Sears, No. 18 Alabama top No. 1 North Carolina in 4 OTs

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Mark Sears had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, and No. 18 Alabama sent top-ranked North Carolina to a second straight loss with a 103-101 victory in a quadruple-overtime thriller on Sunday in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.

Jahvon Quinerly scored 21 points for the Crimson Tide (6-1), who knocked off the top-ranked team for the first time since upsetting Stanford in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Charles Bediako had 14 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks.

North Carolina (5-2) wasted a big game for Caleb Love, who had 34 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Armando Bacot finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and R.J. Davis had 19 points and nine rebounds in the second four-overtime game in North Carolina history. The other was a victory over Tulane in 1976.

Alabama forward Noah Clowney took a hard fall on a dunk attempt four minutes into the first half and had to be helped off the court. He did not return.

NO. 6 GONZAGA 88, XAVIER 84

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Julian Strawther scored 23 points, including 10 in the final 4:07, and Gonzaga beat Xavier in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Legacy men’s tournament.

Each of Gonzaga’s starters scored in double figures. Drew Timme and Anton Watson had 16 points apiece. Nolan Hickman finished with 14, and Rasir Bolton had 13 points and six assists. 

Jack Nunge scored a game-high 25 points for Xavier (4-3), and Colby Jones had 22.

Strawther’s 3 put Gonzaga (5-2) back in front at 76-75 with 3:18 to go. Watson then converted a floater, and Strawther made another 3 to make it 81-75 with 1:39 left.

NO. 24 PURDUE 75, NO. 8 DUKE 56

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Zach Edey had 21 points and 12 rebounds, helping Purdue beat Duke in the championship game of the Phil Knight Legacy men’s tournament.

Fletcher Loyer scored 18 points for Purdue (6-0), and reserve Caleb Furst finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The 7-foot-4 Edey was 7 for 13 from the field and 7 for 8 at the line. He was named tournament MVP.

Duke (6-2) shot 36.2% (21 for 58) from the field. Tyres Proctor scored 16 points for the Blue Devils. Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach each had 14.

Ethan Morton had a steal and a dunk to help Purdue open a 58-41 lead with 15:37 left in the second half.

NO. 12 MICHIGAN STATE 78, PORTLAND 77

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Tyson Walker scored 15 points, and Michigan State topped Portland in the fifth-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.

Pierre Brooks made all four of his 3-pointers and scored 15 points for the Spartans (5-2). Joey Hauser added 14 points and seven rebounds. A.J. Hoggard had 12 points and nine assists.

After outscoring Michigan State 13-2 in the last three minutes and getting eight points in less than 30 seconds to make it 78-77 with 40.5 seconds to play, Portland rebounded a Spartans miss with 8.1 seconds to go. The Pilots got the ball inside to Tyler Robertson and his shot rolled off the rim, and a desperation putback by Juan Sebastian Gorosito wasn’t close.

Robertson had 16 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals for the Pilots (5-4).

NO. 13 AUBURN 65, SAINT LOUIS 60

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Wendell Green Jr. scored 22 points, and Auburn reeled off 11 straight in the closing minutes.

The Tigers (7-0) rallied from a five-point deficit over the final five minutes, starting with back-to-back drives by K.D. Johnson and ending with Green’s scoop shot in traffic.

The Billikens (5-2) missed six straight shots before Yuri Collins’ drive with 20 seconds left. Then Jaylin Williams turned it over with an errant inbounds pass.

But Gibson Jimerson missed a long jumper for Saint Louis and Green went 1 for 2 at the line.

Auburn closed the game on a 12-2 run.

NO. 19 UCLA 81, BELLARMINE 60

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 27 points, and UCLA got the win while playing without leading scorer Jaylen Clark.

Clark sat out for the first time this season because of a non-COVID-19 illness. The junior is averaging 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Freshman Adem Bona added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field in his highest scoring game so far.

Bellarmine freshman Ben Johnson led the Knights (2-5) with 20 points. Curt Hopf added 16 points.

The Bruins (5-2) stretched their lead to 20 points in the second half.

NO. 20 UCONN 71, IOWA STATE 53

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Donovan Clingan had 15 points and 10 rebounds, powering UConn to the Phil Knight Invitational championship.

Tristen Newton scored 13 points for the Huskies (8-0), who went 20 for 25 at the free-throw line. Alex Karaban and Andre Jackson, Jr. each had 10 points.

Osun Osunniyi led Iowa State (5-1) with 14 points. Tamin Lipsey had 12 points and Jaren Holmes finished with 11.

Iowa State closed to 53-48 on Holmes’ 3-pointer midway through the second half. But Karaban made a 3 and a dunk, and Newton’s jumper made it 60-48 with 7:13 remaining.