Keyshaun Langley poured in 23 points as UNC Greensboro pulled off a 78-72 upset of No. 14 Arkansas on Friday night in Fayetteville, Ark.
Langley made 6 of 11 shots from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, to carry the Spartans (2-1) to the surprising victory. He also made all six of his free-throw attempts and had five assists and four steals.
Mikeal Brown-Jones supplied 17 points as UNC Greensboro put together an efficient offensive performance, knocking down 48.1 percent of its shots.
Tramon Mark supplied 21 points and three steals for Arkansas, which trailed for 35:34 of game time. El Ellis posted 19 points, Khalif Battle notched 11 and Davonte Davis netted 10.
No. 3 Arizona 100, Belmont 68
Caleb Love had his best-scoring game at Arizona with 20 points and freshman Motiejus Krivas also scored 20 as the Wildcats routed the Bruins in Tucson, Ariz.
Love, a senior transfer from North Carolina, made 8 of 12 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and dished out six assists for Arizona (4-0). Krivas, a backup center, scored his career high on 8-of-10 shooting while pulling down nine rebounds. Arizona, which reached triple-digit points for the second time this season, showed off its balance with five double-digit scorers.
Malik Dia was a bright spot for the Bruins (2-2) with 21 points and seven rebounds, both team highs. Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 13. Belmont shot well from 3-point range (12 of 27, 44.4 percent), but the Wildcats dominated down low with a 52-22 rebounding edge.
No. 6 Houston 76, Utah 66
LJ Cryer answered the Utes’ big rally with a pair of 3-point baskets as the Cougars pulled out a victory in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
Houston (5-0) will meet Dayton, an 88-81 winner against St. John’s in the first semifinal, in Sunday’s tournament championship game. Utah (3-1) takes on St. John’s in the third-place game.
Gabe Madsen tallied 29 points, boosted by eight 3-point baskets, for Utah. Branden Carlson supplied 17 points and eight rebounds.
No. 9 Duke 90, Bucknell 60
Mark Mitchell scored a career-high 20 points as the Blue Devils beat the visiting Bison in Durham, N.C.
Mitchell was one of four Blue Devils to score in double figures, and he also had six rebounds for Duke (3-1). Freshman guard Jared McCain notched his first double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, Tyrese Proctor had 13 points, Kyle Filipowski added 10 for Duke.
Jack Forrest led the Bison (1-4) with 17 points, while Ruot Bijiek chipped in 11.
No. 12 Miami 79, Georgia 67
Matthew Cleveland tied for game-high honors with 18 points as the Hurricanes defeated the Bulldogs in the first round of the Baha Mar Championships in Nassau, Bahamas.
Miami (4-0) will play Kansas State in the tournament’s title game on Sunday, with Georgia (2-2) facing Providence in the consolation game.
Freshman reserve Blue Cain scored a team-high and career-high 18 points to lead Georgia.
No. 13 Texas A&M 74, Oral Roberts 66
Henry Coleman III scored 19 points and added 10 rebounds, and Wade Taylor IV had a key layup late and two clinching free throws as the Aggies outlasted the visiting Golden Eagles in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (4-0) led by seven points at halftime and by 11 with 13:34 to play but then went 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal, allowing Oral Roberts to claw to within 56-48. Texas A&M pushed its advantage back to 12 before Issac McBride poured in a 3-pointer to cull the Golden Eagles’ deficit back to nine points with 5:19 remaining. Taylor scored 16 points for the Aggies, and Tyrece Radford added 11 points.
McBride led the Golden Eagles (1-3) with a game-high 27 points. DeShang Weaver finished with 14 points, and Kareem Thompson added 12.
No. 17 Kentucky 101, Stonehill 67
Reed Sheppard scored 25 points off the bench to lead the host Wildcats over the Skyhawks in Lexington, Ky.
Rob Dillingham had 20 points and seven assists off the bench, and Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell each scored 15 points for Kentucky (3-1).
Max Zegarowski and Tony Felder each scored 15 points, and Jackson Benigni added 11 points in defeat for Stonehill (1-4).
No. 18 Michigan State 74, Butler 54
Tyson Walker scored 21 points to lead the Spartans over the Bulldogs in a Gavitt Tipoff Games contest in East Lansing, Mich.
A.J. Hoggard scored 14 points and Malik Hall had 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Spartans (2-2).
Jahmyl Telfort scored 15 points, and Michigan State transfer Pierre Brooks added 13 for Butler (3-1).
No. 20 North Carolina 77, UC Riverside 52
Armando Bacot pumped in 21 points and the Tar Heels scored the first 19 points of the second half to beat the Highlanders in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble posted 11 points and Harrison Ingram had 10 points and nine rebounds for North Carolina (3-0), which used three home games to tune up for next week’s Battle 4 Atlantis where the competition is bound to become stiffer.
Benjamin Griscti tallied 14 points and Barrington Hargress notched 10 points for UC Riverside (1-3), which shot 30.6 percent from the field in the program’s first-ever meeting with North Carolina.
No. 21 Villanova 57, Maryland 40
Tyler Burton scored 15 points and the Wildcats smothered visiting the Terrapins in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
TJ Bamba contributed 11 points for Villanova (3-1), which led by 24 at halftime and never looked back. The Wildcats scored just 18 points on 26.3 percent shooting in the second half, but it didn’t matter much.
Julian Reese scored 10 points to pace Maryland (1-3), which missed 27 of its first 31 shots and finished at 24 percent on the night. The Terps ended the game on a 13-2 run to make the final score a bit more respectable.
No. 22 Alabama 98, Mercer 67
The Crimson Tide sank their first nine shots of the game and kept on rolling in a win over the Bears in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Mark Sears scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half for Alabama (4-0), which fell just short of reaching triple-digits for the fourth straight game to begin the season. Alabama hasn’t opened a campaign with four games of 100-plus scoring since 1956-57.
Jalyn McCreary had 17 points and eight rebounds and Amanze Ngumezi added 11 points to lead Mercer (1-3), who shot 40.6 percent (26 of 64) overall and 21.4 percent (3 of 14) from deep.
No. 23 Illinois 87, Valparaiso 64
After trailing for most of the first 25 minutes, the Illini needed a huge second-half run to claim a nonconference victory over the visiting Beacons in Champaign, Ill.
All-Big Ten guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who tweaked his ankle on the game’s first possession, scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the second half for Illinois (3-1). Center Dain Dainja, starting in place of the injured Coleman Hawkins, posted a season-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds, and Luke Goode added 13 points and seven boards off the bench.
Junior college transfer Isaiah Stafford poured in 23 of his career-high 30 points in the first half as Valparaiso (2-2) built a 45-38 halftime lead. Jerome Palm finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Cooper Schwieger added 12 points, but the Beacons shot just 20 percent from the field and missed all eight of their 3-point attempts in the second half.
No. 24 James Madison 76, Radford 73
Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 21 points to lead the Dukes over the Highlanders in Harrisonburg, Va.
T.J. Bickerstaff ruled the paint, scoring 20 points and pulling down eight rebounds as the Dukes (4-0) rallied from a six-point deficit in the second half. With fans toasting the Dukes’ first-ever appearance in the rankings and jazzed about the school’s undefeated football team hosting ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday, the electric arena helped lift James Madison in the second half.
DaQuan Smith led Radford (2-3) with 20 points. Kenyon Giles added 15 points but missed two 3-pointers in the final 2:09. Justin Archer had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Highlanders.
–Field Level Media
