SPOKANE — Derrick Low made six second-half 3-pointers and scored 19 points to help No. 9 Washington State beat Air Force 71-62 on Sunday in the Cougar Hispanic College Fund Challenge.
Taylor Rochestie led all scorers with 22 points and Kyle Weaver added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for Washington State, which trailed at halftime.
Low, who sat out most of the first half after two quick fouls, made 6 of 8 3-pointers for Washington State (6-0), which won all three games in its round-robin tournament.
“As a shooter you just have to keep shooting,” Low said, “and take my shot whenever I have it. Eventually, it started to fall, and I’m so happy.”
Tim Anderson scored 15 for Air Force (5-2), which lost its second consecutive game. Evan Washington added 14.
The Cougars made some subtle adjustments on both ends at halftime, and slowly climbed back to tie it at 37 on Low’s second 3-pointer of the half. Freshman Evan Washington, who finished with a career-high 14 points, hit a 3 a minute later for the Falcons final lead, and the Cougar defense tightened up from there.
“You’ve got to get stops and bang some shots,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “I don’t know which one came first … but we were exchanging baskets, so I’m always going to tip my hat to the defense and say that’s where it started.”
No. 4 Kansas 76, Arizona 72, OT: At Lawrence, Kan., Brandon Rush scored five of his 17 points in overtime, including two dunks on his surgically-repaired knee, helping the Jayhawks pull out a victory over the Wildcats.
After being eased back into the lineup his first two games back, Rush was much more of a factor against the Wildcats, driving hard to the basket, and bouncing up quickly after hitting the floor hard a couple of times.
Darrell Arthur had 20 points and Mario Chalmers added 14 for Kansas (5-0), off to its best start since winning its first 14 games in 2004-05.
Arizona (3-2) rallied from an early deficit and kept it close to the end, thanks to Chase Budinger, who had 27 points.
No. 13 Duke 78, Eastern Kentucky 43: At Durham, N.C., freshman Taylor King scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Blue Devils in a rout.
DeMarcus Nelson had 12 points and Gerald Henderson added 10 for the Blue Devils (6-0), who never looked back after a dominant first half in which the Colonels made just four of 17 shots and had 18 turnovers. The Blue Devils never trailed, led 34-12 at the break and cruised to their NCAA-best 54th straight nonconference victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
No. 18 Kansas State 82, Rider 69: At Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Andre Gilbert scored 22 points, Jacob Pullen added 19 points and five assists and the Wildcats held off Rider in the Old Spice Classic.
The Wildcats’ Michael Beasley had 13 points and 10 rebounds — his sixth double-double in as many games.
USC 70, So. Illinois 45: At Anaheim, Calif., freshman Davon Jefferson scored 18 points and the Trojans blew out the Salukis in the second half of a victory in the inaugural Anaheim Classic title game.
Jefferson had scoring sprees of eight and six points in each half in his third game since returning from a preseason injury to his left knee.
O.J. Mayo, who scored 13 points, was in double figures for the sixth time, the most by a freshman since Tom Lewis did so in his first nine games of the 1985-86 season.
North Carolina State 69, No. 20 Villanova 68: At Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Gavin Grant hit two of three free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining and North Carolina State beat Villanova to win the Old Spice Classic Championship.
Villanova (4-1) seemed to clinch the win when Dante Cunningham tipped in a missed layup with 2.2 seconds remaining, but Cunningham fouled Grant the next trip down.
He missed the first one, then drained the other two. Villanova threw a long inbound pass, but it bounced up and off the backboard as time expired.
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