Max Abmas canned a contested, fadeaway jumper in the lane with 0.4 seconds remaining to lift No. 19 Texas to a wild 81-80 win over determined Louisville on Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the Empire Classic in New York.
Texas (4-0) led by three points at halftime but relinquished the front with poor shooting to start the second half. The last four minutes featured back-and-forth play with 10 lead changes, the final coming after the Longhorns — trailing by one — forced Louisville into a shot clock violation with seven seconds left.
After a timeout, Texas got the ball into the hands of Abmas, who drove into the lane while being covered by the Cardinals’ Skyy Clark and lifted a sideways spinning shot that went in for the win.
Kadin Shedrick led the Longhorns with a career-high 27 points while Abmas added 14 and Ithiel Horton had 10.
Clark and Tre White scored 20 points apiece to lead the Cardinals (2-2), with Ty-Laur Johnson adding 14 and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield hitting for 11 before fouling out.
No. 3 Arizona 101, UT Arlington 56
Kylan Boswell and Oumar Ballo each scored 15 points to lead seven players in double figures, and the Wildcats used a 20-0 run bridging the two halves to take control and cruise past the Mavericks in Tucson, Ariz.
The game was tied at 37 late in the first half, but the Wildcats (5-0) scored the final six points before the break and were relentless when play resumed. After the Mavericks (2-2) finally stopped the 20-point run, Arizona responded with a 13-0 surge.
Pelle Larsson and Jaden Bradley each scored 13 points for Arizona, and Shemar Wilson finished with 19 points after helping keep UTA in the game with 15 in the first half.
No. 5 UConn 77, Indiana 57
Tristen Newton collected 23 points and 11 rebounds to lift the Huskies over the Hoosiers at the Empire Classic in New York.
Newton added six assists and two steals for the Huskies (4-0), who will face No. 19 Texas in the tournament championship on Monday. UConn’s Cam Spencer made 5 of 8 shots from the floor and all six of his free throws to highlight his 18-point performance.
Indiana’s Malik Reneau scored 15 of his career-high 18 points in the first half before fouling out with 7:04 to play in the second and his team trailing by 10. The Huskies scored the next 10 points to effectively seal the win.
No. 6 Houston 69, Dayton 55
L.J. Cryer scored 18 points and Jamal Shead chipped in 16 points as the Cougars cruised past the Flyers to win the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
Houston (6-0) shot 40 percent (8 of 20) from 3-point range, had 17 offensive rebounds and committed only seven turnovers. J’Wan Roberts contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, while Ja’Vier Francis contributed nine rebounds.
Dayton (3-2), which knocked off LSU and St. John’s earlier in the event, missed 14 of its 18 3-pointers on Sunday. DaRon Holmes II led the team with 16 points and Nate Santos had 14. Down the stretch, the Flyers got the deficit down to 14 on several occasions, but Houston had an answer each time.
No. 12 Miami 91, Kansas State 83
Nijel Pack burned his former school by scoring 20 of his game-high-tying 28 points in the first half to lead the Hurricanes past the Wildcats to win the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.
Pack, who was a first-team All-Big 12 player at Kansas State before transferring to Miami last season, made 9 of 16 shots from the floor, including 7 of 12 3-pointers. Miami (5-0), which advanced to the Final Four last season, also got 23 points and a team-high seven rebounds from Norchad Omier.
Kansas State (3-2), which advanced to the Elite Eight of last season’s NCAA Tournament, had its three-game winning streak broken. Cam Carter led the Wildcats with 28 points on 12-for-22 shooting. Wildcats guard Tylor Perry, who entered the game averaging a team-high 21.5 points, scored 10 on 4-for-13 shooting overall.
No. 16 Southern California 81, Brown 70
Boogie Ellis returned to the lineup to score 28 points after missing time due to an ankle injury, and the Trojans survived a test from the Bears in Los Angeles.
USC (3-1) came into its final contest of a three-game homestand coming off its first loss of the season, a 70-60 setback against UC Irvine on Tuesday, when both Ellis and Kobe Johnson were sidelined. The duo returned on Sunday, with Ellis adding a team-high four assists to go with his game high in points, while Johnson added 14 points. Isaiah Collier finished with 24 points.
Kino Lilly Jr. led Brown (1-4) with 24 points.
No. 18 Michigan State 81, Alcorn State 49
Tre Holloman had 17 points, including five 3-pointers, and added five assists as the Spartans rolled past the Braves in East Lansing, Mich.
Jaden Akins supplied 13 points, while Coen Carr and A.J. Hoggard had 11 apiece. Jeremy Fears Jr. chipped in nine points and five assists for Michigan State (3-2). Tyson Walker, the Spartans’ leading scorer at 23 points per game, sat out due to an illness.
Jeremiah Gambrell led Alcorn State (1-4) with 12 points, all on 3-pointers. Jeremiah Kendall added 11 points.
No. 23 Illinois 88, Southern 60
Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a game-high 24 points as the Fighting Illini rolled over the Jaguars in a nonconference matchup in Champaign, Ill.
Dain Dainja added 12 points and Quincy Guerrier chipped in 10 for the Fighting Illini (4-1). Illinois canned 60 percent of its field-goal tries in the first half and finished the evening at 57.1 percent. It also dominated the boards, 50-17, which was more than enough to offset 21 turnovers.
Tai’Reon Joseph scored 16 points but made just 7 of 23 shots from the field, going 0-for-6 on 3-pointers for the Jaguars (1-4). Jordan Mitchell added 13 points, but the duo didn’t have enough help. Southern connected on just 23 of 61 attempts from the field, including only 5 of 24 from beyond the 3-point line.
