Arizona St. upsets No. 2 Kansas

TOP 25/SEC MEN

NO. 16 ARIZONA STATE 95, NO. 2 KANSAS 85

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Bobby Hurley is no stranger to college basketball lore. When his Arizona State team travelled to Allen Fieldhouse to face Kansas on Sunday, the former Duke star knew what they were in for.

"No one really wins here," Hurley said. "You come in here, most of the time you're not leaving real happy."

Well, the Sun Devils sure did. Tra Holder scored 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting, and No. 16 Arizona State upset No. 2 Kansas 95-85 on Sunday to improve to 9-0.

Shannon Evans II had 22 points, and Remy Martin added 21 for the Sun Devils. Arizona State shot 50 percent from three-point range and 50.8 percent overall to hand Kansas (7-2) its second consecutive loss. The Jayhawks fell to unranked Washington on Wednesday night.

"I didn't really have to coach a whole lot tonight," Hurley said. "These guys sitting with me here deserve all the credit."

After a slow start that forced Hurley to use a timeout less than two minutes into the game, the Sun Devils found themselves down by as much as 13 before making their first field goal. The energy in Allen Fieldhouse was as high as it has been all season, as Hurley expected.

Arizona State got back into it, though, trimming the deficit to just three points at halftime and eventually outscoring the Jayhawks 58-42 in the second half. To get over this initial hump, the Sun Devils had to take a breath and tune out the raucous environment.

"The game slowed down for us," Holder said. "At first it was really rapid, the crowd got into it."

For Kansas, the difference was defense -- or the lack thereof.

"It wasn't our offense," Coach Bill Self said. "Hey, if you score 85 at home, you're supposed to win."

Lagerald Vick led Kansas with 25 points, his fifth time with 20 or more this season, and Devonte' Graham added 19 points and 8 assists.

Svi Mykhailiuk had an off day, going 3 for 14 from the field and not registering any of his 14 points until he hit a three-pointer with 6 minutes left. He had four turnovers and four fouls.

NO. 4 VILLANOVA 77, LASALLE 68

PHILADELPHIA -- Phil Booth and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 18 points to help No. 4 Villanova avoid an upset and remain undefeated in a victory over La Salle.

The Wildcats (10-0) were sloppy, struggled from three-point range and could not shake the pesky Explorers until the final minutes of the game to win their 21st consecutive Big 5 game.

Booth put the Wildcats ahead with three free throws and followed with an assist on DiVincenzo's three-pointer that made it 67-62 and finally gave them a bit of breathing room.

Mikal Bridges, coming off a career-high 28 points against Gonzaga, went inside for a pair of tough buckets and a 71-64 lead that brought the Villanova fans to their feet.

B.J. Johnson led the Explorers (5-6) with 21 points and Amar Stukes had 16 to help keep slim hopes alive of pulling off a stunner. The duo combined to hit 7 three-pointers and carried La Salle to the brink of an upset.

The Wildcats beat No. 12 Gonzaga by 16 points this week at Madison Square Garden and were expected to roll against the Explorers at the Wells Fargo Center. The foundation for their perfect record had come from the three-point line; the Wildcats hit a school-record 19 against Saint Joseph's and buried 10 against the Zags. Against the Explorers, the threes dried up in the first half. Villanova missed its first 6 attempts and missed 8 of 10 overall in the half.

La Salle went the opposite direction in the first half. Shooting a miserable 29 percent from three-point range this season, the Explorers went 6 of 12 to take a 38-37 lead. Stukes hit two consecutive threes and his bucket a tick before the horn to give La Salle the lead at the break.

LSU 97, NORTH CAROLINA-WILMINGTON 84

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Duop Reath scored a career-high 30 points and Tremont Waters added 20 as LSU beat UNC Wilmington.

Reath, who added 5 rebounds, made 13 of 17 from the field in 27 minutes. Waters added 10 assists and 9 rebounds while making 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Skylar Mays had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and Wayde Sims scored 11 for LSU (5-2).

Jordon Talley led UNCW (2-5) with 22 points and 7 assists. Jaquel Richmond had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Ty Taylor finished scored 15.

UNCW's leading scorer and the nation's leading rebounder, Devontae Cacok, sat out the first half because of a team rule violation. He entered the game averaging 19.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game and finished with 10 points and 4 boards.

LSU led by as many as 18 points in the second half. Daryl Edwards converted a four-point play with 7:38 left and Mays a three-point play on the next possession for an 80-65 lead after UNCW had trimmed the margin to 8 points.

LSU, coming off an 11-day break for final exams, led 52-36 at halftime, pulling in the final five minutes after a technical foul on LSU Coach Will Wade for protesting a charging call. After UNCW made a technical free throw with 4:25 left, Waters scored 6 points and assisted on a dunk by Reath, who had 19 points in the first half.

LSU shot 63.6 percent from the field (21 of 33), including 5 of 10 from three-point range, while UNCW shot 35.3 (12 of 34) in the first half.

NO. 21 PURDUE 86, IUPUI 61

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Carsen Edwards scored a career-high 27 points and No. 21 Purdue beat IUPUI for Coach Matt Painter’s 300th victory.

Isaac Haas added 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Vincent Edwards had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help the Boilermakers (10-2) win their sixth consecutive game.

Maurice Kirby had 16 points for IUPUI (2-6), and Jaylen Minnett added 12 points. The Jaguars have lost four consecutive.

Purdue closed out the first half on a 6-0 spurt, capped by P.J. Thompson’s three-pointer just before the buzzer that made it 40-31. The Boilermakers opened the second with a 14-0 run, including seven consecutive points by Carsen Edwards.

Haas’ layup with 16:31 to play put Purdue ahead 54-31 — before IUPUI finally scored again on a lay-up by Kirby.

Sports on 12/11/2017

Upcoming Events