Monday's college basketball: UM women hold on to beat Oakland
Ann Arbor — Naz Hillmon scored 12 of her 25 in the fourth quarter after Michigan gave up most of an 18-point lead and the 13th-ranked Wolverines pulled away from Oakland for a 69-58 win on Monday night.
Hillmon and Emily Kiser combined for 10 points to close the first quarter to give the Wolverines (5-0) a 19-6 lead. Kiser had a bucket and Danielle Rauch followed a 3-pointer with a three-point play to make it 29-11 in the second quarter. Oakland scored eight-straight and trailed 33-21 at the half.
The lead ranged from eight to 16 in the third quarter, which ended with Michigan up 50-37.
The Golden Grizzlies (2-3) opened the fourth with an 11-0 run, pulling within 50-48 on Kahlaijah Dean’s 3-pointer with 7:27 to go. Three times Hillmon and Oakland traded baskets but one was an Olivia Sims 3-pointer for Oakland so twice it was a one-point game.
Michigan closed on a 13-3 run in the last five minutes as the Golden Grizzlies went 1 for 7 with two turnovers.
Kiser had 11 points and Rauch 10 for Michigan and Hillman grabbed 11 rebounds for her 36th double-double.
Dean led Oakland with 15, Brianna Breedy added 11 and Sims 10.
Michigan falls
A pair of early-season losses sent Michigan tumbling in the Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll.
Michigan (3-2) fell 16 spots to No. 20 in this week’s Top 25, following Sunday night’s 80-62 loss to Arizona in the Roman Main Event championship in Las Vegas. Michigan also was saddled with a 67-65 home loss to Seton Hall as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
Michigan State (3-1), meanwhile, remains unranked after notching victories over Butler and Eastern Michigan last week.
Gonzaga and UCLA continued their hold on the top two spots in the poll, setting the stage for their highly anticipated showdown this week, while Purdue and Duke barged their way into the top five.
State men
Oakland 63, Vermont 61: At Estero, Florida, Jamal Cain had 22 points and 16 rebounds in the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Jalen Moore sank a go-ahead 3-pointer for Oakland with 10.7 seconds left. Moore finished with 21 points and Trey Townsend had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Oakland (3-2). Micah Parrish added seven rebounds.
Ryan Davis had 24 points for the Catamounts (3-2). Finn Sullivan added 12 points and six rebounds.
Ben Shungu had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Iowa 109, W. Michigan 61: Keegan Murray scored a career-high 29 points in a little over a half and Iowa routed Western Michigan 109-61 on Monday night to remain undefeated with its fifth straight win.
Murray was 10-of-14 shooting and made a pair of 3-pointers. Payton Sandfort scored 19 points and made five 3s for Iowa (5-0). Tony Perkins added 15 points and Kris Murray had 12.
The Hawkeyes shot 53% overall and scored 36 points off 24 turnovers. They had a double-digit lead with about nine minutes remaining in the first half and built a 49-20 halftime advantage.
Lamar Norman Jr. scored 19 points and made five 3-pointers to lead Western Michigan (1-3). Mack Smith added 12 points.
Keegan Murray entered as one of three players from a major conference to score 24-plus points in each of their first four games of the season over the last 15 years. Kansas State’s Michael Beasley (2007-08) and Arizona’s Allonzo Trier (2017-18) also accomplished the feat.
Big Ten men
Ohio State 79, No. 21 Seton Hall 76: Meechie Johnson Jr. made a winning 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in the Fort Myers (Florida) Tip-Off. Seton Hall guard Jamir Harris stole it and raced for a fast-break layup to tie it at 76 with 15.9 seconds left. Ohio State elected not to call a timeout and Johnson made his team’s 11th 3-pointer — from NBA range.
Cincinnati 71, No. 14 Illinois 51: Mike Saunders Jr. scored 20, Jeremiah Davenport added 19 and Cincinnati overcame an early 15-point deficit in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic. The Bearcats (5-0) trailed 23-8 in the opening minutes before charging back to take a 34-31 lead at the break. They piled on from there, pushing the advantage past 20 by the midway point of the second half as they coasted into the championship game against the winner of No. 13 Arkansas and Kansas State tonight.
Wisconsin 69, Texas A&M 58: At Las Vegas, Johnny Davis scored 21 and Brad Davison 19 in the Maui Invitational. Wisconsin (3-1) started slow and limped to the finish, but used two big runs in between to earn a spot in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Lafayette 53, (at) Rutgers 51: Kyle Jenkins made a deep 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining and Lafayette collected its first win.
(At) Penn State 85, Cornell 74: Seth Lundy scored 23, Sam Sessoms 22 and the duo combined to make 11 3-pointers.
Top 25 women
No. 1 South Carolina 73, UConn 57: At Paradise Island, Bahamas, Aliyah Boston had 22 points and 15 rebounds to help South Carolina win the inaugural women’s Battle 4 Atlantis championship.
This was the 61st meeting between the top two teams in the women’s AP Top 25 poll and the sixth time it has happened in November. The No. 1 team holds a 38-23 advantage. The last meeting of the top two teams before Monday was between these same squads in February, when then-No. 2 UConn won 63-59 in overtime.