TOP 25/SEC MEN

Kansas wakes up, beats La.-Lafayette

NO. 2 KANSAS 89, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 76

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Lagerald Vick hit 7 three-pointers and had a career-high 33 points, Dedric Lawson and Udoka Azubuike came alive late and second-ranked Kansas beat pesky Louisiana-Lafayette 89-76 on Friday night.

Vick also had 9 rebounds for the Jayhawks (3-0) while topping his 32-point outburst earlier in the week against Vermont. Lawson added 19 points and Azubuike had 17 points and 8 rebounds.

Justin Miller scored all 22 of his points in the first half to lead four players in double figures for Louisiana-Lafayette (1-2). JaKeenan Grant finished with 18 points, Malik Marquetti had 14 and Cedric Russell had 10 points and 5 assists.

Miller and the Ragin' Cajuns had the Jayhawks on the ropes most of the way.

Taking advantage of Kansas' slow start, Louisiana-Lafayette ripped off an early 15-2 run that was capped by a five-point trip down the floor. Gant knocked down a three-pointer, Jayhawks Coach Bill Self lit into an official to earn a technical foul, and Marcus Stroman hit both the free throws to give the reigning Sun Belt champions a 32-20 lead with about 10 minutes left in the first half.

In other Top 25/SEC games Friday, De'Andre Hunter scored 20 points, and No. 4 Virginia opened with a 21-5 run and beat Coppin State 97-40. Hunter was outscoring the Eagles for most of the first half after hitting two early three-pointers for the Cavaliers (3-0). ... Luke Maye had 15 points to help No. 7 North Carolina beat Tennessee Tech 108-58. Sterling Manley added 13 points for the Tar Heels (4-0). ... Xavier Sneed scored 16 points to lead five players for No. 12 Kansas State in double figures and beat Eastern Kentucky 95-68. Dean Wade and Cartier Diarra each had 14 points for the Wildcats. ... Bol Bol had 26 points and 9 rebounds, and No. 13 Oregon beat No. 15 Syracuse 80-65 in the consolation game of the 2K Classic in New York. Payton Pritchard added 18 points for the Ducks (3-1). ... Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points, helping No. 16 Virginia Tech beat Northeastern 88-60 and advance to the championship of the Charleston Classic. The Hokies (3-0) grabbed control in the first half, going from trailing 24-23 to leading 46-26 at the break. ... Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 21 points, Tyson Carter added 17 and No. 17 Mississippi State beat Long Beach State 79-51. Mississippi State went on a 32-4 run over 15 minutes spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. ... Ja'vonte Smart scored 16 points, and his late three-pointer put No. 22 LSU ahead for good in a back-and-forth 74-67 victory over Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs tied it at 62 on a jumper by Daquan Bracey with 2:29 remaining, but Smart hit his three on the next possession for the Tigers (4-0). ... Carsen Edwards had 29 points, and No. 23 Purdue beat Davidson to reach the final of the Charleston Classic. Edwards had six of Purdue's 13 three-pointers. ... Tevin Mack scored 20 points and Alabama bounced back nicely from its first loss of the season by defeating Ball State 79-61. Mack went 5 for 9 from three-point range. ... Kevin Puryear scored 17 points, and Missouri pulled ahead in the final two minutes to beat Kennesaw State 55-52 at the Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas. ... Nicolas Claxton scored 13 points, including two consecutive layups which brought Georgia back from a second-half deficit, and the Bulldogs beat Sam Houston State 75-64. Rayshaun Hammonds led Georgia (2-1) with 15 points. Claxton had eight rebounds. ... Freshman Simi Shittu scored 20 points and senior Joe Toye added 14, and Vanderbilt beat Alcorn State 79-54. Shittu, a 6-foot-10 power forward, was a force inside, hitting 9 of 11 shots from the floor. ... Paul Jorgensen scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half and Kamar Baldwin added 12 of his 23 in the final six minutes to help Butler get past pesky Mississippi 83-76. The Bulldogs needed a late 13-2 spurt to finally take control and extend the nation's third-longest nonconference home winning streak to 46 games.

SUN BELT MEN

GRAND CANYON 96, ARKANSAS STATE 72

Ty Cockfield scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor for Arkansas State University, but it wasn't enough as all five Grand Canyon University starters scored 10 or more points Friday at GCU Arena in Phoenix.

Neither team could build much of a lead until Grand Canyon (3-1) began to pull away in the latter stages of the first half. Two free throws by Grantham Gillard cut the Antelopes' lead to 28-27 with 5:57 left in the half. An 8-0 run over the next 3:24, capped by a jumper by Michael Finke, increased the lead to 36-27. A three-pointer by Gillard with 2:13 left stopped the run, but Grand Canyon used another 8-0 run to end the half and take a 44-30 halftime lead.

Marquis Eaton hit a layup on a fast break off a Grand Canyon turnover to cut the lead to nine points, 53-44, with 15:24 left in the game, but that's as close as Arkansas State (1-2) would get.

Gillard finished with 16 points and was the only other player to score 10 or more points for the Red Wolves, who shot 48 percent (27 of 56) from the floor. Finke led the Antelopes with 15 points, while Damari Milstead came off the bench to score 14.

Sports on 11/17/2018

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