Illinois holds off Stony Brook

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) - Demetri McCamey had 16 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Mike Davis scored 17 points to lead Illinois past Stony Brook 76-66 Wednesday night in a first-round NIT game before a sellout crowd of 4,423 at Stony Brook Arena.

The Fighting Illini (20-14), the top seed in its bracket after bowing out in the Big Ten semifinals, will play in the second round against fourth-seeded Kent State.

D.J. Richardson added 16 points for Illinois, which hit 8 of 8 from the line in the last minute.

Bryan Dougher scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, for the eighth-seeded Seawolves (22-10), the America East regular-season champs.

Illinois was supposed play at home, but Cirque du Soleil had been booked for Assembly Hall. So Stony Brook received the chance to host the first postseason game in its 11-year Division I tenure.

Kent State 75, Tulsa 74

KENT, Ohio (AP) - Rodriguez Sherman's driving layup with 20.8 seconds remaining led Kent State to a come-from-behind victory over Tulsa.

The Golden Hurricane (23-12) had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, but a baseline jumper by Ben Uzoh bounced off the rim and time ran out as the players fought for the rebound.

Sherman was one of six players in double figures for Kent State (24-9), as Chris Singletary led the way with 16. The Golden Flashes advanced to the second round to face Illinois.

Jerome Jordan had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Justin Hurtt 22 points and 10 rebounds for Tulsa.

Memphis 73, St. John's 71

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Wesley Witherspoon scored 18 points, including the winning layup as time expired, to give Memphis the victory over St. John's.

Witherspoon drove down the left side of the lane and shot one high off the glass over Anthony Mason Jr. The ball bounced on the rim and dropped through as the horn sounded for the victory.

Officials reviewed the play, and ruled the basket was made before time expired.

Elliot Williams scored 14 for Memphis (24-9). D.J. Kennedy led the Red Storm (17-16) with 18 points.

The Tigers will next play Mississippi, which defeated Troy 84-65.

Mississippi 84, Troy 65

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Terrico White scored 27 points to lead Mississippi past Troy.

White and the second-seeded Rebels (22-10) made things look easy against the seventh-seeded Trojans (20-13), the Sun Belt regular-season champions. White and Chris Warren, who scored 16 points, helped spark a 20-5 first-half run that broke a 25-25 tie.

Brandon Hazzard led Troy, the Sun Belt regular-season champion, with 22 points, while Michael Vogler had 16.

Mississippi advanced to play Memphis in the second round.

Nevada 74, Wichita St. 70

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Luke Babbitt scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to help Nevada hang on for a victory over host Wichita State.

Third-seeded Nevada (21-12) will play at Rhode Island in the second round.

Toure Murry scored 15 points to lead Wichita State (25-10), which suffered its first loss in 18 home games this season.

Wichita State's Clevin Hannah scored on a layup with 24.2 seconds to play, cutting Nevada's lead to 72-70, but Babbitt hit two free throws for the final margin.

Rhode Island 76, Northwestern 64

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) - Akeem Richmond scored 14 of his 16 points during a big first-half run as Rhode Island defeated Northwestern.

The Rams (24-9) will host a second-round game against Nevada, which beat Wichita State.

Michael Thompson led the Wildcats (20-14) with 24 points, while Northwestern's leading scorer, John Shurna, was held to 15 - 3.3 below his season average.

Northwestern led 22-20 when Richmond scored 14 consecutive points for Rhode Island in a span of 3:07 which helped give the Rams a 34-28 lead.

Dayton 63, Illinois State 42

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Chris Johnson scored 13 points and Dayton used a 19-1 second-half run to pull away and beat Illinois State.

Chris Wright grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Dayton (21-12) to a 42-27 advantage on the boards. The Flyers will play at Cincinnati in the second round.

Osiris Eldridge, the Missouri Valley Conference's leading scorer, shot only 4 of 15 but led the Redbirds (22-11) with 12 points.

Dayton saw its 13-point lead cut to 42-37 with 10:27 to play, but Johnson started the Flyers' huge run with a 3-pointer.

Cincinnati 76, Weber State 62

CINCINNATI (AP) - Deonta Vaughn scored 16 points, and Cincinnati's trapping defense set up a 17-0 run that swept the Bearcats to a victory over Weber State.

Cincinnati (19-15), playing in the tournament for the first time since 2006, will host Dayton in the second round.

The Bearcats turned to a half-court trap that unnerved Weber State (20-11). The Wildcats had seven turnovers during the decisive 17-0 run in the first half and finished with a season-high 23.

Damian Lillard scored 26 for Weber State.

Virginia Tech 81, Quinnipiac 61

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Malcolm Delaney scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the first half to lead Virginia Tech past Quinnipiac.

The Hokies (24-8), who advanced to play Connecticut at home in the second round on a date to be determined, shrugged off the disappointment of not making the NCAA tournament by holding the Bobcats to 38.1 percent shooting from the floor (24 for 63) and outrebounding one of the nation's best teams on the boards, 42-30.

Justin Rutty scored 22 points for Quinnipiac (23-10), which came in ranked No. 1 nationally in rebounding margin (plus 9.2) and seventh in rebounds per game (40.7).

END Capsules