HONOLULU — Javon Greene scored 18 points, making 7 of 9 at the foul line and USF fended off host Hawaii 76-69 at the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday night
The Bulls (5-6) play Wyoming on Christmas Day while Hawaii (4-5) takes on Northern Iowa.
Tied at 51-51, back-to-back dunks by Corey Walker and Jalyn McCreary on either end of a Walker steal had USF up 55-51 with 6:14 remaining. Walker fouled out in the final half minute with six points and had four of USF’s nine steals in a two-minute span to help spark the Bulls back into the lead.
Caleb Murphy scored 17 points with six assists for USF.
Noel Coleman led Hawaii with 22 points, Kamaka Hepa scored 16 and Junior Madut added 11.
Hepa capped an 8-0 Hawaii run to put the Rainbow Warriors into the lead, 49-48, for the first time in 20 minutes. The Rainbow Warriors made up a 13-point gap in the second half.
Walker’s dunk with 6:34 remaining put USF back in front, where the Bulls stayed the rest of the way.
Stanford beats Liberty, spoils Darius McGhee’s 41-point game
Spencer Jones scored a career-high 25 points, Brandon Angel scored 10 of his 17 points in the final nine minutes and Stanford beat Liberty 79-76 on Thursday in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, spoiling Darius McGhee’s 41-point performance.
McGhee tied the tournament scoring record set by BYU’s Chase Fischer in the 2015-16 season. McGhee entered ranked 28th in the nation by averaging 19.8 points per game, and he was 13-of-28 shooting with seven 3-pointers against Stanford. No other player for Liberty (8-5) scored more than six points.
Stanford was ahead 76-67 with 41 seconds left before McGhee scored eight of the final 12 points. Angel made 1 of 2 free throws to give Stanford a three-point lead with 6.8 seconds left. After a timeout, Stanford fouled McGhee near midcourt and he made two free throws at 4.3.
Stanford freshman Harrison Ingram made two free throws to regain a three-point advantage. Liberty wasn’t able to get the ball to McGhee, and Keegan McDowell turned it over near midcourt at the final buzzer.
Jones, averaging 7.7 points per game, was 8 of 11 from the field with five 3-pointers to top his previous high of 18 points for Stanford (8-4).
McGhee and Jones were the only two in double figures until 8:18 remaining in the game when Angel sank a 3-pointer to give Stanford a 57-55 lead.
In the first half, Stanford trailed by as many as 13 points before closing on an 18-6 run over the final four minutes. Michael O’Connell highlighted the first half by sinking a half-court shot at the buzzer to tie it at 36. Liberty only made three field goals in the final six minutes, going 3 for 11.
Stanford advances to the championship game on Saturday.
Maldonado scores 17 to lead Wyoming over Northern Iowa 71-69
Hunter Maldonado had 17 points and seven rebounds as Wyoming edged past Northern Iowa 71-69 in the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday.
Drake Jeffries had 16 points for Wyoming (10-2). Graham Ike added 12 points.
Nate Heise had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers (4-7). Austin Phyfe added 18 points and Noah Carter had 14 points.
Pippen Jr. scores 23, Vanderbilt overtakes BYU 69-67
Scotty Pippen Jr. scored the last 16 points for Vanderbilt over seven-plus minutes and the Commodores made a final charge to defeat BYU 69-67 in the semifinal round of the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday night.
Pippen scored 23 points for Vanderbilt (8-5), which has won its last three games. Myles Stute added 14 points and seven rebounds, Jordan Wright scored 13.
The Commodores meet Stanford on Christmas Day in the championship game. BYU (10-3) faces Liberty for third place.
BYU led for almost all of the first half but Wright opened the second with a one-man 8-2 run for Vanderbilt, propelling the Commodores into a 38-37 lead after back-to-back jumpers, a dunk a steal and two free throws.
But it was Pippen who took over. After a nearly eight-minute stint on the bench with a third foul, he reentered the game and scored all of Vandy’s final 16 points in the last 7:21. At one stretch, Pippen scored five straight layups without a miss.
The second half saw 12 lead changes and five ties with the Cougars getting the ball after rebounding Pippen’s first miss in six tries with 38 seconds left. Alex Barcello missed twice in the final eight seconds and Quentin Millora-Brown wrapped up the ball and the win for Vandy.
BYU lost for only the second time this season when leading at the half.
Barcello scored 15 to lead BYU, with Caleb Lohner and Spencer Johnson adding 11 each. Fousseyni Traore scored nine and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds for BYU, which owned a 43-31 advantage on the boards.
BYU and Vanderbilt were meeting for the first time since Jan. 2, 1958, an 89-56 Commodores win.