Category: NCAA Basketball

USA Basketball is on the brink of qualifying for next year's AmeriCup tournament. Javonte Smart scored 21 points, Jahmi'us Ramsey scored 19 and the U.S. never trailed in a 97-74 win over the Bahamas in an AmeriCup qualifying game Monday night. The U.S. improved to 3-1 in qualifying, and one more win in either of their two remaining qualifying games — not until February — will clinch a spot in AmeriCup, which is the championship of the FIBA Americas region.

Byron Ireland scored 15 points to lead Nicholls to a 79-35 victory over Mississippi College on Monday night. Ireland also added five rebounds for the Colonels (3-4). Michael Gray Jr. scored 14 points, going 3 of 5 from the floor, including 2 for 4 from 3-point range, and 6 for 8 from the line.

Elijah Strong knocked down a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left in overtime to lift Boston College to a 76-74 win over Missouri State on Monday night to advance to the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic. The Eagles will face Boise State, which held off South Dakota State 83-82, in Tuesday's title game. Dez White hit a pair of free throws and knocked down a jumper and Michael Osei-Bonsu added a jumper as the Bears took a 70-64 lead to open overtime.

Scooter Williams Jr. made a layup to give East Texas A&M a two-point lead with 13 seconds to play and the fouled Todd Bogna, who made two free throws to make it 65-all with 2.2 seconds remaining. Stinson stole the ball, was fouled and hit the go-ahead free throws.

Al Green scored 19 points and Sean Newman Jr. added seven in the overtime as Louisiana Tech knocked off Southern Illinois 85-79 in a first-round contest at the Gulf Coast Showcase on Monday night. Green had three steals for the Bulldogs (5-0). Kaden Cooper scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds and four steals.

Ian Schieffelin scored 12 of his 18 points in Clemson's dominant second half and added 13 rebounds as the Tigers rallied to beat San Francisco 70-55 in a Sunshine Slam Beach Division semifinal on Monday night. Clemson (5-1) will play Penn State in the championship game on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions beat Fordham in an earlier semifinal to advance.

Trey Autry scored 16 points off of the bench to help lead George Washington over Illinois State 72-64 on Monday night to claim a fifth-place finish at the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands. Autry had five rebounds for the Revolutionaries (6-1). Gerald Drumgoole Jr. scored 16 points while going 4 of 9 from the floor, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and 6 for 7 from the line.

Roddy Gayle Jr. was 6-for-6 from the free throw line and scored 20 points as Michigan pulled away from Virginia Tech late to earn a 75-63 win Monday to advance to the championship game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Michigan (5-1) converted 13 of 18 at the line in the second half and 15 of 20 overall. Jaydon Young's 3 with 14:30 left gave Virginia Tech a 49-46 lead but Tre Donaldson, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 46-46, sparked a 7-0 Michigan run with a layup that L.J. Cason followed with a jumper and a trey to put the Wolverines up 53-49 with under 13 minutes left.

Graham Couch gives his thoughts on Michigan State basketball's performance in a 72-56 win over Colorado on Monday at the Maui Invitational.

Michigan basketball missed eight straight 3s at one point in the first half, but found its rhythm in the second half to pull away from Virginia Tech.

Coleman Hawkins totaled 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Kansas State to an 80-64 victory over Longwood in the third-place game of the Paradise Jam on Monday night. Hawkins, who transferred in after four seasons at Illinois, made 7 of 10 shots with five 3-pointers on the way to his first double-double with the Wildcats (5-2). Brendan Hausen sank three 3-pointers and scored 16 for K-State.

Jase Richardson came off the bench to score 13 points as Michigan State beat Colorado 72-56 Monday in its first appearance in the Maui Invitational since 2019. The Spartans (5-1) are playing in their sixth Maui Invitational, the fifth under coach Tom Izzo. Colorado (4-1), playing its first game away from home in Boulder, got off to a strong start, taking an early lead, 16-13, with a 6-2 run, capped by a dunk from Bangot Dak with under 14 minutes left in the first half.

Payton Verhulst had 18 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and No. 8 Oklahoma defeated DePaul 85-62 on Monday afternoon in the second semifinal of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The Sooners (6-0) led wire-to-wire as they continued their dominant start to the season. Oklahoma has won all six games by at least 23 points and has outscored the opposition by an average of 37.5 points per game.

Senior Nick Kern Jr. came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 13 rebounds for the first double-double of his career, leading Penn State to an 85-66 victory over Fordham in a Sunshine Slam Beach Division semifinal on Monday. The Nittany Lions have opened a season with six straight victories for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. Kern made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and 2 of 5 at the free-throw line for Penn State.

Tyrese Hunter scored 17 of his 26 points after halftime to lead Memphis to a 99-97 overtime win against two-time defending national champion and second-ranked UConn on Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational.