Wednesday's Shootaround: Evan Turner posts another triple-double, while Gonzaga and Cinci advance to the Maui finals

Maui Invitational:

• Cincinnati 69, Maryland 57: The Terps just had no answer for the inside play of Cincinnati. Yancy Gates had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Deonta Vaughn added 16 points and 5 assists, but it was a 14-0 run, turning a 14-11 deficit into a 25-14 Bearcat lead, that was the difference in this game. The Terps never recovered. Cincinnati is back to the Bearcat teams we all remember - big and physical, they have a roster full of guys that are going to defend all over the court (Maryland shot 31.7% from the floor, Vasquez was just 5-17) and crash the boards hard (won the rebounding battle 47-32, had 15 offensive). Once Deonta Vaughn and Lance Stephenson really get going offensively, this is going to be a tough Cinci team to beat.

• Gonzaga 74, Wisconsin 61: The Zags had a much easier go of it offensively against the Badgers than Arizona did the night before. Wisconsin out-physicaled the Wildcats, forcing them out of the comfort zone offensively. But Gonzaga, in stark contrast to last year's group, is not going to be pushed around this season. The experienced Zags were able to run their sets and routinely get good looks at the rim. Matt Bouldin led four players in double figures with 18 points and 5 assists. One player to keep an eye on this season is Elias Harris. He is strong, athletic, and a tough rebounder, but the 20 year old freshman has also showed some ability to play on the perimeter. He could end up being a pro.
  
• Arizona 91, Colorado 87 OT: Nic Wise scored 30 points for the Wildcats, including eight straight at the end of regulation to put Zona up 80-72 with 52 seconds left. But Cory Higgins assisted on a three, and after getting a stop he buried his own three. The Buffaloes then forced a quick turnover, and Solomon Hill fouled Higgins, who hit both free throws to tie the game. But Wise was too much in OT, as he scored on back-to-back possessions to erase an 85-82 lead and give Zona a lead they would never relinquish. Higgins has really lived up to the hype he had coming into the season, as he went for 28 points. Jamelle Horne added 17 points, 8 boards, and 7 blocks while Brendan Lavender and Derrick Williams added 16 and 11, respectively.
• Vanderbilt 68, Chaminade 41: Vandy used a 24-0 run to break open a close game against DII Chaminade. John Jenkins led the Commodores with 14 points.
  

CBE Classic

• Texas 78, Pitt 62: Texas looked like they were in trouble for a while, as Pitt used an 11-0 run to take a 34-32 lead at the half. After playing back and forth basketball for the first 10 minutes of the second half, Texas finally pulled away with a 14-3 run late in the second half. In the end, Texas was just too talented offensively for the Panthers, who had not given up more than 60 points this season. The big spark during the run was freshman Jordan Hamilton, who can clearly score from the perimeter, but may need to be a bit more judicious in his shot selection. Damion James had 20 points and 9 boards to lead the Horns. The win was costly for Texas, however, as starting guard Varez Ward landed in a heap during warm-ups and was carted off the floor.
• Wichita State 74, Iowa 57: How bad are the Hawkeyes? They are now 1-4 on the season after getting run off the court by Wichita State. Garrett Stutz and Toure Murry both had 18 to lead the Shockers.
  

Cancun Challenge

• Kentucky 73, Cleveland State 49: The Wildcats got 15 points and 6 assists from John Wall, but like Texas, this could be a costly win for the Wildcats a Patrick Patterson went out early in the second half with an ankle injury. No word yet on its severity.
  
• Stanford 57, Virginia 52: Landry Fields had 25 points and 13 boards as the Cardinal knocked off the Cavs for the right to play UK in the finals.
  

Ohio State 84, Lipscomb 64: Evan Turner got off to a slow start, at one point having no points, four turnovers, and just two assists in the first half. But as the Buckeyes heated up, so did Turner, who finished the game with 16 points, 10 boards, and 11 assists for his second triple-double of the season (he also had a game in NYC where he had a triple-double with 10 turnovers). David Lighty also added a career-high 22 points for OSU, who are now 4-1 on the season. Up just 28-27 near the end of the first half, the Buckeyes used a 12-0 run spanning both halves to break the game open.

Syracuse 88, Cornell 73: Cornell used some hot three-point shooting in the first half to hang around (9-19, Chris Wroblewski was 5-6), but a 17-5 spurt to open the second half, combined with an improved focus on the defensive end (Cornell was just 4-18 from deep in the second half), helped Syracuse run away with this one. Brandon Triche scored a career-high 21 points, including six in the decisive run, while Rautins added 18 points and Wes Johnson chipped in with 15 and 10. While this wasn't as impressive a win as the Orange had against Cal or UNC in NYC, Cornell is an experienced team that has played in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.

West Virginia 69, Citadel 50: The Mountaineers got up double digits early in the first seven minutes, but some hot shooting by the Citadel combined with smart use of the shot clock offensively kept this from becoming a blow out. John Flowers, who missed most of the Mountaineer's first game with a foot injury, came off the bench to score 13 points while Joe Mazzulla, who sat out the first game while still dealing with a shoulder issue, played 15 minutes off the bench, notching six assists. Devin Ebanks did not play, however, and WVU struggled a bit offensively as a result. He will be traveling with WVU to Anaheim for the 76 Classic, but there is no word yet on whether he will actually play. Da'Sean Butler was held to just nine points on the night.

Morgan State 97, Arkansas 94: Morgan State is not a bad team, that said, Arkansas is an SEC that had visions of making the NCAA tournament this season. They absolutely should not be losing a game like this, especially when they have Rotnei Clarke and Michael Washington in uniform. Yes, I know this team is dealing with suspensions and off the court issues, but can that really ban excuse? Don't you think that's a sign that there is something fundamentally flawed with John Pelphrey's program? Reggie Holmes had 34 points in the win.

Seattle 77, Utah 74: Cameron Dollar has something pretty impressive going in Seattle. After beating Weber State and Fresno State, he took the Redhawks into Utah and came out with a win. Charles Garcia had 24 and 8 in the win. Oh yeah, this is Seattle's first season in DI.

Other notable scores:

• Illinois 78, Wofford 64: After beating Georgia and barely losing to Pitt, Wofford gave the Illini all they could handle in the Las Vegas Invitational (isn't that an AAU tournament?). Demetri McCamey's 21 and 4 dimes combined with an 8-0 run to break a 50-50 tie was the difference.
• Cal 79, Jacksonville 47: Patrick Christopher broke out of his shooting slump to go for 23 points, including 4-6 from deep, as the Bears rebounded from a poor performance in NYC.
• Florida 68, Florida State 52: The Gators jumped out to a 20 point first half lead, and while the Noles were able to get it all the way back down to five midway through the second half, they just ran out of gas. Florida responded with a 12-0 run to put the game away.
• Providence 106, Vermont 64: Sometimes there are scores you simply cannot explain. After beating Rutgers, UVM loses by 42 to a Providence team picked at the bottom of the Big East? The Friars had 15 threes, which might have aided in the blowout.