Loyola Marymount outscored Georgetown 52-24 in the second half en route to an 84-66 win in the opening round of the Jamaica Classic on Friday in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Loyola advances to the Montego Bay Division championship game on Sunday versus Wake Forest, a 75-63 winner over La Salle. Georgetown plays La Salle in the consolation game.

Keli Leaupepe led Loyola (3-2) with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Justin Ahrens added 12 points. The Lions shot 54.3 percent (19 for 35) in the second half, including 50 percent (9 of 18) from three-point range. Michael Graham chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.

Brandon Murray led the Hoyas (2-2) with 19 points and Jay Heath added 15 points. Primo Spears, who averaged 23.7 points over Georgetown’s first three games, finished with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

Georgetown shot just 27.6 percent (8 of 29) from the field after intermission, including 25 percent (3-of-12) from beyond the arc.

The Lions outrebounded the Hoyas 24-14 in the second half.

Loyola trailed by 10 at halftime, but Cam Shelton’s layup capped a 6-0 burst that pulled the Lions within 44-40, and Shelton’s fast-break dunk tied the score at 46 with 13:36 remaining.

Ahrens and Alex Merkviladze hit consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 12-0 run and put the Lions up 52-46.

Rick Issanza’s dunk followed by 3s from Merkviladze and Chance Stephens pushed the lead to 63-48 with 9:02 left to play, and Graham’s dunk made it 70-54 with 5:10 remaining.

The Hoyas got within 74-63 on Spears’ driving layup with 2:37 remaining, but the Lions answered with five quick points, including Leaupepe’s 3-pointer.

Georgetown trailed 19-16 when Murray’s layup ignited a 10-0 run capped by Akok Akok’s layup. The Hoyas took their biggest lead of the half, 38-27, on Ryan Mutombo’s layup with 1:58 remaining ahead of a 42-32 halftime advantage.

The Hoyas shot 48 percent (14 for 29) in the first half and made 14 of 14 free throws while the Lions hit 41 percent (13 of 32) and went 3 for 4 from the foul line.

–Field Level Media

Instead of a battle of unbeatens, a high-profile team will deal with losing a second time this season when No. 4 Kentucky visits No. 2 Gonzaga on Sunday evening at Spokane, Wash.

The Wildcats (3-1) have an 86-77 double-overtime loss to Michigan State on the ledger while the Bulldogs (2-1) were routed 93-74 by No. 11 Texas on Wednesday in Austin.

Sunday’s game pits last year’s national player of the year in Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe against fellow preseason All-American Drew Timme of the Zags.

The game will be played at the Spokane Arena — which seats more than 12,000 — rather than Gonzaga’s on-campus highly rambunctious “Kennel.”

No matter the venue, Gonzaga will be looking to shore up its ball-handling as it allowed 20 turnovers leading to 27 Texas points in the one-sided loss.

“We have to get better play out of everybody going forward,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “I don’t know that I’d say just guards. Collectively, we’ve got to take better care of the ball. Looking at the stat sheet, it’s a lot of our veterans with a lot of the turnovers. It starts with that. We can’t function on offense when we turn the ball over like that.”

Timme recorded 18 points and nine rebounds versus the Longhorns but committed five of the turnovers. Julian Strawther and Nolan Hickman had four apiece.
Hickman, a point guard, sustained an ankle injury late in the loss to Texas and his status is unclear for Sunday.

Kentucky rebounded from its marathon loss against Michigan State on Tuesday with a 106-63 shellacking of visiting South Carolina State on Thursday.
Wildcats coach John Calipari is aware his club will be traveling a long distance to meet up with an angry group of Bulldogs.

“It’s going to be a great challenge,” Calipari said. “It will be a hard game in Spokane. … And I love it’s on an NFL Sunday. Perfect. Let’s go.”

Freshman Chris Livingston, who scored 13 points against South Carolina State, expects Gonzaga to be motivated to rebound from its beating.

“When any top team takes a loss like that, they’re going to bounce back,” Livingston said. “They’re going to come with energy and they’re going to come with fight. They’re not just going to lay down.

“So we’ve just got to come out, understand who we are, play up to the competition and play up to the level that Gonzaga is going to play with, because they’re definitely going to come out, high energy, locked in and ready to play.”

Tshiebwe missed Kentucky’s first two games after undergoing knee surgery and then had 22 points and 18 rebounds in 34 minutes before fouling out against the Spartans. Two nights later, he played just 14 minutes against South Carolina State and had six points and seven rebounds.

Timme is averaging 20.7 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the field. He took 33 total shots in Gonzaga’s first two games but was only able to get off 10 (making seven) against the Texas defense.

“I thought he found his shots and all that,” Few said. “They do a good job of doubling the ball when they can. We exploited that a couple times. I think he’d even tell you he got the shots he wanted.

“He’s been seeing that coverage for quite a while. They’re athletic, long and have a lot of guys they can send at him.”

Kentucky won the only previous meeting, 80-72 in the third-place game of the 2003 Maui Invitational.

–Field Level Media

Tyree Appleby poured in 23 points just a few days after hitting a game-winning shot as Wake Forest defeated La Salle 75-63 on Friday afternoon on the opening day of the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Appleby, whose buzzer 3-pointer beat Utah Valley on Tuesday night, went 8 for 14 from the floor, though he was just 2 for 7 on 3s.

Damari Monsanto came off the Wake Forest bench to hit four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points. Zach Keller had 11 points and Andrew Carr added 10 points for the Demon Deacons (4-0).

Appleby also had four assists, while Cameron Hildreth joined Monsanto and Keller in bench production with nine points and four assists.

All this helped offset Josh Nickelberry’s 24 points for La Salle (2-2). Fousseyni Drame had eight points and nine rebounds.

The Explorers were hurt by 16 turnovers and a declining shooting rate that ended at 39.6 percent.

Wake Forest will meet the Georgetown-Loyola Marymount winner in Sunday’s final, while La Salle takes on the loser of that second game in a consolation match.

The Demon Deacons went from a slow start to a comfortable victory in their first game away from home.

Wake Forest went from eight down to a 32-26 lead across an 11-minute period of the first half. The Demon Deacons were buoyed by a stretch of 12-for-12 shooting from the field.

Wake Forest held a 35-33 halftime lead, shooting 48.4 percent in the first half despite the sizzling stretch. The Demon Deacons were 3 for 19 outside of the dozen perfect shots.

Nickelberry posted 18 of La Salle’s first 30 points, going 6 for 8 on 3-pointers. He missed all three long-range attempts in the second half.

Wake Forest pushed its lead to 53-45 on Monsanto’s 3-pointer with 11:45 to play. Another 3 from Monsanto made it 59-49.

This was only the third meeting between La Salle and Wake Forest. They last played in December 1973, with Wake Forest winning.

–Field Level Media

Syracuse already is searching for answers after playing just two games this season.

The Orange hope to bounce back from a lopsided loss to Colgate on Saturday when winless Northeastern visits for a nonconference battle.

Syracuse (1-1) topped Lehigh 90-72 in its season opener for coach Jim Boeheim’s 999th career win (not counting 101 victories that were previously rescinded by the NCAA).

However, the Orange were dominated by the Raiders on Tuesday as they fell flat with Boeheim seeking win No. 1,000. They allowed 19 3-pointers and made just 8 of 25 attempts from beyond the arc as part of a 38.7 percent shooting performance.

“Our offense was horrendous,” said Boeheim, whose team finished with just nine assists on 24 baskets.

Judah Mintz led Syracuse with 20 points. The freshman guard is averaging a team-high 18.0 points and has made 56.0 percent of his shots through two games.

“We’re not as good as we thought, obviously,” Mintz said. “But we’ve got high spirits. We’ll be ready to play Saturday.”

Northeastern (0-3) opened its season with a trio of defeats, the latest a 70-69 setback against Harvard on Wednesday. Jahmyl Telfort scored 23 points against the Crimson and is averaging 20.0 points and 5.7 rebounds — both team highs — on the young season.

Telfort and Coleman Stucke (10.0 points per game) have combined to make 15 3-pointers through three games. However, the Huskies only knocked down 10 3-pointers in 35 attempts as a team on Wednesday.

“Not the result we were looking for, but I’m proud of our effort from start to finish,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “I thought our young guys showed some composure and grittiness, and we fought to the end.”

The Orange are 8-0 in the all-time series with all eight matchups coming at home. Their narrowest win over the Huskies came in the last meeting — a 62-56 triumph on Dec. 16, 2020, in which Joe Girard scored 21 points to pace Syracuse and Telfort had 16 to lead Northeastern.

–Field Level Media

Jim Larranaga will go for career coaching win No. 700 Saturday when his Miami Hurricanes take on his alma mater Providence in the Hall of Fame Tip Off Classic at Uncasville, Conn.

In his 39th season, Larranaga enters the game with a 699-475 record including a 229-141 mark in his 12th season at Miami. The Hurricanes (3-0) will be going for their first 4-0 start since 2018-19 when they won their first five games.

“Only got one more to get I assume I’ll get there at some point,” Larranaga said referring to the career milestone. “But quite honestly it’s more about this team trying to play its best basketball Saturday at 4 o’clock against a very fine opponent.”

The Friars (3-0) are looking to start a season 4-0 for a second consecutive year and give coach Ed Cooley his 225th victory at Providence against 141 losses. In his 17th season he is 316-210 overall.

Interestingly, Cooley’s last win also came over his alma mater, Stonehill, 100-76, on Tuesday night. The Friars won their opener against Rider 66-65 Rider by blocking a shot and coming up with a turnover in the final minute, then cruised past Northeastern 89-65.

“We’ll be ready,” Cooley said. “If we’re not I’m not getting on the bus. I don’t know if we’ll win or if we’ll lose, but we’ll be ready.”

Newcomers look to play key roles for both teams. Bryce Hopkins, a transfer from Kentucky, leads the Friars in scoring with a 14.7 average. Clifton Moore, a graduate transfer from La Salle, and Louisville transfer Noah Locke are among five others averaging in double figures.

Transfers Norchad Omier (Arkansas State) and Nijel Pack (Kansas State) are probable starters for Miami along with veterans Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Wooga Poplar. Miller (15.7) is the leading scorer after getting 19 points in the 87-61 win over Florida A&M in Miami’s last outing. The Hurricanes earlier beat Lafayette 67-54 and UNC-Greensboro 79-65.

“I feel like this is a real critical game for us,” Larranaga said. “We need to figure out how to guard these guys and how to attack them because they’re a very, very strong opponent.”

–Field Level Media

Oregon State already equaled last season’s victory total, and the Beavers’ first 4-0 start since the 2015-16 season is within reach when they host Portland State on Saturday night.

The Beavers could improve to 17-0 against Portland State (1-2) with a win against one of the three teams Oregon State defeated during the miserable 3-28 campaign last season.

Oregon State has won its past two games by 17 points — 60-43 against Florida A&M on Nov. 11 and 83-66 against NAIA program Bushnell on Tuesday.

Glenn Taylor Jr. led the Beavers with 19 points against Bushnell. Jordan Pope added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Andela Rodrigue contributed 14 points and eight rebounds and Dzmitry Ryuny had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.

Ryuny played at San Francisco the past four seasons before transferring to Oregon State. He has started all three games and has a team-best seven blocked shots to go with averages of 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.

“Dima’s a great leader,” Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said, according to the Corvallis Times-Gazette. “He’s not afraid to say something that might hurt someone’s feelings if it’s in the best interest of the team. But that’s good and that’s true leadership. Step by step, we’re just trying to find ways to get better.”

Pope leads Oregon State with a 16.0 scoring average. Taylor is averaging 13.3 points and Dexter Akanno is chipping in 12.3 per game.

Portland State dropped games against Portland and Seattle to start the season before drubbing NAIA program Evergreen 113-40 on Wednesday.
The Vikings owned a 59-26 rebounding advantage, forced 24 turnovers and had seven players score in double digits.

Isiah Kirby recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, Jorell Saterfield added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Cameron Parker contributed 15 points and seven assists.

“We have a lot of depth and a lot of talent on this team, and guys that can do different things,” Portland State coach Jase Coburn said afterward. “We feel really confident playing anyone on our team.”

The Vikings led last season’s meeting by 11 with 15 minutes remaining before Oregon State rallied for a 73-64 victory.

–Field Level Media

KJ Simpson poured in a career-high 30 points as Colorado clobbered No. 24 Texas A&M 103-75 on Friday afternoon in the first consolation bracket game in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway, S.C.

The Buffaloes (3-2) continued their up-and-down start to the season, beating their second ranked team in the past week and getting back on the winning track after losing to UMass on Thursday in the opening round.

Colorado swamped the Aggies with a dominating final 11 minutes of the first half and never looked back, leading by as many as 33 points midway through the second half and staying on the gas throughout.

The Buffaloes shot 57.6 percent and hit 16 of their 32 3-pointers while holding Texas A&M to 40 percent shooting.

Simpson’s previous career high was 23 points in the Buffaloes’ win over then-No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday. Ethan Wright added 15 points for Colorado, with Javon Ruffin hitting for 14 and Nique Clifford scoring 11. Wright made 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range and Simpson made 4 of 8.

Hayden Hefner led the Aggies (2-2) with 13 points while Solomon Washington and Julius Marble added 12 each in the loss, Texas A&M’s second in less than 20 hours.

The game was tight over the opening six minutes, with the lead switching back and forth and the Aggies eventually moving on top at 14-12 after an Andersson Garcia layup at the 13:43 mark of the first half.

The Buffaloes took charge with a 15-2 run over the ensuing five minutes and continued to build their advantage through the rest of the half, leading by as many as 24 late before settling for a 54-33 advantage at the break.

Simpson led all scorers with 14 points before halftime while Ruffin and Wright added nine each. Colorado outshot the Aggies 58.1 percent to 35.7 percent over the first 20 minutes, had 14 assists on 18 made baskets and outrebounded Texas A&M 19-11.

Dexter Dennis and Andre Gordon led A&M in scoring in the first half with six points each as 13 players saw the court for the Aggies before intermission.

–Field Level Media

Grant Basile scored nine of his 17 points in the final 10 minutes as Virginia Tech held off a rally by Penn State in a 61-59 victory Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.

Justyn Mutts added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Darius Maddox registered 11 points and five boards as the Hokies (5-0) led all the way, grabbing their biggest advantage at 16 points midway through the first half.

Perimeter-oriented Virginia Tech, which had depended heavily on 3-point shooting, pulled off an inside job as it outscored Penn State 40-24 from the paint. The Hokies made just 3 of 19 shots (15.8%) from beyond the arc.

The Hokies led all the way, though the Nittany Lions pulled to within two points on four occasions in the final seven minutes.

Penn State had a chance to win in the closing seconds. But as Camren Wynter drove to the basket, Hunter Cattoor got a hand on the ball, forcing a turnover with 1.1 seconds left.

Virginia Tech advances to Sunday’s championship game against the winner of Friday’s other semifinal between College of Charleston or Colorado State.

Penn State (4-1) entered averaging 81 points per game and shooting 46.2% from beyond the arc. But the Hokies forced 14 turnovers and harassed the Nittany Lions into 41.1% shooting overall and 36.7% from distance.

Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy, who scored 20 points each in Penn State’s quarterfinal win over Furman, managed just nine and four points, respectively.

Andrew Funk hit five 3-pointers on his way to scoring 21 points to lead Penn State. Myles Dread scored all 15 of his points from beyond the arc. The rest of the Nittany Lions went 1 of 8 from distance.

In the first half, Virginia bolted to a 22-6 lead with a 12-point run ignited by a jumper from Maddox. Mylyjael Poteat came off the bench and gave the Hokies a lift inside as he scored two baskets during the run and added a blocked shot.

After missing their first six 3-point attempts, Dread broke the drought midway through the half with a pair of treys. Funk followed Dread’s lead, making a trio of 3-pointers in the final 7:12 of the half. His third shot from long distance cut the Hokies’ lead to 37-29 at halftime.

In the second half, Penn State chiseled away at the lead. Threes by Pickett, Funk and Dread got the Nittany Lions to within two points at 51-49 with 6:26 left.

With 1:08 left, Basile wheeled inside for a basket that put the Hokies up 61-56. Funk answered with a 3-pointer.

After Sean Pedulla (10 points) missed a 3-point try for Virginia Tech, Penn State got its final chance before Cattoor came up big with his defensive handiwork.

– Field Level Media

Considering Butler shot 70.4 percent from the field while blowing out St. Francis (Pa.) by 28 points Thursday night, you’d think Bulldogs boss Thad Matta would have been somewhat satisfied.

You’d be wrong.

That’s why Matta is a millionaire coach – because the state of satisfaction never happens. As Butler (2-1) prepares for The Citadel’s visit to Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday night, he has set new goals.

“These last couple of games we’ve had some really good segments of basketball,” Matta said after the lopsided win. “But we’ve also had some segments where we haven’t been as sharp as we needed to be. We’ve got to get to where we’re solid all the way through. Consistency over greatness. I want a consistent 40 minutes as opposed to six great minutes and two bad minutes.”

Matta has a point. St. Francis led for most of the first 13 minutes. Then, after the Bulldogs went on a 46-21 blitz to seize a 20-point lead with 12:40 minutes to go, they allowed an 11-0 run to give St. Francis another chance.

After Matta called timeout to refocus his guys, they went on a 17-3 spree over the next four minutes to wrap up the rout.

Perhaps the best news for the Bulldogs during the St. Francis win? They canned 8 of 15 3-pointers after hitting just 9 of 47 in their first two games.

While Butler’s lineup features five starters who average double figures – led by Chuck Harris’ 16.7 points per game – The Citadel (2-1) relies heavily on senior forward Stephen Clark (20.0 ppg) and Iowa grad transfer Austin Ash (18.7 ppg). That’s particularly true on the perimeter, where Ash has cashed 14 of 35 3-point attempts while the rest of the team has hit 16 of 47.

Ed Conroy, who’s starting his second stint as The Citadel’s head coach, watched his team set a school record with 69 rebounds Tuesday night during a 109-66 victory over winless NAIA neighbor Morris College.

“We wanted to concentrate on ourselves tonight,” Conroy told The Post and Courier. “What does it take for us to play good basketball?”

–Field Level Media

With 23 wins in three of the past four seasons and only one NCAA Tournament appearance to show for it, Saint Louis knows the feeling of being disappointed on Selection Sunday.

Playing in the Atlantic-10, Saint Louis (3-0) also knows the importance of games against power conference schools.

The Billikens get a chance to play two of them this weekend, starting with Maryland (3-0) of the Big Ten on Saturday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament in Uncasville, Conn.

The other semifinal pits Providence (3-0) of the Big East against Miami (3-0) of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The championship and third-place games are set for Sunday afternoon.

Saint Louis is coming off a resume-boosting 90-84 victory Tuesday over visiting Memphis. Yuri Collins tallied 22 points and nine assists while Gibson Jimerson added four 3-pointers on his way to 18 points as the Billikens held off a late charge by the Tigers.

Saint Louis has a veteran rotation that includes four returning starters plus transfer Javon Pickett, a four-year starter at Missouri who is one of four Billikens averaging at least 12 points per game.

Collins, who leads the nation in assists with 12 per game, feeds a potent offense that averages 88 points per game.

“I truly believe Yuri Collins is the best point guard in America,” Saint Louis coach Travis Ford said after the Memphis win.

Maryland hasn’t been as tested, beating up on three mid-major foes. Each of the Terrapins’ wins has come by at least 20 points, including a 76-52 romp over Binghamton on Tuesday.

Emerging interior force Julian Reese matched his career high with 19 points, hitting 8 of 9 shots, and Hakim Hart scored all of his 13 points in the first half when the Terps rolled to a 25-point lead.

The best sign for Maryland was the continued aggression of its defense. First-year coach Kevin Willard has installed an attacking mindset, a contrast to his Terps predecessor Mark Turgeon, who favored a passive, position-oriented approach.

“We wanted to make sure we came out with an intensity that they knew they weren’t going to win,” Willard said. “That was our mindset, that we wanted to set the tone very early.”

–Field Level Media