NEW YORK (AP) — Solo Ball scored 15 points andfifth-rankedUConn never trailed in beating No. 13 Illinois 74-61 on Friday at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies (6-1) did not dominate Illinois like in the previous meeting when they scored 30 straight points in the Elite Eight on their way to the 2024 national title, but were more than effective enough until the final minutes when they let a 17-point lead slip to single digits.
UConn won for the ninth time in its last 11 games at the Garden and improved to 15-8 in the building under coach Danny Hurley.
Ball scored 13 points in the first half and made 6 of 14 shots. Malachi Smith added 14 points and nine assists and Alex Karaban had 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Braylon Mullins played 10 minutes and scored two pointsin his debut.
The Huskies shot 41% and made 10 of 28 3-pointers in their third game against a ranked opponent.
Kylan Boswell led Illinois (6-2) with 25 points and nine rebounds. The Illini struggled to consistently hit shots until making a comeback attempt late in the second half. Tomislav Ivisic had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Leading-scorer Andrej Stojakovic was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
NO. 1 PURDUE 109, EASTERN ILLINOIS 62
WEST LAFAYTETTE, Ind. (AP) — Daniel Jacobsen scored a career-high 24 points and had nine rebounds to lead Purdue to a romp over Eastern Illinois.
The 7-foot-4 Jacobsen sank all eight shot attempts and 8 of 9 free throws for the Boilermakers (7-0). Jacobsen was one of six Boilermakers scoring in double figures. Fletcher Loyer scored 15 points, making all four of his 3-point shots. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 points and six rebounds.
Meechie White led the Panthers (2-5) with 23 points. Terry McMorris added 13 points.
The Boilermakers shot 63% while the Panthers made 46%. Purdue held a 37-17 edge in rebounds and a considerable advantage at the free-throw line. Purdue sank 16 of 18 free throws while Eastern Illinois was 6 of 9.
With the score tied at 19-all, Purdue took the lead at 21-19 for good on a hook shot by Jacobsen. Purdue closed the half with a 14-2 run to take a 53-28 lead at halftime.
The Panthers kept it close early in part because Purdue committed nine turnovers leading to 15 points. The Boilermakers committed one turnover in the final 11 1/2 minutes of the half.
Purdue turned the ball over only once in the second half. Eastern Illinois finished with 17 turnovers.
NO. 5 BYU 83, DAYTON 79
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Richie Saunders had a season-high 29 points, Robert Wright III scored 23 and BYU beat Dayton 83-79 to win the Magic bracket of the ESPN Events Invitational.
Saunders made 9 of 15 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and all five of his free throws for the Cougars (6-1). He also had eight rebounds and three steals. Wright hit 9 of 16 shots with two 3-pointers and added six assists and two steals. AJ Dybantsa scored 18 on 7-for-12 shooting.
Javon Bennett made six 3-pointers and scored 22 to pace the Flyers (6-2). Bryce Heard hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points off the bench. Amael L'Etang added 13 points and De'Shayne Montgomery 11.
Bennett made five from beyond the arc in the first half, scoring 17 to help Dayton take a 36-30 lead into the break.
Montgomery buried a 3-pointer to begin the second half for Dayton, but Saunders and Dybantsa had back-to-back layups and Wright hit from deep to spark a 15-0 run and the Cougars moved in front 45-39 with 16:24 remaining.
BYU played with a lead until Bennett hit a 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 run to pull the Flyers even at 67-all with four minutes left.
Wright and Heard traded 3-pointers before Saunders followed with a four-point play and the Cougars held on over the final 2:56.
NO. 10 FLORIDA 90, PROVIDENCE 78
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Xaivian Lee scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, Thomas Haugh and Reuben Chinyelu each had double-doubles, and Florida beat Providence in the third-place game at the Rady Children's Invitational.
Haugh had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Chinyelu had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in five games.
Florida's frontcourt has 11 double-doubles this season. It would be 12 had Chinyelu not fallen one rebound short in an 84-80 loss to TCU in the tournament opener on Thursday.
Urban Klavzar scored 18 points and Boogie Fland added 17 for the defending national champion Gators (5-2), who smoothly rebounded from the loss to the Horned Frogs.
Ryan Mela scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures for the Friars (4-4), who were routed 104-83 by Wisconsin on Thursday. Jaylin Sellers had 14, Jason Edwards 13, Corey Floyd Jr. 12 and Stefan Vaaks 10.
NO. 24 VANDERBILT 96, SAINT MARY'S 71
NASSAU, BAHAMAS (AP) — Duke Miles scored 25 points, Jalen Washington added a career-high 19 points off the bench, and Vanderbilt defeated Saint Mary's in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
Saint Mary's opened the second half on a 10-2 run to get within 53-44, then a three-point play by Miles put the Commodores ahead by double digits again. The Gaels were within 11 points a few minutes later then Washington's three-point play on an alley-oop dunk restored a 16-point lead for the Commodores. Vanderbilt led by at least 12 the rest of the way.
Miles made 9 of 16 shots and also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Washington made 7 of 11 shots. Tyler Tanner scored 13 points and Devin McGlockton and Tyler Nickel each scored 11 for the Commodores (8-0).
Coming in, Vanderbilt led the nation in scoring at 99.7 points per game. Six players average double digits in scoring, led by Miles at 17.9 ppg.
Vanderbilt led 17-13 eight minutes into the game before Washington and Nickel hit 3-pointers to start a 17-0 run. The Commodores shot 58% for the half and led 51-34 at the break. They shot 52% for the game and made 18 of 22 free throws.
Paulius Murauskas scored 24 points and Mikey Lewis had 19 for Saint Mary's (8-1).
