No. 13 Oregon beats UConn 79-69 for fifth in Maui

Oregon (4-2) lost its opener to Georgetown, but bounced back with an overtime victory over Tennessee on Dillon Brooks’ long three-pointer.

The Ducks wanted to get off to a fast start in their Maui finale and did just that, racing to a 15-point lead in the opening 4½ minutes.

The Ducks attacked the Huskies from the opening tip, scoring the game’s first 10 points, racing to an 18-point lead.

Ollie called a timeout 41 seconds into the game and Adams, the Huskies’ leading scorer, headed to the bench at 17:03 after picking up his second foul.

UConn started hitting shots it was missing earlier, and the Ducks went more than eight minutes without a field goal, trimming the lead to 39-28 by halftime.

“I just thought our energy level today was much better because of the ball movement and getting some shots down,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.

Freshman Sam Cunliffe scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kodi Justice scored a season-high 20 points before fouling out to lead the host Sun Devils (4-2).

With leading scorer Isaiah Briscoe sidelined by a back injury, the two freshmen picked up the slack and did it quickly, helping Kentucky roll to a 16-2 lead that was not threatened.

Bam Adebayo added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Mychal Mulder matched a personal high with 13 points for Kentucky, which shot a season-best 52 percent from the field.

Al Freeman scored 15 points and came up with three baskets during a critical second-half sequence to help Baylor in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.

[...] Manu Lecomte shook off a rough shooting game to finish with 16 points, including a hanging layup while being knocked to the ground for a three-point play, and with several free throws in the final minute.

Sindarius Thornwell had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the host Gamecocks, who improved to 5-0 for a second straight season and knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time since an 81-78 win at No. 8 Texas A&M in February.

The Wolverines scored more points from the free-throw line, 24, than the field.