No. 5 Villanova tops George Mason on late shot

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The first shot of Isaiah Armwood’s college basketball career was a big one.

The freshman hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying fifth-ranked Villanova over George Mason 69-68 Thursday in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

“He was the last one I wanted to take the shot. I’ll be honest,” Villanova coach Jay Wright admitted.

The Wildcats (3-0) trailed by 13 points in the first half and were behind 68-66 with time ticking down.

Armwood hit his only shot, connecting from the top of the arc. He played just four minutes, coming off the bench after Antonio Pena and Taylor King both fouled out.

“It felt good when it left my hand. It felt even better after the game,” Armwood said.

Wright, by the way, said Armwood now “definitely” has a green light to shoot away.

The Wildcats never led until late in the second half. They were down 67-63 in the final minute, then freshman Maalik Wayns hit a 3.

After Sherrod Wright made one of two free throws for George Mason, Armwood made his 3. The Patriots (2-1) did not get off another shot.

Scottie Reynolds scored 18 points despite relentless pressure from George Mason’s guards, who contributed to his eight turnovers. He said he was eager to improve in the second round of the tournament Friday.

“I’m going to have to watch the film and I’ll come back better tomorrow,” he said.

Wright said he was surprised his team did not handle George Mason’s intensity better.

“They had a great game plan, and they did a great job on our guards,” he said. “We’re going to take this one and learn from it.”

Reynolds’ jumper with seven minutes left gave Villanova its first lead. Ryan Pearson responded with a basket for the Patriots.

Pearson led the Patriots with 14 points and star guard Cam Long added 13 before leaving the game because of cramps. Andre Cornelius had 13.

Patriots coach Jim Larranaga, whose team led 37-28 at halftime, said he was happy with his team’s effort.

“With such a young team, the one thing I can’t do is be impatient with them,” he said.

Corey Fisher went 14 for 18 from the foul line and finished with 17 points for Villanova. Pena had 10 points and 12 rebounds and King had eight points.

No. 4 Kentucky 102

Sam Houston St. 92

LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Calipari expected growing pains. Welcomed them even. Told anyone who would listen it would take time for No. 4 Kentucky to embrace and understand his “dribble drive” offense.

Turns out, scoring points might be the least of Kentucky’s worries.

Though the Wildcats were never really in danger during a 102-92 win over Sam Houston State in the Cancun Challenge on Thursday, Calipari was hardly in the mood to celebrate after his team let another opponent stick around thanks to a lackluster defensive performance that at times lacked energy, effort and intensity.

“They have no urgency defensively, none,” Calipari fumed after his team improved to 3-0.

Watching Sam Houston State put together a record-setting performance from behind the arc, it was hard to argue.

The Bearkats made 18 of 38 3-pointers, including 11 by senior guard Corey Allmond, to keep things interesting deep into the second half no matter how hard Calipari tried to get the Wildcats to ramp up the defensive pressure.

He called time-outs. He pulled players out. He yelled so loudly his voice echoed off the Rupp Arena rafters.

None of it slowed Allmond, whose 11 3s were a Rupp Arena record.

“I knew I was going to get a lot of open looks because of the fast pace they play,” said Allmond, who finished with a career-high 37 points.

Sometimes, Allmond didn’t even have to be open. During one sequence in the first half he knocked down an off-balance double-pump 3-pointer with Kentucky guard John Wall draped all over him, then followed it up with another one from the corner in which he somehow got the ball over the outstretched hands of 6-foot-9 Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson.

Syracuse 95

No. 13 California 73

NEW YORK — Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past No. 13 California on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic.

Arinza Onuaku added 12 points for the Orange, who made Madison Square Garden feel like home in the tournament benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Syracuse will play No. 6 North Carolina or No. 15 Ohio State for the championship on Friday night.

Syracuse confounded the Bears (2-1) from the tip with coach Jim Boeheim’s trademark zone defense, building a double-digit lead by halftime.

Cal star Jerome Randle finished with 25 points, while Jamal Boykin had 14 and Patrick Christopher 12.

No. 24 Minnesota 76

Utah Valley 51

MINNEAPOLIS — When Minnesota’s shots aren’t falling, that aggressive, athletic defense is usually there as a fallback.

This season, freshman Rodney Williams is fast becoming quite the safety net, too.

Williams had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals in his first career start, helping 24th-ranked Minnesota pull away from Utah Valley in the second half of a victory on Thursday.

“Rodney really gave us a heck of a boost,” said point guard Al Nolen, who shined with 11 points, seven assists and no turnovers. “He just adds another dimension to our team.”

Missing senior leader and top scorer Lawrence Westbrook to a stomach virus, the Gophers (3-0) finished 5 for 19 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 34-29 by a team in its first year as a full-fledged Division I program. Damian Johnson had 15 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals, though, to lead another strong defensive effort. Minnesota had 30 points off 26 turnovers by the Wolverines (1-2).

“I was hoping we could be a little more disciplined, firm with the basketball and a little less vulnerable to pressure,” coach Dick Hunsaker said. “When you pass it to the other colored shirt the statistic hits the wrong category. It’s an inverted assist. We had too many inverted assists tonight. We’ve got to do a lot better in that regard.”

Much of the credit goes to the Gophers, whose trapping, pressing, overplaying style is supposed to lead to a lot of turnovers.

“Anytime a team forces you to 26 turnovers, I think every kid left the court making sure they still had their shorts on,” Hunsaker said. “They picked our pockets every which way and took the ball in every manner you can imagine.”

Adding Williams to the mix has made Minnesota more dangerous.

“We’re a lot more athletic than we were last year, and we’ve got a lot more guys that complement each other,” Johnson said. “If me and Al trap someone, we always have somebody long like Rodney who can get a steal.”

Jordan Swarbrick led Utah Valley with 11 points and Tyray Petty had eight points and nine rebounds, however, giving Minnesota plenty to work on before playing 11th-ranked Butler next week in the 76 Classic tournament in California. The Gophers will play three games in the big-name field.

“The offense was there. We just weren’t throwing it to the right people,” coach Tubby Smith said. “We’ve got to establish the inside game. It’s kind of like a good football game. You’ve got to soften up the middle and then hit ’em with the outside.”

The Wolverines, who followed a win over North Dakota State in their opener with a loss to Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday, didn’t wilt with peppy point guard Eric Dearden rushing to the rim for layups and Petty and Swarbrick muscling for position underneath.

Nolen’s steal and wraparound pass to Williams for a fast-break dunk over the pursuing defender got the crowd going a little early in the second half. Five minutes later, Williams was fouled trying use the baseline for a slam and fell hard on his side, taking a few seconds to get up. He made both free throws, though, and on his next two drives he chose layups instead.

Williams had one more dunk in him, of course, at the end of another fastbreak fueled by this active defense Smith pushes his teams to play. That made Minnesota’s lead 73-51 with 2 1/2 minutes left.

“They have some great athletes on that team, and they play really good defense,” Swarbrick said. “But we think we could have done a little better job handling that in the second half.”

The Wolverines had an enthusiastic row of family members wearing their green colors sitting behind the bench, and they didn’t lack energy on the court. They stayed close with hustling defense and a willingness to make quick drives to the basket against the block-hungry Gophers, who swatted 23 shots in their first two games.

Utah Valley’s bold jump from junior college to Division I was finalized this summer after six years playing under the NCAA’s provisional status, which made the Wolverines ineligible for postseason play. After previous iterations as a technical and a community college, the school officially gained university status last year. The Wolverines are in the Great West Conference.

“It’s definitely exciting. We have something to play for now,” Swarbrick said. “We have a great group of guys and if we can continue to play together and do what we need to, I think we’ll be successful in this conference. It should be fun.”