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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, November 23, 2005

No. 8 Gonzaga outlasts Michigan State in 3 OTs

 •  Lots of talent, scouts on Maui
 •  Maryland overwhelms ’Swords in second half
 •  Players have to fight off fatigue

Associated Press

Gonzaga's Adam Morrison scored a Maui Invitational-record 43 points in a triple-overtime victory over Michigan State.

MICHAEL CONROY | Associated Press

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LAHAINA, Maui — The rest of college basketball has all season to try and match this one.

Adam Morrison set a tournament record with 43 points and No. 8 Gonzaga beat No. 12 Michigan State, 109-106, in triple overtime last night in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

If the game was played in March instead of late November, it would have gone down as one of the sport's classics. It still should.

Pick a point and there was something to marvel about.

There were 13 lead changes in the final 7:30 of regulation, four in the final 1:14. Maurice Ager of Michigan State tied it at 80 at the final buzzer of regulation with his fifth 3-pointer over the final 7:10.

The first overtime ended with Gonzaga having a chance to win, but the Bulldogs missed three shots in the final nine seconds.

The second overtime ended with the officials putting 0.9 seconds back on the clock after a Michigan State turnover just before the buzzer but Gonzaga couldn't take advantage.

Then, finally, Morrison made two free throws with 19 seconds left in the third overtime to give Gonzaga (3-0) the lead for good at 107-106. Michigan State freshman Goran Suton missed a layup with 4.6 seconds left. Derek Raivio made two free throws without time going off the clock for a three-point lead.

Shannon Brown of Michigan State tried to get off a 3 to tie but he lost the ball on the way up. He was closely guarded by Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo jumped and yelled for a foul but one of the best games in the history of one of the best in-season tournaments was over.

"It was one of the greatest games I've ever been involved in," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I tip my hat to players on both teams. I'm proud of my guys for battling through all of that."

His counterpart agreed.

"That was a great game," Izzo said. "There were so many incredible plays. I feel bad we had to lose it and the way we lost it."

Gonzaga advanced to today's championship game against No. 3 Connecticut.

NO. 3 CONNECTICUT 79, NO. 9 ARIZONA 70

Denham Brown scored 17 points and Connecticut held Arizona without a field goal for a 5-minute stretch of the second half in a victory in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Freshman point guard Craig Austrie had 15 points for Connecticut, while senior center Hilton Armstrong had a career-high 14 points and eight rebounds.

Ivan Radenovic had 20 points and nine rebounds for Arizona, while Hassan Adams added 14 points.

MORE MEN'S TOP 25

No. 2 Texas 68, No. 18 Iowa 59: LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out and helped Texas (4-0) erase a 7-point halftime deficit to beat Iowa (3-1) in the championship game of the Guardians Classic at Kansas City, Mo.

No. 25 Washington 90, Idaho 67: Jamal Williams scored 16 points and Brandon Roy added 14 to help Washington (5-0) extend the nation's longest home-court winning streak in a rout of Idaho (0-2). Washington's 27-game winning streak at Bank of America Arena is one ahead of Gonzaga's.

No. 7 Kentucky 80, West Virginia 66: Patrick Sparks scored 25 points and led an early 20-0 run that carried Kentucky (3-1) past West Virginia (2-2) in the consolation game of the Guardians Classic at Kansas City, Mo.

No. 10 Boston College 92, Buffalo 63: Jared Dudley scored 20 points to help Boston College (3-0) past Buffalo (2-1).

No. 15 Illinois 93, Texas Southern 59: Dee Brown scored 14 points and James Augustine added 13 to lead Illinois (3-0) to a rout of Texas Southern (1-2) at Champaign, Ill.

Bucknell 74, No. 17 Syracuse 69: Kevin Bettencourt scored 20 points and keyed a late 13-2 run as Bucknell (2-0) rallied past host Syracuse (3-2).

WOMEN

NO. 1 Duke 110, Fairfield 44: Monique Currie had 21 points and 15 rebounds for her 20th double-double, helping Duke (3-0) beat Fairfield (0-2) at Durham, N.C.

No. 3 LSU 107, Southern U. 39: Erica White scored 14 points and national player of the year Seimone Augustus added 10 in her lowest scoring game in two seasons as LSU (2-0) won its home opener. Rolanda Monroe led Southern (2-1) with 11 points.

No. 5 Baylor 92, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 64: Sophia Young had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help Baylor (4-0) extend its winning streak to 24 games at Waco, Texas.Terra Andrews had 31 points to lead the Islanders (0-2).