Devils shut down 49ers; Vols set school record

The Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. -- Nolan Smith scored a career-high 24 points in his return to Duke's lineup, and the ninth-ranked Blue Devils routed Charlotte 101-59 in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Jon Scheyer added 20 points and Kyle Singler had 17 for the Blue Devils (3-0), who never trailed, hit 12 3-pointers and shot 52.9 percent.

Duke went up by double figures to stay before Charlotte hit its first field goal, and cruised into next week's semifinal matchup at Madison Square Garden against the TCU-Arizona State winner.

Shamari Spears had 20 points to lead the overmatched 49ers (2-1). Sloppy play and 33.9 percent shooting kept them from their first 3-0 start since 1995 and denied them a second straight victory against a ranked opponent dating to last season's win against then-No. 17 Xavier. They had 17 turnovers — 12 in the first half, when this one was decided.

Charlotte was expected to provide some measure of resistance for the Blue Devils, who were short-handed during their first two games due to injury and Smith's suspension yet routed UNC Greensboro and Coastal Carolina by an average of nearly 30 points.

NO. 10 TENNESSEE 124, UNC ASHEVILLE 49 — In Knoxville, Tenn., Scotty Hopson had a career-high 25 points and No. 10 Tennessee set a school record for points in a game.

It was coach Bruce Pearl's 100th win with the Volunteers and the 124 points broke Tennessee's previous single-game record of 121 points, last achieved by the Vols in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA tournament against Long Beach State.

Pearl is the second-fastest Vols coach to reach the century mark. It took John Mauer 131 games in the late 1930s and early '40s to earn 100 wins.

The Vols (2-0) had their way with a Bulldogs team picked to finish second in the Big South Conference, hitting 64.9 percent of their shots from the field in the first half.

J.P. Primm led UNC Asheville with 13 points.

NO. 12 CONNECTICUT 76, HOFSTRA 67 — In Storrs, Conn., Jerome Dyson scored 23 points and No. 12 Connecticut rallied past Hofstra in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

UConn (3-0) trailed Hofstra 54-45 with 9 minutes remaining but went ahead 59-58 on two free throws by Dyson with 5:20 to go. The teams then exchanged the lead four times before the Huskies went up for good 63-62 with 4:16 left.

Led by Charles Jenkins, the Pride (1-2) twice cut UConn's lead to one in the final minutes, but Dyson scored nine straight points in the final 1:39 for UConn to secure the win and advance to the tournament's semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden.

Kemba Walker had 16 points, Stanley Robinson had 15, and Gavin Edwards 10 for the Huskies.

Jenkins scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half for Hofstra, while Cornelius Vines added 18.

NO. 17 OKLAHOMA 72, LOUISIANA-MONROE 61 — In Norman, Okla., Willie Warren scored 24 points, Tony Crocker added 13 and No. 17 Oklahoma notched the 1,500th win in the program's history.

After dishing out a career-high 11 assists in the Sooners' opener, Warren played his expected role as the team's leading scorer against the Warhawks (1-2). He got to the foul line repeatedly and scored 11 of his points on free throws.

Oklahoma (2-0) struggled early with ULM's zone pressure, but eventually took the lead for good with a 9-0 run with about 14 minutes remaining.

Tony Hooper scored 17 points for the Warhawks before fouling out with just under 5 minutes remaining. Rudy Turner had 12 points and Dynile Forbes 11.

Tiny Gallon had 10 rebounds for the Sooners.

NO. 19 GEORGETOWN 46, TEMPLE 45 — In Washington, Greg Monroe scored on a driving layup with 6.5 seconds to play, rescuing No. 19 Georgetown from a lackluster performance.

Georgetown won despite having more fouls (18) and turnovers (16) than made baskets (15). The Hoyas blew a 12-point second-half lead, shot 36 percent from the field and 3 for 18 from 3-point range.

Chris Wright had 15 points, and Monroe had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Hoyas (2-0). Lavoy Allen had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Owls (1-1), who nearly recovered from an abysmal first half to pull out the win.

Temple could have put the game away if it had made its free throws down the stretch. The Owls made 6 of 13, and Ramone Moore's miss on the front end of a one-and-one with a one-point lead and 23 seconds to play gave Monroe and the Hoyas the chance to win it.

NO. 20 LOUISVILLE 96, ARKANSAS 66 — In St. Louis, Reginald Delk scored 20 points in a reserve role to double his previous career high and sparked key surges in both halves, helping No. 20 Louisville open with a victory over depleted Arkansas in the Hall of Fame Showcase.

Jared Swopshire added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and Rick Pitino easily bested one of his former players, John Pelphrey, to win in his 750th career game. Pelphrey played for Pitino at Kentucky from 1989-92, but is severely short-handed after suspending five players indefinitely — including three who were identified but not charged in a rape.

Rotnei Clarke had 16 points for Arkansas (1-1), four days after scoring a school-record 51 points with an SEC-record 13 3-pointers in the opener against Alcorn State.

Marshawn Powell had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Razorbacks, who have just six scholarship players.

NO. 25 MARYLAND 71, FAIRFIELD 42 — In College Park, Md., Eric Hayes scored 14 points, and No. 25 Maryland celebrated its return to the AP poll with a win over Fairfield.

Landon Milbourne had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Sean Mosley scored 13 for the Terrapins (2-0). After opening the season with an 89-51 rout of Charleston Southern, Maryland resurfaced in the top 25 this week for the first time since the end of the 2006-07 season.