College of Charleston 70, Charleston Southern 68
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior forward Antwaine Wiggins corralled a loose ball and slammed home a game-winning dunk with 11 seconds left to send the College of Charleston men's basketball team to a 70-68 win over intercity rival Charleston Southern on Saturday night at TD Arena.
The win marked the sixth-straight for the Cougars (9-1) and 15th-straight victory at home. The Cougars' nine wins in the first 10 games ties for the fourth-best start in program history. Charleston Southern fell to 6-4 on the season.
Wiggins led the Cougars in points yet again, netting 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. He also brought down 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Freshman reserve Anthony Stitt reached double figures for the fourth time in the last five games, scoring 16 points. Junior Andrew Lawrence continued his strong play with 14 points, five assists and a career-high four blocks.
Despite playing in foul trouble, sophomore Trent Wiedeman pulled down 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of play, while Adjehi Baru scored eight points and recorded eight rebounds.
As a team, the Cougars shot 48.0 percent from the field (24-of-50) and 45.0 percent from three-point range (9-of-20). The Cougars outrebounded Charleston Southern, 48-36.
CSU had four players in double figures, led by Arlon Harper and his 18 points. Kelvin Martin registered 16 points and seven rebounds, while Mathiang Muo hit five three-pointers for 15 points before fouling out. Saah Nimley scored 10 points and led the team with six assists.
The Buccaneers were able to stay close throughout the entire game by forcing 19 CofC turnovers and converting those into 28 points. Neither team was efficient from the foul line as the Cougars shot 13-of-26 from the charity stripe and CSU managed just 2-of-8.
CofC built seven-point leads twice in the first half, but the Buccaneers were able to respond with a pair of three-pointers that made the margin 26-25 at the 5:47 minute mark. Neither team built a two-possession lead for the rest of the half until Lawrence drove to the basket and drew the foul with four seconds left to put CofC up 35-31 at the half.
The Cougars threatened to pull away just three minutes into the second half as Lawrence found Wiedeman for a fast-break layup followed by a three-pointer from Wiggins that put CofC up 45-35 with 16:29 remaining in regulation.
The Buccaneers traded baskets with CofC as both teams ran in the transition until a three-pointer from Lawrence put the Cougars up 57-45 at 11:45. However, CSU went on a 15-6 run that was capped by a three-pointer from Muo that made the lead just a mere three points at 63-60 with 6:54 left on the clock.
CofC struggled in the final minutes as the Cougars missed free throws and allowed Charleston Southern to hang around. Martin scored buckets in the final two minutes, one of which tied the game at 68 with just 44 seconds remaining.
In the Cougars' final possession, Wiedeman kept alive a missed shot attempt and Wiggins was able to come up with the loose ball on the back side for the game-winner and 70-68 lead. CofC defended Charleston Southern well on the ensuing possession and the Buccaneers only managed a desperation shot at the buzzer that was off target.
Samford 90, Spring Hill 64
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University basketball team turned in its highest scoring output in over three years Saturday as the Bulldogs breezed to a 90-64 victory against the Spring Hill Badgers at home in the Pete Hanna Center. The win concluded Samford's season-long, five-game homestand.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs will travel to Lexington, Ky., for a showdown against the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats to be held at Rupp Arena. The contest will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. (CST).
Samford's 90 points scored Saturday against Spring Hill (7-3) was its highest total since losing at UT Martin, 101-94, in triple overtime March 4, 2008, in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Samford (3-6) turned in a 51.7-percent shooting performance Saturday and knocked down 11-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc for a 45.8 3-point field-goal percentage. The Bulldogs entered the game ranked No. 3 in the nation in 3-point field goals per contest with 10.6.
Sophomore Drew Windler led Samford in scoring with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. The Bulldogs' native of South Milwaukee, Wis., also pulled down five rebounds and went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Windler scored 14 of his personal-best 23 points in the first half as Samford built an early 16-6 lead and cruised to a 40-24 advantage at the half. The Bulldogs opened the final period with a 20-7 run and took a substantial 60-31 lead with 14:59 left in the game.
Samford led by as many as 34 points Saturday following a driving layup from true freshman Brandon Hayman. With 7:14 remaining in the contest, the Bulldogs held an 80-46 lead over Spring Hill.
Sophomore Will Cook and redshirt freshman Tyler Hood both added double-digit scoring performances for Samford. Cook finished with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and added a perfect 5-of-5 outing from the charity stripe. Hood also shot well from the free-throw line as he turned in a 5-of-6 performance en route to scoring 12 points in only 20 minutes of playing time.
Spring Hill was paced offensively by 16 points from Todd Martin, 15 points from Jake Thelen and a 10-point performance from Brett Williams. The Badgers' trio combined to score 41 of the team's 64 total points.
For the second straight game, Samford shot over 50 percent from the field and over 40 percent from 3-point range. The Bulldogs also handed out 20 assists on 30 field goals and only committed 10 turnovers.
Samford played four true freshmen Saturday, a redshirt freshman, four sophomores and three seniors. The Bulldogs' seniors combined to play 53 minutes, while the underclassmen played the remaining 147 minutes of the game.
Hayman, Samford's native of Braselton, Ga., pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds Saturday, including eight on the offensive end of the court. He also finished with eight points and four assists.
Fellow true freshman Devin McNeil started at the point guard position and finished with eight points, four rebounds and four assists in only 15 minutes of playing time. Connor Miller and Raijon Kelly, both true freshmen guards, scored six points apiece.
Senior Matthew Friday added five points and three rebounds, while Kaylin Johnson and Levi Barnes both knocked down 3-point baskets. Senior guard Jeffrey Merritt only scored two points, but played a key role with five rebounds and five assists.
With Saturday's win, Samford can now turn its attention to No. 3-ranked Kentucky. The Bulldogs have never faced Kentucky and have never played in historic Rupp Arena.
Dartmouth 62, Elon 54
HANOVER, N.H. - Shooting struggles plagued the Phoenix all afternoon as the Dartmouth Big Green snapped Elon's four-game winning streak with a 62-54 victory over the visiting Phoenix in non-conference men's basketball action from Leede Arena on Saturday.
Elon (7-3) shot its lowest percentage of the season, hitting only 16-of-55 (29.1) from the field in its first loss of December. Dartmouth, playing its first home game in nearly a month, ended a four-game losing skid to improve to 3-7.
Elon connected on its first five field goals in the game, four falling from beyond the arc, in the opening four minutes of the game. The Phoenix managed only 11 buckets the rest of the way, relying on its defense to stay in the game. Nine of Elon's 16 buckets came from long range.
Four finished in double figures for the Phoenix with sophomores Lucas Troutman and Ryley Beaumont each turning in 13 points. Rookie Austin Hamilton scored all 11 of his points in the first half and sophomore Sebastian Koch added 10 points.
Dartmouth is only the third Elon opponent to shoot above 40 percent this season, connecting on 23-of-53 (43.4) from the floor. Gabas Maldunas had a game-high 17 points, scoring 13 in the second half, while also pulling down 10 boards. John Golden came off the bench for a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds as Dartmouth held the 42-35 advantage on the glass.
It looked like the Phoenix had its rhythm after running out to a 16-7 lead at the 15:56 mark behind the strength of its three-point shooting. Unfortunately, the first of several lengthy droughts from the field allowed the Big Green to turn the tables.
Dartmouth outscored the Phoenix 20-6 during a 12-minute stretch that saw only one Elon field goal and gave the home team a 27-22 advantage. With the Elon defense holding strong, a Hamilton trey with under a minute sparked the Phoenix and made it a 27-26 game. The point guard forced a Dartmouth turnover in the backcourt on the next possession, setting up a Beaumont jumper in the waning seconds of the half and Elon took a 29-27 advantage to the locker room.
After the Big Green scored the first four points of the second period, Troutman finished a two-handed alley-oop from Koch to spark the Phoenix. Beaumont nailed a three on the next possession and again Elon was off to a quick start to the half with a 34-31 lead.
But once more shooting woes would never allow for the Phoenix to put a significant run together and Dartmouth used a 15-3 stretch to go on top by nine, 46-37. The hosts pushed the advantage to as many as 12, 53-41, with 6:07 to go before a Beaumont triple started an 8-2 run that made it a two possession game, 55-49, with under three minutes remaining.
Although Dartmouth missed on a couple front ends of one-and-one opportunities, Elon was never able to get closer than five.
The field goal percentage was the lowest by an Elon team since a 26.0 percent shooting performance in a 55-31 loss at Samford on December 3, 2009.
#6 North Carolina 97, Appalachian State 82
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Omar Carter led the Mountaineers with 21 points as Appalachian State University men's basketball repeatedly fought off attacks by North Carolina before eventually falling, 97-82, in front of 20,892 fans at the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday night.
The senior came off the bench for the first time this season and responded by shooting 7-of-15 from the floor and leading Appalachian (4-6) with seven rebounds and his second 20-point performance of the season.
Appalachian fell into a 21-8 hole early on but climbed back within 34-30 with four minutes remaining in the opening half behind Carter's 16 first-half points. UNC then used a 12-point run to regain a more comfortable advantage and take a 48-32 lead into the intermission.
Coming out of the break, the Tar Heels worked up to a 75-46 advantage with 11 minutes to play. From there, freshmen Tab Hamilton and Mike Neal took over for the Apps, scoring 18 of the team's next 27 points to bring ASU within 15 points with four minutes to play.
No. 5 UNC (9-2) finished strong as Tyler Zeller paced the team with 31 points and 10 rebounds and lead the Heels to their 22nd straight home win and 52nd non-conference home win in a row. The 7-foot senior reached his season scoring high on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and a 9-of-10 mark from the charity stripe. Teammate Kendall Marshall added 13 of UNC's 17 assists.
ASU shot a solid 42.6 percent from the floor and sank 9-of-20 treys on the night, compared to a 54.5 percent mark for the home team. UNC sank just two of its 10 attempts from beyond the arc. ASU's 10 turnovers were a season-best.
Head coach Jason Capel put out a new lineup for the contest, as sophomore Brian Okam and Neal made their first career starts. It was also just the second start for Rodney Milum. The trio joined Jamaal Trice and Andre Williamson, who have started in all 10 contests.
Neal finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Milum added eight points on a pair of threes and Okam swatted two of ASU's four blocks in addition to hauling in a rebound.
Hamilton scored 11 points, including a 6-of-6 mark from the free-throw line. ASU shot a season-best 88.2 percent from the line, sinking 15-of-17 foul shots in the second half.
Williamson reached double figures with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and his second career three-pointer. The senior forward grabbed three of ASU's 32 rebounds and was held without a block for the first time in 10 games this season.
Trice missed on both of his shot attempts and was shut out from scoring for the first time in the Black and Gold. The wing dished out an assist and grabbed one rebound in 23 minutes.
Furman 76, Western Kentucky 63
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Senior Bryson Barnes poured in a career-high 26 points and added 11 rebounds to propel Furman to a 76-63 victory over Western Kentucky before a crowd of 3,192 on Saturday evening at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.
Barnes, playing in his first game after being ineligible during the first semester, connected on 6-of-9 field goal attempts and 11-of-14 chances at the foul line as the Paladins shot a season-high 51.2 percent from the field to claim their third consecutive win. The Atlanta, Ga., native buried all three of his three-point attempts and added two blocked shots in 27 minutes of action.
Furman used an 11-1 run towards the end of the first half to turn a 20-18 lead into a 31-19 advantage before carrying a 31-21 margin into the locker room at halftime. Barnes, who scored seven of Furman's 11 points during the stretch, opened the run with a jumper with 5:17 left in the half and Charlie Reddick buried two free throws with 1:25 to play in the half to cap the spurt.
The Paladins led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but Western Kentucky used a 10-2 run to trim the lead to 56-51 on Nigel Snipes' layup with 7:34 to play. Despite converting on just two field goal attempts over a stretch of almost eight minutes in the second half, Furman made 16-of-18 free throw attempts in the final seven minutes to pull away.
Furman made 27-of-34 free throw attempts on the night while the Hilltoppers connected on just 12-of-25 trips to the charity stripe.
Point guard Richard Brown and forward Brandon Sebirumbi joined Barnes in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Brown added seven assists and committed just one turnover in 38 minutes. The Paladins shot 7-of-11 from three-point range and out-rebounded Western Kentucky 36-32.
Derrick Gordon scored a team-high 12 points for the Hilltoppers while Jamal Crook and Kahlil McDonald contributed 11 points apiece. Furman limited the Hilltoppers to just 36.7 percent shooting from the floor, including 7-of-24 from three-point range.
#3 Kentucky 87, Chattanooga 62
LEXINGTON, Ky. --- The Chattanooga Mocs (3-8) could not overcome a fast start by No. 3 Kentucky (9-1) losing 87-62 in front of 23,211 at Rupp Arena Saturday night. It was the second largest crowd to witness a UTC game.
The Wildcats started the game on a 13-0 run to jump quickly out of the gates. The run was capped by a Kyle Wiltjer three-pointer at 16:47. UK led by as many as 16 early, 18-2, when the Mocs made a move.
Chattanooga scored nine of the next 11 points to close within 11, 20-9, on a Drazen Zlovaric layup with 13:22 left in the half. Omar Wattad made a steal on the Wildcats next possession and Jahmal Burroughs went up for a layup only to see Anthony Davis record one of his five blocks to keep the lead in double digits.
UK scored on four of its next five possessions to build the lead to 20, 29-9, on Darius Miller's three-pointer at 9:56. UTC got within 13 again before trailing 39-23 at the break.
It was still a 16-point game, 53-37, on two Taylor free tosses at 15:14. The Wildcats put it out of reach with a 13-0 run to go up 29, 66-37, on a Doron Lamb jumper. The lead swelled to as many as 34 before the Mocs closed with a 9-0 run for the 87-62 final tally.
Zlovaric led UTC with 15 points and nine rebounds. Taylor added 11 points, four rebounds and career-high five assists. He joined the team today after graduating this morning.
Lamb led all scorers with 24 points to go with six rebounds. Davis had 14 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 17 points, eight boards and six assists, while Maquis Teague chipped 11 points and eight assists.
Chattanooga got a big spark from the play of Burroughs and Z. Mason combining for 11 points and 11 rebounds at the four. Mason came off the bench with a season-high eight points to go with eight rebounds.