college basketball roundup

college basketball roundup

Tuesday’s other games

NCAA FIRST FOUR

Florida Gulf Coast 96, Fairleigh Dickinson 65

DAYTON

Marc-Eddy Norelia scored 20 points and Florida Gulf Coast coasted to a win over an overmatched Fairleigh Dickinson team in a First Four game. Norelia opened the game with a dunk and the Eagles (21-13) never relinquished the lead, going on a 23-6 run in the first 10 minutes and opening a 40-19 lead at the half. Fairleigh Dickinson got some looks but couldn’t get much to fall, shooting just 33 percent from the field while playing thoroughly lackluster defense throughout. Julian Debose and Christian Terrell both added 14 for the Eagles, and Demetris Morant added 10. After Norelia’s opening slam, Brian Greene Jr. closed the scoring with a dunk for FGCU. Earl Potts Jr. led Fairleigh Dickinson (18-15) with 16 points despite sitting a good chunk of the second half with four fouls.

NIT

South Carolina 88, High Point 66

COLUMBIA, S.C.

Laimonas Chatkevicius scored a career-high 30 points on 15-of-16 shooting, Sindarius Thornwell added 20 points and short-handed South Carolina cruised past High Point to move into the second round of the NIT. South Carolina coach Frank Martin announced Tuesday that five backup players were suspended indefinitely for “conduct issues.” But the Gamecocks did not miss a beat as they went up by 18 through the first 11 minutes. High Point started the game 1 of 7 from 3-point range but made its next four 3s, which came during a 21-6 spurt to pull to 42-41. South Carolina led 48-43 at the break after being outscored 23-12 in the final seven minutes. South Carolina (25-8) opened the second half with two easy baskets and a Thornwell 3-pointer to go up 55-43. Chatkevicius’ put-back dunk made it 67-52 with 12 minutes left and the Gamecocks cruised. Austin White scored 15 for High Point (21-11), which was playing without Big South Player of the Year/Defensive Player of the Year John Brown (foot) and second team All-Big South selection Adam Weary (knee).

Florida State 84, Davidson 74

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

Dwayne Bacon scored 23, Malik Beasley added 21 points and the two freshmen led Florida State over Davidson in the opening round of the NIT. Beasley was 3 of 3 from 3-point range — as FSU went 3 of 13 — and Bacon hit 9 of 10 free-throw attempts. LaBrae High School graduate Peyton Aldridge scored 16 points for Davidson. Aldridge made four 3-pointers. Florida State led 30-26 at the break, but opened the second half on an 11-6 run for a 41-32 lead. The Seminoles were getting easy baskets inside off of offensive rebounds while Davidson started 2 of 6 from 3-point range. Davidson pulled to 65-57 with 5:37 left but FSU answered with six quick points, highlighted by Beasley’s fast-break dunk. The Seminoles (20-13) outscored Davidson 48-24 in the paint and had a 44-28 advantage on the boards. Davidson made 13 of 33 3-pointers and was 13 of 29 from inside the arc. The nation’s fifth leading scorer, Jack Gibbs, was held to 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting for Davidson (20-13). He entered averaging 23.7. Florida State played in the NIT for the third time in four years after a school record four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-12.

Associated Press