Gonzaga moves to title game in Maui
McClatchy news services
Led by Matt Bouldin’s 18 points, four players scored in double digits and Gonzaga advanced to the championship game of the Maui Invitational with a convincing 74-61 victory over Wisconsin on Tuesday night in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Steven Gray scored 15 points, Robert Sacre 13 and Elias Harris 12 for Gonzaga (4-1), which will meet Cincinnati in tonight’s championship.
Leading by 10 at halftime, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 14 when Demetri Goodson delivered a coast-to-coast layup with 16 minutes, 41 seconds to play.
The Badgers (3-1) cut it to 10 four times and finally trimmed it to single digits on a layup by Jon Leuer with just more than nine minutes to go. But they didn’t hit another basket for 7:30 in dropping into today’s third-place game, where they’ll face Maryland.
Jordan Taylor led Wisconsin with 19 points, while Leuer added 18 and Trevon Hughes 10.
Cincinnati 69, No. 21 Maryland 57: Yancy Gates scored 17 points and added 13 rebounds and Deonta Vaughn had 16 points to lead the Bearcats (4-0) to the championship game of the Maui Invitational with a victory over the Terrapins (4-1) in Lahaina.
Greivis Vasquez led Maryland with 19 points.
Seattle 77, at Utah 74: Charles Garcia had 24 points and eight rebounds as the Redhawks (3-2) knocked off the Utes (2-2).
Seattle overcame a 41-33 halftime deficit to lead for much of the second half. The Redhawks tied the game at 54 with 10:53 remaining and took the lead for good, 63-61, at the 8:11 mark on Ricky Berry’s 3-pointer.
Shawn Glover’s last-second 3-point attempt for Utah (2-2) bounced off the rim.
Garcia was 5-for-13 from the field but was 13-for-15 from the free-throw line. Cervante Burrell and Chris Gweth each had 12 points for Seattle.
Carlon Brown led Utah with 22 points. Kim Tillie and Jordan Cyphers added 12 each, and Luka Drca chipped in 10.
Boise State 82, at Eastern Washington 69: Ike Okoye had 21 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and a career-tying six blocks and the 3-2 Broncos withstood a second-half charge by the Eagles.
Bethel High graduate Brandon Moore had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles (2-3).
Stanford 57, Virginia 52: Landry Fields scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Cardinal (3-2) in the Cancun (Mexico) Classic.
The Cardinal trailed 47-46 with 4:52 left in the second half after Virginia’s Mustapha Farrakhan hit two free throws. That’s the last time the Cavaliers (3-2) would lead, as Stanford answered with nine points to take a 55-47 lead with 2:46 remaining.
“That’s when your defense has got to be at it’s strongest,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, who left Washington State to take over the Cavaliers. “You got a lead, it’s getting later in the game and you really got to come up with some tough plays. We still had some chances, but we missed some bunnies, missed some free throws to make it interesting and we could capitalize on those either.”
At California 79, Jacksonville 47: Patrick Christopher scored a season-high 23 pointsas the Bears (3-2) beat the Dolphins (0-2).
Women’s basketball
At No. 8 Baylor 104, Jacksonville State 45: Freshman sensation Brittney Griner took a lob pass inside with no one around her, turned and became the seventh woman to dunk in a college game with her one-handed slam, and the Bears (3-1) routed the 0-4 Gamecocks.
On a set play about 5 minutes into the game, the 6-foot-8 Griner took a pass from Kelli Griffin on the right and dunked with her right hand.
After missing one-handed dunk attempts in each of her previous two games, there was no doubt about the third try.
“Oh yeah, it’s real good in college to now have it under my belt,” Griner said. “I can look back on it and grow on it.”
Griner finished with 20 points, six rebounds and eight blocked shots in 21 minutes.
The last collegiate female to dunk was Tennessee’s Candace Parker on Feb. 3, 2008, against Kentucky. Parker had a record seven dunks in her college career, and is the only woman with two in a game.
Griner became a YouTube sensation with her dunks at Houston’s Nimitz High, where in 32 games as a senior last season she had 52 dunks and averaged nearly 12 blocks a game. She had seven dunks in one game.
At Oregon 88, Santa Clara 71: Amanda Johnson scored a career-high 19 points and had 13 rebounds and Nicole Canepa also had 19 points to lead the 3-0 Ducks over the 1-3 Broncos.
Meagan Fulps had 16 points to lead the Broncos. Alyssa Shoji and Ashley Armstrong added 14 points apiece.
Fastbreaks
Sophomore guard
Walter Offutt has decided to leave the Ohio State men’s program and will seek a transfer to another school. ... Portland point guard
T.J. Campbell has been named the West Coast Conference co-player of the week.
