Rob Lewis scored 17 points and Chris Udofia had 13 as the University of Denver stayed unbeaten Wednesday night with a 70-58 victory over visiting Saint Mary’s.
Lewis was 4-of-8 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. Justin Coughlin added 10 points for the Pioneers (4-0), who won despite their leading scorer, Brian Stafford, being held to eight points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Denver was 10-for-20 (50 percent) from 3-point range.
Rob Jones led Saint Mary’s (2-1) with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Matthew Dellavedova scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers.
DU outscored the Gales 35-29 in each half and forced 14 turnovers for the game. It was the Pioneers’ first victory over Saint Mary’s, which had won the only two previous meetings.
Saint Mary’s led 9-4 early in the first half after a Dellavedova 3-pointer, but Denver responded with three straight 3-pointers and never trailed again.
Georgetown 91, No. 8 Memphis 88 (OT)
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Despite losing by just four to a top-25 team, Georgetown coach John Thompson III was frustrated by his young squad for not being able to make plays down the stretch against Kansas to open the Maui Invitational.
Two days later, against another top-25 team, the Hoyas were the ones making the plays.
How’s that for some quick improvement?
Jason Clark hit a big 3-pointer in overtime on his way to 26 points, and Georgetown played with poise down the stretch hold off No. 8 Memphis 91-88 in the tournament’s fifth-place game.
“In the Kansas game, I told our guys we made mistakes coming down the stretch that we can control,” Thompson said. “Tonight we made plays as opposed to making mistakes at key points, so hopefully that’s growth for this group.”
Memphis and Georgetown didn’t look like two teams playing for fifth place, trading monster dunks, 3-pointers and leads throughout regulation.
The Hoyas (4-1) went up 90-86 in overtime after Clark hit a 3 with 51 seconds left and Markel Starks followed with two free throws.
The Tigers (2-2) cut the lead to two on Stan Simpson’s two free throws and had a shot to tie after Georgetown’s Hollis Thompson made just 1-of-2 at the other end.
But Memphis didn’t get a good look at the end of regulation and did it again in overtime, with Antonio Barton’s 3-pointer coming up well short at the buzzer.
Will Barton led Memphis with 22 points and Joe Jackson added 20.
No. 2 Kentucky 88, Radford 40
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Terrence Jones scored 17 points and Michael Kidd- Gilchrist added 15 points and nine rebounds in the Wildcats’ first home game in nearly two weeks.
Kentucky (5-0) improved to 35-0 at Rupp Arena since John Calipari took over as coach in 2009 and has a final tuneup game against Portland on Saturday before St. John’s visits Dec. 1 and No. 1 North Caro- lina visits two days later.
Radford (3-4) struggled against Kentucky’s defensive pressure and athleticism. The Highlanders missed their first 12 shots and committed eight turnovers before finally scoring nearly 10 minutes into the game. They finished 2-of-25 from 3-point range.
Kentucky returned home for the first time since its season opener against Marist after a successful three-game road trip that featured a win over then-No. 13 Kansas in New York City and two more in Uncasville, Conn., over Penn State and Old Dominion to capture the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.
No one has come within double digits of the Wildcats this season, and Radford already trailed 14-0 before Blake Smith’s jumper with 10:27 left in the first half as the Highlanders missed their first 20 3-point attempts.
Kentucky took a 22-2 lead on Anthony Davis’ putback before Radford scored back-to-back baskets.
No. 3 Ohio State 107, VMI 74
COLUMBUS, Ohio — William Buford scored 23 points and Jared Sullinger added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Buckeyes.
Aaron Craft had 13 points and eight assists, Deshaun Thomas 11 points and J.D. Weatherspoon 10 points for the Buckeyes (5-0), who shot 68 percent from the field.
Buford, the only senior on Ohio State’s roster, had hit just 8-of-23 field-goal attempts in Ohio State’s last two games and was shooting just 41.7 percent from the field on the season.
He made 10-of-16 shots from the field, including both 3-point attempts and his only foul shot.
Keith Gabriel led VMI (3-2) with 21 points, with Ron Burks adding 19 and Stan Okoye 12. The Keydets were playing their first ranked opponent since a 107-69 loss to then- No. 4 Ohio State on Nov. 10, 2006. That Buckeyes team went on to the national championship game before falling to defending NCAA champion Florida 84-75.
The Buckeyes ran their home winning streak to 27 in a row.
No. 5 Syracuse 69, Virginia Tech 58
NEW YORK — C.J. Fair and Dion Waters combined for 21 points in the second half — 19 more than they had in the opening 20 minutes — and the Orange pulled away for a victory in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off
Kris Joseph had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Triche added 18 points for the Orange (5-0), which will play Stanford in the championship game tonight. The Cardinal beat Oklahoma State 82-67.
No. 9 Baylor 75, Texas-Arlington 65
WACO, Texas — Quincy Miller had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bears.
It was the first career double-double for the 6-foot-9 freshman forward, who led five players in double figures for Baylor (5-0). Quincy Acy also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Pierre Jackson added 16 points for the Bears, while Brady Heslip had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Cory Jefferson scored 10 points.
LaMarcus Reed III had 21 points with four 3-pointers to lead Texas- Arlington (3-1).
No. 13 Alabama 82, Alabama A&M 45
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Charles Hankerson Jr. had 16 points and nine rebounds and Nick Jacobs added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Crimson Tide (6-0) won its 23rd straight home game.
Alabama entered the game sporting one of the nation’s top defenses, holding opponents to 51.8 points a game, 14th best in the nation. The Crimson Tide improved on that against the Bulldogs (2-2).
No. 15 Michigan 79, UCLA 63
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Zack Novak scored a career-high 22 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 20 as the Wolverines captured third place in the Maui Invitational.
Michigan (5-1) played well at both ends to build a modest lead in the first half and ran away with it in the second. The Wolverines made 15-of-23 shots in the second half and hit 62 percent overall to bounce back from a tough loss to No. 6 Duke in the semifinals.
San Diego State 61, No. 23 Arizona 57
TUCSON — Chase Tapley scored 17 points as the Aztecs bolted to a 17-point lead in the opening minutes and broke the Wildcats’ 22-game home winning streak.
The difference came from long range. San Diego State (6-1) made 8-of-12 3-pointers — 3-of-4 by Tapley — to 5-of-26 for the Wildcats (4-2), who lost their second in a row.
Women
Denver 64, Colorado State 61
Led by senior forward Kaetlyn Murdoch and sophomore guard Quincey Noonan, the Pioneers improved to 4-0 with a win over the visiting Rams.
CSU forward Sam Martin had game-highs with 29 points and 13 rebounds, while Murdoch (5-of-15) and Noonan (3-of-13) had 14 points each.
Denver Post staff & wire reports
