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CREIGHTON 100, NO. 23 UCLA 89
KANSAS CITY, Mo -- Marcus Foster scored 23 points, Mitch Ballock added 22 in front of his boyhood fans and Creighton beat No. 23 UCLA 100-89 on Monday night in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Khyri Thomas added 16 points and Ty-Shon Alexander had 12 for the Bluejays (4-0), who have won 12 consecutive in-season tournament games after titles at the MGM Grand Main Event and the Paradise Jam.
Creighton raced to an early lead, weathered the Bruins' best effort midway through the second half, then proved it could put things away with poise and precision down the stretch.
The Bluejays will play No. 25 Baylor or Wisconsin for the title tonight, giving the freshman Ballock another big game close to home. He starred in high school in Eudora, Kansas.
Aaron Holiday had 25 points to lead the Bruins (3-1), who dealt with foul trouble much of the night. Prince Ali scored 18 points before fouling out, while Thomas Welsh had 16 and Kris Wilkes scored 15.
The teams combined to commit 45 fouls and shoot 66 free throws.
They traded runs in the first half, beginning with a 16-0 surge by the Bluejays that forced Bruins Coach Steve Alford to use two timeouts. UCLA countered with 10 consecutive points a few minutes later, and briefly took the lead 38-36 shortly before the break.
But the Bluejays scored seven consecutive to finish the half and then kept their roll going to start the second, pushing their advantage to 50-38 with 18:02 left to play.
UCLA trimmed the lead to six on several occasions, but Alford's young team kept making poor decisions. The Bruins twice were whistled for flagrant fouls down the stretch, giving Creighton two free throws and the ball, and some ill-advised shots wasted offensive possessions.
Alexander's off-balance floater with 2:01 left could have trimmed the lead to 94-89, but Creighton grabbed the rebound. Thomas buried a 3-pointer at the other end to put the game away.
In other games involving Top 25 steams, Marvin Bagley III scored 24 points and No. 1 Duke beat Furman 92-63 on Monday night in the on-campus round of the PK80 in Durham, N.C. Trevon Duval had a season-best 18 points, Wendell Carter Jr. added 14 and a fourth freshman -- Alex O'Connell -- scored 10 for the Blue Devils (5-0). They shot nearly 61 percent and outscored Furman 64-28 in the paint. They have won all four of their games at Cameron Indoor Stadium by at least 17 points. ... Shaquille Morris scored 25 points, Landry Shamet added 23 and No. 6 Wichita State got the Maui Invitational off to a wild start by rallying from an 18-point deficit to beat California 92-82. Cal (2-2) used its pressure to harass the Shockers into mistakes and missed shots, building the lead to nine by halftime and 18 within 4½ minutes of the second half. The Shockers (3-0) turned the game around by turning on their own pressure cooker, revving up the crowd by speeding up the young Bears with their full-court press. Cal handled it poorly, leading to a string of turnovers transition baskets that allowed Wichita State to pull even with 5 minutes left. Wichita State snatched the lead with a late 8-0 run, earning a spot in today's semifinals against Marquette. ... Kevin Knox scored 17 points and No. 8 Kentucky built a big lead in the second half before having to withstand a late rally by Troy to hold on for a 70-62 victory. The Wildcats (4-1) led throughout against the Trojans (2-3). They built a double-digit lead early and extended it to 21 twice in the second half, a needed cushion as Troy fought back to within eight on Wesley Person's three-point play with 1:08 remaining. Knox came up with the last of Kentucky's season-high 53 rebounds that preserved its second victory in the Adolph Rupp Classic named for the legendary coach. ... Robert Williams had 11 points, 11 rebounds and a handful of alley-oop dunks to help No. 16 Texas A&M beat Oklahoma State 72-55 in the first game of the 2017 Progressive Legends Classic in New York. Williams added three steals and two blocks for the Aggies (3-0). DJ Hogg led all scorers with 18 points. Tonny Trocha-Morelos finished with 12 points and Admon Gilder had 10. The loss was the first of the season for Oklahoma State (3-1). Brandon Averette led the Cowboys with 10. ... Lamont West led No. 23 West Virginia with 22 points, one shy of a career high, in a 91-62 victory over Long Beach State in Morgantown, W.Va. For the second time in a week, West Virginia (3-1) started out sluggish, trailing LBSU 9-6 at the first media timeout. West Virginia responded with an 18-5 run over the next 6:32 and finished the first half with a 10-1 run to create some cushion. The 49ers (2-2) took advantage of a Mountaineer scoring drought in the second half but couldn't get within 15 points of the lead. Sagaba Konate had a career-high 20 points and Chase Harler added 14 points, also a career high. Wesley Harris led the Mountaineers with nine rebounds. ... Freshman Abdul Ado had 12 points and 11 rebounds on Monday and led Mississippi State (3-0) to a 77-68 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay in Starkville, Miss. It is the best start for Mississippi State since starting 5-0 in the 2014-2015 season. Lamar Peters had a game-high 18 points for Mississippi State while Aric Holman and Nick Weatherspoon had 13 and 10, respectively. Khalil Small and TJ Parham each had 15 points to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-2). Kameron Hankerson also finished in double digits for the Phoenix and had 10 points. ... Jeremiah Tilmon and Kevin Puryear each scored 13 points, and Jontay Porter added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Missouri (3-1), which overcame shooting 10 percent on three-pointers and 56 percent from the foul line in a 67-62 victory over NCAA Division II Emporia State. Brian Morton led Emporia State (2-3) with 21 points, including 15 in the second half as the Hornets refused to go away.
Sports on 11/21/2017