Pitt rolls past Red Raiders at tourney
NEWARK, N.J. — Sam Young scored 24 points and DeJuan Blair added 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Pittsburgh to an easy 80-67 men's college basketball victory over Texas Tech in the semifinals of the Legends Classic Friday night.
Pitt (6-0) advanced to Saturday's championship game against Washington State, which beat Mississippi State 63-53 in the other semifinal.
Trevor Cook had 24 points for the Red Raiders (5-1).
The Panthers grabbed an early lead and held it throughout the first half, taking a 37-27 lead into intermission. Young was the catalyst in the opening half for the Panthers, scoring 12 points, and Blair added nine.
Texas Tech then came out strong to start the second half, scoring the first six points. The teams then traded baskets before Pittsburgh took command midway through the half, eventually leading by as many as 14 points.
At Durham, N.C., Lance Thomas scored a career-high 21 points to help No. 7 Duke rout Duquesne 95-72 Friday.Thomas, the first big man off coach Mike Krzyzewski's deep bench, had 12 of his points in the decisive first half and made all eight of his shots in helping the Blue Devils (7-0) shoot a season-high 54.7 percent.Kyle Singler had 17 points, Nolan Smith added 11, and Duke — which hadn't shot better than 48.5 percent in any game so far — scored 31 points off 19 Duquesne turnovers.
At Philadelphia, Jimmy Baron scored 20 points, including four crucial free throws in the last 12.6 seconds, as Rhode Island defeated Penn State 77-72 in the Philly Classic tournament Friday.Keith Cothran scored 18 points and Kahiem Seawright had 16 for Rhode Island (5-1). Jamelle Cornley scored 23 points and Talor Battle had 15 for the Nittany Lions (5-1).Rhode Island took a 72-67 lead on a free throw by Delroy James with 19.8 seconds to go, but Cornley made a layup for Penn State seven seconds later. Baron then made two free throws with 12.6 seconds remaining, and after Stanley Pringle missed a 23-footer, Baron ended the game with two more foul shots.Baron's shooting sparked Rhode Island to a 29-20 lead with 7:03 left in the first half. Penn State answered with an 11-2 run to tie the score 31-31, but a jumper by Cothran gave the Rams a 33-31 edge at the break.
<B>No. 8 Texas A&M 62, Penn State 57</B>At Malibu, Calif., Having already played three seasons in the rugged Big 12, Danielle Gant doesn't get rattled much.So when No. 8 Texas A&M blew a 15-point lead late in the second half against Penn State, the senior exuded the calm the Aggies needed to hang on for a 61-57 victory Friday in the first round of the Timeout 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament.Gant scored 14 points including two late free throws to help the Aggies (5-0) remain undefeated.Brianne O'Rourke scored on a layup with under four minutes left to give Penn State its last lead at 54-53. Gant made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game, part of the Aggies' 8-for-12 performance from the foul line down the stretch.
