Mississippi State soars by Arizona
NEW YORK -- Arnett Moultrie had 19 points, 10 rebounds, three kinds of cookies and a Most Valuable Player trophy.
The 6-foot-11-inch junior forward celebrated his 21st birthday with the big outing as Mississippi State beat No. 15 Arizona 67-57 on Friday night to win the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden.
"My wife had three different flavors of cookies yesterday for me to test taste and decide which ones I thought Arnett would like best," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "I liked all three, but I said no cookies until the game was over. Momma, you can give him his cookies now."
The Bulldogs (4-1) closed the game on a 10-2 run to win an in-season tournament for the first time since beating host Arizona 75-74 in the 2000 Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic.
Moultrie was limited to five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. He had nine points and four rebounds as the Bulldogs took a 35-34 lead.
"My main focus when that happened was to cheer on my teammates and then come out and have a good second half," Moultrie said. "It is an amazing feeling to play like that at the Garden, the biggest stage you can play on."
Solomon Hill had 12 points and nine rebounds for Arizona (4-1), while Jesse Perry had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
"His size overwhelmed us around the basket," Arizona coach Sean Miller said of Moultrie.
Josiah Turner made two free throws with 5:13 to play to bring the Wildcats within 57-55.
Moultrie started the big closing run with a basket down low and a tip-in. Arizona, which closed its semifinal win over St. John's with a 23-6 run, couldn't get anything going in the final minutes against the Bulldogs, missing six of its last seven shots from the field.
"We held them to eight field goals in the second half and outrebounded them 23-13 in the second half," Stansbury said. "Those are winning plays, and that's what you do to win championships."
Mississippi State, which beat No. 19 Texas A&M in the semifinals, struggled from the outside, making 4 of 16 3-point attempts -- including going 1-for-10 in the second half -- but the Bulldogs did a great job inside, outscoring the Wildcats 38-24 in the paint.
Perry and Hill combined to go 11-for-22 from the field for the Wildcats, while the rest of the team went 12-for-35.
AROUND THE NATION
• DUKE DOWNS DAVIDSON -- At Durham, N.C., Mason Plumlee had 16 points and 13 rebounds for No. 6 Duke (4-0), which went on a 25-4 run midway through the second half in an 82-69 victory over Davidson (2-1).
• 'BAMA BLOCKS SHOCKERS -- At San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tony Mitchell had 26 points for No. 16 Alabama (4-0), which had a tournament-record 14 blocked shots in a 70-60 win over Wichita State (3-1) in a Puerto Rico Tip-Off semifinal. The Crimson Tide will play Purdue on Sunday for the title.
• SHAKY XAVIER PREVAILS -- At Cincinnati, Mark Lyons scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half for No. 13 Xavier (3-0), which overcame star guard Tu Holloway's 3-for-12 shooting to post a 66-60 win over Miami of Ohio (1-1). Holloway, who'd averaged 24 points per game, scored nine.
• LATE SHOT SAVES AGGIES -- At New York, Elston Turner hit a 12-foot jumper with six seconds left for his only second-half points to lift No. 19 Texas A&M (3-1) to a 58-57 victory over St. John's (3-2) in the third-place game of the 2K Sports Classic.
• BYU DOMINATES -- At Provo, Utah, Charles Abouo had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Brigham Young (2-1) in its 92-60 win over Longwood (1-2). BYU led 35-29 at halftime.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
• THORNS LEADS TCU -- At St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Valley High product Hank Thorns had 16 points and four assists for Texas Christian (3-0) in its 57-55 win over Virginia (2-1) in the Paradise Jam.
• LOBOS EDGE SUN DEVILS -- At Tempe, Ariz., Kendall Williams had 16 points, including a 3-for-4 effort on free throws in the final 28 seconds, to help New Mexico (2-1) to a 76-71 victory over Arizona State (1-2).
• AIR FORCE ROLLS -- At Air Force Academy, Colo., freshman Kamryn Williams' 10 points led 14 scorers for Air Force (3-0) in its 65-37 win over Western (Colo.) State (1-2), a Division II team. The Falcons hit 10 3-pointers.
