NEW YORK — Kansas had already gone through a tough loss this season, falling in overtime to Indiana in Honolulu.
On Tuesday night the Jayhawks went from looking like easy winners to facing another excruciating loss. But a short jumper by Frank Mason III with 1.8 seconds to go gave the Jayhawks a 77-75 victory over top-ranked Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden.
“The play was to iso (isolate) me, and my teammates did a good job of spacing the floor,” Mason said. “It felt good when it left my hand. “
A long 3 at the buzzer by Duke’s Frank Jackson was off line.
The Jayhawks (1-1) beat a top-ranked team for the eighth time.
“This was more of a must win for us than it was for Duke. Not that there’s must win this time of year, but I think it will do something for us because for the first time we won a game where we shot it like crap,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “So hopefully we learned some lessons and know that you cannot be great offensively and still win if you do little things and play aggressively. So I think it should bode well for us moving forward. “
Self was all smiles talking about his senior point guard.
“He’s made a lot of big plays for us,” Self said of Mason. “I don’t know if he’s made any game-winners but he’s made plays to put us in overtime. Yeah he’s a stud.”
“Mason made a big-time play and it was well guarded,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He just made a big-time play.’
Kansas was ahead 62-50 with 8 minutes to play but the Blue Devils (2-1), despite a terrible shooting game by Grayson Allen, the leading vote-getter on The Associated Press’ preseason All-America team, managed to suddenly start hitting shots and they tied the game at 75 with 15 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Jackson..
Kansas called a timeout with 8.2 seconds left and set up the game-winner.
“That was quite a play we called, just get out of his way,” Self said.
“I just took advantage of the separation I created and I just shot the ball,” Mason said. “It felt good when it left my hand and I just thank God that it went in.”
Mason, who had a career-high 30 in the loss to Indiana, led Kansas with 21 points, freshman Josh Jackson added 15 and Devonte’ Graham had 13.
Luke Kennard led five Duke players in double figures with 22 points. Allen finished with 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting.
No. 2 KENTUCKY 69, No. 13 MICHIGAN STATE 48
Freshman Malik Monk scored 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from 3-point range, and Isaiah Briscoe added 21 to lead No. 2 Kentucky to a victory over Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic.
The Wildcats (3-0) averaged 90 points in their first two games but this time it was defense that did it as the Spartans (0-2) shot 32.8 percent from the field (20 of 61) including 5 for 26 (19.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
Relying on another talented freshman class, Kentucky was able to up the tempo enough and keep the tenacious defense going that the Spartans committed 21 turnovers which the Wildcats turned into 24 points.
Kenny Goins and Cassius Winston led the Spartans with nine points each. Freshman Miles Bridges was held to six points on 2-for-11 shooting but he grabbed 12 rebounds.
BAYLOR 66, No. 4 OREGON 49
WACO, Texas— Johnathan Motley scored 17 points in his season debut and Baylor got a big early-season victory over the Oregon team playing without its preseason All-American.
The Ducks (1-1) are missing Dillon Brooks, their 6-foot-7 junior forward who was their leading scorer last season but is still recovering from foot surgery during the offseason.
Motley missed the season opener for Baylor (2-0) because of a one-game suspension after violating an NCAA rule by playing in an improper summer league game.
The Ducks (1-1) quickly had a 3-0 lead when Chris Boucher hit from long range on the game’s first shot, before they missed their next six shots. After Motley made his first shot of the season and Manu Lecomte’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, Baylor never trailed again.
Dylan Ennis led Oregon with 16 points, and Boucher finished with 12. Jordan Bell had 11 rebounds.
No. 5 NORTH CAROLINA 93, LONG BEACH St. 67
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Joel Berry II scored 23 points and North Carolina shot 53 percent to beat Long Beach State.
Kennedy Meeks added 15 points for the Tar Heels (3-0), who scored the game’s first 14 points and led by 23 points by halftime. That dominating start was enough to erase any doubt about the outcome, though Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams was aggravated enough at one sloppy second-half stretch that he angrily punched a clipboard to the court during a timeout.
Still, the Tar Heels — who shot 59 percent in the opening half — never let the 49ers closer than 16 after halftime.
Gabe Levin scored 17 points for Long Beach State (1-2), who never recovered from an awful start that included making 8 of 31 shots (26 percent) in the first half. The 49ers finished at 36 percent and missed 20 of 26 3-pointers.
No. 8 VIRGINIA 72, ST. FRANCIS BROOKYLN 32
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.— Austin Nichols scored 11 points in his Virginia debut and the Cavaliers beat St. Francis Brooklyn.
The Cavaliers (2-0) held the Terriers scoreless for a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the first half and scored 20 consecutive points to open a 35-11 lead.
The Terriers (0-2) ended the drought on two free throws by Yunus Hopkinson with 7.8 seconds left in the half.
Nichols, a transfer from Memphis who missed Virginia’s two preseason scrimmages and season-opener at UNC Greensboro while serving a suspension for violating a team rule, scored on an array and shots around the basket. Jarred Reuter added nine points and London Perrantes. Marial Shayok and Mamadi Diakite each had eight for Virginia. All 11 scholarship players for the Cavaliers scored and Tony Bennett emptied his bench in the closing minutes.
No. 10 ARIZONA 78, CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 66
TUCSON, Ariz.— Freshman Lauri Markkanen scored 26 points and Arizona held off a furious second-half rally by Cal State Bakersfield.
Jaylin Airington scored 31 for the Roadrunners (1-1) and led a 17-0 run that cut Arizona’s lead to four with 9:04 to play. But Markkenen, a 7-footer from Finland, sank a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and made a short jumper to lead the Wildcats out of trouble.
The Wildcats (2-0) were without starting senior guard Kadeem Allen, who sprained a knee in Arizona’s 65-63 victory over Michigan State last Friday in Honolulu.
Rawle Alkins made 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 15 for the Wildcats and Kobi Simmons added 13. Both also are freshmen.
No. 22 CREIGHTON 79, No. 9 WISCONSIN 67
OMAHA, Neb.— Khyri Thomas scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, breaking open a close game with a three-point play and 3-pointer on consecutive possessions, and Creighton defeated Wisconsin.
Maurice Watson Jr. had 17 points and 10 assists and Marcus Foster added 15 points for the Bluejays (2-0).
Bronson Koenig scored 21 points and Nigel Hayes had 16 points to lead the Badgers (1-1), who made only 3 of 26 3-pointers after starting 8 of 13 from beyond the arc.
Wisconsin got within seven points in the final minute, but Justin Patton and Thomas finished off the Badgers with back-to-back dunks.
Hayes, the Big Ten preseason player of the year, scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes and was held scoreless until Ethan Happ fed him for an easy lay-in with 11 minutes left in the game.
No. 18 SYRACUSE 90, HOLY CROSS 46
SYRACUSE, N.Y.— Andrew White scored 19 points, Tyler Lydon had 17, and Syracuse went on a 14-0 run in the first half to take control and overpower Holy Cross.
Syracuse (2-0) shot 61 percent from the field and was 13 for 23 on 3-pointers. White, a fifth-year transfer from Nebraska, went 5 of 12 from beyond the arc after going 2 of 7 in the Orange’s season opener against Colgate.
Tyus Battle was 3 of 5 from long range, while John Gillon made two while adding 15 points, nine assists and just one turnover off the bench.
Anthony Thompson had 12 points, while Robert Champion and Malachi Alexander had eight apiece for the Crusaders (0-2). The Crusaders shot just 31 percent for the game.
