Tyler Nickel matched a career high by scoring 24 points as Vanderbilt constantly found holes in the nation’s top-ranked scoring defense and pulled away in the second half for a 76-60 victory over Seton Hall in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic Friday in South Carolina.

Off to their best start since starting 2007-08 with 16 straight wins, the Commodores (6-0) will face Drake in the championship game on Sunday night.

Nickel made 8 of 16 shots and hit a career-high six 3s after missing five of six field goal attempts in Thursday’s two-point win over Nevada.

Devin McGlockton added 13 and Jason Edwards contributed 10 as Vanderbilt shot 51.9 percent, hit 10 3s and converted 13 layups against a defense that entered the game allowing 50.6 points.

Isaiah Coleman scored 20 for Seton Hall (3-3), which was unable to follow up its impressive overtime win over VCU in the opening round. Coleman was the only double-figure scorer for the Pirates as leading scorer Chaunce Jenkins was held to three points on 1-of-7 shooting after scoring 22 points Thursday.

Seton Hall committed 16 turnovers, was held to 60 points or fewer for the fifth time and shot a dreadful 36.5 percent. The Pirates will face Florida Atlantic in the third-place game on Sunday.

Vanderbilt scored 11 straight points as part of a 15-2 run that spanned 5:50 and opened a 26-15 lead on a 3 by Nickel with 5:42 left. Nickel sank two more 3s in the final three minutes, and Vanderbilt took a 38-28 halftime lead after A.J. Hoggard made a bad foul on Dylan Addae-Wusu, who hit three free throws with three-tenths of a second left.

Nickel hit his fifth 3 to give Vanderbilt a 47-36 lead with 16:41 left and his sixth triple opened a 52-38 edge a little more than a minute later. Vanderbilt continued pouring it on as Nickel rested, and the Commodores scored nine straight points to take a 66-45 lead on a layup by MJ Collins with 9:57 left.

–Field Level Media

Jamir Watkins had 19 points and Malique Ewin totaled 15 points to lead Florida State to a 78-69 victory over Temple on Friday night in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Uncasville, Conn.

The Seminoles (5-1) won their second in a row following a loss to rival Florida and will next face UMass on Sunday in the Tip-Off while the Owls (3-2) dropped their second in three games. Temple will next play UMass on Saturday in Uncasville.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. led all scorers with 20 points, but at times, Florida State’s defense did a solid job limiting him from producing offense. Mashburn Jr. shot 6 of 15 from the field and went 1 for 4 from 3-point range. He also went 7 for 12 from the free throw line.

Zion Sanford totaled 15 points, four rebounds and three assists as well for the Owls while Steve Settle had 14 points and five rebounds.

Watkins did most of his damage from the foul line as well, shooting 10 for 13 while going 4 for 10 from the field.

Temple jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but couldn’t sustain much momentum thanks to Florida State’s defense. Ewin had a solid game on that front and on the boards as he collected nine rebounds.

Taylor Bol Bowen also had a solid defensive game with three blocks to go along with seven points. Chandler Jackson also finished with 10 points.

Florida State finished with a slight rebounding edge at 39-34, but controlled things in the paint where they outscored the Owls 40-30 and slowed the game down to more of a grind.

But when the Seminoles needed to run they did, totaling 15 fast break points.

After Temple cut the deficit to 73-66 with 1:25 remaining on a Settle dunk, Florida State put the game away at the free throw line as Watkins made all three of his free throws and Bol Bowen made two.

The Seminoles spread the ball well once again with six players scoring at least seven points.

–Field Level Media

John Blackwell scored 17 points and John Tonje added 15 to lead No. 19 Wisconsin to an 86-70 win over UCF on Friday at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Wisconsin advances to the final on Sunday to face Pitt, a 74-63 winner over LSU on Friday. UCF will play in the consolation game on Sunday vs. LSU.

The Badgers (6-0) also got 14 from Kamari McGee on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Nolan Winter scored 13 and grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Jordan Ivy-Curry led the way for UCF (4-1) with 13 points despite shooting 3-of-14 from the floor. Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson each added 11.

Wisconsin jumped out in front quicky, making six of their first 10 shots from the floor to take 24-12 lead by the halfway point of the first half. The Badgers’ lead grew to as much as 22 with four minutes left but UCF battled back to cut Wisconsin’s halftime lead to 46-31.

Blackwell led the Badgers with 10 at the break while McGee had nine, despite the team missing nine of their final 11 shots to close the half.

Ivy-Curry led UCF with 10 points in the half. The Knights struggled from the field in the first half, going 0-for-9 from deep and 10-for-34 overall.

In the second half, UCF made two quick free throws to cut the deficit to 46-33. That’s the closest they got for the rest of the night. Wisconsin quickly went on a 7-0 run to make it a 20-point lead and maintained it from there.

The Badgers continued to shoot it well and hold UCF in check from the field throughout the second half. The Knights shot just 33.9 percent on the game and 12 percent from 3-point range.

Wisconsin improves to 6-0 for the first time since they made the final four in the 2014-15 season. They also set a school record by scoring at least 75 points in each of their first six games of the season.

Wisconsin will play tomorrow against Pitt for the Greenbrier Tip-Off championship. UCF will be in action too against LSU for third place.

–Field Level Media

New coach Chris Holtmann has been tasked with rebuilding DePaul to the point where it can return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.

Northern Illinois coach Rashon Burno knows what it takes to steer DePaul to the NCAAs because he was the starting point guard on the 2000 team that made the tournament — the Blue Demons’ only other NCAA appearance since 1992.

Perhaps they can compare notes Saturday afternoon when Burno leads the Huskies (2-3) back to his alma mater as DePaul (5-0) hosts its sixth straight home game in Chicago.

Last season, Burno’s NIU squad helped accelerate DePaul’s need for a new coach — as the Huskies waltzed into Wintrust Arena and owned Tony Stubblefield’s Blue Demons by an 89-79 score on Nov. 25. The Huskies built a 24-point second-half lead before coasting to the finish line.

Can history repeat for NIU? There’s just one problem with using last year’s game as a potential barometer for Saturday’s rematch: Almost no players on this year’s teams were part of last year’s squads.

At DePaul, only assistant coach Paris Parham remains as Holtmann had the green light to bring in an all-new roster. UIC graduate transfer Isaiah Rivera (16.0 ppg, .485 3-point rate) and Coastal Carolina transfer Jacob Meyer (15.4 ppg, .406 on 3s) lead a balanced attack that focuses on getting half its shots from beyond the arc.

At NIU, Burno retained only two players who competed against DePaul last year — Ethan Butler and Oluwasegun Durosinmi — and they combined for three points in 26 minutes in that game. The Huskies’ main players used the transfer portal to join such programs as Kansas, Wisconsin, Penn State, Colorado State, James Madison, Georgia State and Niagara.

With every starting job open, Butler has jumped into the lineup and produced 11.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. Transfers Quentin Jones (Cal Poly) and James Dent (Western Illinois) pace the Huskies with 14.4 and 14.0 points per game.

NIU is on a two-game losing streak, most recently a 75-48 home defeat at the hands of Elon on Wednesday.

Holtmann hopes to have Arkansas transfer Layden Blocker for Saturday’s game. Blocker missed Tuesday’s 78-69 win over Eastern Illinois with a quad injury. With the combo guard unavailable, point guard Conor Enright handed out a career-high 11 assists in a season-high 38 minutes.

“We need (Blocker),” Holtmann said. “I don’t want to play Conor 38 minutes.”

–Field Level Media

Wake Forest keeps trying new things early in the season, even if not all of the adjustments are by design.

The Demon Deacons will try to stick to the script when Detroit Mercy visits for Saturday’s game in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Demon Deacons (5-1) will be at home for the final time prior to three consecutive road games. Detroit Mercy (3-2) already has two more victories than all of last season.

After a couple of narrow wins and a loss at Xavier, Wake Forest had a smoother time earlier this week in defeating visiting Western Carolina 82-69 on Tuesday night.

Yet these are games when teams have to figure where contributions are going to come from in certain situations. The experimenting took a turn for Wake Forest in the Western Carolina game. Center Efton Reid III had limited minutes because of migraines, so there was a shift in responsibilities.

Normal backcourt players Cameron Hildreth and Juke Harris logged time at the power forward slot.

“That’s just part of it,” coach Steve Forbes said. “They did a good job adjusting. We ran a lot of stuff and there are several guys learning different positions. … I give credit to those guys for doing the best job that they could do on the fly and adjusting to the play calls that we ran and the stuff that we changed.”

Wake Forest could excel if both Parker Friedrichsen and Davin Cosby can be consistent 3-point threats. Friedrichsen slumped with shooting in the first few games of the season and was replaced in the starting lineup by Cosby.

In Tuesday’s game, Friedrichsen drained four 3-pointers, while Cosby hit two.

“It was really good to see Parker and Davin both make shots together,” Forbes said.

Not everything was solved for the Demon Deacons. Western Carolina collected 12 offensive rebounds, and that took some of the shine off Wake Forest’s defensive efforts.

“We can’t be a good defensive team, or a really good defensive team, unless we rebound the ball,” Forbes said. “It’s demoralizing to your defense to get stops and then not get the ball.”

In Detroit Mercy’s 70-59 win at Ball State on Wednesday, Orlando Lovejoy tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

“We got the ball to the shooters and playmakers,” first-year Titans coach Mark Montgomery said. “You could tell by the guys’ body language that we were going to get a road win. It had been a long time coming.”

On Saturday, the Titans will look for their second road victory since February 2023. The outcome at Ball State seemed significant to Montgomery.

“We had to get over the hump,” he said. “Our guys grinded it out.”

–Field Level Media

Jaland Lowe had a strong all-around game as Pitt improved to 6-0 with a 74-63 win over LSU on Friday afternoon at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Lowe finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists for the Panthers, who have won their first six games of a season for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign. Lowe had a triple-double — 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — against VMI Monday.

Ishmael Leggett chipped in 21 points and Cameron Corhen supplied 14, helping Pitt outshoot the Tigers 44.4 percent to 37.3 percent overall.

Vyctorius Miller and Jalen Reed recorded 14 points apiece for LSU (4-1), with Reed also snatching seven boards. Cam Carter contributed 11 points.

The Panthers advance to the Sunday championship game to oppose Wisconsin, which beat UCF 86-70 later Friday. The Tigers will face the Knights in the consolation game on Sunday.

Pitt took control in the first four-plus minutes of the second half, opening the period on a 13-0 run to build a 40-28 lead. The Tigers were held scoreless following the break until Carter converted a layup with 13:13 to go.

It was still a 12-point game after Zack Austin hit a pair of free throws with 12:50 remaining, but LSU then rallied.

Corey Chest, Reed and Jordan Sears each had a bucket down low for the Tigers during an 8-1 spurt that made it 43-38. However, Lowe stemmed the tide, answering with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Panthers up 49-38 with 9:31 left.

Miller did everything he could to keep LSU in contention, scoring eight points in a span of 1 minute, 23 seconds, with his four-point play getting the Tigers within 56-52 with 6:03 to play.

But Pitt never let LSU get the upper hand, and it led by at least six for the final 5:05 of the contest.

The Tigers had a 28-27 edge at intermission after ending the first half on an 8-2 run. LSU overcame a quick start by the Panthers, who raced out to a 12-6 advantage and led by as many as eight in the first 20 minutes of action.

–Field Level Media

Bryce Thompson scored 17 points and achieved a milestone as Oklahoma State defeated Miami 80-74 on Friday afternoon in a Charleston Classic consolation game in Charleston, S.C.

Thompson made 6-of-14 shots from the floor, surpassing 1,000 points for his career at Oklahoma State (4-1), which also got 15 points from Marchelus Avery.

The Cowboys won in large part thanks to their impressive 3-point shooting (10-for-22, 45.5 percent). They will face Nevada on Sunday. The Wolf Pack edged VCU 64-61 later Friday.

Oklahoma State backup guard Arturo Dean, a Miami native, posted eight points and one steal. He led the nation in steals last season while playing for Florida International.

Miami (3-2) has lost two straight games in Charleston, failing to take a lead at any point. The Hurricanes will play VCU on Sunday.

The Hurricanes on Friday were led by Nijel Pack, who had a game-high 20 points. Brandon Johnson had a double-double for Miami with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Matthew Cleveland scored 11 points and Lynn Kidd and Paul Djobet added 10 points apiece for Miami.

Miami, which fell behind 7-0 in Thursday’s loss to Drake, got behind 9-0 on Friday as Abou Ousmane scored six of his eight points.

Oklahoma State stretched its lead to 18 before settling for a 43-27 advantage at the break.

Pack led all first-half scorers with 10 points, but Miami shot just 29.6 percent from the floor, including 3-of-13 on 3-pointers (23.1).

Oklahoma State shot 48.4 percent, including 8-for-15 on 3-pointers (53.3 percent) before intermission. The Cowboys also had a 14-8 edge in paint points.

In the second half, Miami closed its 20-point deficit to 55-42 with 12:12 left.

Miami got a bit closer as two straight short jumpers by Kidd, trimming the deficit to 73-62 with 3:25 to play.

The Hurricanes cut it to 77-70 on Pack’s 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining, but the Cowboys hit their free throws to close out the win.

–Field Level Media

When Illinois coach Brad Underwood lined up non-conference games against the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Duke, the goal was to find out how his guys stack up and where they need to improve.

Now that the first results are in – No. 25 Illinois lost 100-87 Wednesday night to No. 8 Alabama – the goal shifts to making the actual improvements. That’s the No. 1 agenda Saturday afternoon as Illinois (3-1) hosts Maryland Eastern Shore (2-5) in Champaign.

“I think there’s two things that happen after a loss,” Underwood said. “Either you accept it or you learn from it. We’re choosing to learn. The day after (the Alabama loss) was a really positive day for us. Kind of a lot of reflection, a lot of learning.”

What needs to be learned? For example, a 13-of-24 showing at the free-throw line won’t win many high-level games.

“You can’t miss free throws,” Underwood said. “You can’t give ’em 30-plus points in transition. You can’t do some of the silly things we did. Jumping off one foot (on drives). Getting beat (in the) middle. We gave up 12 points off middle drives out of the corner. That is a fundamental mistake for us. That’s something we’ve worked on since June. Those are things that we can actually get better on quickly.

“When we do that, then we become that team that is really good.”

On the flip side, Underwood lauded junior guard Kylan Boswell’s defense as Alabama preseason all-American point guard Mark Sears did not score in his 21 minutes. And while Illini freshman point guard Kasparas Jakucionis finished with 6 turnovers (1 fewer than Alabama), Underwood focused on his first half when the projected NBA first-round pick scored 13 of his 15 points and handed out two of his six assists.

“I thought he was as good a player as there was on the court in the first half,” Underwood said. “I thought he was just dominant in the ball screen in the first half – and you’re doing that against a team that applies a ton of pressure and a team that has an elite shot-blocker. Against drop coverages, he’s as good a player as there is at making reads, making passes, spraying it, scoring it.

“We got away from him a little bit in the second half. That was my fault.”

UMES is one of the hardest-working teams in the college basketball business. Saturday’s game marks the Hawks’ eighth of the season – tying them for the most in the country – and kicks off a four-games-in-eight-days stretch where UMES also travels to Arkansas, Little Rock and two-time defending champion UConn.

Slashing junior guard Ketron “KC” Shaw makes the Hawks’ offense go – and Illinois might not see a one-man band like this again. The reigning MEAC Player of the Week entered Friday’s action as the nation’s No. 11 scorer (23.4 points per game) while also pacing his squad in rebounding (5.9) and assists (4.3).

He has launched 25.3 percent of UMES’ field-goal attempts (107 of 423) and taken exactly half of the team’s free throws (69 of 138).

When Shaw isn’t flipping shots at the rim, then it’s usually 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior Christopher Flippin’s turn. He averages 11.9 points and 5.9 rebounds and put up a double-double (20 points, 13 rebounds) against Penn on Nov. 7.

“I really like this team’s offensive ability,” Underwood said. “They’ve got guys who can really go get it. We’ve got to sit down and guard the ball.”

–Field Level Media