West Virginia dominates Las Vegas Invitational

The wrong college basketball tournament was handing out championship belts in Las Vegas this week.

Instead of the Main Event at the MGM Grand Garden using a boxing title belt for a trophy given to Creighton on Wednesday, it should have ceded to the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational and allowed that tournament to award a belt Friday to West Virginia.

The Mountaineers were true heavyweight champions, having roughed up San Diego State over 40 minutes (or 12 rounds, take your pick) to win the title, 72-50, in front of a crowd of 3,245 at Orleans Arena.

Maybe Bob Huggins and Creighton's Greg McDermott can arrange for a trophy swap. Huggins and his team could certainly appreciate the figurative and literal meaning such a prize represents.

"I don't think people see this kind of pressure," said Huggins, as his team improved to 6-0 while San Diego State, which committed a season-high 21 turnovers and had just 13 made field goals and was 0-for-9 from 3-point range, dropped to 4-3. "The key is you have to keep doing it for 40 minutes.

"They're figuring it out. I thought we did a good job of creating offense off our defense and we had a lot of guys contribute. It was a good week for us."

Two teams that want to play physical, impose their will on their opponent and have no compunction when it comes to giving or taking a hit. What else would you expect?

West Virginia went for a first-half knockout, using a 15-0 run to go up 19-6 with 10:50 left in the half. The Aztecs, who were struggling to take care of the ball and had 14 first-half turnovers to just five made field goals, were in desperate straits.

But 16 made free throws were San Diego State's salvation, and despite getting the worst of it over 20 minutes, the Aztecs were still breathing and still in it as West Virginia's lead was only 34-26.

Aztecs coach Steve Fisher talked Thursday about his team's ability to take a punch and also give one back after it had rallied from 15 points down to defeat California.

Of course, he was talking metaphorically. On Friday, the Aztecs took quite a few shots, literally, in their street fight of a basketball game with West Virginia. It was never dirty, but it was gritty and tough. If you went inside, you pretty much could expect to engage in some contact.

The Mountaineers, who were led by Daxter Miles with 14 points and tournament Most Valuable Player Devin Williams with 10 points and nine rebounds, stepped up the pressure in the second half and led 58-37 with 8:09 remaining. The Aztecs had tried but simply couldn't stay with West Virginia physically or match the Mountaineers' scoring output. Freshman Jeremy Hemsley led SDSU with 14 points, the lone Aztec in double figures.

"They beat us. They beat us up," Fisher said. "We took ourselves right where they wanted us to go with their pressure, and we got frustrated a little."

* Richmond 94, No. 14 California 90 — The Spiders (4-2) squandered a 15-point second-half lead with 15 minutes to play but rallied late to get the win in the consolation game and a split at Orleans Arena.

Richmond's Terry Allen scored a career-high 34 points, including several clutch free throws in the final minute. Allen went 17 of 21 from the line.

The Golden Bears (4-2), who were led by Jaylen Brown's 27 points and had five players finish in double figures, had another tough shooting night from the perimeter. Cal was 1 of 4 from long distance in the second half and wound up making just 6 of its 15 3-point attempts.

* East Carolina 93, Stetson 73 — The Pirates (3-3) rode the hot hand of B.J. Tyson, who led all scorers with 22 points. Stetson (2-4), was outrebounded 39-23 and trailed by as many as 28 points midway through the second half. Luke Doyle led the Hatters with 16 points.

* Sam Houston State 71, Bethune-Cookman 46 — Sam Houston State (2-3), led by Aurimas Majauskas' 20 points, dominated inside, scoring more than half its points in the paint. Jordan Potts led Bethune-Cookman (2-4) with 13 points.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj