the floor and only finished with one player scoring in double figures. Antonio Lofton came off the bench to tally a team-high 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while the Cougars' starters only combined to score 27 points.
Following Lofton's 12 points, Chicago State's Christian Wall added nine and Carl Montgomery finished with eight. Montgomery also pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
Samford recorded 19 assists on 23 field goals Monday. The Cougars only registered five assists on 16 made baskets.
Throughout the night, Samford's offense worked with smooth precision and the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 41-25 advantage in the second half. Samford scored the first five points of the final period and led by as many as 23 points in the game (55-32 with 8:07 remaining).
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Cougars 33-25 and finished a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Jeffrey Merritt tallied seven points, five rebounds and three assists Monday, while Kaylin Johnson came off the bench to score five points on 2-of-3 shooting.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs resume Southern Conference play with a critical league matchup against the Davidson Wildcats to be held at Belk Arena in Davidson, N.C.
Wake Forest 75, UNC Greensboro 60
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Al-Farouq Aminu had a double-double by halftime and finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds as Wake Forest defeated UNC Greensboro, 75-60, on Monday evening in the Greensboro Coliseum.
Aminu's double-double led the Demon Deacons (9-2) and was his eighth double-double in just 11 games this season. Ari Stewart and L.D. Williams also scored in double figures as they each added 11 points and C.J. Harris chipped in 10.
Ben Stywall paced the Spartans (2-9) with 13 points and 12 rebounds as he recorded his third double-double of the season. Brandon Evans also added 10 points as he scored in double figures for the sixth straight contest and eighth time in 11 games this season. Kendall Toney and Korey Van Dussen each added 10 points, as well.
After trailing by just seven at the break, UNCG pulled within four at 35-31 on a 3-pointer by Toney. That was as close as the Spartans would get the rest of the game as Wake Forest used a 13-4 run to take a 15 point lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the game.
UNCG, playing without senior guard Mikko Koivisto due to a stomach virus, continued to fight as it responded with a 9-1 run, capped off by a Montel Smith layup to pull within 61-54. The Deacons were forced to call a timeout at the 6:21 mark and regrouped to end the game on a 14-6 run to put it out of reach.
The Deacons set a school record in the game as they blocked 16 shots. They had previously blocked 14 shots on two different occasions. Aminu had six of those blocks, while Ishmael Smith, who was held to just five points, had four blocks to go along with a game-high six assists.
The Spartans started off strong as a Stywall jumper just over two minutes into the contest gave UNCG an early 6-4 lead. After the Deacons built a 12-6 lead, UNCG went on a 12-3, sparked by a Van Dussen 3-pointer, to take an 18-15 advantage midway through the opening stanza.
Wake Forest closed the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 31-24 lead at the break. The two sides each had 23 rebounds in the first half, but the Deacons made 13 of their 33 shots compared to UNCG's 9 made baskets in 30 attempts to lead at halftime.
The Deacs had an opened the lead up to 15 at 60-45 with 8:44 left after an L.D Williams dunk. But the 9-1 run pulled UNCG back to within seven and made things interesting down the stretch.
The Spartans return to the court to face another ACC foe on Thursday as they host NC State on New Year's Eve. Opening tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by Fox SportsNet South.
UC Santa Barbara 72, Furman 60
BERKELEY, Calif. -- James Nunnaly tallied a game-high 24 points and Orlando Johnson added 21 to lead UC Santa Barbara past Furman 72-60 in the opening game of the Collier's International Golden Bear Classic at the Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday night.
The loss marked the fifth straight defeat for the Paladins who fell to 5-6 on the season. The Gauchos snapped a four-game skid with the 12-point triumph and improved to 5-4 overall. The Gauchos made 7-of-9 first half three-point attempts and used a 13-3 run to erase a 20-16 Furman lead and carry a 36-33 advantage into intermission. Furman trailed by just five points with 15:36 to play, but UCSB reeled off a 10-0 run and held Furman without a field goal for nearly six minutes to fashion a 52-37 lead.
Furman trimmed the lead back to five points at 59-54 with 6:34 left, but UCSB limited the Paladins to just two field goals over the final six minutes to pull away for the victory.
Nunnally hit 6-of-11 shots from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, and converted on 9-of-11 trips to the foul line. Johnson made 6-of-11 field goal attempts and 8-of-12 at the charity stripe for the Gauchos who shot 51.2% (22-43) on the night. UCSB hit 7-of-15 three point attempts and made good on 21-of-30 trips to the foul line.
Jordan Miller scored 19 points on a career-high six three-point baskets to pace Furman. Amu Saaka added 16 points and seven rebounds while Neil Duval netted a season-high 11 points. Furman shot just 34.5% from the field and made only 8-of-25 from long range. The Paladins finished 14-of-19 at the foul line.
Furman will face the loser of Monday's Cal versus Utah Valley game. The Paladins would face Cal at 10:30 p.m. ET or Utah Valley at 8 p.m. ET.