Colorado hands UConn another loss

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Andrej Jakimovski converted an off-balance layup with 8 seconds left, and Colorado handed No. 2 UConn its second loss in two days at the Maui Invitational, beating the two-time defending national champion 73-72 on Tuesday.

A day after a 99-97 overtime loss to Memphis that left Huskies coach Dan Hurley livid about the officiating, UConn (4-2) couldn’t shake the unranked Buffaloes (5-1), who shot 62.5% in the second half.

With Colorado trailing 72-71 in the closing seconds, Jakimovski drove to his right and absorbed contact from UConn’s Liam McNeeley. He tossed the ball toward the glass and the shot was good as he fell to the floor. Hassan Diarra missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer for UConn.

Elijah Malone and Julian Hammond III scored 16 points each for Colorado, and Jakimovski had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Huskies led 40-32 at halftime and by nine points early in the second half, but Colorado quickly closed that gap. McNeeley led UConn with 20 points.

Takeaways

UConn: Hurley’s squad is facing its first adversity in quite a while. The Huskies arrived on Maui with a 17-game winning streak that dated to February.

Colorado: The Buffaloes were held to season lows in points (56) and field goal percentage (37%) in a 16-point loss to Michigan State on Monday but shot 51.1% overall and 56.3% (9 of 16) from 3-point range against the Huskies.

Key moment

Hurley called timeout to set up the Huskies’ final possession, but the Buffs forced them to take a contested 3.

Key stat

Colorado had a 28-26 rebounding advantage after being out-rebounded 42-29 by Michigan State.

Up next

Colorado plays No. 5 Iowa State in the fifth-place game Wednesday. UConn will play Dayton in the seventh-place game.

NO. 4 AUBURN 85, NO. 12 N. CAROLINA 72

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Johni Broome had 23 points and 19 rebounds to lead No. 4 Auburn to a victory over No. 12 North Carolina in a Maui Invitational semifinal.

Miles Kelly added 15 points and Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 for the Tigers (6-0), who never trailed and led by as many as 19. They will play Memphis for the tournament championship on Wednesday.

Broome scored 18 points in the first half and finished 9 of 18 from the field. He also had five assists and three blocks.

Chaney Johnson had 11 points and eight rebounds for Auburn. Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford scored 10 apiece.

Seth Trimble led the Tar Heels (4-2) with 17 points. RJ Davis, the reigning ACC player of the year, was held to a season-low 12 on 5-of-11 shooting.

NO. 5 IOWA STATE 89, DAYTON 84

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Keshon Gilbert scored 24 points and Curtis Jones added 19 to lead No. 5 Iowa State to a win over Dayton in the Maui Invitational.

The Cyclones (4-1) rallied from a nine-point deficit late in the first half and held off the Flyers (5-2) in a game that featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.

Gilbert made a pair of free throws with 44.9 seconds left to give Iowa State the lead for good. He shot 12 of 14 from the line.

Dishon Jackson had 12 points and six rebounds, and Milan Momcilovic scored 10 for Iowa State.

Malachi Smith scored a career-high 22 points for Dayton.

NO. 9 ALABAMA 85, NO. 6 HOUSTON 80, OT

LAS VEGAS — Mark Sears scored 24 points and No. 9 Alabama beat No. 6 Houston in overtime in the opener of the Players Era Festival.

After squandering an eight-point lead with 8:53 left in the game, and allowing Houston to force overtime, Alabama outscored the Cougars 7-2 in the extra frame for the win.

Houston’s LJ Cryer, who led all scorers with a career-high matching 30 points, had a chance to win the game but missed a mid-range baseline jumper with two seconds remaining.

Grant Nelson had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Mouhamed Dioubate had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Alabama.

Emanuel Sharp finished with 14 points while J’Wan Roberts added 11 for the Cougars.

NO. 8 KENTUCKY 87, W. KENTUCKY 68

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Otega Oweh and Andrew Carr each scored 18 points and No. 8 Kentucky pulled away down the stretch to beat Western Kentucky.

Oweh’s 3-pointer with 8:57 remaining was key for the cold-shooting Wildcats (6-0), who made just 25 of 62 from the field (40%) after consecutive shooting performances of at least 54% in routs of Lipscomb and Jackson State. Kentucky shot just 8 of 29 from long range and even struggled at times from the free-throw line despite making 29 of 42.

Lamont Butler had 14 points for Kentucky.

Julius Thedford had 18 points and Babacar Faye 16 for the Hilltoppers (3-3), who had won their previous three games but shot just 21 of 66 (32%).

OREGON 80, NO. 20 TEXAS A&M 70

LAS VEGAS — TJ Bamba had 18 points and Oregon scored the last 11 to defeat No. 20 Texas A&M in the Players Era Festival.

The Ducks (6-0) held Texas A&M (4-2) without a field goal over the final 4 1/2 minutes, allowing them to erase a 70-69 deficit.

Brandon Angel and Jackson Shelstad each scored 16 points for Oregon, and Jadrian Tracey added 11.

Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies with 20 points, and Wade Taylor IV finished with 15.

Texas A&M led 58-48 before Oregon went on a nine-point run in 1:01 to cut the deficit to one with 8:10 left. The Ducks extended the spurt to 16 straight points, prompting two Aggies timeouts as Oregon grabbed a 64-58 lead.

Then the game went back and forth before the Ducks closed on their game-ending 11-point run.

SAN DIEGO STATE 71, NO. 21 CREIGHTON 53

LAS VEGAS — BJ Davis scored a career-high 18 points and San Diego State upended No. 21 Creighton on the opening day of the Players Era Festival at the MGM Grand Garden.

The Blue Jays struggled to find their offensive rhythm against a San Diego State defense that generated eight steals and scored 13 points off turnovers.

Creighton finished 21 of 62 (33.8%) from the floor, while the Aztecs hit 30 of 62 (48.3%). San Diego State also finished 8 of 17 (47.0%) from 3-point range.

Miles Byrd added 16 for the Aztecs, while Davis grabbed nine rebounds.

Pop Isaacs led Creighton with 18 points and added five assists. Jackson McAndrew had a double-double for the Blue Jays with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Ryan Kalkbrenner added 11 points.