College Basketball: Arizona tops No. 6 Duke

Nick Johnson scored all but two of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 4 Arizona beat No. 6 Duke, 72-66, on Friday night in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York.

The game was expected to be a matchup of two of the best freshmen in the country and, although Aaron Gordon of Arizona and Jabari Parker of Duke didn't spend a lot of time covering each other, they were both key factors in the outcome.

Gordon, the quiet forward, finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and came up big late with a dunk on an alley-oop pass and then fed Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk less than a minute later to give the Wildcats (7-0) a 61-51 lead with 3 minutes, 59 seconds to play.

Parker, who had 19 points for his first game with fewer than 20 points this season, struggled against Arizona's physical defense and was 7 of 21 from the field. He came into the game shooting 60 percent from the field.

The victory gave Arizona its fourth NIT Season Tip-Off title, tying Duke for the most ever.

Johnson shook off a quiet first half to become the focal point of Arizona's offense. His three-pointer with 11:07 to play tied the game at 45.

He was chosen the tournament MVP.

Michigan State 98, Mount St. Mary's 65 - The No. 1 Spartans (7-0) did not start Keith Appling, Adreian Payne, and Branden Dawson due to showing up late to a required class. They didn't play their top scorer, Gary Harris, who rested a sore ankle. But that didn't keep them from blowing out the visiting Mountaineers (2-6). The next measuring stick for Michigan State is No. 16 North Carolina on Wednesday as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Penn State 61, Oregon State 56 - Tori Waldner and Dara Taylor scored the first six points of the second half in a 90-second burst as the No. 13 Nittany Lions surged ahead of the Beavers en route to a victory in the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.

High-scoring (92 ppg.), three-point-shooting Oregon State (4-1) led for much of the first half, forcing nine Penn State turnovers, holding the Nittany Lions to 21 percent shooting, and leading 21-14 by 5:50 of the opening period.

The Lions (4-1), whose only loss has been to top-ranked UConn, overcame the cold start with a 10-2 run to close 27-26 by the break. Ex-Germantown Academy star Maggie Lucas, on her birthday, scored 17 to lead Penn State, including a three-pointer to break open a 56-53 lead with 2:13 left. Waldner finished with 10.

Jamie Weisner scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Beavers, and Samantha Seiger scored 14.

Louisiana State 69, Rutgers 65 - Freshman Raigyne Moncrief scored a season-high 27 points and Theresa Plaisance added 16 to lead the No. 15 Tigers over the Scarlet Knights in the Women's Invitational at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

LSU (5-1) was missing DaShawn Harden and Danielle Ballard, who were suspended for a game after being ejected for fighting in a game against Louisiana Tech last week. The pair were tossed after a video review by officials.

Even without the two, the Tigers were too much for the Scarlet Knights (4-2).

LSU led by four at the half and increased the advantage to 48-41 before Rutgers rallied to within 50-49. But that was as close the Scarlet Knights could get.