USF collected the lone win among American Athletic Conference teams on Friday. In tournament play, UCF, UConn and SMU all suffered setbacks, while ECU dropped a road game at Rutgers.
USF 72, Arkansas State 61
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Malik Martin scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first double-double and South Florida pulled away from Arkansas State 72-61 on Friday.
Tulio Da Silva added 13 points and Paton Banks 12 points for the Bulls (4-2), who made 5 of 8 shots in the final eight minutes and 7 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes.
Deven Simms had 15 points for the Red Wolves (2-4), who went cold midway through the second half, missing seven straight shots.
From a Sims layup with 9:56 to play until Ty Cockfield drained a 3-pointer six minutes later, USF stretched a five point lead to 13, 62-49.
The game was tied at 43 with 12:33 to play when the Bulls got some breathing room with a 7-0 spurt. Martin hit two buckets and Da Silva converted a 3-point play.
Western Kentucky 63, #--/rv SMU 61
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) -- Jake Ohmer hit a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left to help Western Kentucky beat SMU 63-61 in Friday's fifth-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The freshman's 3 capped a comeback from 10 down in the final 10:22 for the Hilltoppers (4-2). The Mustangs (5-2) had a final chance after a timeout, with Ben Emelogu taking an inbounds pass and racing up the court to launch a long, leaning 3-pointer.
The shot bounced off the rim at the horn.
Lamonte Bearden scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime for Western Kentucky, which shot 46 percent and scored 15 points off turnovers.
The HIlltoppers were coming off an upset of No. 18 Purdue in Thursday's consolation bracket after an opening-round loss to No. 5 Villanova.
Ethan Chargois scored 21 points for SMU, which upset No. 2 Arizona on Thursday night after an opening-round loss to Northern Iowa.
#4/5 Michigan State 77, UConn 57
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Cassius Winston scored 12 of his career-high 28 points during a 4-minute span late in the second half to help No. 4 Michigan State pull away for a 77-57 victory over Connecticut on Friday night to reach the championship game of the PK80 Invitational.
Winston was responsible for 14 of Michigan State's 16 points during the spurt where Michigan State hit eight straight shots and took a 14-point lead. Winston started the run with a 3-pointer and scored on pull-up jumpers and driving layups as the Spartans finally shook the Huskies.
Winston was 12-of-15 shooting and for the second straight game the Spartans (4-1) got a big contribution from and unexpected source to help make up for star Miles Bridges being limited. Michigan State made 10 straight shots until Joshua Langford missed with 2:15 remaining.
The Spartans will face No. 9 North Carolina in the title game of the "Victory Bracket" on Sunday night.
Jalen Adams led UConn (4-1) with 22 points and Terry Larrier added 18. The Huskies struggled to get clean looks against Michigan State's smothering defense that held UConn to 35 percent shooting.
Michigan State pulled away with Bridges not very involved in the outcome. The preseason All-America returned after sitting out Thursday's tournament opener against DePaul with a sprained left ankle suffered last Sunday. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Bridges was close to playing against the Blue Demons, but the extra day of rest would help.
Bridges didn't start for the Spartans but subbed in with 16:09 left in the first half. He played in just brief spurts in the first half, finishing with only 5 minutes because of foul trouble, but was on the court when the second half began. He finished with six points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes despite his movement still appearing limited because of the ankle.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Nick Ward had 11 points as the Spartans outscored UConn 40-14 in the paint.
Rutgers 61, ECU 47
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- Just the word scooter can make Shaquille Doorson cringe.
The 7-footer spent chunks of his career wheeling around on a scooter as he dealt with a left foot injury. The junior redshirted in 2015-16 due to his foot, and was limited throughout last season before getting offseason surgery.
And so, the scooter has been one of the most memorable parts of his career.
Until now.
Deshawn Freeman had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Doorson had a career highs with eight points and nine rebounds to lead Rutgers past ECU 61-47 Friday afternoon at the RAC and remain unbeaten.
"I don't even want to talk about the scooter," Doorson said with a wry smile, before adding, "It's been a long, long time. I've been on that scooter since my sophomore year that I played. Then I got surgery. Then I was on the scooter again, so I was out for a long, long time, so to play right now -- just to play basketball and be out on the court again -- I can't even describe it."
ECU (2-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead but by midway through the first half, Rutgers (6-0) took control.
Rutgers went on a 9-0 run after ECU pushed its lead to 12-5 and Eugene Omoruyi gave the Scarlet Knights their first lead at 13-12 courtesy of a dunk assisted by Freeman at 9:40. Geo Baker capped off the run with a pair of free throws before Rutgers took a 32-21 lead into the break.
"The Rutgers defense is very good and very big," East Carolina coach Jeff Lebo said. "We had a stretch there where we were stuck on 13 points for what felt like the whole rest of the half after we were up maybe 13-7. Offensively, we turned the ball over too much."
ECU was led by Jabari Craig and Isaac Fleming, who had 14 points each.
#23/20 West Virginia 83, UCF 45
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- West Virginia coach Bob Huggins called out his team after the opening round of the Advocare Invitational.
It definitely sunk in.
James Bolden scored 17 points, Jevon Carter had 16 and No. 23 West Virginia quickly responded after surviving an upset scare one day earlier by routing UCF 83-45 on Friday night in a semifinal at the Advocare Invitational.
"We played with more energy today," Huggins said. "We weren't ready to play yesterday."
The Mountaineers (5-1) used stellar defense to take a 43-20 lead at halftime. West Virginia held UCF to 19 percent shooting (4 for 21) and scored 17 points off the Knights' 17 turnovers.
Bolden had 12 points and Carter 11 during the opening 20 minutes.
Seven-foot-6 center Tacko Fall had 11 points and eight rebounds for UCF (4-1).
"It was a tough night. You give West Virginia a lot of credit," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I think they played a really great game."
West Virginia also found its shooting touch as the first half progressed, finishing at 41 percent (16 for 39) after converting just 17 percent over the opening 6 minutes.
The Mountaineers struggled in Thursday's opening round before putting winless Marist away 84-78.
UCF could get no closer than 19 points in the second half.