Texas ropes in St. Joseph in Maui

The No. 6 Longhorns will meet No. 8 Notre Dame in today’s semifinals.

Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii — A.J. Abrams had 17 points and No. 6 Texas turned in another strong defensive effort in a 68-50 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Monday in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

The Longhorns (3-0) will meet Notre Dame in the semifinals today.

Abrams was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, keeping his hot start from beyond the arc as he was 8-for-17 in Texas’ first two games.

The Longhorns had allowed 44.5 points and 28.7 percent field goal shooting while forcing an average of 22 turnovers in their first two wins. No. 3 looked very familiar.

Ahmad Nivins had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Hawks (1-2), who finished 17-for-58 from the field (29.3 percent), including 4-for-21 from 3-point range, and turned it over 18 times.

No. 8 Notre Dame 88, Indiana 50

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Tory Jackson had 21 points and fellow guard Kyle McAlarney added 18 for the Fighting Irish (3-0).

Jackson was 10-of-17 from the field and had six assists. McAlarney scored all his points on 3-pointers, finishing 6-of-11 from behind the arc.

Tom Pritchard had 14 points for the Hoosiers (2-1), who just didn’t have the size, speed or depth to stay with their instate rival.

Notre Dame shot 50.7 percent from the field (38-of-75), including 10-of-26 on 3s, while the Hoosiers were 21-of-53 overall (39.6 percent) and just 1-of-12 from 3-point range.

Syracuse 89, No. 17 Florida 83

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Paul Harris had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Jonny Flynn scored 18 points and Syracuse beat Florida in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.

Syracuse (4-0) opened the season with easy wins over Le Moyne, Richmond and Oakland, shooting over 50 percent while scoring over 82 points a game. The Orange had similar success against a much formidable opponent, picking apart Florida’s zone with dribble drives and spot-up shooting from the perimeter.

Syracuse shot 51 percent from the field, out-rebounded Florida 40-30 and had 19 assists on 31 field goals.

No. 19 Wake Forest 62, Winston-Salem State 31

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Jeff Teague scored 14 points and Wake Forest shook off a sloppy first half.

The Demon Deacons (3-0) shot 68 percent in the second half, held the Rams (0-3) to one field goal during a 151‚Ñ2-minute stretch and forced them into a Joel Coliseum-record scoring low in completing a three-game sweep of instate mid-majors.

Wake Forest, which entered averaging an Atlantic Coast Conference-best 107 points, finished 45 points below that, but overcame its 23 turnovers by generating 22 takeaways against a team that seemed determined to slow things down with its four-corners offense.

No. 22 Miami 80, San Diego 45

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — Brian Asbury scored 14 points to lead Miami to third place in the Paradise Jam.

The Hurricanes, who fell to second-ranked Connecticut 76-63 in the semifinals, dominated the boards, outrebounding San Diego 42-28. Jimmy Graham, who scored 11 points, grabbed a game-high 13 off the boards.

Cyrus McGowan and Lance Hurdle each scored 10 points in Miami’s balanced attack against the Toreros.

The Canes (4-1) poured in 42 points off the bench, compared to just seven points for San Diego, who fell to No. 25 Wisconsin in their semifinal game.

No. 24 Davidson 76, Florida Atlantic 60

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Stephen Curry scored 39 points and Davidson beat Florida Atlantic in an NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game.

Andrew Lovedale added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (4-1), who overcame 37.1 percent shooting with a 49-38 rebounding edge.

Curry shot 13-of-21 from the field, including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers.

Xavier Perkins scored 24 points and Shavar Richardson had 19 for the Owls (3-2).