LAHAINA, Hawaii – No. 12 Michigan State capped a wild five days in Hawaii with a 74-71 overtime victory over No. 9 Arizona on Wednesday to finish third in the Maui Invitational.
The trip to the 50th state started with a 22-point loss at the University of Hawaii that dropped the Spartans from their No. 4 preseason ranking. It included a 109-106 triple-overtime loss to No. 8 Gonzaga in the Maui semifinals, a game already being considered one of the best regular-season games ever played.
Just 18 hours after leaving the Lahaina Civic Center following the loss to Gonzaga, the Spartans (2-2) looked impressive in building a big lead against Arizona only to see the Wildcats score 16 straight points to take a 60-58 lead. Paul Davis made two free throws with 30 seconds left to tie it and send the Spartans to overtime for the second straight day.
(1) Duke 78, Drexel 68
NEW YORK – J.J Redick scored a season-high 31 points to help top-ranked Duke beat pesky Drexel 78-68 in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals Wednesday night.
Duke (4-0) had run through its first three opponents, winning by an average of 33 points, holding them to 36.5-percent shooting, and forcing 57 turnovers.
Drexel (3-1) wasn’t intimidated facing a top-ranked team for the first time in school history and found itself trailing 52-50 with 14:31 left in the second half.
Josh McRoberts had four points during the 7-0 run that put the Blue Devils ahead 59-50.
(23) Maryland 75, Arkansas 62
LAHAINA, Hawaii – Ekene Ibekwe had 16 points and Chris McCray added 15 and No. 23 Maryland beat Arkansas 75-62 on Wednesday in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational.
The Terrapins (3-1) bounced back from an opening-round loss to No. 8 Gonzaga with wins over Chaminade and Arkansas but it was the first time in their three appearances in this tournament they failed to reach the semifinals. Maryland was second in 1994 and fourth in 2000.
Ibekwe, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, had six rebounds, four steals and three blocks but like point guard D.J. Strawberry he was saddled with foul trouble in the second half. McCray and the rest of Maryland’s reserves came up big in the second half, though, scoring the team’s final 20 points.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.