LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Ryan McMahon made consecutive 3-pointers and Dwayne Sutton and Darius Perry had one each during a second-half surge that rallied No. 2 Louisville past USC Upstate 76-50 Wednesday night.
Trailing the determined Spartans 43-40 with 14:07 remaining, Sutton’s 3 tied it before McMahon added one after a huge block of Josh Aldrich’s layup attempt. McMahon and Perry followed again from long range, and the Cardinals (5-0) turned up the intensity on both ends for a 24-5 burst.
Jordan Nwora had two 3s among his 28 points. The Cardinals finished 51% from the field and have shot above 50% in each game this season.
Bryson Mozone’s 14 points on four 3s led Upstate (1-5), which was 9 of 24 from long range.
No. 5 NORTH CAROLINA 75, ELON 61
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Armando Bacot had season highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds, fellow freshman Cole Anthony flirted with North Carolina’s first triple-double in 19 years and the Tar Heels beat Elon.
Anthony finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and a season-high eight assists for North Carolina (4-0), which hasn’t had a player with a triple-double since Brendan Haywood and Jason Capel each did it 10 days apart in December 2000.
Garrison Brooks added 14 points for the Tar Heels — 30½-point favorites who a year ago beat Elon on the road by 49 points. They trailed at halftime for the second time this season before opening the second half with a Bacot-led 21-5 run that pushed the lead into double figures, and wound up outrebounding Elon 56-25.
Marcus Sheffield scored 19 points for the Phoenix (2-3), who lost their third straight — all to power-conference schools — while shooting 28% in the second half.
No. 16 MEMPHIS 68, ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 58
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Precious Achiuwa had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Memphis beat Arkansas-Little Rock after star freshman James Wiseman was cleared by the NCAA to return to the court Jan. 12.
The game was played only hours after the NCAA ruled Wiseman, the Tigers 7-foot-1 center and last season’s top recruit, ineligible for the next 11 games for receiving impermissible benefits from Memphis coach Penny Hardaway. Wiseman’s family received $11,500 from Hardaway to help with moving expenses from Nashville to Memphis two years ago, before Hardaway became the Tigers’ coach. Wiseman played for East High, where Hardaway coached.
The NCAA considered Hardaway a university booster because he donated $1 million to the university in 2008. Wiseman watched the game from the bench.
Markquis Nowell led the Trojans (3-2) with 16 points, while Ben Coupet Jr. added 12 points. Ruot Monyyong had 12 points and nine rebounds and Kamani Johnson finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
No. 20 TENNESSEE 76, ALABAMA STATE 41
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jordan Bowden scored 16 points to lead four Tennessee players in double figures as the Volunteers trounced Alabama State for their 29th straight home victory.
Tennessee (4-0) owns the longest active Division I home winning streak. The Vols haven’t lost at Thompson-Boling Arena since falling 94-84 to Auburn on Jan. 2, 2018.
Lamonte’ Turner added 13 points and six assists for Tennessee. Turner is averaging 8.5 assists this season and entered the night ranked second among all Division I players in that category.
Bowden and Turner also became the 51st and 52nd Tennessee players to join the 1,000-point club. Bowden has 1,011 career points, while Turner has 1,002.
Tennessee held Alabama State (0-4) without a basket for the final 9 minutes, 39 seconds. The Hornets shot 28% (14 of 50) overall and 16.7% (4 of 24) in the second half.
Alabama State’s Tobi Ewuosho led all scorers with 17 points.
