Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ó Nick Calathes broke out of a shooting slump with 19 points, Chandler Parsons added 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Florida beat Jacksonville 84-62 Wednesday night in the opening round of the NIT.
The Gators, who lost four of their last six and missed the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year, played one of their best first halves of the season. They shot 63 percent from the field, were 6-of-9 from 3-point range and had a 21-point lead at the break.
Florida (24-10) extended it to 25 early in the second half on Ray Shipman’s dunk, then coasted the rest of the way. The Gators will host Miami in the second round Friday.
Lehmon Colbert led Jacksonville (18-14) with 11 points and six rebounds.
Auburn 87, Tenn-Martin 82
AUBURN, Ala. ó DeWayne Reed scored 23 points and Quantez Robertson added 19 ó both career highs in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.
Reed made five 3-pointers for the Tigers (23-11), who hit a season-high 14 from beyond the arc in their first postseason game since 2003. Auburn faces Tulsa on Friday night.
Lester Hudson, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, led the Skyhawks (22-10) with 33 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Creighton 73, Bowling Green 71
OMAHA, Neb. ó P’Allen Stinnett scored 18 points, including two big free throws in the final minute, and Creighton came from behind to defeat Bowling Green 73-71 in the first round of the NIT Wednesday night.The Bluejays (27-7) will host Kentucky (21-13) in a second-round game Monday.Creighton, which trailed by 14 points in the first half and by 8 with 81/2 minutes left, went ahead 69-67 with 4:41 to play on Booker Woodfox’s 3-pointer.Nate Miller put the Falcons (19-14) ahead again briefly, but Justin Carter’s 3-pointer with 1:46 left gave the Bluejays the lead for good.
Baylor 74, Georgetown 72
WACO, Texas ó LaceDarius Dunn and Kevin Rogers each scored 20 points and Curtis Jerrells added 19 to lead Baylor to a 74-72 win over Georgetown.
The Bears (21-14) got their first postseason victory since 1950.
Kansas State 83, Illinois State 79, OT
MANHATTAN, Kan. ó Jacob Pullen scored seven of his career-high 32 points in overtime.Darren Kent added 19 points for the Wildcats (22-11). Dominique Sutton finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, including an offensive grab he put back to tie the game at 73 with four seconds remaining and force the overtime.
Tulsa 68, Northwestern 59
TULSA, Okla. ó Jerome Jordan scored 16 points and Ben Uzoh added 13 to help Tulsa beat Northwestern 68-59.
Uzoh hit four free throws in the final 21 seconds as the Golden Hurricane (25-10) survived a late scoring drought to win their first game in the tournament since winning the title in 2001.
Craig Moore and Kevin Coble each scored 17 points to lead Northwestern (17-14).