Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, hitting six free throws in the final 35 seconds, as No. 17 Tennessee upset third-ranked Houston 76-73 in the Players Era men’s tournament on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Jaylen Carey scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Bishop Boswell added 10 points for the Volunteers (7-0), who avenged a 69-50 loss to the Cougars in the Elite Eight last March.
Freshman Kingston Flemings scored a game-high 25 points and Milos Uzan added 17 points for Houston (6-1), which went almost 7 1/2 minutes without a point while missing 11 consecutive shots midway through the second half.
Houston got as close as 74-73 on a 3-pointer by Flemings with 5.3 seconds left, but Gillespie, who was 9-for-9 at the line, answered with two free throws with 4.1 seconds left. Uzan then missed a shot from behind the half-court line to end the game.
No. 7 Michigan 102, No. 21 Auburn 72
Yaxel Lendeborg and Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 17 points apiece and the Wolverines sailed over the Tigers to reach the championship game of the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas.
Nimari Burnett and Morez Johnson Jr. each added 15 points for Michigan (6-0), which earned the spot in the title game with their second blowout win in two nights. The Wolverines will face No. 12 Gonzaga for the championship on Wednesday.
Tahaad Pettiford scored 16 points and Keyshawn Hall added 15 for Auburn (5-2), which is 1-1 in the tournament. Filip Jovic put up 13 points and KeShawn Murphy had 12.
No. 11 Michigan State 89, East Carolina 56
Jaxon Kohler had 16 points and eight rebounds and the Spartans romped past the Pirates in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off.
Divine Ugochukwu also scored 16 points, while Coen Carr supplied 13 points for Michigan State (6-0).
Jordan Riley led East Carolina (2-4) with 13 points. The Pirates were held to 33.3% shooting from the field and committed 24 turnovers, which Michigan State cashed in for 31 points.
No. 12 Gonzaga 100, Maryland 61
Braden Huff scored 20 points as the Bulldogs overwhelmed the Terrapins with their offensive execution in a wire-to-wire win at the Player’s Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas.
Graham Ike added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists for Gonzaga (7-0). The Bulldogs shot 57.8% from the floor, with Huff sinking 9 of 10 attempts. From 3-point range, Gonzaga made 14 of 33 tries (42.4%).
Pharrel Payne scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead Maryland (5-2), which made 36.4% of its shots and sank 5 of 21 (23.8%) from 3-point range.
No. 14 St. John’s 96, Baylor 81
Bryce Hopkins scored 26 points to spur the Red Storm past the Bears in the second round of the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas.
St. John’s (4-2) rebounded from a one-point loss to Iowa State on the first day of the tournament, while Baylor (4-1) had beaten Creighton to open the week.
Oziyah Sellers scored 22 points and hit five of the Red Storm’s 11 3-pointers, while Dillon Mitchell chipped in 18 off the bench. Cameron Carr led Baylor with a game-high 27 points, Tounde Yessoufou racked up 15 points, and Michael Rataj notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
No. 15 Iowa State 78, Creighton 60
Freshman Killyan Toure scored a season-high 20 points to help lead the Cyclones to a victory over the Bluejays on the second day of the Players Era men’s championship in Las Vegas.
Joshua Jefferson had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Blake Buchanan added 12 points and nine boards for Iowa State (6-0), who played without preseason All-Big 12 guard Tamin Lipsey due to a lower-body injury sustained in the final minutes of the 83-82 win over No. 14 St. John’s on Monday.
Jasen Green and Josh Dix scored 15 points apiece for Creighton (3-3), which committed 17 turnovers in the loss.
No. 16 North Carolina 85, St. Bonaventure 70
Henri Veesaar’s career highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds led the Tar Heels to a victory against the Bonnies in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off.
Caleb Wilson scored 20 points and snared 12 rebounds. Kyan Evans, who made three 3-point shots, added 11 points for the Tar Heels (6-0), who played away from home for the first time this season. North Carolina has won its first six games in a season for the first time since 2016-17.
Darryl Simmons II scored 22 points and Frank Mitchell put up 18 points and six rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure (5-1).
Cal 80, No. 18 UCLA 72
Chris Bell bombed in five 3-pointers to account for a majority of his game-high 22 points as the Golden Bears captured the championship of the Empire Classic with an upset of the Bruins in San Francisco.
Dai Dai Ames saved six of his 14 points for the final 1:24 and Justin Pippen finished with 13 points for Cal (6-1).
Trent Perry had 19 points and Eric Dailey Jr. 17 to pace UCLA (5-2). Dailey grabbed seven rebounds for the Bruins, who cut a 13-point deficit down to five in the final minutes before falling short.
No. 23 North Carolina State 81, Boise State 70
The Wolfpack forced 15 Broncos turnovers and pulled away in the second half for a win in a consolation-bracket game of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Darrion Williams had a team-high 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting for the Wolfpack (5-1) before fouling out with 3:15 left. Ven-Allen Lubin had 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for NC State.
Dylan Andrews had a game-high 26, including five 3-pointers, and kept the Broncos close down the stretch. Javan Buchanan had 10 points and nine rebounds for Boise State (4-3).
No. 25 Indiana 86, Kansas State 69
Reed Bailey scored a game-high 21 points and Tayton Conerway added 19 as the Hoosiers rolled past the Wildcats in Bloomington, Ind.
Lamar Wilkerson (14 points) and Trent Sisley (12) also finished in double figures for Indiana (6-0), which shot 47.4% and opened the second half on a 10-2 run to surge ahead by 20.
P.J. Haggerty paced the Wildcats (5-2) with 16 points while C.J. Jones (15) and Nate Johnson (13) followed.
