NCAA Exhibitions:

DURHAM, N.C. – Seth Curry scored 18 points to help No. 6 Duke beat Bellarmine 87-62 in an exhibition game Saturday night.

Mason Plumlee added 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting for the Blue Devils, who pulled away with an 18-2 run midway through the second half. Miles Plumlee had 14 points and Austin Rivers had 13 points.

The Blue Devils shot 56 percent from the floor despite a 2-for-14 effort from 3-point range. Duke, which missed its first 11 3s, got its first from Tyler Thornton with 8:43 to play.

Curry delivered a four-point play on Duke’s next possession to push the lead to 73-52.

Jeremy Kendle and Luke Sprague scored 13 points each for Bellarmine, the reigning Division II champion.

The Knights weathered a 15-0 run by the Blue Devils early in the first half, pulling to 32-31 before Duke extended its advantage to 38-33 at halftime.

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Five three-pointers from senior Conner Teahan and a triple-double from junior Jeff Withey ignited No. 13 Kansas to a win against Pittsburg State in the 2011-2012 season exhibition opener, Tuesday night, 84-55.

A sold-out Allen Fieldhouse crowd played witness to the Jayhawks’ 38th-straight exhibition game victory, dating back to the 1995 season. Head coach Bill Self moved to 24-0 in exhibition games at Kansas as the Jayhawks kept their unblemished 9-0 record versus Pittsburg State.

Kansas, who shot for nearly 50 percent in the opening half while holding the visiting PSU to just 29 percent accuracy, fought off a closely contested first half instead before outscoring the Gorillas 52-28 in the final 20 minutes.

Without the use of starters Tyshawn Taylor, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson, Kansas head coach Bill Self worked all of his available roster into the Tuesday night’s contest. Teahan’s 21 points led all scorers, while Withey’s 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks turned in the only triple-double of the evening – and of his career – had the game been a regular season contest.

Junior guard Travis Releford and freshman guard Naadir Tharpe churned out 14 and 12 points, respectively, to put four Jayhawks in double figures. All of the above would also have registered as career highs if Tuesday night’s matchup not been exhibition.

Teahan nailed a three just seconds after the Jayhawks won the opening tip, setting the tone for what looked to be an offensive outpouring from the Kansas lineup. The redshirt senior knocked down his first three shots from three-point land and finished the evening 5-of-8 from behind the three-point arc and an efficient 8-for-11 from the floor.

Powered by four returning starters from its 2010-11 squad, Pitt State was led by senior guard Drake Green and junior Nolen Marky’s nine points apiece and junior forward JaVon McGee’s 12 rebounds.

Just under the 15-minute mark, sophomore forward Justin Wesley was whistled for his second foul. The call sent Wesley to the bench for the majority of the opening half, but it was Pitt State that suffered from foul trouble. The Gorillas sent KU into the bonus with 12 minutes to play, a benefit the Jayhawks were not able to capitalize on, hitting just 3-of-8 from the line in the first frame and 19-for-37 on the night.

A three from junior Courtney Ingram and put-back layup off the hands of McGee shortened the Kansas lead, 19-15, bringing the Gorillas as close as they had been all evening to the Jayhawks. Another bucket from Ingram would cut the Kansas lead to two, seconds before the final media timeout. Tharpe responded with a pair of threes out of the timeout to help push the Jayhawks out to a 32-27 lead at the break.

Releford converted a three-point play to spark the Jayhawks in the early minutes of the second half. The starting point guard added to his eight first-half points with six more in the second, on a 55-percent shooting night. As a team, Kansas also outdid its first-half effort, shooting for a 65-percent mark in the second frame.

A quick strike to the basket resulted in a Tharpe layup, backing up Teahan’s fourth three-pointer of the game. The back-to-back effort handed Kansas the 46-35 advantage at the 13:35 mark – the Jayhawks’ first double-digit lead since jumping out to a 15-5 advantage in the game’s early minutes.

With a sizable lead in tow, Kansas took off. Consecutive dunks from Releford and Wesley brought the full house to its feet and stretched the lead, 62-46.

The Jayhawks would increase its lead to 15, then 20 and finally 25 for the remainder of the game. When Teahan connected for his fifth three ball of the night, Kansas was well-beyond reach nearing the final media timeout on its way to the comfortable 84-55 victory.

UP NEXT
No. 13 Kansas continues exhibition play when it hosts Fort Hays State next Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Jayhawk TV and can also be seen on AT&T Jayhawk All-Access. KU will then host Towson on Friday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. to open its 2011-12 regular season. Jayhawk TV and ESPN Full Court will broadcast the game, which is the first contest of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – For a 6-foot-3 guard, Mississippi State’s Brian Bryant has some hops.
Bryant jammed home a couple of ram-rattling dunks and added three 3-point baskets en route to a game-high 21 points as the Bulldogs raced past Florida Tech 97-63 in a men’s basketball exhibition game played Saturday afternoon in the Humphrey Coliseum.

The Bulldogs pulled down 54 rebounds, shot 51 percent from the floor and blew open a once-tight game to win the first of two exhibition games scheduled for the season. A 27-13 run to open the second half allowed the hosts to build on a shaky 40-33 halftime advantage.

“We dribble the ball and pass the ball much better than we have in several years,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “Those abilities put you in a position to do some things. After that, it was simply a matter of players making basketball plays.”

MSU received three double-doubles. Arnett Moultrie had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Renardo Sidney had 11 points and 11 rebounds. In 21 very strong minutes off the bench, Wendell Lewis added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“We have the pieces, it is just a matter of putting everything together,” Stansbury said. “In the second half, we defended better and really wore them down. The offensive execution was good for a first game. Obviously, we have a long way to go. However, we did a lot of things well today and that is very encouraging.”

Florida Tech, an NCAA Division II school located in Melbourne, hung tough through the first 20 minutes. With MSU struggling to find offensive consistency early, the Panthers built out leads of 16-12 and 20-16.

The Bulldogs then found some hustle on the defensive end. Arnett Moultrie rammed home a dunk. Dee Bost then got a steal at midcourt and fed Moultrie, who again rocked the Hump with a glide move around an overmatched Tech defender for the easy lay-in.

Tech again had two more leads before the Maroon and White seized control for good with a 9-0 run. Back-to-back baskets by Jalen Steele and another layup by Moultrie capped the run as the hosts suddenly led, 34-26.

“We really starting sharing the ball better,” Stansbury said. “Obviously, we had a few more athletes. What you liked to see was our offensive rhythm. I thought we came out real tight to start the game. There was some nervousness.

“Once we got into a flow and got control of the game, I thought our movement of the ball was really good.”

The Bulldogs only made one 3-point basket and shot 44.4 percent from the field while taking the seven-point lead at halftime.

The final 20 minutes proved a much different story. After the Maroon and White took command of the contest, an impromptu dunk contest broke out. The Bulldogs delighted the crowd with a series of alley oops, as they worked their transition offense to near perfection. Even the Gold Team got into action with Taylor Luczak draining an 18-foot jumper in the closing seconds.

“The biggest thing may be the 54 rebounds,” Stansbury said. “Of that total, 16 were on the offensive end. Wendell had seven, Sid had four and Arnett had four. If you are able to make shots and then give yourselves extra chances, you have a chance to be successful.

“The rebounding aspect and the sharing of the basketball were the things that pleased me the most.”

For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 39 of 77 shots from the field (50.6 percent), 7 of 19 shots from 3-point range (38.8 percent) and 12 of 16 shots from the foul line (75.0 percent). Florida Tech hit 22 of 74 shots from the field (29.7 percent), 4 of 26 shots from 3-point range (15.4 percent) and 15 of 20 shots from the foul line (75.0 percent).

MSU held a 54-41 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 19 assists and 11 turnovers, while the Panthers had nine assists and 13 turnovers.

For MSU, Bost added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists. DeVille Smith added eight points, three rebounds and five assists in 17 very impressive minutes off the bench.

Florida Tech received a team-high 20 points from Julius Reed. The 6-1 junior only managed four points in the second half. Also in double figures were Derek Hellemann with 17 points and Jermaine Jackson with 11 points. Edgars Eglitis pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Bulldogs close exhibition play with a 7 p.m. Friday matchup with NAIA foe Pikeville College. Admission will be free at the Humphrey Coliseum.

QUEENS, N.Y. – Newcomers Moe Harkless and God’sgift Achiuwa each posted double-doubles as St. John’s used 46 points in the paint and a +14 rebounding margin to defeat St. Mary’s (Md.), 77-70. St. John’s shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor and turned 15 Seahawk turnovers into 19 points.

Harkless totaled a team-high 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games, while Achiuwa had 15 points and 10 boards. Nurideen Lindsey added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and D’Angelo Harrison gave St. John’s four players in double-figures with a 12-point performance.

Devin Spencer scored a game-high 25 points to lead St. Mary’s (Md.), which made 13 3-pointers in the contest.

“I thought our guys did a much better job than they did last week on defense and that’s the most important thing; getting better each day and getting better each and every game,” said assistant coach Rico Hines. “Our guys have been great and we demand a lot from them, but they’re a tough-minded group and they have definitely been improving since they’ve stepped foot on campus.”

Trailing by six, 54-48, with 9:11 remaining, St. John’s closed the game on a 29-16 run. Right after a Spencer jumper had given the Seahawks the six-point advantage, the Red Storm began to chip into the deficit. Following a Lindsey lay-up, the St. John’s defense forced a 10-second violation and a pair of Harkless free throws leveled the score at 56-56, the fifth tie of the game.

The Harkless free throws opened up a stretch of eight-straight successful free throws and gave St. John’s, which shot just 22-of-42 (52.4 percent) from the line, a 66-58 advantage with 2:46 remaining. When Sir’Dominic Pointer stole a pass in the backcourt and threw down an emphatic slam dunk, St. John’s had opened up its largest lead of the game, 71-60, with 1:03 remaining.

St. John’s led by as many as nine points twice in the first half, including a 30-21 advantage with 2:58 remaining before the break. Nick LaGuerre scored five-straight points to trim the lead to four, but a Harkless layup and one put the Red Storm back up by seven, 33-26. Kyle Wise, however, followed with a trey and a buzzer-beating jumper and the Seahawks trailed by just two, 33-31, at the break.

St. John’s begins its regular season by hosting 2K Sports Classic opening round games on campus at Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm meets William & Mary in its season-opener on Monday, Nov. 7, on ESPNU, to benefit the Coaches vs. Cancer program, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). After a day off, St. John’s takes on Lehigh for the first time since 1930 on Wednesday, Nov. 9, as part of the event on ESPN2.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Bernard James scored 13 points and 10 rebounds and Xavier Gibson added 13 points and eight rebounds as Florida State routed Indiana University of Pennsylvania 80-51 on Monday night in the exhibition opener for both teams at the Donald L. Tucker Center . Ashton Smith led all scorers with 18 points and Julian Sanders added 17 points for IUP.

“If I wanted to characterize the game – I thought it was solid,” said Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton. “We wanted to take a look at a lot of players; we had a lot of interesting line-ups and combinations out there. We just wanted to get the guys feet wet, get them on the court. I sure that had we stayed with a game-type rotation and not substituted five at a time we probably would have been a little more efficient.”

Jon Kreft had 11 points and Terrance Shannon added 10 points for FSU. Jeff Peterson, a transfer point guard from Arkansas, scored seven points and had three assists.

“I saw a lot of things I liked,” continued Hamilton. “I thought our execution against the zone was solid. I just thought that we allowed the ball to go through our hands. We had good passes that resulted in turnovers that should have been and assists and should have made us more productive.”

The Seminoles overpowered IUP down low, outrebounding the Crimson Hawks 47-29.

“We didn’t shoot nearly as well from the free throw line as we have shot in practice,” continued Hamilton. “But we went to the line 34 times which is positive. I think we are a much better perimeter shooting team. I thought we had good looks I just thought we were a little anxious.”

FSU led the nation in field-goal percentage defense in 2010-11 and continued that intensity on the defensive end on Monday. The Seminoles jumped out to a 38-18 halftime lead by holding IUP to just 7 of 28 (25 percent) from the floor.

“Defensively, I was not necessarily pleased with the first eight, nine, ten minutes of the second half when they were shooting over 50 percent which meant we had to tighten up in the second half,” said Hamilton.

The Seminoles shot 27 of 52 (51.9 percent) from the floor for the game. The Crimson Hawks shot 18 of 58 (31 percent).

“We had some goals and we got to most of them,” concluded Hamilton. “Getting to the free throw line, I wasn’t very happy with our turnovers but the kind of turnovers that we had were guys making good passes to guys not catching and not finishing. They weren’t turnovers they created or that they forced us into. Hopefully they were first game type jitters and hopefully we are a better team than that.

“I think this team has a chance to be better than we were last year. I think we have a ways to go. I like what I saw in terms of potential of this team and I think it will be good for us to go back and evaluate the film and see where we are. I think we will learn from it and be more prepared as we move into our next exhibition game.”

Florida State will play host to Georgia Southwestern in its second and final exhibition game Nov. 7 at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. The game will be played to benefit the Aubry Boyd foundation. Boyd played for the Seminoles and was injured in a 1998 accident. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m.