Temple advanced to the championship game of the Gildan Charleston Classic, while Tulane dominated Colorado State on Friday afternoon. Elsewhere, Tulsa will play for third place at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, and Houston will continue play in the Paradise Jam tomorrow.
Temple 88, Auburn 74
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Obi Enechionyia felt Temple was itching to get going at the Charleston Classic. That been evident in its run to the tournament finals.
Enechionyia had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Owls into the tournament title game with an 88-74 victory over the Tigers. Temple's season-opening game was a win over Old Dominion here Thursday as they eased into a long starting stretch that doesn't see them play a home game until Wisconsin on Dec. 6.
"I think it showed that we're ready to play in both games," Enechionyia said. "It wasn't a big deal to us, but I think it kind of helped us."
Temple (2-0) pulled away late from their Southeastern Conference opponent to move back into its second Charleston finals. And they may get the chance to avenge a loss to Clemson in that 2008 championship game -- the Clemson Tigers face Hofstra for the other spot in Sunday night's title contest.
"It's exciting," Enechionyia said. "It's like last year in the preseason NIT."
That's where Temple won the NIT Season Tip-Off event with an 81-77 victory over West Virginia in 2016. Temple coach Fran Dunphy hopes his team can channel those good experiences from last year this time around.
"Three games in four days, that's a lot of basketball," he said. "We need some rest."
Auburn will play the Hofstra-Clemson loser Sunday -- the tournament takes a college football break Saturday -- for third place.
Temple trailed the Tigers (2-1) on Jared Harper's basket with 10:17 to go. Shizz Alston Jr. hit a 3-pointer to put the Owls back in front -- the ball hit off the rim, bounded high in the air before falling through -- and Enechionyia gave them the lead for good with a pair of foul shots moments later. Auburn made one last charge when Mustapha Heron's 3 pulled the Tigers to 70-67. But Quinton Rose followed with a 3-pointer and Auburn never caught up.
Rose finished with 19 points off five 3-pointers. Alston had 18 points, 11 in the second half, for Temple.
Anfernee McLemore led Auburn with 19 points, but he also picked up a technical at a crucial juncture. His foul against Temple came from holding onto the rim for too long after a dunk and allowed Temple to quickly move back in front on Alston's two foul shots when McLemore had tied things at 48-all.
McLemore said the players ran out of gas down the stretch. "We just have to stay focused," he said. "We had mental lapses in the second half."
It was Enechionyia's first double-double of the season and fourth of his career.
Tulane 80, Colorado State 53
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) -- Cameron Reynolds scored 25 points, Melvin Frazier had 23 and Tulane used a dominant first half to defeat Colorado State 80-53 on Friday at the Jamaica Classic.
The Green Wave (3-0) hit 8 of 15 3-pointers in the first half and shot 50 percent overall to build a 37-14 lead as Frazier and Reynolds combined for 25 points. The Rams (2-1) missed all eight of their shots behind the arc before halftime and shot 22 percent.
Tulane made four of its first five shots to open a 9-0 lead and after a CSU bucket, the Green Wave scored the next 11 to lead 20-2. The Rams made just one of their first 17 shots.
Colorado State shot 50 percent in the second half but couldn't get closer than 15. The Green Wave ended up 12 of 25 from distance to 4 of 21 for the Rams.
Reynolds made 4 of 8 3-pointers and grabbed four rebounds with three assists. Frazier went 8 of 9 from the field with three 3s and grabbed five rebounds with four assists and four steals.
Tulane plays Fordham on Sunday while Colorado State faces Florida State.
Iowa State 80, Tulsa 78
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) -- Nick Weiler-Babb had 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists Friday to help Iowa State hold off Tulsa 80-78 and reach the championship game of the relocated Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
The Cyclones (2-2) blew most of a 16-point lead in the final 10 minutes but did just enough down the stretch to hang on for a second win in as many days.
Tulsa (2-2) got as close as 72-71 on Sterling Taplin's layup with 1:12 left, but Jakolby Long answered with a banked-in straightaway basket with 48.6 seconds left to keep Iowa State in front.
Donovan Jackson closed the game out by hitting four straight free throws in the final 18 seconds. He finished with 24 points, while Long scored a career-high 17 with four first-half 3-pointers.
Junior Etou had 25 points while Daquan Jeffries added 23 for Tulsa, which shot 65 percent after halftime.
Drexel 84, Houston 80
LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Tramaine Isabell scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Sammy Mojica hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds to go as Drexel edged Houston 84-80 on Friday in the relocated Paradise Jam.
It was moved from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to the Vines Center in Lynchburg due to damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The Cougars missed a 3-pointer and Troy Harper made two free throws with seven seconds left to secure the win for the Dragons (2-1).
Rob Gray poured in a career-high 37 points for the Cougars (1-1), including a pair of baskets in the final two minutes that gave Houston the lead.
Gray scored 23 points in the first half, including four free throws in a late 8-0 run, and Houston took a 45-38 lead. The Dragons scored the first six points of the second half, fell behind by 10 and did not take the lead until two Harper free throws capped a 6-0 run that made it 77-76.
Isabell, a junior transfer from Missouri, had his first double-figure rebounding game and was one point shy of the career-high he set in the season opener.
Kurk Lee had 16 points, Mojica 16 and Harper 11, going 9 for 9 from the line, for Drexel. The Dragons went 15 of 17 from the line in the second half, finishing 21 of 31. Houston made 11 of 22 free throws.
Central Connecticut State 79, ECU 68
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Austin Nehls scored 24 points with five 3-pointers, Tyler Kohl added 20 points more and Central Connecticut State broke open a tight game after halftime to defeat East Carolina 79-68 on Friday night for its first win this season.
Nehls drained a 3-pointer two minutes after halftime to give CCSU (1-3) a one-point lead that the Blue Devils never surrendered. The bucket started a 12-2 run over the next four minutes for a 50-41 lead. East Carolina fought back as close as three points, 62-59, with six minutes remaining but CCSU tore away on another 12-2 run.
Deion Bute added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who were playing a fourth-straight road game, Mustafa Jones added 10 points and eight boards, and were also without coach Donyell Marshall for "confidential personal reasons."
Kentrell Barkley and B.J. Tyson scored 19 apiece for the Pirates (1-2).