No. 6 Wichita State and No. 12 Cincinnati will each play for tournament titles after capturing semifinal victories on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Memphis won its second straight game at home after a week off of competition.
No. 6/6 Wichita State 80, Marquette 66
LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Wichita State has multiple players who can score in many ways, its lineup filled with almost interchangeable parts. What sets the No. 6 Shockers apart is their ability to defend tenaciously.
They did just that in the second half against Marquette on Tuesday, winning 80-66 to reach the title game of the Maui Invitational.
"We've got to create a mindset, play angry. That's been our motto around Wichita State," said Shockers forward Rashard Kelly, who had two blocks on the same play in the first half. "Somebody's just got to fall in love with doing the dirty work."
Landry Shamet scored 19 points and Connor Frankamp added 13. The Shockers (4-0) needed a big rally just to get to the semifinals after a slow start against California in its opener. They had no such trouble against Marquette (2-2).
Wichita State took control in the second half, holding sharpshooters Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey in check long enough to build a 10-point lead.
The Shockers shot 54 percent and had a 44-33 advantage in the paint to earn a spot in Wednesday's championship game against No. 6 Notre Dame or LSU.
Rowsey had 26 points and Howard 25 for the Golden Eagles, who were held to 10-of-33 shooting in the second half after a stellar first 20 minutes.
"Of those 10 open 3s we missed, we would normally make four of them because we have a good shooting team," Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "Tonight we didn't. So that's why you see the box score looking like it did."
Marquette shot its way into the semifinals behind Rowsey and Howard, who combined for 42 points a 94-83 win over VCU.
The Shockers appeared headed to the loser's bracket after falling behind by 18 points early in the second half against Cal. The Shockers turned to a full-court press and forced a string of turnovers to pull out a 92-82 win.
The reward for both teams: An early wake-up call (8:30 a.m. local) to play in the semifinals.
Neither team seemed, trading 3-pointers, floaters and drives to the basket while hitting a combined 11 of 16 shots.
Howard picked up where he left off in the first round, scoring 17 points in the first half. Rowsey had an outstanding four-point play, getting Samajae Haynes-Jones to bite on an up-fake, contorting his body after drawing contact, then making the shot -- with his left hand.
Wichita State spread it around while hitting 16 of 30 shots, taking a 41-36 lead into the second half.
The offensive show continued in the second half, with Rowsey scoring seven quick points. Then the Shockers clamped down on the Golden Eagles, contesting those long 3-pointers by Rowsey and Howard, challenging everything at the rim. Wichita State held Marquette scoreless for nearly six minutes, building a 58-48 lead with a 7-0 run.
Marquette made a short run, but Frankamp hit a pair of 3-pointers and the Shockers held off the Golden Eagles the rest of the way.
"They're a team that's going to have an outstanding season and is capable of winning a national championship with their talent and their experience and their coaching," Wojciechowski said.
No. 12/13 Cincinnati 75, Richmond 48
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- Cane Broome led a balanced attacked with 13 points, Jacob Evans added 12 and No. 12 Cincinnati used a dominant first half to roll into the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic with a 75-48 win over Richmond on Tuesday night.
Jarron Cumberland opened the scoring with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and Evans hit another before the Spiders scored and when Justin Jenifer hit a 3 just beyond the five-minute mark Cincinnati was up 14-4.
The Bearcats (5-0) hit 8 of 14 3-pointers and shot 54 percent overall to race to a 40-14 lead at the half and Wyoming's opponent in Wednesday's championship game was never in doubt. Five different Cincinnati players had six to nine points while forcing the Spiders (1-3) into 13 turnovers and 4-of-18 shooting.
Jenifer went 3 of 4 from behind the arc, scoring all nine of his points in the first half. Gary Clark, the leader in a hard-fought 73-68 win over Buffalo in the opener on Monday night with 24 points and 14 rebounds, had his eight points in the first half finished with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Richmond made five 3-pointers and went 12 of 24 from the field but never challenged in the second half. Jacob Gilyard led the Spiders with 12 points.
Memphis 63, New Orleans 52
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Memphis Tigers) – Jimario Rivers scored a career-high 18 points and Memphis led wire-to-wire in a 63-52 win over New Orleans Tuesday night at FedExForum. The Tigers are 2-1 and welcome Northern Kentucky to Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.
Rivers finished a career-best 8-of-11 shooting, with seven rebounds and three assists. His previous career high was 16 points against UConn last season.
"Hats off to New Orleans, we knew they'd come to play. They were an NCAA Tournament team last year," Memphis head coach Tubby Smith said. "They are a veteran ball club, so I knew they wouldn't quit. I told our players, you've got to respect the game, respect your opponent, and the most insignificant score is the halftime score."
Rivers started the game emphatically, with a dunk in the opening seconds to give Memphis its first lead of the game. The Tigers and Privateers were tied twice in the opening minutes but Memphis never trailed. Memphis led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
The Tigers turned the ball over just four times in the first half and held New Orleans to just 16 points. The last time Memphis held a team to a first-half total that low was against Western Illinois in the 2014-15 season.
Jeremiah Martin finished with 15 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 on free throws. Kyvon Davenport also scored in double figures for his third-straight game, with 10 points.
Malik Rhodes had a team-high four assists, to go with six points.
New Orleans was led by Makur Puou with 11 points and nine rebounds. He was the only Privateers player to score in double digits.