LOS ANGELES — Desure Buie scored a career-high 29 points, Jalen Ray added a career-high 27 and Hofstra rallied in the second half to defeat UCLA 88-78 on Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Eli Pemberton added 15 for the Pride (3-2), who made 12 3-pointers along with going 24 of 30 on free throws.
Hofstra trailed 59-51 with 13:50 remaining before scoring eight straight points, including a pair of Ray 3-pointers. The Pride led 69-68 before taking control with a 13-4 run to go up 82-72 with 2:49 left.
Jalen Hill scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for UCLA (4-1), which suffered its first loss under Mick Cronin. It is Hill’s second double-double of the season and fifth of his career. Cody Riley added 12 points before fouling out with 8:22 remaining.
UCLA led by as many as 13 in the first half before Hofstra went on a 22-10 rally over the final eight minutes to get within 42-41 at halftime. Ray scored eight points and Blue added seven during that stretch.
The Bruins made 12 of their first 17 from the field to start the game but hit 4 of 15 the rest of the first half. They were 29 of 61 (47.5%) for the game but 6 of 22 from 3-point range — including 1 of 10 in the second half.
No. 1 DUKE 87, CAL 52
NEW YORK — Mike Krzyzewski is about to become No. 1 at winning at No. 1.
He has to share that milestone for at least one more game with the Wizard of Westwood.
Krzyzewski coached a No. 1-ranked Duke team to victory for the 217th time, matching John Wooden for that career record in the Blue Devils' romp over California on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Krzyzewski is 217-34 when the Blue Devils hold the top spot, a mark they hit this week in The Associated Press poll. Wooden went 217-11 with UCLA as the top-ranked team.
“I would think most games he (coached) he was No. 1,” Krzyzewski said. “Any time you’re mentioned along anything he did is a pretty big compliment.”
Krzyzewski can set the record Friday night at MSG if the Blue Devils (5-0) knock off Georgetown in the final of the 2K Empire Classic. The Hoyas defeated No. 22 Texas 82-66 in the opener.
The Blue Devils climbed a spot after unranked Evansville pulled off the season's biggest surprise so far by stunning previous No. 1 Kentucky.
Duke is ranked No. 1 for the 143rd week, extending its own record, and has the top spot in the AP poll for the 20th season under Krzyzewski, also a record.
Vernon Carey led Duke with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Carey scored 21 points in the first half, one point better than the best in his brief career, set a game earlier against Georgia State.
“He’s the focal point of our offense right now,” Krzyzewski said. “He's making passes, he can put the ball on the floor. He's playing through contact, has a good touch.”
Jack White and Tre Jones hit consecutive 3s in the first half to help stretch a nine-point lead to 19 at halftime, and the Blue Devils never looked back. Duke fans filled the Garden, the program's home in the Northeast. The Blue Devils opened the season here with a win over Kansas and they beat Cal for their 37th career win at MSG.
This game could have been played anywhere and the outcome would surely be the same.
The play of the game for Duke came on Alex O'Connell's driving, one-handed dunk down the lane in the second half that woke up the sleepy crowd. That made it 57-32 and the cheers continued as the dunk was replayed heading into a timeout.
The loudest ovation came for former Duke star and Knicks rookie RJ Barrett, who flashed a gaudy championship ring — the type of jewelry the Knicks haven’t seen around the city in decades.
The Blue Devils are heavy on freshmen again after replacing one batch of one-and-done players with another. Carey, a five-star recruit who inherited Zion Williamson's No. 1 jersey, made 11 of 18 shots and checked out with Duke holding a 27-point lead.
“We started struggling in the beginning with it and then the coaches told us to get the ball in the middle, and then it will open everything up, so just getting the ball in the middle spaced out a lot of things,” Carey said.
The Golden Bears (4-1) shot only 37% from the floor and failed to have a player score in double digits.
COASTAL CAROLINA 79, UTAH 57
CONWAY, S.C. — Keishawn Brewton scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers, and Coastal Carolina beat Utah in a Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinal.
Ebrima Dibba added 19 points, DeVante’ Jones had 16 points and Garrick Green finished with 12 for the Chanticleers (3-2). Playing on their home court, they shot 45%, hit 11 3-pointers and pulled away midway through the second half with a Brewton-led 26-9 run.
“It was one of those games that was a statement win for us,” Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis said. “At the same point in time we know we’ve got 80 more minutes of basketball. The big test now is we have to put this one behind. At some point we’ll enjoy it but we’ve got Baylor (Friday).”
Timmy Allen had 15 points for the Utes (3-1), who never led outside of the opening 6 minutes but pulled to 44-38 on Jaxon Brenchley’s layup with 16½ minutes remaining.
Brewton hit four 3s during that game-breaking run, which Dibba capped with a free throw that made it 70-47 with 5:53 to play.
“We know what he can do,” Jones said of Brewton. “He’s a 3-point shooter and can also make plays off the bounce and he did that tonight. This is the beginning for us.”
Utah — which entered shooting 40% from 3-point range — shot just 18% from long distance and matched a season low with five of them. The Utes shot just 25% in the second half.
OMAHA 85, WASHINGTON STATE 77
PULLMAN, Wash. — KJ Robinson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, JT Gibson finished with 18 points, and Omaha beat Washington State 85-77 on Thursday night.
Robinson was 6-of-12 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and made 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Ayo Akinwole added 14 points, Zach Thornhill scored 11 and Matt Pile grabbed 14 rebounds for the Mavericks.
Omaha trailed 48-35 at halftime and by as many as 15 points early in the second half before Robinson scored the final seven points in a 10-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 53-48 with 14 minutes to play. Robinson made a 3-pointer to cap a personal 7-0 spurt and give the Mavericks the lead for good at 67-65 about eight minutes later.
“When we played bigger schools like Colorado State and Dayton earlier this season, they would make a run at us and we could never weather the storm but today we did that,” said Omaha Head Coach Derrin Hansen. “We showed that when someone makes a run at us we can now do the right thing and make a run back at them.”
Omaha (3-3) was more physical on both ends of the floor, winning the rebounding battle 41-37, and outscoring the Cougars in the paint 24-18. The Omaha bench outscored the Washington State bench 29-3.
Washington State (2-2) was held to just 29 points on 7-of-35 (20%) shooting in the second half behind a stifling defensive effort by the Mavericks. CJ Elleby tied his season high of 27 points and also had nine rebounds for the Cougars. Isaac Bonton added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
“I think we lost focus,” said Washington State Head Coach Kyle Smith. “They have good guards and they were relentless about attacking and we were terrible all night about defensive transitions. As a coach you can really gravitate toward to the negative. Our shot selection was poor. Not having Jaylen out there hurt us.”
STANFORD 81, WILLIAM & MARY 50
STANFORD, Calif. — Freshman Tyrell Terry was having trouble with his long-range shooting, so he put in some extra work. It paid off.
Terry scored 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and Stanford opened its season with six straight victories for the first time in 11 years, beating William & Mary on Thursday night.
“I told him during the recruiting process that every team I’ve seen him play on takes his personality,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “He’s doing a great job of passing the ball.”
Oscar da Silva and Daejon Davis added 14 points apiece for the Cardinal (6-0), who are off to their best start since opening the 2008-09 season with 10 straight wins.
Andy Van Vliet, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, scored 11 points to lead the Tribe (4-2), who have lost two in a row since opening with four wins. Quinn Blair added 10 points.
“I don't know what our team can take away from this kind of game,” Tribe coach Dane Fischer said. “Anytime you play at the highest level, which this is, it's a great opportunity for the guys to take on some great competition. We played great the other night at Oklahoma. But I didn't think we had the same effort or energy tonight. That's something we can work on.
Senior Nathan Knight, who scored 30 points in William & Mary’s loss to the Sooners, made 2 of 4 from the field and had five rebounds before fouling out. He was averaging a double-double through the first five games.
“It was a team effort,” Haase said. “We used multiple guys on him. Mostly Bryce (Wills), who did a great job. His versatility is unbelievable. He can guard so many different players.”
Terry was 8 of 11 from the field, including a 5 of 7 effort from 3-point range.
“We had to put two halves together,” Terry said. “We made it a goal to play a full 40 minutes.”
Stanford freshman Spencer Jones scored his first 2-point basket of the season with just over 12 minutes to play on a driving layup. His first 17 field goals were all from 3-point range.
“We had been giving him a hard time about that,” Davis said. “That’s why he pointed to us and gave us the peace sign.”
Stanford outscored the Tribe 8-2 over the final two minutes of the first half to take a 39-25 lead.
William & Mary went scoreless for a span of 4:26 in the first half.
