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AP: Jacksonville upends Arizona State in NIT
Published 3/17/2010 in Sports
By The Associated Press
Ben Smith scored a game-high 26 points, including a 24-foot jump shot with 1.5 seconds remaining and Jacksonville rallied to upset top-seeded Arizona State in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night at Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devils senior guard Derek Glasser missed the second of two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining to give Arizona State (22-11) a 66-64 lead.
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Associated Press Jacksonville's Ben Smith, left, shoots against Arizona State's Ty Abbott during the first half Tuesday of a first round NIT in Tempe, Ariz.
But Smith came down and hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half two steps behind the arc to give the Dolphins their first postseason win in eight games going back to the 1974 NIT.
"I want Ben Smith to have the ball at the end of the game," Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren said. "Every shot he takes I think is going in. But that one especially, I knew it was going to go in."
Ayron Hardy added 11 points for Jacksonville (20-12), which will face Texas Tech on Monday in the second round.
Rihards Kuksiks scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half for the Sun Devils, who finished the season with consecutive losses after winning eight of their previous 10. Ty Abbott added 15 points, 13 in the first half and all but four coming in the game's first eight minutes. Jamelle McMillan added 10.
"The last two games have been the toughest of my career here," McMillan said.
The Dolphins scored 13 points off nine Arizona State second-half turnovers.
"We turned turnovers into baskets," Warren said. "We did everything we have practiced, everything we have done all year."
McMillan's basket on a goaltending call gave the Sun Devils a 60-49 lead with 3:59 left. But then Smith went to work.
The senior, who became Jacksonville's second-leading scorer, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and added a pair of free throws to key a 7-0 run that pulled the Dolphins within 60-56 with 2:04 remaining.
Kuksiks made two free throws only to watch Smith score on a layup with 1:05 left and add a 22-foot jumper one step inside the 3-point line to cut the lead to 62-60 with 34.9 seconds left.
McMillan made three free throws in the final 33 seconds, but Hardy scored on a layup with 12.4 seconds left before Glasser was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play.
Jacksonville reached 20 wins for the first time since 1986.
Mississippi State 81, Jackson State 67
At Starkville, Miss., Jarvis Varnado scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Mississippi State.
MSU (24-11) shot 40.7 percent from the field (22 for 54) and hit just 8 of 29 from 3-point range.
Jackson State (19-13) turned the ball over 16 times in the loss.
The Bulldogs will play North Carolina in the second round of the NIT on Saturday.
MSU opened the game on a 13-6 run and led 32-23 at the half. JSU rallied to within five points early in the second half, but came no closer after a 15-5 Bulldog run.
Dee Bost added 18 points for the Bulldogs and Kodi Augustus chipped in 13.
JSU's Garrison Johnson scored a career-high 32 points, and Tyrone Hanson chipped in 11.
Connecticut 59, Northeastern 57
At Storrs, Conn., Jerome Dyson scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half and Connecticut hung on to win.
Dyson, who scored a total of 18 points in his previous three games, had 11 points in the final 7 1/2 minutes to help bring UConn (18-15) back from a six-point deficit. His free throws with 53 seconds left provided the winning margin.
UConn's Kemba Walker had a chance to ice the game, but missed the front end of two 1-and-1s in the final minute.
Baptiste Bataille's 3-point attempt, which would have won the game for Northeastern at the buzzer, fell short.
Matt Janning scored 17 points for Northeastern (20-13), which finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association. Manny Adako added 14 points.
Connecticut advances to play the winner of Wednesday night's game between Quinnipiac and top-seeded Virginia Tech.
Texas Tech 87, Seton Hall 69
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) John Roberson scored 22 points and Darko Cohadarevic recovered from a first-half low blow to score 12 points for the Red Raiders.
It was the 10th straight loss in the NIT for the Pirates (19-13), who have not won a game in the tourney since 1956.
Texas Tech took control of the game right after Seton Hall forward Herb Pope was ejected for delivering a blow to the groin of Cohadarevic, who remained on the floor for several minutes.
Jeff Robinson paced the Pirates with 23 points.
Texas Tech (18-15) advances to face Jacksonville.
NC State 58, South Florida 57
At Tampa, Fla. — Dennis Horner scored 25 points and Richard Howell's go-ahead layup with 8 seconds left barely beat the shot clock for the Wolfpack.
The officials reviewed Howell's basket to see if he got the shot off before the shot clock expired and the call stood.
North Carolina State advances to play UAB.
UAB 65, Coastal Carolina 49
At Birmingham, Ala., Elijah Millsap scored 15 points and UAB never trailed Coastal Carolina.
UAB (24-8) held Coastal Carolina (28-7) scoreless for the first 5:10 of the game in building an 8-0 lead. The Blazers led 17-6 midway through the first half and maintained at least an eight-point advantage the rest of the way.
A 19-5 run gave UAB a 40-18 halftime lead. The Blazers scored only 44 points in losing to Southern Mississippi last week in the Conference USA tournament.
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