Dean leads blowout of Stanford
Facing a tough trip home was enough for Taquan Dean to come up with one of the best games of his career.
The junior guard scored 30 points Wednesday to lead No. 12 Louisville to an 82-67 victory over Stanford in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.
It was the Cardinals’ first win this season over a Division I team and it made sure the four-game junket to the 50th state turned out successfully.
“It’s a long ride home from Hawaii and a loss would have made it really tough, so it was a good trip,” Dean said after finishing one point shy of his career high, set last season against VMI.
He had 10 of Louisville’s 13 points when the Cardinals (3-1) broke the game open midway through the second half.
Louisville’s earlier wins were over Division II teams — BYU-Hawaii last week and Chaminade in the consolation bracket of the Maui Invitational. The Cardinals lost 76-71 to Iowa in the opening round of the eight-team tournament sponsored by EA Sports.
“This was a great game for us,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. “Obviously every team that comes out here wants to enjoy Hawaii and win a championship. But you have to get out of here 2-1 to make it a worthwhile trip or it’s potentially a preseason disaster if your team loses confidence.”
Rob Little had a career-high 19 points for Stanford (2-2), which lost to Tennessee in the opening round and beat Brigham Young in the consolation round.
Dean was 4 for 9 from 3-point range, including two in a run that gave the Cardinals a 68-56 lead with 6:13 left. He later came up with two big rebounds when teammates missed the front end of 1-and-1s in the final minute. He went 6 for 6 from the free throw line, all in the final 1:16.
Dean played 36 minutes and had some problems with cramping late in the game, Louisville’s fourth in five days.
“Taquan was cramping up but last year he played with two sports hernias for a month-and-a-half and he did it then,” Pitino said. “He’s just an incredibly tough young man, a perfectionist, and he had a big-time game tonight and so did the team.”
Francisco Garcia had 16 points and Ellis Myles added eight points and 13 rebounds for Louisville, which shot 49.1 percent for the game, including 11 for 20 from 3-point range. The Cardinals made six 3s in an 8-minute stretch of the second half when they pulled away in the first meeting between the schools.
“We have depth problems but we knew if we didn’t try to fatigue them and get our one or two runs, I thought it would be a two- or four-point game and we couldn’t do that,” Pitino said.
Little, a senior forward, was 6 for 6 from the field in the first half as Louisville took a 36-34 lead. He finished 9 for 11 and had six rebounds. His career high was 18 points against Florida as a sophomore.
(1) Wake Forest 79, Providence 67: Justin Gray refused to let a shot to his face upset his game, and his second-half shooting protected Wake Forest’s No. 1 status.
The top-ranked Demon Deacons survived some hot shooting by Providence’s Ryan Gomes at Madison Square Garden, defeating the Friars 79-67 in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT in New York.
The victory sent Wake Forest (4-0) into Friday night’s championship game against the winner of Wednesday night’s late game between No. 18 Arizona and Michigan.
Gray had to go to the dressing room briefly in the first half after getting hit in the face during a play, but returned to nail three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half.
They were interrupted by a spectacular steal by Gomes who went in alone but blew the jam. It was Gomes’ only mistake in the opening minutes of the second half. He scored 10 straight points and kept Providence in the game.
Gray, who fouled out with 2:31 to play, finished with five 3-pointers and led Wake Forest with 21 points. Gomes had 24 and Dwight Brewington 23 for Providence (3-1).
(5) Illinois 85, Oakland, Mich. 54: Luther Head scored Illinois’ first seven points and finished with 22 to lead the fifth-ranked Illini past the Golden Grizzlies in Champagne, Ill.
Head’s short jumper opened the scoring. After Oakland (0-2) tied it, Head hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, stole a pass and sprinted the length of the court for a layup to give the Illini (3-0) a 7-2 lead.
Head hit a career-high six 3-pointers. He also had nine assists and two steals.
(15) Texas 95, Tennessee 70: Freshman guard Daniel Gibson scored 19 points and started Texas’ run of second-half 3-pointers, leading the Longhorns over Tennessee (1-2) in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational.
The Longhorns (3-1) bounced back from an 82-80 semifinal loss to Iowa with their fourth straight game making at least 10 3-pointers.
(16) Pittsburgh 83, Robert Morris 59: Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman led a 16-0 run during the final six minutes of the first half that rallied the Panthers from a sluggish start to an easy victory over city rival Robert Morris in Pittsburgh.
Troutman, at 6-foot-7 the second-tallest player on the court to the 6-10 Taft, keyed the run with four steals in just over three minutes, leading to three baskets.
Taft finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, while point guard Carl Krauser scored 18 and Troutman had 10 points, five steals and five rebounds.
Women
Kelley Suminski scored 13 points to lead a balanced attack by No. 7 Stanford, and the Cardinal (4-0) defeated Louisiana-Lafayette (3-1) 67-47 in the finals of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska.
(20) Boston College 74, Quinnipiac 43: Jessalyn Deveny scored 16 of her 22 points in the opening 9 1/2 minutes, helping the Eagles (2-1) past visiting Quinnipiac (1-2).
(23) Louisiana Tech 88, Mississippi 70: Lakiste Barkus scored 23 points and to lead the Techsters (1-0) past the Rebels (1-1) in Oxford, Miss.