Ryan Nembhard scored 25 points to lead four Bluejays in double figures as No. 10 Creighton held on for a 90-87 victory over the No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Creighton will face No. 14 Arizona in the championship game on Wednesday. Arkansas will play No. 17 San Diego State in the third-place game.
Nembhard shot 6-for-12, including 3-for-4 from 3-point distance, to go along with six rebounds and five assists for Creighton (6-0). Ryan Kalkbrenner added 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Baylor Scheierman chipped in 20 points by going 7-for-10, including 3-for-5 from deep, and added seven rebounds and three assists.
Arkansas was led by Anthony Black, who scored 26 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Ricky Council IV added 24 points, and Trevon Brazile added 17 points and six rebounds.
No. 13 Auburn 85, Bradley 64
Behind 14 points apiece from Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr., the Tigers rolled to a win over the Braves in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
Broome got off to a hot start in the first half despite picking up two early fouls. He led Auburn (5-0) with nine rebounds. Green added a team-high six assists. Auburn (5-0) shot 56.4 percent from the field (31 of 55) and 47.1 percent from the 3-point arc (8 of 17) for the game. The Tigers also had 18 assists.
Bradley played without its best player and top scorer, Ja’Shon Henry, who was out with a concussion. Connor Hickman picked up the slack with Henry out and kept Bradley (3-2) in the game in the first half by scoring 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. He finished with 15 points and three assists.
No. 14 Arizona 87, No. 17 San Diego State 70
Courtney Ramey scored 21 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range as the Wildcats turned back the Aztecs in the second semifinal of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Kerr Kriisa also scored 21 on 6-of-14 shooting and added five assists. Azoulas Tubelis finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Arizona (5-0).
Darrion Trammell led the Aztecs with 21 points but shot only 6 of 16. Micah Parrish added 10 points and Nathan Mensah supplied nine points and seven rebounds.
No. 21 Texas Tech 70, Louisville 38
Kevin Obanor scored 15 points and the Red Raiders defense did the rest in defeating the hapless Cardinals in a consolation semifinal game at the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Texas Tech (4-1) moved on to the consolation championship game on Wednesday; they will play Ohio State. Louisville (0-5) will square off against Cincinnati in the tournament’s seventh-place game. Louisville has lost its first five games to begin a season for the first time since 1940-41, when it dropped its first 11.
D’Maurian Williams added 10 points off the bench and Daniel Batcho pulled down 12 rebounds and had nine points to contribute to Texas Tech’s win.
–Field Level Media